Sweetwater, Final Thoughts

There were 36 horses pick up for the competition in Lexington and only 23 completed the process and were adopted.  I asked what happened to the others and got a vague answer about injuries, lameness and family emergencies.  I know one horse that was in my county was diagnosed with a club foot.  Another horse at the competition had the worse club foot I've ever seen, was nearly vertical on her pasterns and hooves, splay footed and over at the knees.  The trainer had her radiographed and was told the bruising from the coffin bone was evident on the x-rays.  She tried to have corrective shoeing but the horse was too sore to have nails hammered in so she got special boots for the horse to wear when she rode her.  The horse wasn't vaccinated for a disease prevalent in her area and ended up contracting Potomac Horse Fever.  It spent 6 days in ICU at the Equine Medical center.  This trainer spent thousands on her horse. She ended up buying it back for $550.

My take away lesson here is, examine the horse before it is loaded on the trailer.  Don't be afraid to refuse to take one that is an obvious problem.  The problem will only get worse when the horse is put into work.

I was at this event for 3 full days and saw very little of what was scheduled.  I wasn't even riding my horse but felt there was little time to prepare for each activity that they wanted the horses for.  Not only were the trainers expected to compete, they also were responsible for all the PR for the horses.  We were told most people adopt a horse because they feel like the horse chooses them.  So we had to go into the arena and try to get our horses to interact with the public.  Then there were all the people that came by the stalls to ask questions.  I can only imagine the stress level of the trainers that were trying to prepare for their top 10 performances while answering all the questions from everyone walking past.

Take away lesson,  don't go as a trainer and expect to do anything but promote your horse.

There were some remarkable trainers at this event.  Most were open, friendly and supportive of everyone else.  I had several wonderful conversations with some truly special people.  One trainer has a horse therapy program for army veterans and troubled children.  He told me several times, "you're standing here and 12 others aren't, you should be proud."

Take away lesson,  try to talk to everyone.  They all have a story to tell.

I didn't mean to sound like I was poo pooing the liberty trainer.  She was excellent.  I just didn't get her explanation of using mental energy to create energy from the horse.  Every trainer that is in the business of training and not just doing it for fun seems to have a niche for themselves.  The one I referred to as Mr Magic had a special halter that was stiff so the nose area stayed opened while you slid it on.  It had hand made rawhide beads on the nose band.  His lead rope was just the right length and weight.  Everyone has something that is the best way and that is what they push.

Take away lesson,  there is more than one way to do everything.  Learn multiple ways and use what works best for you and your horse.   Be open to new ideas.  You might be surprised at the results.

That being said, I came up with my own thoughts.  All the other horses I have ever worked with seemed to just evolve into being trained without much fanfare.  I really never considered their emotional states as it was relating to their stage of training.  Sweetwater changed that for me.  As her training evolved I could clearly see changes in her emotional state.   These states were definitely fluid from day to day and depending on what was being asked of her, but this is the 11 stages I came up with.  

Terror - the first 3 days
Fear   - about the next week
Fear aggression -  this was when she started charging at me while tossing her head.  and when I didn't back                                away but made her work more we moved on to the next emotion,
Anger - I think this was when she went through the phase of squinting and twitching her eyes
Anger Aggression  -  if I didn't read the eye twitch and kept pushing for a result I would get the anger                                            aggression.  Once it was her trying to bite me but usually it was just her throwing her                                        shoulder in toward me and shaking her head or charging at me.
Irritation  -  about anything I did with her head she was irritated about.
Tolerance - She learned to tolerate the saddle, long lines, tarps, milk jugs, just about anything that rattled or                     made noise.
Acceptance -  Once on a scheduled she seemed to be ready for the next thing
Curiosity  - I could start to see this one for about the last month when I stopped pushing her so hard.  She                      was really curious at the show grounds which surprised me.  She loved checking out all the trash                    cans.
Willingness - She was starting to look for me, she would whinny when she saw me and was ready for me to                      ask her to do things.
Enjoyment - I didn't actually see this one but hope she will find it.

