Training Belle

Tuscon, waiting for his turn to play.

We (a friend of mine is helping me do this) began training Belle, our Quarab (Quarter Horse/Arabian) filly today.  Honestly, she has been in training since we got her, but today was the first real "lesson" for her.

I led her out with a halter while Tuscon and Honey watched - wondering why Belle was getting such special attention and they weren't.  She walked nicely for me into the other pasture.  We used this space just in case she bolted and we needed to catch her.  I only had to tap her behind a couple of times to keep her moving.

Once in the pasture, we started with some desensitisation.  We took a carrot stick (stick and string not veggie), and rubbed it all over her.  We swung the string over her back and slid it around her feet.  She looked like she might just fall asleep.  We took a plastic bag and did the same thing.  No response.  Belle has been around lots of strange things from the day we got her.  The kids play in the field with her all the time, running, shooting her with the squirt gun, waving things.  She is not sensitive to things around her.  She is calm.

We then practiced backing up.  Using the halter to apply pressure, I pushed her back and said the word "back."  She took three steps and I stopped and praised her.  Then we moved forward.  When walking forward, I stood next to her neck and made sure not to look at her.  I am the leader.  She is the follower.  I need to show her that I have no doubt she will follow - I don't need to "check" by looking.

After a few steps forward, we stopped.  Then we went backward again.  This time, I stood by her shoulder.  She walked backward, but swung her butt out a bit.  We continued until she did three nice straight steps back.  Then she licked her lips - she was thinking about what we were doing.  I gave her a pat on the shoulder...by reaching over her back and applying a bit of pressure on her withers.  She didn't like it too much, but she'll get used to it.

Finally, we did a little bit of lunging.  This was tricky as she had never lunged before.  We created a triangle using my arms and her body.  One hand kept her head straight (with the halter) and the other hand pointed to her butt (to "apply pressure" so she would move forward).  As we walked together like this, I let the rope out a bit and created a bigger triangle.  The carrot stick became an extension of my arm and I was able to "push" her forward with it from behind.  When I told her to stop, I pulled in the rope and she turned to face me.  Beautiful!  We turned and started the whole thing in the opposite direction.  Remember, you always have to train both horses - the left side and the right. 

We ended her lesson on a good note with some scratches and a couple of real carrot sticks.

Tuscon was almost begging to come out and play, so we put the halter on him and brought him around.  He wasn't half as well mannered as Belle.  When we started some lunges, he didn't want to go in the direction I pointed.  He pulled back on the halter and tried to convince me that he was in charge.  Unfortunately for him, I'm a pretty stubborn gal.  He eventually gave in and went the way I had asked.  He had a couple more tantrums when I told him to keep going and to switch directions (although he did fine when I asked him to stop and come in for a scratch or a treat).  We only worked a few minutes and then I put him back in the pasture.  He'll be fun to tune up right along with training Belle. 

Honey didn't seem to want to play.  I gave her some rubs, but she was pretty content to just eat her hay and watch.  I will be bringing her out more often though.  She needs some work with desensitisation and a little more exercise.