Yearling avoids pressure by flipping over

[StarPattern]

Today’s update: The trainer trimmed her feet while the filly was tied and she stood calmly for the entire process. Before we sent her for training, farrier work was a HUGE trigger for this little mare and the trainer has been working super hard to correct all that. She started by working with her feet while the filly wasn’t held or anything, just looped the lead over her neck and let her make the good decision to stay. Once she was good at that, she introduced a helper to hold and has now worked up to tying her while being trimmed. Yay!

On the next bonus - my 2.5 year old went for saddle training last week and had her very first ride today. No fuss, no muss, no funny business. Just a slightly confused baby who was happy to be rewarded with a gummy worm for her efforts.

[StarPattern]

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Our little yearling comes home this weekend from two months of school. The video is of my 2.5 year old’s 3rd ride. She’s still learning balance, but I’m so thrilled at her progress. She hasn’t offered anything nasty, but does like to speed forward a bit when she’s uncertain. But she comes back nicely and softly.

[endlessclimb]

She looks great! The zooming stabilizes after they find balance, no concern.

My only concern would be what looks to be a tie down on her. Is there a purpose for that, other than trainer preference?

[StarPattern]

And here is her 4th ride - she had a martingale on the 3rd ride to help her learn not to toss her head and evade the bit. 4th ride, no martingale and she was doing great!

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[StarPattern]

@endlessclimb

My only concern would be what looks to be a tie down on her. Is there a purpose for that, other than trainer preference?

The martingale was used for one ride. In the previous ride, she was imitating a giraffe, evading the bit and turning her head outside the ring and then smacking her face on the posts. The trainer put a martingale on her to help her understand a bit better about bit pressure and how to give to it, and to prevent her from smacking her face on the posts as she went.

The martingale came off for the 4th ride and Handy showed that she understand the lesson and did not try to evade or look to the outside.

[endlessclimb]

That wouldn’t have been my personal use for one, but different strokes for different folks! All things considered she looks fab, and from your descriptions of her methods she sounds perfect. Your horse is beautiful!

[StarPattern]

@endlessclimb

That wouldn’t have been my personal use for one, but different strokes for different folks! All things considered she looks fab, and from your descriptions of her methods she sounds perfect. Your horse is beautiful!

I’m not overly familiar with the use of a martingale myself, but I appreciate the trainer’s experience and the reasoning behind it. It’s a good training tool to have and I can’t argue the fact it worked. Handy is a pretty smart mare and she learns quickly. Plus I like that she’s being introduced to lots of different equipment

Thank you. I’m very proud of this filly, having raised her from 6 months old. With any luck, she’ll be my Cowboy Challenge horse, and maybe do a little bit of reining or something too.

[endlessclimb]

She looks like she can do it all, and with a beautiful coat pattern to boot.

[StarPattern]

@endlessclimb

She looks like she can do it all, and with a beautiful coat pattern to boot.

I come from the Standardbred world of bays, so I’m still shocked to look out and see HER. She keeps changing colors too, so it’s been real fun.

[Demerara_Stables]

@StarPattern

Today, she’s on a trail ride - trainer is ground driving her while her assistant rides another horse.

So great to hear! Sounds like you found a wonderful program for her

[Warmblood1]

@StarPattern

And here is her 4th ride - she had a martingale on the 3rd ride to help her learn not to toss her head and evade the bit. 4th ride, no martingale and she was doing great!

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Why no loose rein or posting the trot? I think this horse would majorly benefit from both.

[StarPattern]

It’s her first few rides. She’s still learning balance. The first 3 rides had a very loose rein. The 4th ride, they were building on contact with the bit and teaching her how to lower her head when asked from the saddle so she’d stop imitating a giraffe. As for the trot, I have no idea. I’m sure that will come in the next few rides. If I had to guess, I’m assuming my filly only has about 3 hours under saddle at the moment between all her rides.

I’m not the trainer here, I was just excited to show off videos of my sweet filly’s progress on the heels of all the progress our other problem child was making.

[GraceLikeRain]

withdrawing my post. I sense feedback on some yellow flags is going to be interpreted as parade raining. Best of luck.

[steelerino]

The horse is at her trainers and she didn’t ask for training advice. Her filly is making progress why rain on her parade?

[Bluey]

@GraceLikeRain

withdrawing my post. I sense feedback on some yellow flags is going to be interpreted as parade raining. Best of luck.

Once a friend was whining about this and that.
I was sympathetic and was giving her advice how to better the situation.
She stopped me and explained, there is a time to commiserate, give a pat on the back and listen to someone stressed, a time when being asked for help, give gentle advice.

Works the same for someone happy with their situation, find something nice to say and congratulate them, and someone looking to improve their situation, then advice is indicated.

I still some times have trouble with that also.

[StarPattern]

@GraceLikeRain

withdrawing my post. I sense feedback on some yellow flags is going to be interpreted as parade raining. Best of luck.

Throughout this thread, I’ve proven to be very receptive to advice and feedback. However, respectfully, I did not ask for advice on how my Appaloosa is being trained. If she was further along than 4 short rides, perhaps… but they are still in the process of introducing her to a saddle, bridle and rider. She was only just introduced to a bit on her 3rd ride. I was simply excited to show off her progress to everyone who had spent so much time in this thread, offering insight about our somersaulting yearling (who no longer somersaults!). I was just proud to have my baby under saddle and trying so hard to be a good filly, that I wanted to share with everyone here. I don’t have a lot of horsey friends in my life and I was hoping that people here would be able to share in my excitement.

Forums like this are great for the most part, but sometimes, it’s a real buzzkill to post.

I apologize if I sound short or I come across as overly blunt, but it’s been a very tough week here and I’m a little raw. We had to euthanize one of our senior horses on Sunday (4th since October 2023) and my mom just had a double mastectomy two days ago for breast cancer. My nerves are a little shot.

[Kyrabee]

{{{{ StarPattern}}}}

[GraceLikeRain]

Im sorry it’s been such a challenging season of loss and family health concerns. That’s a lot of grieve to balance and I admire your ability to do so. When an update, even on another horse, goes into a thread that was a fully dedicated advice thread, it can be a hard mental pivot for the reader. I hope that both your little one and young horse under saddle continue to thrive and bring you joy. The little appy seems to have a really kind demeanor and a lot of try.

[Montanas_Girl]

@Warmblood1

Why no loose rein or posting the trot? I think this horse would majorly benefit from both.

When you are first starting babies under saddle, posting confuses them, in my experience. It is usually half a dozen or so rides in before I start quietly and softly posting.

[hillary_again]

This is such a success story. Thank you for taking the time to share it with the rest of us. I’ve learned a lot through following the progress. Kudos to you for finding a path for this filly. Hugs to you for the tough time.