Taking Kai to the big arena showed us a couple of things. First, the good things: Kai is good minded, not inclined to buck or run away, and he has a curious nature, which is much better than a fearful nature when it comes to trail riding or approaching new obstacles. The other thing we found is the areas we need to work on with him- and that is his steering and softness in the face.
We were going to go to a smaller arena, but opted to just work in my little round pen, and go back to ground driving.
Well- I already knew that Kai does not like ground driving, but this time he had to suck it up and figure it out; and that's the nice thing about having a trainer work with your horse- they can get past the points where you get stuck. So thanks, Shayla, for persevering and helping Kai! The following video is a bit long, but it shows how Kai threw every evasion he could think of at her, and how he finally was making the turns she asked for. He still is not happy about that bit, and so there will be some bitting up in his near future.
That is Nitro standing tied to the hitching rail in the background, he got worked too and is coming along nicely.
Anyway, after the session with ground driving, Kai got ridden.
While he has made improvements, he is still not understanding giving to the bit and being soft in the face, so that will be the focus this next week. Hopefully we will also get him out covering some ground, probably back in the big arena. I don't really want to take him on trails until I know that he will go where we ask, when we ask.
So! What have we accomplished in 30 days?
I started out with a horse who had trust issues; who had learned he could that he could resist, and get out of work; a horse who had physical problems that made certain things difficult or painful for him. Those issues are dealt with, and improved. In these 30 days, Kai has learned to stand quietly for saddling, and, under saddle not move off until asked, walk, trot and lope both directions, is starting to understand turns on the haunches and turns on the forehand. He stops and backs up. Every one of these elements needs refinement and practice, but he has the basics now.
One of the reasons I blogged all this is so that people will understand what challenges a trainer faces with colts. I know there are a lot of people who get it, especially among my blog followers, but there are also those who think that if you send a horse out for 30 days, you should have a broke horse at the end of that time. Every horse is different, and many of them have worse problems than Kai, and many are also easier and can advance quicker than him.
I hope you enjoyed the journey! I'll continue to post his progress as we go along.
9 comments:
You have accomplished a lot in 30 sessions! Kai is lucky that he has a handler(s) that understands the variables and individuality that affect the learning process...
Very true! I did enjoy the journey and will look forward to more updates in the future.
You did great! All the time you have spent with him makes a difference. No horse is perfect..well maybe Beamer.
Saw a gaited horse most likely a Tennessee Walker today...about 2 miles down the road a new horse( They have money) facility was built. Too many gopher holes in the area they were riding..but what do I know. So it will be interesting...my husband said look at those pants..those are fancy riding pants...the baggy up from the knees kind...I didn't notice I just saw the horse:)
Thank you for blogging Kai's training. It's fascinating and in some ways he's ahead of my 8 year old. I'm looking up Western trainers now to see how that might help my horse. I look forward to more adventures with Kai, and Josie too.
Very true! Works the same for dogs, cats (although if you are trying to train your cats I wouldn't count on getting very far), pigs, goats, heck even people. And sometimes the animals are smarter than most people.
Water Girl- laughing about the cats comment. I think with cats, it's all about them training you!
How wonderful, and I sure have enjoyed watching his progress! You both are doing a great job and I am sure he will be a super horse when all is said and done!
he has come along very nicely after 30 days! many would have been still fighting you , and while he still needs to soften he isn't too bad overall ,I think you have done great work especially in light of the bad stuff you had to combat to even start
I think Kai is doing very welland you ....(both) have handled him accordingly.He is a lot further along than many horses I've seen..including my own in that time frame.It never ceases to amaze me how rideable and just plain manageable that cross is, too bad there won't be any more.Can't wait to ride with Kai and Nitro and (Jazz) will have to get photos of that.Speaking of the relatives any updates on Rio and how he's making out?
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