The Good Sentinel Tori

 Yesterday Kai was laying down in the pen. Tori and I went in to see if we could hang out near her without disturbing her. Kai was at the higher area (where she rolls) and Tori and I went into the shed at the lower area. I began sweeping hay, and Tori casually decided to go up by Kai. 

In herds there is often one (or more) horse(s) that stand "guard" while others lay down to rest. It was like Tori knew this and went to be the sentinel. 

I cut out a few minutes of video because Tori was there so long... just hanging out and looking out!

As Tori hung out, Kai got more comfortable (or tired) and eventually let her nose drop into the sand, then went all-out and lay on her side. And Tori remained. 

Tori continues to impress me with all her "skills", loyalty, focus, playfulness and humor (total clown at times). So glad we made it through those tough first 2-3 years and she is just now THE BEST!!

The final result!!

The Honeymoon is Over

It's time for me to bring on outside help! We have been pretty successful with a lot, but I know I am not clear enough in my direction at times. I always figured I'd have a professional come on board - we moved forward so fast that I hadn't anticipated it would be so soon, but all the better!... Now I am super-looking forward to it! The trainer has been a Mustang Makeover top ten finalist twice (out of two entries) and is about an hour from me.

I want to note that I do get "afraid" when trying to get to her hind feet. I have not posted the bucking and rearing. It can be intimidating indeed.

Also, she will, at some point, need a trim, and my trainer Kelby will do that in addition to covering all the "regular" skills Kai will need as a domestic horse.

So Yay us!! I think this is a timely and smart move. I feel bad for Kai stuck in this small pen, and being alone for so long. She will have a great experience for her (likely 30-day) stint at Kelby's. 

Meanwhile we continue to work on the same as what I have posted previously; now it's standing tied, and tasting my tools.

I Can't Wait to Go Have Adventures!

Kai is more curious than afraid (but mostly doesn't care about a lot). This bodes well for doing things like obstacles (well, and everything really). Here are some fun vids of us playing around. The third is kind of funny.

More Feet Stuff

She definitely prefers my hand over the rope.  So I am working with hands up front. She's fairly willing; gets a little paw-y, but I tried to keep the foot up and then place it forward. Don't want it placed back (like an evasion), but after I get it forward she brings it back anyway. At least she is not making a giant effort to go backward.

Now the back where I am using a rope.... See the kicking out! Trying to 1) get her used to pressure, 2) hold for a millisecond?? then let foot down ahead as in a step as opposed to behind. At about 1:02 I reward her since she just lifted and dropped forward rather than kicked. But it was a millisecond.

(Apologies for a long wait period here)... She's still not used to it. This video doesn't show much beyond some of the general difficulties in getting a horse to lift its hoof - and let you mess with it!

 

Still Working on moving FORWARD!

Having trouble with getting her to step forward rather than trying to face me. I especially have trouble when using the lead line. I had a trainer over last week (more on that later hopefully) - she did it just fine, and a friend also tried and did it fine! In my defense, Kai knows me well and wants to be with me. She is used to me asking her to come TO me, not away from. These others presented her with a little fear and apprehension: way easier to get her to keep her distance!

Nonetheless, I need to get this CLEAR. First video is an example of my typical problem. In second video I backtrack a bit and begin leading her. Mildly successful at :50 but I feel like I am chasing her.

Third video I finally resort to removing the line and just going at liberty; it feels much more successful.

In this third video you can see how "sticky" she is! I am tapping her hip, asking (i.e., being annoying - rather than amplifying the tapping), until almost 30 seconds and I decide to amp it up, tap her back hip and she moves off (somewhat reluctantly and a bit pissy!). Also I don't care much if she trots vs walks. I just want her to get clear on forward.

Just Hangin' Out With The Girls

 Rain ALL DAY. I feel bad for Kai. She is clearly settled in because she appears really bored, from my assessments, and the rain makes it worse.

Tori and I just hung out to give her a little company. But mostly I am feeling bad....

At least Tori goes with the flow quite well.

Higher Energy, My Shortcomings, and Keeping things Calm.

About two weeks ago I was trying out some "driving" with her, trying to get her moving with higher energy (I did our first session with this 10/29; posts below). Mostly I wanted to see just how she is with higher energy, how deep into it she gets, how easy it is to bring back down, etc. In the process, that second time, she got frustrated, kicked at me and broke my larger flag. That intimidated me... so I hadn't tried again until now. 
In the first video, I am asking her to move around me. We had a few “runs” before this off-camera and she was “escaping” into the shed… then would fly out bucking and tantrum-ing!…(which was kind of funny esp. after she kind of volunteered to do it and seemed proud of herself after!). For this one though she decided not to escape as much into the shed. She is sorting out what I am asking; her snorting I take as frustration and protest because I am asking for more, and she is not sure just what that is.

I don’t WANT to expose my embarrassingly lame moments, but I am showing it all here… 
Maybe it is since I got run over by an abused and unfortunately psychotic rescue horse in 2019 that I admit I can get afraid or uncertain at times. And you can’t be that if you want to show your leadership.

She challenges me a bit at :22 (bucking with feet toward me), then gets even closer at :22-:25 … this is where I allowed her to intimidate me and I shrink back a bit… Thus for my own confidence (and safety?!) I should get a new larger flag. However I think we worked through it a bit and in the following video she keeps the energy lower with less frustration. And we are both happier and calmer!

Now she is understanding a bit more. Her blinking around :38 is either processing... or watching all the flies (sorry about that)!!. We are done at 1:08 - after that it is all just me scratching and rewarding. Feel free to stop watching!

