[allo vera]

8/17/2015

I rode Danny in the arena today, focusing specifically on trotting poles, cantering, and lead changes. Luckily for me, Danny does pretty automatic lead swaps. I was so pleased the first time he did one with no encouragement. Storm Man has a lot of trouble with them, and I thought for sure Danny would have no idea how to do them. He needs a little nudge and encouragement every once in a while, but he's pretty consistent. I'm slowly working him up to the idea of jumping by cantering poles in the same way we would jump. He was somewhat slow and happy today, but every time he changes his lead, Danny will speed up. It's not terrible, but it would be better if he didn't. The mustang will still occasionally hop the poles, but is learning that they are not out to eat him.

[allo vera]

8/18/2015

I was going to ride Danny today, and had gotten as far as tacking him up, when the heavens opened up. There was a deluge of rain, with lightning and everything. Danny jumped almost two feet, and I barely avoided him landing on my foot. He freaked out a bit, but I put him into the barn. I ran out into the rain and got Storm Man. There was lightning and thunder everywhere. Storm Man galloped around, making it hard on me. Eventually I got the arabian to settle down, and got him into the barn. Together, my two boys calmed down inside the barn. I stayed inside the barn, soothing the horses.

The rain persisted all day, with bouts of lightning every hour or so. I spent a lot of time in the barn, as both horses were nervous and unpredictable.

[allo vera]

8/19/2015

Rode Danny today. He was good, a little forward. Because he was forward, we worked a lot on circling and bending. This horse never ceases to amaze me at how flexible he is. We cantered some, but as he was a little strong, not a lot. We did a lot of downward transitions, going from trot to halt several times. He pulled on me some at this, but not too bad. I'm very pleased that I haven't had to use a stronger bit on Danny.

We did have a bit of a scare with a plastic bag that blew into the arena. Danny spooked at it, rearing up and spinning on his haunches. Luckily I was able to stay on. He bolted a couple strides, but I was able to get him under control. I got down, and led him towards the bag. When Danny tensed up, we turned around and walked back. We got closer and closer to the plastic bag this way, and eventually Danny got impatient and just walked up to it. He sniffed it, and jumped a bit when it rustled. Overall, though, we had a pretty good training session.

Later that day, around five or so, I came back out. I took Danny on the trails near our house for about fourty-five minutes, just leading him in his halter. There were some new things that scared him, but overall Danny took our walk through the woods very well.

EDIT
What a cute picture I was able to get of him!

[allo vera]

8/20/2015

Instead of riding Danny in the arena today, I tacked him up and took him on the same trails we walked the other day. He reacted pretty well to them, not spooking a lot. He wasn't as relaxed as most horses, but that's understandable. What he really loved is when we got to a big field and I let him gallop for a minute. Danny galloped happily, ears pricked forward.

Our trail ride lasted thirty minutes or so, and I let Danny have some time off afterwards. I rode Storm Man, and my friend Kath came over with her mare Jenny, a bay roan. Kath and I were trail and show buddies, and we were going to a show this weekend. However, instead of bringing Storm Man as I usually would, I was going to take Danny. We wouldn't show, but I thought it would be good for my mustang to have the experience.

But first, we had to make sure Danny would get into the trailer. We backed Kath's trailer, which is the one we would be using this weekend, up to Danny's pasture. He lifted his head up and tensed, but that was it. I went out and got him, while Kath got Jenny settled into one of the stalls.

I did the approach and retreat method with Danny, and eventually he walked into the trailer to find a small bucket of sweet oats. We repeated this several times, until Danny was practically loading himself. He really loved the sweet oats.

Kath left, leaving Jenny here. I moved the trailer, and put Danny and Storm Man in the pasture for the night.

[allo vera]

8/21/2015

Today was show prep day. I loaded Danny into the trailer several more times, and took time to really groom him well, working all the tangles out of his mane and tail. While Danny didn't need to look as nice as Jenny, who was showing, I did want my mustang to look good.

We also introduced Jenny and Danny to each other. Although there was the initial sniffing and squealing period, Danny seemed to like Jenny ok. The bay roan mare tolerated Danny, but she doesn't like any horse much. She and Storm Man get along just because Storm doesn't bother her, but if Danny tried to hard to be friends with Jenny, she'll probably get mad.

