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Diary of Trail Ride on March 20th, 2005 at Cottonwood Creek Stables
Diary of Wakefield Workshop April 30th, 2005
Diary of American Legacy Workshop Aug. 27-28, 2005
Diary of American Legacy Workshop June 10-12, 2005
Diary of Lincoln Workshop June 13-14, 2005
Diary of Cottonwood Creek Stable Class Sept. 24, 2005
Diary of Madison Clinic November, 2005
Diary of High View Farms Workshop, September 10-11, 2005
Lessons Learned at Madison Jan. 2006
Diary of American Legacy Workshop Jan. 21-22, 2006
Diary of Holstein May 2006
Diary of Weeping Water and BKT Arena Spring 2006
Diary of Sioux City 2006
Diary of Chance Ridge 2006
Diary of Private Lesson Days Summer 2006
Diary of Calamus Women's Camp 2006
Diary of Calamus Youth Camp 2006
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Diary of the Development of Mr. No Name
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On Mother’s Day May 8th around 9:00 am the stock trailer pulled into our driveway with a 3-year-old gelding Watch Joe Jack bred quarter horse inside. His coat was still pretty shaggy compared to my horses and the knots in his long mane and untrimmed hooves suggested little pampering. His ribs were showing but his belly appeared large making me wonder if he had been wormed. He had some hair missing from old wounds on his chest and on his head around his right ear and eye. The owners didn’t seem to know how it had happened.
Probably just corral mishaps or other horses pushing him around they seemed to think.
When they opened the trailer the whites of his eyes were glaring at me as he told us quite confidently that getting out of this trailer was a scary ordeal for him. The stock trailer had a very low roof and his head was so high that it was probably only an inch or two from hitting it. The teenage boy grabbed the lead rope and pulled on it trying to lead the horse out of the trailer, but upon feeling the pressure the horse immediately raised his head and pulled back banging his head on the roof of the trailer. Each time the boy pulled the horse pulled back but realized how low the roof was and quit hitting his head. I encouraged the boy to let the horse take his time and think about it, but I could see that the timing in the release of his hands was not encouraging the horse to come forward. The father was trying to move the horse forward by putting his hand through the slats in the trailer near the horses butt and using voice commands but the horse was just too worried about the step down to pay much attention let alone respond correctly. When the father said, “let me in that trailer I’ll get him out right now”, I quietly suggested that if they weren’t in a hurry to leave that we let the horse have just a little bit more time to figure it out for himself. I could see that he was trying to find his way. I politely asked the boy if I could try the lead rope. He handed it to me. With the proper release of pressure the horse began to move his back feet, and was really trying. Each time I saw a trying response from the horse I said, “See that! He’s trying, give him a minute he’ll figure it out on his own, we don’t need to force him.” Sure enough, in only about 10 minutes the horse walked out calmly on his own on a loose lead.
If I could help all of us learn one lesson that has immeasurable value from the previous paragraph it is that: WE SHOULD STOP BEING IN SUCH A HURRY WITH OUR HORSES!!!!!!
If we will just adopt the attitude that it doesn’t matter how much time this will take and reflect that attitude in our body posture it WILL TAKE LESS TIME!
As I was leading the horse to his new corral I was wondering how he would be with the squeeze that we were about to enter. We had to pass between a large cedar tree and dog kennel to get to his gate. I was prepared for the squirt through. In order to make it easy for him and to avoid getting ran over, I was moving at a pretty fast pace approaching the obstacles and acting very causal in hopes that the horse would follow my strong leadership, (because naturally being in a new place with unfamiliar sights and sounds he was on full alert and in instinctive flight mode). Thankfully he responded beautifully and we were off to a great start.
The next challenge was introducing Mr. No Name to the electric fence. I decided it would be better to let him work that out on his own. After taking the halter off and watching his typical responses to the shocks we I asked the boy what his name was. That’s when I found out that they have owned him since a weanling but still have not named him. I replied that he would have a name by the time they get him back. I also found out that they did a little driving with him and apparently have ridden him a few times and that he was not bronco. They eventually want to use him for a rope horse. My job is just to get him riding well, but they will get so much more than that.
I let Mr. No Name settle in the rest of the day and went out to pet and rub him that evening. However, when I entered the pen he decided that I was the boogieman and didn’t want to have anything to do with me. So instead of putting any pressure on him, I decided to do the opposite of normal. I went back to the house got a good book and a lawn chair. I sat down on the chair opened my book and began to read, ignoring the horse that was snorting and wildly running around the pen, thinking I was about to eat him for supper. After awhile he decided to stop and look at me. I guess he decided that I wasn’t as dangerous as he first imagined and he started to eat some grass totally ignoring me. The book “The Power of Optimism” was very interesting so I continued reading as if the horse was not even around. It wasn’t long and his curiosity could not longer be contained. He started to circle me getting closer and closer. Once in awhile he would retreat to a safer distance and then approach again. Finally he was sniffing my shoes for a moment. Each time he returned to me he got a little braver and a little closer smelling different parts of my body. I never fell into the temptation to reach out and touch him. Pretty soon he was trying to eat my book. I just kept reading. Once he just stood beside me politely with his head low and relaxed I let him sniff the back of my hand then rubbed his nose gently.
This whole process had taken probably an hour and by now I was freezing in the wind and went to the house to get a coat. When I returned the lawn chair was folded and in a different part of the pen. He apparently had a good time playing with it while I was gone. Good thing I took my library book with me, or it may have been destroyed. I retrieved the chair, sat back down and began to read again. This time he came right up to me politely touching my hand and so I quit reading and began to rub his nose then up to his cheek. We enjoyed each other for about another half an hour as I stood and rubbed his neck and withers also. Once in a while he still needed a little approach and retreat, but I let him have his needed space and I could sense that he was beginning to trust me.
I am so thankful to the Parelli program for inspiring me to try such imaginative approaches with horses. I am sure that this is the first time in this horses life that he was in the presence of a human being without having any pressure, poking, or prodding applied to him. The next morning when I went out in the coral he caught me with a soft eye and as he smelled the back of my hand I knew I had made a new friend and we were on our way to developing a relationship. I just pray his owners will be able to do the same thing for this precious creature without a name.
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