| HORSEPOWER 8 |
He has a lot of character, he has grown physically and mentally, and is a more confident , happy horse.
Two days after Marty arrived, i took him out to see what he was like around the farm,up the slopes , and around some fields, he did ok,
my main objective with him from then was to let him settle in and put some weight on and muscle up ready for work
By July of last year,07, Marty had got over the long journey ,and with some work and trail riding under his belt,had started to shape up quite nicely.
Besides going out on trail rides and heading AQHA rides, Marty was used to start with to bring sheep down to the farm for different things , and getting used to working with the dogs.
Checking boundaries for holes in the fencing, stuck sheep, or open gates that are meant to be shut are a good excuse to get to know a new horse and get them into a routine of calm work,
boundary riding is something that i do more often than anything else, it puts a good amount of miles on the clock and is in a different place every time, so it doesnt get boring for them.
Marty has by now got used to putting a bit of pressure on flocks of sheep when moving them, and it doesnt worry him at all now, sometimes horses can get a bit worried when sheep can turn around and run straight into the legs of your horse your riding,
If they havnt got the temprement to deal with the unexpected,it could make your job a lot more difficult and also unsafe, and after a rapid quick learning curve Marty took everything in his stride and started to get the idea of what was expected of him.
Even though i wouldnt describe Marty as really cowey, he will do anything you ask of him, which is a great help, he isnt a speed machine either, which can be a nice change actually, he is very steady and easy to stop and neck riens pretty well,
I took him into smaller cattle to begin with, and apart from moving them from old pastures to new, we also practised with him doing different things, like seperating one or two cattle and keeeping them away until i was ready to let them back in the group, keeping them all together in a bunch and keeping quiet control, all different things to help with thier groundwork training , but at the same time making it more interesting and fun for the both of us.
After moving onto cattle his size and bigger, here we practise keeping one steer out from the others for a couple of minutes, this helps to improve the agility of your horse too.
When these picturse were taken, Marty had established himself and safe enough to handle the 2 naughiest cattle on the farm, they are very mischievious and the one with the horns definatly didnt take any messing from anything, which isnt unusual from a Limosin that has been bought in, some of them can be really tempremental.
Ive got these 2 together with the intention of dividing them for Marty to gain some confidence in seperating cattle and not be intimidated by size or behaviour, i get him to come through the middle, and draught one off.
After seperating the 2, i get Marty to put a bit of pressure on this steer to make it move back to the other one, this helps the horses when working to gain a little confidence.
I get the 2 back together and push them out of thier comfort zone slightly by driving them away from the other cattle.
These 2 are not too happy abpout that and start making a big deal about it, its at times like this when thoer behaviour is sudden and spontanious that your horse needs to remain calm and you encourage them to work with confidence with plenty of praise.
A swift kick and a buck in our direction shows thier naughtyness, this is when your horse needs to have confidence in you and trust,
And as this picture shows, as ive gone back to the main group of cattle, these 2 naughty ones chase Marty, leaping,bawling and kicking up thier heels having a great time,
If you happened to take a young horse in with cattle before they were ready and understood cattle body language it could mean the difference between you getting the job done, or sitting on the floor after being thrown off because your horse cant cope and doesnt understand what is being asked of them, it could leave you in a very dangerous position,
I never rush thier training, and take as much time as the horse needs, by the time we get to the stage we are in these pictures, Marty isnt intimidated at all by the cattle.
I then singlle out the trouble maker and make him work again for a couple of minutes.
And taking him out of his comfort zone by pushing him away from his buddies a little just to get his concentration again, makes him think about the situation.
He makes a run for it and tries to get back to the group, but Marty keeps up and gets him back to the point where he broke.
Once we have the quiet control back again, i let the steer stand to quiet down and let it sink in that he has to listen to the horse, i let Marty walk him back to the rest of the group, ending on a good note and a couple of lessons learned and Marty having done everything that was asked of him.
The good thing for us by practising on the cattle near the house, is that they are different cattle every year, so they dont get used to the horses, or horse sour, this also brings up new challenges, but provided the groundwork has been done and the horses have done thier confidence giving bits here and there during the season, when it actually does come to doing a job, the horses see it as a bit of fun and not a chore, they are willing happy partners that i can rely on,
My main objective is for us to be safe, and these practising exercises hold us in good stead.
Sheep , on the other hand are totally different to work, generally its a a different pace and subtle body language and patience is essential, sheep can try the patience of a Saint at the best of times, if you put too much pressure on a sheep, it will just drop to the ground and go all stubborn on you, and if your on the horse, thats the last thing you want, as you need to get all the stock back to the yard or where ever they are going to without having any 'Dying Fly' acts along the way.
Marty is very good with the sheep, i think it suits him to work a little slower and he does take notice of the sheep, so taking advantage of his good points, i started asking him to do a bit more challenging things each time we were working the sheep,
and getting him to 'push' ewes with his front legs was something that took a bit of time, but very rewarding to see him work with a bit of thought and understand the job in hand, also the ewes dont seem to get so intinidated by a horse sending them and dont see it like a threat, this is when the dogs have to keep back and take the pressure off, and the horse keeps her going slowly without her dropping.
After being her for 12 months, he has totally changed shape and seems to have settled, even though he isnt a finished horse, it has been an interesting journey for the both of us, and one i hope we have both learned from and enjoyed.
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