I think she bonded with me more than I realized.  When I went to get her from the round pen after the other trainer worked with her she did her low nicker.  She would also do that every time I came to her stall.  When she was so angry about being in the stall, if I stood there with my fingers through the wire, she would sniff me and stop pawing.  And when I was standing in the arena with her she would keep checking on me by just turning her head to touch my arm or smell me then go back to resting.  She did this about every 5 minutes.

Take away lesson,  I might have to do this again.

Sweetwater, Trail Class and Sale

So here is the video of the trail class.

I really think the stranger that I asked to film did a great job.  The pattern called for leading in and across the first 2 poles, then mounting to do the rest until the end then get off and lead out.  So the 2 leading parts are where I got my 3 points. 

As I said yesterday, J showed back up on Saturday.  What a life saver. 

And beautiful V joined us Saturday afternoon, so my cheering section doubled. 

This is where I spent most of my free time, out on the hill letting Sweetwater graze.  

Then on Saturday afternoon they tell us that those of us not in the top 10 still have to come back into the arena in between the top 10 freestyle performances.   That meant I wasn't going to be able to see any of the freestyles because I would be having to hold Sweetwater. I keep hoping to see some of them on YouTube.  It is suppose to be the highlight of the competition and I missed it all.  Last came the auction.  We were all in the arena and went up one at a time while the announcer talked a little about our horse.  I don't think he could have insulted me more if he had tried.  He said, "this horse was used this morning in the colt starting demo by our wonderful Mr. Magic trainer.  She was so skittish but he had her calmed down in just 6 minutes!"  Well, I lost it.  I started yelling at him, "ya, he fixed everything in six minutes, it had nothing to do with all the work I put in in the last 4 months."  It was incredibly humiliating.
She ended up selling for the minimum of $200, to a women that really seemed to know what she was getting into.  She had stopped by our stall earlier and was not intimidated to go in.  She commented on what a difficult horse she was.  They had watched the trail class and said at the time what a difficult horse she was.  They said that the grey horse you could stand up on was nice but boring.  They wanted a challenge.  So she went in the stall, haltered her and lead her right on to the trailer and off she went.
One of the other horses didn't even get a bid and came back through at the end and went for $200.  One other brought $200 and 4  went for $300.  The high seller was $6000.  12 went over $1000, anywhere from $1300 to 6000.  Seven went back home with the trainer.
More thoughts tomorrow.

Sweetwater, Handling and Conditioning

J and I got up at 4:00 AM Thursday morning to make it to Lexington by 8:00.  Sweetwater loaded and unloaded fine.  She was a little excited but really not too bad.

I got her to her stall and we were set up and ready for the weekend activities which started at 9:00 with "Show Prep"

This involved all of us in the ring while a MHF staff person talked about training.  (really, might have been a little late for that)  While everyone else was riding around I pretty much just had to stand there.  Story of my life for the weekend, standing there.  This was followed by the Handling and Conditioning class.  J was good to video it for me.

I really thought she did a good job.  I think the catching part was a lot my fault the way I approached her.  I was in too big a hurry.  She did everything else about as good as she could.  We ended up 17/23.  I really thought I would beat the one that wouldn't load on the trailer and was excused but he placed 15th.

There wasn't much to do with Sweetwater after that so I watched Mary Miller Jordan doing Liberty with Mustangs

She was interesting and definitely had a different way of thinking about her training.  She talked about focusing mental energy at the horse to create energy from them then capture the energy back and refocus it at a different spot to get them to do something else.  My ESP is apparently not very strong so I still carry a lunge whip.  I think she is very good at reading the horse's body language and her horses are reading her's more than she realizes.  It was very remarkable for her to join up all 4 and lope around with them.

Then Friday I didn't have anything to do with Sweetwater until 5:00 when I had to lead her through the trail class.  So I cleaned her stall, fed and watered her and went to watch the Maneuvers class.  When I got back her stall looked like this...

She had pulled the buckets off the wall, one she had gotten the handle off of and the other she had broken the double snap that was holding it up.  She had also gotten the bungee cords off that were keeping the buckets from moving.   She had pawed all of her had into the shavings and pawed all of that to the back of the stall.  I ended up taking her out to graze for most of the afternoon so I missed the rest of the lectures and demos.

