Yes, rugs on the hay field drying…that’s me!
Well we’re all curious about your adventures so do share if you can.
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I can see why you like Tovah.
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Tovah understands and follows instructions when i ask her to go inside the barn, or stay outside while i close the others inside so she and i can have some alone-time. I like to work with the mustangs where they have plenty of room to move off and feel safe from me should they need to. BUT>>>>> yesterday, Tovah put herself in the training pen (a 36x36 enclosure at the rear of the barn) after having watched me work with Steve, Rizada and Fae individually. And so i said to her…ok Tovah, you’re a big tame girl now. Lets go to work!
Work being: I have pockets full of carrots and alfalfa cubes. I bow, make eyecontact, and ask her to approach. She does. I reach for her, she moves off …i turn and walk away, she FOLLOWS!!! This is exactly what i’m looking for…her advance toward me. (We are not at the point in our training where i advance on her. And it should go without saying that i don’t pursue. I don’t walk toward her until she is confident and steadfast coming to me and until we have had good contact and i am able to caress her face and some of her neck.). So here, in this training pen, she comes to me, I stretch and hold out a long piece of carrot and she takes it from my fingers. And we’re ON! From there we move around alot, always me moving and asking for her to approach and rewarding her for coming and getting her to come and stay ever closer. By the end of our little 10 min session she was following me everywhere and when i stopped she came within 2 feet. Everytime she took a treat i said her name and “goooood” while she chewed. Now, all of the above has been our process outside …in the corral. The big difference yesterday was she put her own self into the training pen willingly …actually voluntarily! She asked for training! really cool. Only Fae has ever done this.
Here are some pics of a training session outside. Outside is different from inside. It is harder for her to approach and stay near me in an inescapable inclosure…it takes more trust. We never got to the ‘touch’ part in that training pen yesterday. That will take another couple of days probably.
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I’m in love with Tovah. I love a pretty bay! Sounds like you are doing great with all of them…from another person who has trained mustangs - you took on a lot and my hat is off to you! Sounds like you have a lot of dedication. So happy you were able to help get so many from the BLM and on their way to being gentled and trained!
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If this takes a long time using r+, how do you plan to do hoof trimming or vet care? Will you use a chute?
no, farrier will trim. Two are lifting their feet for me nicely. The four new wild ones are all together in a pen that i have placed large flat stones all around their auto waterer. They chip off their hooves. It is pretty interesting…their toes get long…longer longer, then one chip is all it really takes and pretty soon that first chip turns into a chipped down hoof. Things have gotten pretty muddy this winter so i keep adding more creek stones. It is actually helping my corral as well as their toes. If vet care was serious, we’d dart/sedate. So far that has not been necessary. I work fast to hook them onto my elderly sheep’s feed (beetpulp/alfalfa pellets/oats/corn/soy meal…mixed and hydrated). Once hooked i will feed them just a little bit in their feed bunkers maybe once every two weeks to keep them interested in it. And i use this as a dewormer vehicle. Not all of them get the same amount as they do eat out of common troughs, but…close enough. Not using Quest so…
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I love your pictures and stories. I wish I had known you when I had my mustangs. I might have kept them or had different results.
