Malibu

Meet Malibu, the newest addition to my Personal herd! She is a  5yo Palomino Pinto Mare I adopted as a 4yo from  Palomino Valley Holding Corrals near Reno, NV. She was gathered from Granite Range HMA. I adopted Malibu and picked her up from Nevada on August 12, 2013. Special thanks to the Modern Mustanger and Adopt A Living Legend Facebook Groups, without which I would have never seen or adopted this girl.
Malibu is NOT available for adoption. Bookmark this page and keep an eye on our website for training updates!

January 2014 – Update

Malibu is doing great. She’s still apprehensive about being caught / haltered but once she is caught she’s great to work with. She LOVES doing the obstacle course. She even goes in the little kiddy pool without avoiding it. She is not crazy about the car wash though! We are continuing to work with Malibu to build her confidence. She is scared of people behind her. She had her first trim this month and did great! She is wary of new people but the farrier took his time and they worked it out without any problems!

December 1, 2013 – Day 112

Training Day 43

November 30, 2013 – Day 111

Training Day 42

Malibu is very claustrophobic. Even though she has lived in this bigger pen for a couple of weeks and goes under the shelter everyday to get water she acts like its going to eat her if I lead her through it. She tries to do what she is asked but you can see she’s nervous. She paws to avoid going through because she’s uncertain it is safe.

November 24, 2013 – Day 105

Training Day 40

Lots of fun today. Of course, I guess if you don’t have fun with your horse you are doing something wrong! A friend of mine let me use her good mare for a while so I can pony my mustangs. I haven’t been ON a horse in over a year! Lucky for me the mare, Butterfly, worked out great for what I needed her for! As you can see by the video Malibu is NOT happy when somebody is above her. I figured this out the first time I climbed on top of her corral panel to play with her from up high.  As I was test driving Butterfly every time we would get near Malibu’s pen she would run and  snort off to the opposite side. So…I decided to put Malibu in the sun pen loose and just see what she would think of Butterfly and I riding around. The pen is 24 x 24 but with no shelter to bang my head on. Malibu had no intentions on letting me or Butterfly near her so I went ahead and dismounted and grabbed the lead line. Things went much smoother from there on out.

We practiced a little bit in the small pen and then moved outside. We got into one sticky situation and I lost the line but other than that she was fantastic. After about 30 minutes she was quietly following the pony horse around the whole property, going over obstacles and even letting me pet her on her face and neck from above. I did some sacking out with the lead line from above as well. All in all a very good lesson for her!

After our ponying lesson I needed to do some ranch chores. What better way to desensitize to normal ranch life than to bring your horse with you! Malibu leads really light so I tucked her lead rope in my belt and commenced with raking, picking up baling twine, feeding the chickens etc. She took it all in stride.

Next was turnout time. My big pen is 50×50 with chain link and two strands of hot wire. Definitely not something a “wild” horse can go into but with the level of ease that Malibu accomplished all of her other tasks for the day I decided to try it. I’m happy to say it was NO problem at all. She zapped herself once…backed up a few feet and never did it again. Most horses run off and or buck the first time they touch the hot wire. Malibu, Nova and Opie have all figured it out really quick and just decided it was better to NOT touch the fence! Smart horses these guys are.

Malibu and I played some with catching. Also with desensitization to the lunge whip. All in all a very fun day with her!

October 12, 2013 – Day 63

Training Day 35

Great day for Malibu and I. We got a lot accomplished. We started in her stall reviewing lunging left and right, disengaging hindquarters, stopping and changing direction. From there the saddle went on. That was no trouble. This time I used a breast collar to help keep the saddle from sliding as it did the first time. Again we reviewed all of the above. She did rear a couple times but readily calmed down when I asked her to whoa and then disengage! She was really seeking me out for comfort when she got worried which I feel is a compliment. I love that she got scared and was looking for me to help her. Once I was fairly certain she was OK with the saddle it was time to go for her first lunging lesson in the big pen. I wanted her to canter.

