October 26, 2014

Worked with Fiona today on trailer loading. She is very trusting of her handler and loaded a couple of times without issue in the open but scared herself and bolted out. To help her learn to come out more slowly we parked the trailer in our alley and practiced loading her with no halter. A couple more tries and she was calmly walking out of the trailer like she had done it all her life. Next we practiced leading in and backing out. That was no issue. Check her out!

 

October 14, 2014

Fiona’s training has been coming along great. She saddles with no issue and we’ve even hung pool noodles off her and boat bumpers. She has still never found it necessary to buck under saddle. She picks up all four feet easily and is a pleasure to have around. She is still looking for a great home. Make an appointment to come see her!

September 17, 2014

Worked with Fiona on picking up her feet today. She could care less.

September 16, 2014

Another great night for Fiona. Braided her mane up. She was great for the spray bottle, no problem at all. After that I worked on saddling.  First time being saddled and she did great. No buck at all. Really happy with how well she has handled saddling. Bucking is pretty normal for any horse domestic or wild bred so I am more than pleasantly surprised that both Fiona and Ellie are doing so well with it!

 

September 15, 2014

Another great training session for Fiona. Tonight we worked on putting on the bareback pad. Putting it on and off was no issue so I decided to cinch her up. That too was no problem. Not one buck or hop. No worries she did just fine. Not one buck. Great training session. Video will be uploaded. Here are a couple pics. Doesn’t she look great!

 

September 14, 2014

Fiona had a good grooming session today and then time for work on the obstacle course again. This time we were able to get more pictures and video. She’s a nice little mare. Check her out!

 

September 11, 2014

Worked with Fiona tonight over the obstacle course. She is doing great on the bridge and will step up on the narrow side now and walk all the way across. She is doing good on the tire too. We introduced her to the mattress for the first time and she was great for that even though we were running out of light and she couldn’t see it too well. I worked on sending her over exercises vs just having her follow me over them. She was getting the hang of it after a couple of tries.

Fiona tied outside her stall today. This time tying hard and fast instead of using the tie blocker. She was great. As soon as she feels the pressure she comes forward. Still hasn’t ever really set back. All in all a great night for Fiona. Video below is of her going over the hi-low obstacle tomorrow. It was the only obstacle we could film before we ran out of enough light to film. Hopefully more video tomorrow.

 

August 31, 2014

Bathed Fiona today. She is super good for the water. LOVES having her head sprayed! Shampoo was no big deal. She moved a little bit to avoid me scrubbing her left hindquarter but got comfortable enough to stop within a few seconds. She stood tied for over an hour in her stall while she dried and never set back at all. She did paw a little bit but not too bad or annoying or obnoxious. After she was dry she got to try out a fly mask for the first time. Normally with our wind a fly mask isn’t necessary but she has some fly bites on her cheeks and face so the mask will help give her some relief. Usually the velcro scares them at least initially. Well not Fiona, she could care less!

August 30, 2014

Today was only an 11 minute session but I did capture it start to finish on video which I hope to upload soon. We started with review of the flag. We hadn’t worked with it since the last time listed below so it took her a minute to get used to it again. I wasn’t expecting her to strike at it! She hadn’t done that even when I first introduced it but thats ok, that is what ground work is for to get their confidence before you get on! You’ll also get to see the very first time I introduce her to the saddle pad. She’s never seen it before and never had anything but the flag or rope on her back so that is a new sensation for her! Easier to show you than to explain so check out this video!

 

August 27, 2014

Great session with Fiona. Worked with her on leading around the property and then did some basic desensitization with the lead line and worked on yielding the hindquarters

August 19, 2014

Took Fiona for her first trip to the obstacle course. She was great! Also finally got her mane untangled! Light was failing but here are some pictures for you.

August 13, 2014

Haltered Fiona and took her for a walk all around the property, at night. She was great. Even the dogs, chickens and goats moving about in the dark didn’t bother her!

August 12, 2014

Haltered Fiona and went for another short walk around the horse area of the property. She was good. Then I washed / conditioned her mane and began the arduous process of detangling it. She still has a few knots left but stood for about an hour while I worked on it!

