Horse Breaking Update: Our First Few Steps Today
There's little in life that is truly breathtaking... but this afternoon counts as one such example. Many of you will know that @beulinator and I are breaking in our mare. We're taking it very slowly and are using kindness and respect over speed and force. The results have far exceeded our expectations every step of the way.
This afternoon we did another session with Nayyerah. She was indescribably cooperative. She allowed me to mount her 4 times. 2 on each side. We train for symmetry so that you can do everything on the offside that you can do on the on side. This is only her second time being mounted. The very first mount was only a week ago or so and we videoed it for posterity.
The impressive take away today was we did some walking with her! I made a clicking sound from her back as we do when leading her and she started walking as she would being lead from the ground. No foot tapping required at all! She walked well under load and even stopped with a verbal command and a small pull on the halter (we only use halters, no bits, they are pain compliance tools - look at what's achievable without pain!)
So again she's blown us away. There's no way you'd pick her as having only walked under saddle for the first time. What's very rewarding is when we took all the tack off her she just started grazing. No running away, no bucking, she just hung around.
She's going to be amazing on the trails I think. That may be closer than we think. We've got the space here to get her some experience in a controlled environment but then we'll likely take her to a trail and put her behind our experienced horse, Scarab, as a speed regulator. Exciting!
For me this is one of those undertakings that I'll take pride in for the rest of my days. On my death bed I'll be able to say that I taught a horse to calmly take a rider and subsequently enjoy fun together on outings; something not many would be able to say. The effort and time required is immense but the rewards are money-can't-buy stuff.
Stay tuned for more updates!
You've done really awesome work with her :D
It's looking much less likely these days but if we ever did ponies I know who to ask for help from ;D (and also who to recommend if anyone ever needs help working with horses).
What a wonderful compliment @ryivhnn, thank you! I'd be happy to provide assistance where possible. We'll likely saddle her up today again and see what we can achieve. It's starting to get exciting, but still comes with a sense of apprehension. The calm environment we've created doesn't entirely remove the danger inherent in working with such large and fast animals, so fingers crossed!
That is a milestone! Y'all are going to have some amazing adventures!
Hey @aunt-deb. Thanks again for your reliable and supportive comments. It's feeling exciting now. What once seemed so far away at the time when I didn't feel comfortable even entering the paddock she was held in now seems within grasp.
We plan to do another session with her today; perhaps we can walk a little more to get her more of the feel and practice some stopping and turning. Fingers crossed!
You're welcome! I'm thoroughly enjoying watching the process and the results you're getting. She's figured out it's teamwork and that it's worth the effort. That's a pretty potent combo!
Very nic post
Interesting!
How did you first start learning to train a horse? Through experience or just research? I hope to have one of my own some day but will be volunteering at a friend's farm this year to gather experience. I doubt they will have me doing any kind of training though and I'm very interested to learn how one begins. Especially in this manner of respect and not violence.