In Malibu’s small 24 x 24′ pen she understands walk and trot very well but I never ask her to canter, its just too small a space. My working pen is 50 x 50 chain link with a sturdy post in the middle. I don’t use the post in the traditional cowboy sense rather I use it to ensure the horse can’t pull away from me and learn a bad habit. It works very well for me and teaches them to respect the line even when they have more space. By the time they get into the big pen that is a lesson they have already learned in their small corral so its no big deal. Malibu did so well in the big pen I decided she was once again ready to try the big out doors! I took her for a walk around the property and even tried some of the obstacles in my (work in progress) obstacle course. She did the “ravine” and the natural step-overs (aka logs) without an issue. She was very very good and never tried to pull away! We ended the session with a hose off. Today was the first time Joe had handled her since we brought her home. She didn’t give him any trouble which is a good thing! All in all a really good day!

September 29, 2013 – Day 49

Training Day 31

Started today’s session with Malibu by putting on sports boots. I was hoping my SMB 100’s would fit. They didn’t…this mare has HUGE bone. Luckily they fit snug enough to where I felt OK sending her around her pen in them. This video is condensed from the ~ 15 min we spent on the subject of boots.

After boots we worked on lunging. Malibu learned she REALLY does need to go out away from me when I ask. She has started to learn the concept of whoa. She is already pretty good at changing direction to the inside but needed to learn that changing direction doesn’t mean stop. We also worked on the concept that she needs to keep moving until I give her a signal to stop or do something else, that she doesn’t get to just decide she is done walking (or trotting) around her pen and stop.

Once we were done with our lunging session I worked with her on the bareback pad again. I strapped it on. She was a little cinchy so we fixed that. Once the bareback pad was secure I let her loose to do another mini lesson on moving around her pen. No bucks so that was positive. After the bareback pad I spent some time working on her front feet. I was able to progress to being able to pick out both front feet while she stands on a loose lead line. I only worked with her left hind again. She is taken to wanting to move away from me when I pick her foot up with my hand but she is OK with the rope. I’ll need to continue working with her on those hind feet. All in all a very good evening for us!

September 24, 2013 – Day 44

Training Day 30

Great 15 min session with Malibu tonight. We worked on basic desensitization to the rope and grooming. I also was able to pick up her left hind foot with no issues at all! We practiced with her front feet. She needs to build duration but she doesn’t panic or get defensive which is great! I’m also happy to report that her eyes looked GREAT last night. Still some discharge but the infection appears to be completely gone, the swelling has dissipated and the eye looks normal now!

September 22, 2013 – Day 42

Training Day 29

LOTS of work for Malibu today. Probably only about an hour to hour and a half total but we had lots of firsts!
First we started off with some cinch prep. I use a 22′ ring rope to loop around her belly and hold pressure. I’d prefer she doesn’t react to it at all. You can see her in the video trying to figure out what I need her to do. She starts leading a little bit from the barrel area. After the bareback pad I worked with her some with her front feet. She’s never offered to strike but she can move pretty quick when she is scared so I used the rope to pick up her feet and see what she thought about that. She wasn’t too worried. She made good progress but will still need lots of work to get her ready for a farrier visit!

After cinch prep Malibu got a break then we were back at it for the bareback pad. I honestly didn’t think my bareback pad would fit her. Lo and behold it does! This is the first point I realized I wasn’t really able to get her out of my space…I’ve done so much work getting her to allow me near her I didn’t school her on how and when to leave. We’ll definitely need more work on that. All in all the bareback pad was pretty uneventful.

Malibu’s first saddling went OK. Hindsight 20/20 I should have done more preparation work with her regarding being able to move both directions in her pen away from me. I’d done a little bit of work after shooting the bareback pad video to where she was consistent to the left but not enough to make sure she really knew how. She should have been better about disengaging her forequarters to the right as well. I’m not worried that she bucked. I’ve saddled probably 20 colts both domestic and mustang that I was SURE had never been saddled and have only had one mustang not buck at all. Some get more upset than others. Malibu wasn’t the worst but she wasn’t the best either. That’s OK. Having a chunk of leather strapped to your back and banging at your sides is scary. She’ll need to gain her confidence through repetition.

