May 3, we got to the ranch at about 11:30 and started working Disco at about 1:00. When we got there he was eating and had finished all his alfalfa. Since he hadn't been haltered and didn't know how to lead, we had to put him back in the trailer and back it up into the roundpen, he walked right into the trailer on his own! When we got him in the roundpen he rolled 3 times! After we let him walk around for awhile I pointed, clucked, and spanked the ground, he did NOT do what a wild mustang should do... When I did that... he started to walk towards me! So I had to whack him on the neck to get him to go out in a circle. Once I got him going he was pretty good, he had a very smooth trot and didn't want to lope most of the time. At first i would have to make him lope but he started to get the hang of it, I don't think that he does not want to lope because he is lazy, I think it it just because he is not used to running in a small area so he is most comfortable at a trot. When i asked him to turn, he did without throwing a fit. He was better on his right side than on his left. On his left side he turned much slower, but on his right he would turn a lot better. After about 30 min., I asked him to come in to me. He didn't know what I was doing and continued going the other direction. so i asked him to again and he did the same thing. Finally, I decided that I was asking for too much too soon - so I quit him on just giving me two eyes. Two eyes is always better that two heals, because if he is giving you two eyes than he is being respectful but if he is giving you two heals than he is being disrespectful and he can kick you. My dad says to think about the horses hind end as a double barrel shot gun and he is sure right, I would not want a 1,000 pound animal kicking me in the head or anywhere! But, Disco doesn't have a mean bone in his body! The whole time we worked with him he never tried to kick me, bite me, buck, strike, or even pin his ears! After that, we started to work on leading. We did not have to use the lariat because we could already walk up to him and get the halter on. We only asked for a few steps at a time and he did pretty good for his first time. After we got leading pretty good we started to work on yielding the hindquarters stage 1, in yielding the hind quarters stage 1 you stand just behind his drive line (his shoulder) and look at his hindquarters, if that doesn't work you tap the air next to his hind quarters, if that does not work you tap on his hindquarters, and if that still doesn't work then you whack his hindquarters. Remember there is no way that you are going to hurt your horse! Think about horses in a pasture, they bite each other for fun, they kick each other then go right back to eating, and they bite each other and them selves because it feels good. So when we started yielding the hindquarters stage 1 with Disco he didn't know what I was doing so I had to step up the pressure and had to whack his hindquarters to wake him up. after that he did much better After stage 1 came stage 2 which he did pretty good at, the goal is to take 2-3 big steps towards his hindquarters and have him give you two eyes. After we finished that we started lunging for respect stage 1, in lunging for respect stage 1 you start a sticks length away, point up high, cluck, swing your stick (without the string) towards him, then if he still is not going hit him on the side of his neck with your handy stick. Once you get him going in the right direction let out some rope to give him room to run. When you are ready to turn him yield his hind quarters (slide, stab, step, and swing) then rub his head with your stick for 10 seconds, then send him out in the other direction. When I started with Disco he was confused and started to go the other way, so I continued putting pressure on him and finally he went out in a circle. He was pulling on the halter pretty bad at first so I had to bump his head back until he had some slack in the rope. Then, I yielded him and sent him out the other way, he still didn't quite understand so I had to continue this lesson for awhile. When I finished that I started doing desensitizing with the lead rope. In desensitizing with the lead rope you stand at the horses shoulder and throw the end f the lead rope over his withers and back, hindquarters, head and neck, and all four legs. When I first started flogging him he ran away so I followed him and continued throwing the lead over his back. It took him awhile for him to understand that I was not trying to move his feet and that it was not going to hurt him but once he did he stood there quietly and lowered his head, I had to do it a few more times to make sure he understood the exercise then go to the other side. On the other side he reacted about the same at first but it didn't take him as long to relax. After that came desensitizing to the stick and string. In desensitizing to the stick and string you stand at his shoulder (don't forget to always have your hand op by his eye incase he tries to push into you) and start to swing your stick and string on the ground in a circular motion. When I started doing this with him he freaked out and started pulling away so I followed him around the roundpen for a few circles until he finally stood still and relaxed (5 signs of relaxing are lowering the head and neck, blinking his eyes, cocking his hind leg, sighing, and licking his lips. If he does not do any of these things than wait 15 seconds until stopping). We quit his day with those exercises so we wouldn't be asking for to much on his first day. We didn't have to put him in the trailer to get him back in his corral since we worked on leading but I did have my dad clip on the long line with the lead just incase he got away from me my dad still had control of him, Luckily he didn't give us any trouble. Once we got him back in hi pen we groomed him and put some conditioner in his main to untangle all his dreadlocks. he didn't seem to like the flies to much so we go the fly spray out, he didn't give us any trouble. At the end of the day we had four kids and 3 adults standing around him, rubbing on him, and talking to each other. What a success for the first day!
Well... I don't remember what lesson we where working on when it happened but when I had him on the halter he pulled me around the roundpen on my heals, knees, and then to my stomach. I did get right back to work once I got up but I don't think anyone will let me forget about it. :D