I'll put the video up tomorrow but it is taking too long to upload to youtube.  Since J was gone, he left after the class on Thursday, I got a stranger to video me and a friend just sent me this picture on facebook. I earned 3 points out of a possible 80 for my efforts.  Plus, I got a minor rope burn which you will see why in the video tomorrow.

Then, to add insult to injury, the BLM asked if they could use my horse for a "Wild Horse Gentling Demo"  the next morning since they didn't have a wild mustang there for the "professional" trainer to use.  I reluctantly agreed but also asked if they could start referring to me as a Veterinarian instead of a Veteran.  And since I was done competing could I give my horse a tranquilizer for the night since she was still tearing the stall apart.  She had added raking her teeth across the bars to the striking and pawing that she had been doing. 

So Saturday morning I took Sweetwater out of her stall to the round pen where she enjoyed being able to run around some after being cooped up for 2 days.  Then the "trainer" come in and talks about his philosophy of leadership, telling some feel good story about his mustang while he rubs on the horse with his crutch.  Wow, he is surprise she didn't spook at that.  Then he goes to halter her and she turns her head away.  Oh, she's telling us she's not ready, more touchy feely talk then try to halter again.  She does the exact same thing but he forces the halter on and says, "see the difference, see how soft she is now".  Then he talks about all the nerve endings in the ear and nose and proceeds to rub his finger in her ears and nose then says, "that's a good place to stop with her today, see how relaxed she is now."

How about how relaxed she was 2 days ago after just getting there!

Anyway, when I got back to the stall she refused to go in.  After 30 minutes of trying which was difficult because of all the people walking past, someone finally offered to help.  She used the lunge whip on the rear while I pulled on the front and she Sweetwater finally went in.  I guess I wasn't sticking my finger in her ear or nose right. I left her in the stall until J got there at lunch time.  She then turned the bucket of water I offered her over and made a lake at the doorway which she proceeded to paw in and make an even worse mess of things.   So I had to take her out again and bathe her.  After that I just let her graze until the "Meet and Greet" at 3:00.  This is where we go into the arena and try to get the public interested in our horses and answer any questions they may have. 

This is what Sweetwater chose to do while the other trainer from my county was doing flips off of hers.  By the way, she did an amazing job, made the top 10, pulled a cart and finished 8th overall. 

Enough for today, I'll finish up later. 

Sweetwater, Getting Ready

After several calls to the Mustang Foundation, I finally have approval for a Thursday morning arrival.

I've been very busy trying to get Sweetwater and all of her stuff ready.  Her freeze brand had to be clipped. She was great with the clippers.  Her tail needed combing again, and again.  I've bathed her 3 times and she rolls as soon as I let her loose.  I will have to say she is excellent to bathe.  She just ground ties and doesn't move a step.  Over the last couple of weeks she has not shown any aggression.  No charging or head tossing at me.  I am also getting some stall decorations prepared.

I'm going to be using the above ones to show her training process.

And these before and afters will go on her stall sign.  I did find out there is another one named Sweetwater. But apparently the other one was a dream to work with and the guy is roping off of her so no confusion there.
J pulled the trailer out Monday and I've been practicing loading and unloading.  She is doing it very calmly - at home anyway.  I decided to just take her on the stock trailer and have her loose in the front half the same way she came here.  I have revamped my goals for this project several times and now I am down to
1- Don't get hurt
2- Don't let horse get hurt.
3- Don't hurt anyone else.
These goals will not get revamped.

Getting Ready

Her feet are freshly trimming and she is getting ready to find a new home in 1 week.  

I am a little put out with the Mustang Foundation though.  Everything has stated the dates as August 25-27th.  When they finally sent out the schedule 2 weeks ago;  events start at 8:30 am on the 25th.  I made arrangements to be off work and reserved a hotel room for Thursday and Friday.  I plan on being there early Thursday morning.  Then on Tuesday of this week I get an email saying there is a mandatory meeting on Wednesday.  What!?  Another day you want me to take off work and pay for a room to try to adopt out a horse.  This is just not going to work.  Maybe I am a lot put out with the Mustang Foundation.