September 21, 2013 – Day 41

Nothing new for Malibu the past couple of days. Third time was a charm for fly masks. The first one was too small. The second WAY too big and the third one fits JUST right! Her eyes, especially the left, actually look worse than they did before the fly mask. I’m guessing that’s because the flies can’t eat all the goop. This eye issue has led to Malibu needing to be caught twice a day to have her eye cleaned, flushed with saline and antibiotics applied. She was also dewormed with a double dose of Ivermectin. The vet is 99% sure her issue is habronema of the eye. Google summer sores or eyelid habronema…I can honestly say this is the first time I have had to deal with it and I feel lucky it isn’t worse! I’m also grateful she is gentle enough to where I CAN treat her! Hopefully over the next week the condition will improve. If not we may need to start her on steroids. Any how…today was WAY too windy to work the horses..I did manage to get these pictures while treating her eye.

September 18, 2013 – Day 38

Training Day 28

Spent about 15 min just rubbing on Malibu this evening. Cleaned her eyes and tried on a new fly mask. This was an X-Large but different brand. WAY too big…probably for a Clydesdale! Going to try a Horse size in this model tomorrow! Love that my feed store is OK with the returns. Spent time just rubbing Malibu down with a rag all over her body and down her legs which she does really well for. We ended the evening trying on a snaffle bridle. Yet ANOTHER thing I’ll have to find in a bigger size! The standard bit fits but even on the last holes the headstall was too small to get the brow band over both ears! Next step is to continue to reinforce being touched on all four legs before I start asking her to pick them up!

September 17, 2013 – Day 37

Training Day 27

Review today. Haltering went very well! I was able to halter her within 4 minutes which is about 2 min off my best time! Pretty soon I’ll be able to just walk in and get her. Baby steps! After haltering we reviewed desensitization to the lead rope. That was no problem. I cleaned up her eyes with a rag and tried on a new fly mask. She wasn’t sure about it at first and was very skeptical of the velcro. After a little bit of repetition she felt OK about it. Putting the fly mask on was a bit of a challenge. She wasn’t sure about me handling her ears, especially the right one. I wound up putting the right ear in the mask without touching it and then she let me fold her left ear in without an issue. Turns out a horse size fly mask is too small for her though so I’ll have to try another one on her tomorrow.

We ended the night with a clipping lesson. I rebraided the top section of her mane and decided to go ahead and try to do her bridle path. The trimmers I have are barely able to cut through the mane hair. Malibu was very patient, never reacted negatively, and we were able to get a 1.5 inch bridle path cut. I still need to go over it with proper clippers but I was very proud of her being able to handle the buzzing and vibrations of the clippers without getting worried at all!

September 16, 2013 – Day 36

Training Day 26

Really starting to get excited about our training sessions. Today was the first time I haltered Malibu the normal way by having my hands on both sides of her neck to put the halter on. I’ve haltered her a handful of times before (I think 3 or 4) but always threw the halter over her neck so I wouldn’t scare her by reaching around. The first video shows me haltering her. I know she’ll get better with time but I am very happy with the progress!

After haltering I introduced Malibu to the saddle slicker. That was pretty much a non-issue. For as flighty and reactive as she was when I first got her I was sure she would be more spooky than she is. Turns out she’s got a pretty level head on her. What a difference the reduction in fear has made in her! She did very well with the saddle slicker and within about 7 minutes I was able to swing it all over her. I also let it slide off her rump and touch her front and back legs several times without issue. No striking or kicking. Really refreshing…most of my mustangs will at least initially kick at stuff around their legs. I was surprised that Malibu didn’t!

At the end of the day I clipped her muzzle with a set of cordless trimmers (the tiny ones). That was also no trouble. I was going to try her bridle path but ran out of battery power. Instead I decided to teach her about dropping her head. Malibu naturally really wants to have her head way high. For ease of haltering and eventually bridling and clipping I need her to drop her head lower. I started by applying pressure to her poll and releasing when she would drop. It was slow going at first. She had no clue what I wanted but at least didn’t panic. Finally she would drop her head and I would release. After about 10 minutes she REALLY had the idea down. I spent about 20 minutes grooming on her while at the same time regularly asking her to keep her neck level with her withers. I noticed a big change in her demeanor. She seemed much more calm and relaxed and less worried about what I was doing. All in all a very positive evening. Total time spent ~1 hour.

