Monday, August 6, 2012

Two Weeks Until Fair!

Okay friends, we have just a few weeks until we enter Marty the Mustang into the Western Idaho Fair!  I'm so excited about it.  I have entered him in Halter, Showmanship, and the Mustang Trail Challenge.  All will be held on Friday August 24.  I'm taking the whole week off to prepare us for it.  My friend from Austria will be here visiting so she will probably do the showing because she's had more experience showing horses then I have.  

I worked with a girl yesterday who is also entering mustang yearlings into the fair.  She's done it before and she showed me a few things that Marty would need to do.  Some of it's pretty easy, other things we'll have to keep working on.

But the best thing this week was I finally got him to understand the 'forward cue' and can make him circle on a lead.  Well, what I understood about it from yesterday's training was I am not aggressive enough when teaching a horse to 'go forward'.  That's why Bocephus walks all over me whenever I try.  But I had the trainer do it for me and then I did it afterward.  NOW Marty knows what's going on and today when I tried it by myself, we did it!  I still need to get his head turned into me and some slack in the rope.  But at least I got to the point where he's not striking or rearing.  Good Marty.  

So now, instead of him just 'following' me into the trailer which he does so well, I'm asking him to go into the trailer with the 'go forward' cue.  That's not as easy, but he's starting to get it.  Next step will be to get him to stand quietly before I ask him to get out.  He wants to turn around real fast and hurry out while I'm still standing in the trailer.  

And, what's so cool about training my yearling Marty is that my 'Chi' (energy) is working on Bo too!  I haven't had to use the stud chain on Bo to lead him for a few weeks now.  Both of us feel good about that.  And Bo is behaving on the ground like he's never behaved before.  I think he watches what I do with Marty in the round pen and then learns by osmosis.  I have to tie him to the 'patience pole' when I lead Marty into the Round pen because Bo will still try to eat him.  

Bo stays tied the whole time we're in the round pen and does just as well as Marty. Good Bocephus.

Last few nights Bo and Marty have both been good so they get lots of grooming and attention afterward.  Today, because it was so hot, we all got baths!

Marty does fine with the hose on him, but he still freaks when I spray the fly spray on him.  What's up with that?

So lets compare.  This is Day One (June 16, 2012) the first day I got Marty.  I hadn't even touched him yet.


Below is Day 52 after his first bath.


Oh Yeah, I see the difference, can you?  At least the white on his legs are clean now.  And he's starting to lose his 'pasture belly' just a little and best of all, he seems much more relaxed!

I love Marty the Mustang!

No comments:

Post a Comment