Sweetwater Day 80

I  had done everything I knew to do to prepare Sweetwater to be ridden.  I have probably put in 200 hours over the last 80 days with her.   I've ponied her, driven her with long lines inside and out, loaded sand bags and milk jugs on her, sat on her bare back and with the saddle, stood in the stirrup multiple times, desensitized her to everything I had in the barn, loaded her in the horse and livestock trailers, trimmed her feet and then some, but apparently it wasn't enough. 

     Yesterday, with J's help, I tried to get on.  I had set the round pen back up in the barn and made it about 35 feet in diameter.  With J holding the lunge line, Sweetwater saddled and worked for about an hour, I put my foot in the stirrup and hopped up, sat on the cantle with my hip still on one side then stepped back down.  So far so good.  Next, same thing but swung my leg over and sat in the saddle, 15 seconds, then got back off.  She jumped out sideways.  Worked her some more stepped up and down in the stirrup until she was still again then got back on, flexed her neck left then right then got back off.
   
 My hope for the next step was to get on, sit until she seemed comfortable then get her to move her hip over.  Things didn't go as planned.  When I got on she immediately started jumping/bucking sideways to the right.  I remember looking down and thinking that at least I had a good grip on the pommel.  J was trying to keep her head pulled to the left and I was pulling with the left rein for all I was worth.   She then pulled the rope through J's hands and was bucking full force as we got to the fence.  She broke right and I jumped left.  I had seen how she bucked with the introduction of the lead rope, the saddle and the long lines, and I knew I was in for it if I had tried to stay on.   I landed on my face, hands and right knee, which started swelling immediately.  I'm very lucky that nothing is broken or permanently damaged.  My knee will be sore for a few days but it could have been worse.
 
 I think this will be my last try with her.  Maybe with hobbles and a rear leg tied up, or tranquilized (which I am not doing)  someone could get on but it isn't going to be me.  It just isn't worth the risk.  She has come a long way, just not far enough for this event.

Sweetwater Day 74

Just six weeks left and I'm not sure if I am going to be able to ride her.  Some days she is great then others she is very reactive or pushy or aggressive or all three.  Today she was great.  

This was just her second exposure to the milk jugs and but the end of the session I had draped them over the saddle, 4 on each side and had her trotting without spooking.

 If I do manage to get on I have finally decided what to do about the reins and bit.  My farrier told me he saw someone riding with this combination, rope halter, snaffle bit but the reins hooked to the halter though the bit.

That way when you pull on the reins it is mostly halter pressure but lifts on the bit some.  I thought this was a great idea since Sweetwater really fights the bit still but is very responsive to the halter.   When I hooked it up this was she didn't seem to mind at all. 

Good Fences #119

Sweetwater has been turned out in a large field for about a week.  No problems catching her, she actually comes to me when she sees me now.  Tuesday was the first day I let the other horses back into the field that is next to Sweetwater's.  

 Pep was very curious about her.

 There was a little squealing but I think they got along ok.

 Then Brother had to come check out what was happening.  He is not that much bigger, just uphill.

 There was some squealing and foot stomping at Brother's introduction.

 Guess she wanted to show off her freeze brand to prove she was a wild mustang.

Otoelene tried to get in on the action but Sweetwater had lost interest and had gone back to grazing.  

For more Good Fences click HERE.

Brush, Brush, Comb, Comb

"Brush, brush, brush brush, comb, comb. comb, comb.  All girls who to brush and comb should have a pet like this at home."

Dr Seuss

That is what kept going though my head as I was finally combing out Sweetwater's tail.  1/4 bottle of baby oil and 45 minutes later it was done.  I also loaded her all the way on and backed her off the horse trailer.  This was more tricky than the livestock trailer because we have a tack stall at the back so the opening for the horse is only 1/2 the width of the trailer.  She walked right on with the front feet then lunged forward to jump on with the back ones.  This put her much more forward than I was wanting because it meant further to back off.  After a little hesitation she went ahead and started backing and unloaded like a pro.

Sweetwater Week 8

We are continuing to work on calmness.  Maybe I'm overdoing it and she probably won't go when I do get on but I'd rather have than than the bolting. 