September 15, 2013 – Day 35

Training Day 25

I had a great time with Malibu. Sadly no video but some pics below for you. Started off on the right foot she let me approach without an issue to clip her lead rope on. Normally it takes 5 or 6 minutes of approach and retreat. That was exciting! Led Malibu out of her stall again today. She was doing very well in spite of the high winds, loose chickens, and neighbor making all kinds of racket on a quad with a barking chihuahua. That is until my dog came racing around a corner (chasing the quad). She bolted and took off. That left me with a loose mustang with 25′ of lead rope on 3 acres. At least they are fenced right!. The other horses immediately started in vocalizing their displeasure. EVERY other horse I’ve had get loose (mustang or domestic) runs right back to the “alley” where all the horses are so it’s generally a non-issue. Well the norm doesn’t apply to Malibu. She was worried about being “loose” but had no desire to answer the calls of any of the others and instead trotted around exploring a bit. She ran a couple times towards the fence line and I was sure she thought she could jump the chain link fence (6′) lucky for me turning was much easier for her. She didn’t run around as much as I thought she would for having been cooped up for the past month. Just a couple of short bursts and she was done. I was SUPER proud of her she let me walk right up to her and get her. She led back to the alley like she’d been doing it all her life. I opted to go ahead and put her away. With the wind and the dogs and the quad NON-STOP at my fence line I felt choosing a quieter day would be in our best interest. Over all I was surprised but pleased she didn’t care about the herd. She didn’t get upset, didn’t buck, and kept her composure. She had fun but never panicked. That’s a great sign to me that under all that fear she does have a level head.

I switched her stall to one that has a light so I can work her in the evenings when there is little light. For the first time in over 6 years I purchased some Laser Sheen. I’m normally not a grooming products kinda person but wanted something to help keep Nova and Malibu from getting so dusty / grimy in between baths. I needed to get her clean so a bath was the logical step. She was very good. I mock tied her to the panel and commenced bathing. I was able to soap her everywhere except her right hindquarter and tail. The quad was still messing around…my dogs still chasing it and she was to nervous for me to safely be on her “bad” side in a position that is uncomfortable for her. Why push it right! I realize I need to pick my battles and I didn’t need one today! Her mane and body came out squeeky clean. I got lots of loose hair off that left butt cheek! Once she was dry I sprayed her down. We’ll see if it does the job over the next couple of days! Malibu was very good for the entire bath. I left her “mock” tied by looping the leadline over the rail. She set back a few times but the line just pulls taught and slides so she never panicked.

As Malibu was drying I used the time to reinforce yesterdays lesson with the saddle blanket. She was VERY good and let me put it all over her barrel, neck and hindquarters. I let it flap against her front legs and hind legs and was pleased she never panicked, bolted forward, or kicked out at it. Next up was the pool noodle. That was a NON-issue. She didn’t care, didn’t even take a second look at it. She was in such a passive mood today I got the stick out again to re-measure her. This corral isn’t used as much and the ground is a lot more level. She measured 15.2 and a half – 15.3 consistently. This time she wasn’t even giving the stick the evil eye so I was able to take the time to get it and her positioned correctly. Maybe tomorrow we’ll do the dreaded saddle slicker!! Left her with her halter off tonight because it was wet so haltering is on the agenda for our next lesson as well! Overall a VERY productive hour and a half with Malibu today!

September 14, 2013 – Day 34

Training Day 24

Lots of fun this evening. We spent the first 15 min reviewing the last session and introducing the saddle blanket. Malibu is funny. I really like that she mostly spooks in place. When she is scared she has this habit of “bowing” down getting ready to leave if she needs to. I’ve had other mustangs do it too but never a domestic horse. I find it hilarious. It is great though because when she does it I know I need to be careful about not pushing her much further to where she DOES leave. As your watching the video you’ll see her “ready” her left front foot in preparation for darting off to the right. Silly girl! I used just a basic approach and retreat to introduce her to the saddle blanket. We still have a ways to go but I feel she made good progress for a 15 min lesson on the topic.
Summary Video
This video was taken at the end of the lesson on the saddle blanket.

Full Video

After this footage I worked with Malibu for about another 45 min on coming out of her stall. Malibu is super light in her pen to lead around. She’s been stuck in the same stall since she arrived and I feel she is far enough along to start leading outside. She is a tall horse and her biggest issue is she could feel her ears brush on the gate panel and would want to race backwards. We worked step by step for what seemed like eternity. Finally she gained enough confidence to come OUT of her pen. I have an alley set up to the mustang pens. I think she felt cramped because again we had to inch our way forward. It was getting dark so I just took her to the tack room and back. She was more confident walking to her stall than away which I expected. Once again going in her stall was very difficult. She set back a few times but eventually made it through. I think tomorrow if I have help encouraging her from behind we will be able to take her for a short stroll outside her pen. We’ll see how the day progresses tomorrow.