Kath rode Jenny in my arena, touching up on a couple techniques (unlike Danny, Jenny is very stiff and doesn't bend well. She can also be grumpy and bucky some days.) I brought in Danny, and rode him a bit as well. Aside from Jenny pinning her ears at him, the two got along well. Danny seemed a bit more nervous than usual, but was overall good.

[allo vera]

8/22/2015

Kath spent the night at my house, and we got up early to prep and load the horses. We had kept Jenny and Danny in so they wouldn't roll, but we groomed both horses quickly, then wrapped their legs, threw on show coolers, and loaded them up.

I was so proud of Danny, as he loaded better than Jenny. My mustang was very eager to receive those sweet oats again. The ride wasn't long, only about twenty minutes, and although we heard one squeal from the trailer, the ride went pretty well.

When we got to the show grounds, we unloaded both horses and tied them to the trailer. Danny was looking and seemed somewhat nervous, but was a good boy. We groomed again quickly, and I helped Kath tack up for her first class. Once she and Jenny had left, I got Danny and followed the two to the ring. While holding his lead, I watched Kath's classes.

We spent the day like this, wandering around the grounds and watching Kath. Danny had a couple spooks, but nothing we couldn't handle. He met tons of new people and horses. Kath had four classes in the morning and two in the evening, but both horses got a good rest period in around lunch.

[allo vera]

8/23/2015

Today, Kath only had a couple classes in the morning, so I helped her and led Danny around again. She did well overall, coming in as reserve champion for her division. I hadn't been planning to show, but there was one class that I entered Danny in. It was a green horse walk trot class, so I decided just to go for it.

Danny was very nervous at first, but followed all my cues once we were in the arena. He refrained from tossing his head or taking off, which I was very grateful for. We got fifth place, which wasn't bad out of nine horses, considering none of the others were mustangs that had been in captivity for only a month.

Kath and I loaded up about five in the evening, and started the long road home. She dropped Danny and I off at my house, then left, taking Jenny home.

I let Danny out in the pasture, which he appreciated, and gave Storm Man a much needed grooming.

[allo vera]

8/24/2015

After such a big weekend, I let Danny hang out and relax today. In fact, the only horse-related activity I did today was to exercise Storm Man, which he sorely needed. My silly arabian actually almost bucked me out of the saddle at one point, which was unusual for him.

[allo vera]

8/25/2015

Danny got one more rest day today, with no riding. I did, however, get him in the round pen and made sure he still remembered all his lessons. He was very respectful and good, but lazy. He did not want to work today, and it took a lot of work to get him to canter. He listened to my other cues though, and seemed so much more relaxed than the last time we worked in the pen. I let Danny hang out for the rest of the day. I took him out once, and let him roll in the front yard. The grass there is green and beautiful, and Danny LOVED it. He rolled, and stretched out in the grass, eyes closed.

I bent down next to him and stroked his neck and back, scratching his withers. It struck me then that this horse, who had been wild merely a month ago, trusted me enough to let me pet him while he lay down. He didn't seem nervous at all, just trusting and happy.

Even if the rest of our training fails, this moment will make everything worth it.

[allo vera]

8/26/2015

Rode Danny today in the arena. He was pretty high after having so much off time, and we did a LOT of circles. Eventually he settled down enough, and we were able to do some pole work. He was pretty steady over both the trot poles and canter poles, so I gave him a pretty short ride.

After lunch, I came back out, and put Danny in the arena. I set up a free-jumping exercise for him, with a small cross rail along the side of the arena. I put several large jumps along the side to encourage him to jump them.

I started out the exercise just like any other lunging, getting Danny to move his feet and canter around the edge of the arena. He was a little bucky and fast, but still payed attention to me. When the mustang approached the jump, he went around it. I had expected this, really. We tried it again, but this time I flicked a lead rope at him and got him into the shoot.

Danny jumped the small cross-rail easily, flicking his tail and giving a little buck afterwards. I got him to do it several more times, then let him come down to a walk. Although the jump was small, Danny seemed like a pretty good natural jumper. He judged the distance well, and didn't seem concerned about the jump.

He was pretty sweaty after our session, so I sponged Danny off. He tried to eat the sponge, but otherwise that was uneventful.