I want to mention that the POINT OF ALL THIS for me, at THIS time, is to show her that we can escalate in energy, but we can also bring it all back down. That is the important thing. Just as horses learn from the release (not the pressure), they feel safe when they know that in a high-alert or high-energy situation, their leader will bring it back down.

I apologize for not trimming out the last minute-plus of this. But, this is what we do outside of the "work" :-)

Kai and Tarp

She is not a fearful horse, that is clear. 

I didn't have the phone angled enough so that you could see the wooden pedestal I made. At :22-:26 she goes over it. At 1:11 she misses, and at 1:26 goes back to step on it (well, mostly).

My RA (Deformities, Accommodating and Tolerating)

It wasn't a simple or fast decision to go forward in my life with a horse... let alone an untouched wild one. 

I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis just after turning 36. Life then took a 180º turn. Since that time it has been pain, inconvenience, sometimes misery, a ton of introspection and evaluation, and a lot of acceptance and tolerance. Oh, and a lot of drugs.

In the big picture I very much appreciate its showing up in my life. But that is another blog.

As said in the last post, I have started trying a little Masterson Method (Jim Masterson). I love it and need to review much more... what I am doing is no doubt a poor example but it has seemed fairly effective so far. Karen Rohlf also uses some wonderful concepts such as moving massage that I plan to incorporate.

I was trying some of this on Kai and as SO OFTEN happens, I could not use my hand as you are "supposed" to. See pic. My wrist is a straight line; my brain is telling it to flex back but it simply mechanically can not. So I can't place a flat palm on anything. The palm is often the best part of your body to use to exert a feeling or energy. It is terribly frustrating for me that I have to use the back sides of my hands and fingers... but that is the deal! Do not mean to complain, it is simply an observation and a slight amusement. Like my decision to "go for it" with the horse itself, you have to go for it - in spite of all of life's bumps in the roads. ...I am trying!!

As far as I can bend back!!

At least I have a hand... and can accommodate..

I can't be too upset since doing this a few times on each side seemed to put her to sleep.

Using the Rope/stick to Acclimate to Feet Being Touched; Beginning Lifting

 You can see Kai is pretty chill overall (I am considering the possibility that she is really not that tuned in. Will look into it). I want her relaxed (but tuned in) and am starting to throw in some Jim Masterson-type technique (he has excellent DVDs and books on massage and body stuff). I have not looked at it in years but at around 1:30 in the video you see my hand stop at a place low on her neck until she drops her head. Unfortunately in this instance she also decided to walk off (so it was not 100% effective!), but she has been quite receptive to some of the touch methods.

This video is from a few days ago. We are continuing work with feet and legs. I got her to lift with pressure... but then yesterday we went back a few steps as I went too far past threshold; she had the rope at her fetlock, but then walked off. Then licked and chewed.... I just taught her to walk off when the rope is at her legs. 😞

That isn't what happened here but here we hadn't gotten as far in this vis as to have her lift her leg with slight pressure from the rope. We are simply working on keeping the rope in place on the leg (at fetlock).

Bag and Carrots

 The rustling of a plastoic bag can be a source of TERROR for horses. 

This was an opportunity to introduce her to the sound of a plastic bag and the sound it makes.

She wasn't fazed.

Next we worked with the rope/stick. As usual, trying to allow her time to process what it is and even though it's weird, it can be a good thing.  At :55 she alerts; it's a neighbor walking by. Always good to try and show the horse that you see what they see if not more, and that you are on guard.

Much of the second half is me asking her to move back. It's essential that she understand there are boundaries. She does not know she is 7-8X my weight and athletic prowess! I am still working on getting clearer.

More rubbing with the stick. And the release touch - I will bring up in next post.

A NEW THING!! How Exciting (not)

 Kai the Mustang and a NEW thing!!

So blasé!! Bored may be a better term.

Starting Rope Work (using line of lunge whip)

I started with just the rope portion of the whip. I thought a great idea since the rather-long whip itself is easy to confuse with a driving aid... More on this in another post (it is so fascinating to observe how INTENT makes so much difference in what the horse "hears" from you. Intent is important! Horses can be extremely intuitive and they seem to read intent much more clearly that we do!).

She does well with it and I'll continue work with this as well as my hands up and down the legs.
Then, just when she figures out we want her to keep her legs in place while they are being touched, she has to learn to NOT keep them in place and lift when asked! Understandably confusing!
The next challenge will be whether to use a line or rope to bring a foot up - or my hands.

Advances in Touching Hind Legs

Some people use ropes or a long lead line to get mustangs or untrained horses accustomed to their legs and feet being touched (and eventually picked up). Thus far I am having more success with my own hands. She is generally more skittish with the lead line or rope on her legs. Having said that, I also see that I need to work on that at the same time - I would like her to be comfortable with all of it. This requires attention to the horse's attitude since your body/head are down there closer to thew potential source of a kick.

You can see at 1:10 I hit her threshold (her left front leg) but then after that she allowed me to linger at the knee a bit longer. She's quite good at 1:44, but then gives me a warning when I go deeper, with her head checking with me, I ignored it so up the leg goes. I then give us a pause... Wait for her to take a step toward me (which I use as indication that she is ready again), and I go in.... this time (2:14-2:22) she allows me to not only stay there but even scratch a little. Notice when I go just below the knee she again gets concerned (her head coming around to check with me, but she doesn't lift; I immediately take my hand away as reward.

I am also starting to work with the lunge whip in getting her used to the feel of things all over her. Next post!

Maybe Not a "Pleasure Horse" ...but She IS a Pleasure!

I'm way behind with posting again; doesn't take much. 

Here are a few vids from last couple days. Just reinforcing what we've been doing (getting comfortable being touched all over and the concept that I am a good place to be). 

Here and there working my way down her legs as well.