Hey Susanne, where are we going?

Freya – not so sure about things

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Umbrellas can be scary!

Where are we going?

In our last blog post, it was bitter cold. Now, spring has not arrived, but there are days when you can smell the potential of new life in the air. The horses are consistently laying down to bask in the sunshine for naps. Often, we have a report from a guest they are concerned that a horse has died in the field. But we know our herd – they are a relaxed bunch with no predators in the area. They enjoy taking a load off after a meal. Come April or May, depending on the growth of the grass, we pull them out of their winter “sacrifice” lots and back out into pasture.

We are also working on our summer mitigation plan for biting insects. Ticks and flies add misery to our Wranglers and horses’ lives. We try to use a combination of various methods to decrease the insect population significantly during spring/summer. We even purchase ‘good’ bugs to eat the larvae of the ‘bad’ bugs. Preying mantis love a good meal made of ticks. We also use tick tubes (toilet paper rolls filled with dryer lint coated in permethrin.) The mice collect the lint and build their nests with it.

On March 22, lil big Freya will turn two years old. This is a significant milestone in a young horse’s life. We will begin putting her through the paces of everything she will need to know to successfully be a working WSS horse. By working, I mean giving her a job in our the horse program. Her basic training is on-going. Things like ground manners, turns, picking up feet, ground tying, lunging, round penning, yielding to pressure in all directions, etc. All these elements are part of each interaction with her. The important goal is to make sure she feels like she is succeeding and wants to train. She receives lots of love, joy, pets, excitement and well-timed treats to let her know she’s on the right path. She does receive corrections at times.

An example is: Freya is a dominant mare. The (+) positive is that she is confident, the (–) negative is being pushy. A correction would look like:

Behavior: She shakes her head at me to push or drive me along. It’s natural behavior for her, but wrong for her with me.

Correction: I verbally correct her and begin to back her up. In essence, I reassert myself and ‘drive her’ in the direction of my choice. She accepts this quite easily and then we move to another training element as if it didn’t happen. There is never a residue of disappointment or frustration. That would not work. Each interaction ends with happiness.

So where are we going? Here are some of the newer training elements for spring:

  • Working consistently under saddle (even without a rider)
  • Expanding her UP-OVER-n-THROUGH. We’ve been crossing streams and puddle (she doesn’t like puddles) all year. Now we move to climbing embankments and walking bridges. It’s important for her not to jump
  • Total body control- being able to send her away or draw her to us with voice or hand commands
  • Sacking out- flapping umbrellas, walking over crunchy shiny soda cans, dragging objects behind her, walking through flapping tarps
  • Working on separation anxiety- transferring her loyalty to the trainer vrs. the herd
  • And not to forget, carrying a rider. But we are going to ride her from the ground until we feel she is ready to carry a rider. You can bet that those first few rides will be short, successful and the best party she’s ever had.
  • Speed control and learning the different gaits on command. And ‘ho’ is vitally important! She has to stop on command. It’s important she learns to control her adrenaline.
  • Finally, all horses respond best to love and gratitude. It keeps them in their thinking brain vrs. their instinctual brain. Horses learn how to learn.

We’d appreciate your prayers as Freya starts school this spring!