She was calm enough bareback at the fence that she even started cocking her leg.  

Since the trailer was still out from the horse show I decided to work on that some. The first day she was so scared of it being in a different place she wouldn't even go past it.  

I only asked for her front feet to start with.  We did this several times, stood for a bit then backed off.  She was very calm.  

Then I worked with the bridge, standing and backing off.  Hopefully, when I ask her all the way on the trailer I will be able to get her to back off calmly.
I also finally got her to canter an entire circle for the first time.  And she is no longer running off when I get in position to get on like she did in the video 10 days ago.
Then we were doing so well yesterday, I had her trotting while leading, stopped and asked her to yield her hind end then front end.  She still gets bracey over the front end but does it.  Then she charged at me with a light "squeal" and nipped at me.  I backed her around the barn and she was fine again after that.  I really thought we were over that kind of thing but I guess not.  She definitely does things on her own time schedule.

Sweetwater Week 8

It has been a slow week for Sweetwater.  

I did have to turn in my 45 day report with pictures.  She is gaining some weight but still refuses to eat any grain.  I have mostly been working on refining skills she has already learned.  I still haven't gotten on other than bareback off the fence while still hanging on to the fence.  She is driving better, more responsive to the reins and stopping better.  She spooked while saddling once and the saddle hit the ground near her back legs and she walloped it pretty good.  She is really good about picking up her front feet.  I pick up the back ones but don't hold them yet.  Sort of hoping when the farrier come he will volunteer to do that. 

I led her around some new places on the farm and she did wonderfully.
There was some sad news from one of the other trainers.  It looks like he will be out of the competition with his horse but he is petitioning the MHF to see if he can get another one.  He had already been riding his round at a big show he had taken some other horses to.  This is what was posted on FB

This week has been a week of heartbreak for HCF.    Mustang Sally will not continue to be in training for the Mustang Makeover Challenge. Unfortunately, she has a lameness (a form of laminitis) that will require her to be out of work and have some extensive farrier care over a lengthy period of time rendering her not suitable at this time to continue her training for the competition at the end of August. She has been vetted and the Mustang Heritage Foundation folks have been contacted to discuss the options. Jeff has made the decision to place her in the Training Incentive Program (TIPS) with the Mustang Heritage Foundation with the goal of adopting her out with full disclosure of her current soundness status. This is very disappointing and heartbreaking for all of us. This mare has an incredible mind and desire to please humans. Her potential is endless and we will work very hard to help place her with someone who is willing to wait on her and provide the proper farrier care she will need. The training she has already received will certainly be beneficial in placing her. If anyone is interested in adopting this mare, please contact Jeff. There are specific requirements (including an application) necessary for adoption eligibility and those are all accessible on the Mustang Heritage Foundation's website.

You just never know what might happen with any horse.

Sweetwater, 100 first attempts

I thought I had desensitized her to about everything I could and now was the time to get on.  J didn't film the first attempt but it was about identical to this second one. 

This was followed by 98 more attempts with lots of circling until she would stand still again.  I never got on but she did start standing still for me to get close to this position in the stirrups from both sides. Every step has been a struggle with this horse, she gives up nothing voluntarily.  I've worked multiple times off a fence over top of her, with and without the saddle, even sitting all the way on her, but this was a slightly new position which apparently  required her usual over reaction. We may end up in Lexington with a very well ground trained horse that someone else can take and ride.

Sweetwater Week Six

Still haven't gotten on because every time I think I might I add something new that she then reacts to so the lesson is spent with the new thing.  Most recently, it was the reins going around her neck instead of through the stirrups like driving.  Around her neck was something new that she then had to get use to with lots of flexing.  

I also introduced her to Otoelene for the first time and ponied her around.  Have I mentioned how wonderful Otoelene is? 

Ignore the poor rope management at the end, could have been a wreck. 

Then after we mastered ponying inside, we went outside. 

 J has been walking up and rubbing her more and she is accepting of him.

She doesn't care too much for the bit.  I've let her just carry it for a couple of days but then yesterday I used it to drive her with instead of hooking the reins to the halter.  She fought with it most of the time, rubbing her head on her leg, pawing, pulling the opposite way from how I was pulling. but she finally gave in and did fine.  