Training Day 24

Training day 24 was supposed to be introduction to the saddle blanket and / or saddle slicker. I started out by placing those items over the rail on the front panel of Malibu’s stall. She was not thrilled. Her energy level increased greatly and she was very jumpy even in reaction to things she is used to like having the rope thrown about her. We wound up having to use this day as a review. Full length videos to be uploaded soon!

September 8, 2013 – Day 28

Training Day 23

So far today we’ve done desensitization to a plastic bag on the end of a stick. I expected a MUCH bigger reaction from her and was pleasantly surprised how well she responded. Total was about 15 min. 6 min to catch her and the rest is on video. I’ll work with her at least once more today.

Second session for Malibu for the day was also about 15 min from start to finish and I’ve compressed it here to around 2 minutes of super speed. I have been focusing on confidence building with Malibu and lots and lots of friendly game. Getting her desensitized to the stick and string, weird motion etc. Up until today I had never groomed her past her withers. She did so well with the introduction of the plastic sack, even around her legs, that I thought she might be OK for grooming. I was right! I did expect her to jump more than she did when I moved towards her hind end. You can kind of see in the super speed video that she set back once when I initially moved towards her hind end. I brought her forward and she was good after that. I could feel unease in her as I would groom towards her rear so I did a lot of approach and retreat kind of inching up on that area. All in all I am very pleased with how well she did. We still need to work on the other side!

September 6, 2013 – Day 26

Training Day 22

Malibu and I spent about 15 minutes reviewing tonight. This video shows some desensitization with the stick and string. She’s leading very nicely in her pen but I’m not ready to take her outside her stall yet. I don’t want to do that and have her get away from me. Maybe in a few days. I might also use a pony horse the first time to give her some security. We are spending time each day reviewing and then, as time allows building on what she knows by introducing something new. I’m really focused on the review part because she is still very tense, apprehensive and worried. She’s not as reactive but still needs a lot of confidence building.

September 5, 2013 – Day 25

Training Day 21

Had multiple short sessions with Malibu today. Total time was about 45 minutes for the day. I haltered her today in a pretty new purple halter. She looks great in it but if I can get my hands on a turquoise one I think that’s the color for her! After haltering I had a few times during the day I would just go out and pet her. I still can’t just walk right up to her to pet her. We have to do a little dance, approach and retreat, moving her forequarters. Finally she settles and stands. I figure the more I “catch” her the more confidence she’ll gain and the less time it will take. We ended the evening with me catching her and braiding her mane. I used my rope at first to relax her. She’s very familiar with having the rope swung around her. Then I braided her mane. It’s still very dry so I’ll need to wash and condition it again soon but it had started flipping to two sides. I don’t have a preference as to which side the mane is on, I just like it to all be on the same side. I think she looks pretty in her braids don’t you!

September 4, 2013 – Day 24

Training Day 20

Spent about 15 minutes with Malibu tonight just working on approach and retreat / simulating haltering. She is apprehensive about being haltered but tries really hard to stay with me and I try really hard to make sure she doesn’t feel like she needs to leave.

September 3, 2013 – Day 23

Training Day 19

Just 15 min with Malibu tonight with approach and retreat. Today is the first time she had enough confidence to consistently walk towards me. She stopped just out of arms reach each time but progress is progress!

September 2, 2013 – Day 22

Training Day 18

Spent about thirty minutes with Malibu today washing and then brushing out her mane. She was a very good girl and stood pretty quietly the entire time. This video shows the first 5 or so minutes and is sped up to 4x regular speed so that it is only a min and a half to watch. I wound up having to wash Malibu’s mane five or six times to get the grime out. We followed that with conditioner twice. Finally we used conditioner and water in a spray bottle to get the tangles out. It was getting dark so I can’t wait to see the finished result in the morning. I’m betting she’ll have a super soft mane!

September 1, 2013 – Day 21

Training Day 17

Lots of fun with Malibu’s lesson today. She learned how to tolerate human craziness! Her leading is doing awesome and we even were able to measure how tall she is (15.1 – 15.2). All in all a great day for us. About 45 min total for the day.

