Extreme Mustang Makeover Youth - Melia Gore and Disco: Day 30

Today we got to the ranch around 3:30 but didn't start work with Disco until we were done picking up some fencing from around the trash pile. When I got Disco I took him to the arena and haltered up Texas so I could swap out working with the two of them. I tied Texas up then went over and started working Disco, he was pretty loco at first but I was expecting that so I worked him for awhile first before we started some new exercises. My dad also trimmed him some today! He picked all his hooves but only his front left hoof really needed being trimmed bad so today we just did some on that one. We are just gonna do a little every day so he wont get tender footed and just working our way up to it. :) Disco was sorta confused at first and wanted to lay down... But that is pretty much the only thing he has done with his hooves being held for a long time. When he wouldn't lay down he acted like he wanted to cow kick but never really committed to it. He ended up letting us do it but we figured that we might try again after he had been worked, yeah that might go a little better. :) But we never did end up trimming any more so guess we will tomorrow! That was before I worked him so when I finished we all got our horses and worked on more intermediate! The first exercise we did was touch and rub, touch and rub nose, touch and rub poll, and touch and rub forequarters. He did perfect on touch and rub nose from the very first time we tried! On touch and rub nose the goal is t be able to touch is nose right about where the knots of your rope halter should be, and he should back up. I could already back him up across the arena so I went and got Texas and did the same thing. (of course he has done it before and has no trouble) I also went ahead and did the other stages of touch and rub since he knows it and would just breeze right through it. I then got Disco again then did touch and rub forequarters with him witch he also did no problem. But when I started touch and rub poll it didn't go so well... He would not drop his head no matter what amount of pressure I was using and to make it worse HE FELL ASLEEP!!!!! Some times it does not pay to be small... He would eventually drop his head a tiny bit ad I would release then try again but I did need some help cause I just wasn't getting the job done. So my dad came over to helped me out and we ended up getting him ok with dropping his head. We then moved on to changing eyes stage 1. In changing eyes stage one you make him move around you in a tight circle sorta like Circle Driving but without your stick on his neck and you face him, when you go to "change eyes" you step into his hindquarters and yield a 360 or so then step back, bring his front end through, go the other direction, and do the same thing until he understands and is doing it good and consistently. I am not to great at changing eyes so it was a little confusing for us both to do it correctly. We both had some trouble but at the end he was doing good. Then came Stage 2. Instead of yielding then changing directions, you yield his hindquarters, make a wider circle, bring his front end through, then yield his forequarters. He did pretty good at this first try but was kinda walking out of it so we had to go back, isolate the problem, then go work on it. Once we went back to the lesson he did much better and we went through that pretty quick. Then we worked on Circle Driving Transitions. You go just like circle driving but you leave the stick on the ground till you are ready to make a transition, when you are you put the stick in the air in front of his head and add pressure until he walks, stops, or backs up. He did not know what I wanted him to do at first but he it only took a few corrections before he would do whatever I asked. When we were done I desensitized him, did some run up and rub, and some more desensitizing to the plastic bag.. He did great on it all so then I took him back to his corral and went to un clog our feeder then get him some feed. When I walked up to him he whinnied to me 6 times! I love him so much and cant believe he was wild less than a month ago! Disco and Texas are the sweetest little guys on the planet!