Then she even got curious about other things in the barn.  Is painting in her future?

Sweetwater Day 35

Looks like ever day I work with her is a big day.  Yesterday was fly spray - great - western saddle - great - driving - lots and lots of work - and trailer loading - it was a start.

This video was after 2 hours of trying to teach her it was ok to turn away from me.  She kept ignoring the pressure on the outside rein and tuning to me which wrapped her up in the ropes which triggered kicking and bucking, which lead to the rope under tail,  well you can imagine.  She is getting more desensitized to the ropes every day.  I think I could about tie a rope to each leg and she wouldn't mind. 

Then since she did so well at the end of the driving lesson, and the trailer was sitting right there....I worked on that for about 10 minutes and got her on twice.  (Hard to take a picture in the middle of training so this is the only proof she was on there)

Sweetwater Day 32

Big, big day for Sweetwater.  She has been going to the arena to graze on a regular basis now.  I still leave the lead rope dragging just in case, but she has been generally behaving herself.  

 Then in the afternoon we took a big trip,

 all the way to the indoor arena.  This is about 1/4 mile from the barn I am keeping her in, up and down steep hills and through 2 large open fields and past Brother who is in a temporary fat lot, so yes, it was a big trip.

And surprisingly, she was quite calm.  I actually thought it would be a good time to start getting her to canter but I was only able to get half a circle out of her.  

 We did a lot of work with the tarp.  It took a while but she finally got two feet on.

 It was a pretty hot day so what better time to try out the water hose.  She did great with that too.

 While we were at it, let's use the official blocker tie ring.  She got a little agitated with this however.  She paced back and forth, tested is several times, rubbed her head on it a lot,

 then laid down to roll.  That was nice to be covered with sand right after a bath.

 After she finally accepted her fate,  she stood for me to comb out her mane, acting like a regular horse.

 I spent some more time desensitizing her to the tarp.

 She took a couple of spells jumping sideways, but was basically accepting.

 And of course what you do on one side you have to do on the other.

We spent about 3 hours in the arena, then back to the cattle barn for the night.  I might have a regular horse yet.

Sweetwater End of First Month and Other Things

We have had a busy Memorial Day weekend. 

Friday morning started off bright and early with Otoelene helping to gather cattle to work.

J decided to work the cows in smaller groups this year which has worked out well since Sweetwater is still in the cattle barn.

Otoelene was a dream to ride as usual.

The trainer I had contacted still has not picked up Wrangler after 3 weeks so I am having second thoughts about sending Wrangler to him.  His actions so far have been pretty unprofessional.  In the mean time, we are still doing some painting.

Then our saddle club met at a local campground for some camping and trail riding.  Friday evening we went on a short 1 hour ride from which Otoelene came back limping.  

Brother was a bit of a handful for J and he did a lot of weaving and circling around me to try to slow him down.  

There were 48 trailers and the campgrounds (6 from our club, the rest from out of state).  The location is made for about 15.  

J talked me into riding Brother Saturday since Otoelene was lame.  Once again, he was a handful.  He just doesn't like to be boxed in between slower horses. He did much better when I got him near the front behind the 2 TWHs.  He had no problem keeping up with them.  

With that grin maybe I shouldn't have left J back at camp.

Today, Otoelene is on Bute for pain, trim/sulfa (antibiotic) and an icthamol poultice (a drawing agent).  The farrier is coming tomorrow to pull her shoe to see if there is an abscess.  

 

Sweetwater is still making slow but steady progress.  Saddling has proven easier than unsaddling.  I wish she would just hold still while I unhook the girth and move to the other side instead of jumping sideways and dumping the saddle off.  She is doing so much better with the fence work.  Next, I need to start driving her to work on steering some before someone gets on for real.  I might see if I can find a brave/foolish young man to sit up there first.  

And today was the first day I turned her loose in the arena to graze on her own.  I've been worried that I wouldn't be able to recapture her so I did leave a lead rope dragging.  She didn't seem to mind the rope as long as it allowed her to eat all that grass.  And it was no problem just getting the end of the rope when it was time to go back to the barn.