August 31, 2013 – Day 20

Training Day 16

First 10 min of approach and retreat and we have the halter on! Can’t wait to get started on a leading lesson later this afternoon.

Part 2: 15 min leading lesson. She did very well.

August 30, 2013 – Day 19

Training Day 15

Lots of review plus introduction to fly spray. We also did introduction to the halter much like the lead rope from yesterday but it was much too dark for the video to come out. She did fairly well considering she’s completely at liberty! Can’t wait to get started with her tomorrow. I’m pretty confident we’ll be able to get the halter on! 30 min total today.

August 29, 2013 – Day 18

Training Day 14

Great session with Malibu tonight. The videos below show the entirety of the work we did. We started out with lots of review of previous lessons. She was GREAT today regarding disengagement of her hind quarters. I was SO surprised she just got it! We did some approach and retreat and ended with introducing a new object…the lead rope! Slowly but surely. I love how smart Malibu is but she is sure teaching me patience. I’d like to be teaching her to lead already! Good things come to those who wait right!
Part 1

Part 2

August 28, 2013 – Day 17

Training Day 13

Review today of previous lessons for Malibu tonight. She did great and is readily accepts being pet on the nose. It takes some approach and retreat before she’s OK with having the left side of her neck touched. We also spent some time working on disengaging the hind quarters. She’s learning quickly on her right side but we have some miscommunication on the left. We were able to end on a good note though! She was able to disengage twice in a row on the left side. We’ll see what the next session holds!

August 25, 2013 – Day 14

Training Day 12

Worked with Malibu over two sessions today. The first started as a review of yesterday but I wound up having to teach her to stay out of the corners. I have been allowing her to rest there and today she didn’t want to come out of the corner. Instead of allowing her to rest in the corner I asked her to turn in towards the center of the pen. The entire lesson took about 15 minutes and she responded very well. She was a little sweaty so I went ahead and rinsed her off again.

August 24, 2013 – Day 13

Training Day 11

Worked with Malibu for about an hour today. Lots of liberty continuing to ask Malibu to keep an eye on me and change directions to the inside when asked. We did approach and retreat with the carrot stick as well as a rope. Worked a little bit on pressure and release. Ended with some more approach and retreat. Today I was able to get within a quarter of an inch of Malibu’s neck without her running off. Baby steps and we’ll get there.

August 23, 2013 – Day 12

Training Day 10

Review with Malibu tonight for about 15 minutes before the light failed.

August 22, 2013 – Day 11

Training Day 9

25 minutes of work for Malibu tonight. This video is a summary of the work we did. Reviewed our lesson from last time on looking at me from her left eye. She did well with that. I moved on to desensitization with the stick and string. Finally we ended, after lots of approach and retreat, with my being able to scratch her on the left wither with the carrot stick. Slowly but surely we’ll make our way towards being able to halter her!

August 20, 2013 – Day 9

Training Day 8

Today, as promised, I worked on Malibu’s issue with her left side. The entire first part of the video was 12 minutes. I reduced it to around 3 but will probably upload the full, unedited version for those of you who would like to see. I start off with review of the “watch me” game to the right. This is her preferred side. When you watch the video you can see an almost immediate change in her demeanor when I get on that left side. She is NOT comfortable with me on that side at all and continually tries to figure out a way to get me back on her right side. I have found most mustangs to be left side dominate but have had a couple of exceptions. Malibu is one of those exceptions. If she’s gentled correctly this preference for the right side will go away. As you can see in the video she has already started to get the idea. All I did was consistently ask her to move off left. I didn’t care how fast she moved just that she moved. I allowed her to stop and look in as long as she kept looking at me with that left eye. A few times she’d turn in and move her whole head so her right eye was looking at me. That was not acceptable. It didn’t take long for her to figure out that she can train me to leave her alone as long as she looks at me with her left eye! It is imperative I get this left side comfortable just like the right because this is the side I’ll need to be on to halter her!

The last part of the video shows a little review of where we left off last night. Tonight I was able to work my way down her hindquarters. The video is dark because it was getting late. She did need to leave a few times but I stuck with it and we ended on a positive note.