August 7, 2014
Again haltering went well. I am very happy with the improvement she is making on a day to day basis with accepting touch. Once you touch her haltering is no problem. Since I had taken Galahad out of his stall earlier I decided to check out her leading today and see if perhaps Fiona could come out too. Sure enough she’s leading up just fine so we went ahead to try it. She seems like she is more skeptical / worried than Galahad so I had anticipated the same threshold concerns he has both with coming out of her stall and going past the tack room. She was really great! She had some hesitation but walked forward when asked. She should definitely be ready to try out the obstacle course this weekend!

August 6, 2014

Tonight was my first time haltering Fiona. That went very well. Once she accepts touch (which takes about 3-5 minutes) haltering was no problem. Continued working on picking up her front feet. worked her with the flag on both sides and she started out worried (hadn’t seen it for a while) and then remembered it wasn’t going to hurt her and stood quietly. We worked on sending exercise left and right. She’s still a little stiff leading but I think coming out of her stall might help that.

August 1, 2014
GREAT improvement today. The previous review session really took hold. All I did today was approach her and rub her all over her head and simulate haltering. Approach only took about two – three minutes and once that was accomplished haltering was easy. Also worked on approaching from both sides and petting. She was great today!

July 29, 2014

Worked on review with Fiona. Touch took about five minutes today. We had gotten that down to about one or two but with the time off I’m still very happy with her. Followed up with desensitization and leading. We ended tonight’s session by removing her halter for the first time! I figure I have to do it sometime and for her it isn’t about being touched on the face, head etc. She doesn’t care about that. It is just the initial touch that worries her, then she is fine. So I don’t think the actual halter will be a problem. We’ll see!

July 15 – July 29

A lapse in training logs has occurred due to me needing to focus on rebuilding the website after a major crash. Fiona has had a few training days since July 15th. Most recently she has had 7 days of complete rest from training due to  my needing to focus on other things.

July 15, 2014 – Training Day 5

Again great progress today! No flight response when I first entered the pen. I was able to walk up easily and grab the lead line. From there we worked on desensitization to the stick and string and leading / yielding to pressure. She remembered everything. We worked on approach and retreat as well. I was finally able to touch the left side of her neck. She is gaining a lot more confidence in allowing me to walk up to her.

July 14, 2014 – Training Day 4

Wow…today was quite the training session with Fiona. We got a lot accomplished. Today was the first time she didn’t feel the need to run off and take a couple laps around her stall right when I walked into her pen. Instead she looked at me with a kind of “what do you want” expression. That’s a lot better than running off! Worked first with desensitization to the stick and string. That is old hat for her already. Then I started working some more on turns to the inside and approach and retreat. Gaining her confidence with me touching her with the stick. With my hand it was difficult to get past being able to touch her muzzle before she would bolt. I decided to put my 22′ ring rope on her to start shifting the lesson to yielding to pressure rather than contact which she had issue on. We spent some time learning how to yield to neck pressure to the left and right. Once she understood the pull of the rope I used approach and retreat again to work towards making contact. She was much more relaxed and attentive the second time around. We ended the session with me being able to rub her cheeks, muzzle and the top of her nose. At the very end of the session I was able to snap a lead line on her so she can continue to teach herself about pressure and release by dragging the lead rope.

July 12 & 13 – OFF

July 11, 2014 – Training Day 3

Tonight I just grabbed a chair and hung out with Fiona with me in the middle of her stall. I sat on my phone for about 30 min while she tried to figure out what the heck I was doing!

July 10, 2014 – Training Day 2

Continued with Fiona where we left off working on turns to the inside. We reviewed figure eights and the stick and string. F iona finally allowed me close enough to where she would reach out and touch my extended hand with her muzzle. We did that a few times and ended on a good note.

July 9, 2014 – Training Day 1

Fiona and I worked on turning to the inside today and going left and right when asked. She naturally wants to stop and pretend you don’t exist so she took some encouragement to learn she did have to move when asked. She picked up on the turns to the inside after about 10 minutes and pretty soon was doing figure eights easily in one half of her stall. I was also able to touch her with the stick and string. We had a very good session!

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Arrival Day – July 9, 2014

At The Corrals