August 19, 2013 – Day 8

Training Day 7

Brief session for Malibu today. Light was poor so I didn’t bother with the video camera. When I started I was going to work on her left side, to try and duplicate the follow me video. I stopped though because she is SO much worse on that side I want to go ahead and capture my work with her on it on video. That way too, if you haven’t noticed it in a horse before, you’ll be able to clearly see how resistant she is to have me on that left side.

Instead we continued our work with the carrot stick. She was very good and we made more progress. I was easily able to scratch her withers again. I worked my way back to the area a typical english saddle would cover no problem. Any further back and she really got jumpy so I changed techniques. I decided to try throwing the end of the string over her back. She was OK with the string swinging but once it touched her she was upset and bolted forward for a couple laps. That was OK, she never looked worried enough to try and jump out and I stayed in the center of the pen just following her. After about two laps she settled and stopped. I removed the string and she licked her lips. We repeated. She only got upset one more time and after that she was fine. No big deal she wasn’t worried. I was able to repeatedly throw the line over her back, hips, and buttocks without any reaction. She just stood there with a cocked leg. All in all a great lesson and it only took about 10 minutes! Can’t wait to get started with her on her left side issue though!

August 18, 2013 – Day 7

Training Day 6

Only about 15 minutes today with Malibu. About 15 minutes in 3 5-minute sessions throughout the day going into her pen and offering her a carrot using approach and retreat. This time I remained standing and walked up to her until I felt she might move, offered the carrot and retreated when she leaned towards it or took a bite. The first carrot took the longest as she was very skeptical. It got easier and easier. By the third carrot she would consistently take a step or two towards me to get her treat.

The video shows one of three evening sessions. The first two were equal length and both she did equally as well. Spent 3-5 minutes playing a game of “watch me” or “follow me”. Of course, if I walk in a circle around the pen and her job is to “watch me” or “look at me” then she only has one of two options if she is doing her job right. She can pivot in a circle or she can “follow” me. The first session was so great I left her alone after a few minutes. I didn’t record that one. Wanting to get video for the blog and worried it might be a fluke I grabbed the camera for the second session. No fluke, she was just as good! In our third session of the evening I worked again on approach and retreat with the stick and string. Finally she was comfortable enough to let me touch her ever so lightly with the frayed end of the string. We built from that towards finally being able to rub the stick on her withers. That was an awesome stopping point. The light is gone now so no more updates for tonight!

August 17, 2013 – Day 6

Training Day 5

Today I spent about an hour with Malibu. 20 – 30 minutes of video will be uploaded with commentary soon. Malibu hasn’t done any “sight seeing” over the tops of the panels in a day or so. She seems much more focused on me and what I am asking and less focused on looking to see if there is an escape route in the back of her pen! Today was the first time I felt she would be OK with me upping the pressure if need be. Of course I always watch and try to gauge her stress level. Had she started “star gazing” over the top of the back panel I would have backed off. Our lesson focused on three tasks. 1. A continuation of the “look at me” lesson 2. Using a little big more pressure to ask her to move and change direction to the inside while discouraging turns to the outside. 3. Approach and retreat with the carrot stick in preparation for touch. For the most part Malibu seems to understand that she needs to look at me and turn to the inside. I did have to get after her a few times for turning her rear towards me to make a turn to the inside. Approach and retreat took the last 30 minutes or so of the lesson that isn’t on film but its the same concept as the part that is. We worked to where at the end of the session she was comfortable with me approaching with the carrot stick and placing it about 1 inch away from actually touching her neck which was a great ending point.

August 16, 2013 – Day 5

Training Day 4

More practice looking at me today. I tried getting Malibu to take hay from me. This time, with me standing up, she was not going to take the bait. That’s OK. We have many days ahead of us! More reinforcement.

August 15, 2013 – Day 4

Training Day 3

Spent about 15 minutes hand feeding Malibu some hay this time INSIDE her stall. She was very brave and would walk up to me (with skepticism but still) to grab the hay from my hand. I even got to touch her lower lip a couple times! (EXCITING STUFF!! I KNOW!!) I do have video I’ll get around to uploading in a couple days if YouTube can lighten it sufficiently.

August 14, 2013 – Day 3

Training Day 2

Worked with just asking Malibu to look at me then releasing pressure. We did this for about 12 minutes and called it a day. I am still being very cautious not to push Malibu too hard too early. Before feeding time I offered Malibu a carrot. She was brave enough to come all the way to the front of her stall and try and take it from me. She did think it was interesting enough to try eating it off the ground. I’m pretty sure this was the first time she had tasted a carrot and she was pretty funny to watch. When I dropped her dinner in her feeder I decided to just wait by her corral and see if she would come eat with me there. She would creep up and grab a bite of hay then back up four or five steps. At least she was brave enough to come up! Here is the carrot video.

Full Length Video:

August 13, 2013 – Day 2

Training Day 1

Full length video below. Just trying to get an idea of what Malibu thinks of me in her space. After the loading incident and how worked up she was yesterday with me just watching at the edge of her pen I wanted to see what her threshold was for me being in her space. She’s comfortable, for the most part, with me 10-12 feet away. She needs to leave if I get any closer than that though! Didn’t do much with her except turn away to release pressure whenever she would look at me. Can’t wait to get started with the gentling process.

Note: Normally I wouldn’t consider such a short session training for a TIP horse…for my own horses I’ll still list these as training days. The fact of the matter is everything you do with your mustang, or around your mustang, is training. This includes filling water buckets, feeding them, and cleaning your stall. Each activity builds your horse’s confidence in you and contributes to their becoming “gentle”.

August 12, 2013 – Day 1

Pickup Day

Today was pickup day for Malibu. We made it to Palomino Valley Corrals just in time for my 9 o’clock appointment. Unfortunately this meant we didn’t have time to look around the facility as I would have liked. That’s OK. The paperwork was ready for me to sign and once that was done we pulled the trailer around for loading. Malibu was up first. The girls were already in a small pen behind the loading chute waiting. Malibu came crashing in, the first time I’d seen her in person, and I remember thinking WOW this is one HUGE mare! Before I could even think to turn my camera on she was already trying to climb out of the pen. I was frozen for a bit sure she would actually make it. Of the mustangs I’ve done I’ve never seen one try to climb out the way she did. I did have one mustang that got his legs over the bars a couple times but that was nothing compared to this mare. She got so far over at least twice I was sure she’d get out! By the time I turned on my camera she was already tired of trying and I caught one of her last failed attempts. I have to hand it to the loading crew. They just stayed calm and waited her out. There wasn’t anything they could of done to help her and it was best they just stayed out of her way and let her figure it out. She’s got the hide tore off her stifle where she rubbed up against the panels in her effort to get out. Luckily they are just superficial and should heal fine on their own!

Once in the trailer Malibu was like a ping pong ball. For the longest time bouncing around the trailer. Fortunately she didn’t hurt herself. It did take her a full hour and a half to settle though and that first hour and a half towing her we could feel her literally bouncing off the walls! Once she settled she hauled easy. In fact at a couple rest stops I went to check in on her and Nova and she walked up to the rear of the trailer on more than one occasion to say Hi!. That was a promising sign. Unloading at home was uneventful. I haven’t gone in the pen with her yet. She needs time to settle and I want to make sure she gets hydrated after the long 10 hour journey home. So far she is doing everything she can to both get away from me and pretend I don’t exist by avoiding eye contact at all costs. Even in the pictures where she is looking towards me she wasn’t looking AT ME…she was looking at the road behind me as cars would pass. Can’t wait to get started on our journey!

Malibu’s Stall Sign

For those of you that have seem my stall signs page, I had named and created a stall sign before I had even adopted her. There was just SOMETHING about her that struck me.

Here is her stall sign – if you think its awesome click on it to find out how to order one for your mustang! 😀

malibusign

August 5, 2013

Melinda Pierce was instrumental with getting the adoption through for Malibu. I needed a person to visually confirm she was the right horse at the corrals. Lucky for me Melinda was adopting her very own mustang and was willing to do just that. These pictures were taken by Melinda on August 5 when she picked up her filly Mona. Malibu looks great and I can’t wait to get her!!

January 26, 2013

In January Holly Bradshaw visited Palomino Valley looking for two horse to adopt. Malibu caught her eye immediately because she was so tall and Holly almost took her home! She eventually decided on two other horses but did get these pictures of her which she was kind enough to email to me.

Status

Adopted!

Details

YOB: 2009

HMA:  Granite Range, NV

Height: 16 hands

Gather Date: 

Currently Available