Brutus Diary Part 2 :)

[kaykay]

Finally good weather!!

Brutus no longer bites or mouths. All that has been done is a lot of petting and brushing and working on biting during the cold

today i went in his lot and he came running to me. I patted his neck and then showed him the halter. He took off full speed galloping away from me LOL. Then he came back saw the halter again and took off again. Slowly I kept approaching him. As soon as he stopped and faced me i stopped. Then i would approach again. This was going well but then he had a change of heart and took off at full gallop again. I knew I could not leave without catching him no matter what. If I had given up I would have taught him HOW NOT TO BE CAUGHT. Kyle was on the sidelines watching so jumped in the pen. We made him gallop 2 full laps around a very large pasture and then again gave him a chance to be caught. Brutus decided no. We then moved him tword the shelter. Got him in the shelter and he cowered in the corner with his butt facing me. He hasnt put his butt tword me in months so I do think he was half afraid and half trying to be dominate. I had kyle back away and i approached him talking softly the whole time. With my hand i moved his butt/hips to the side reminding him not to do that. Then i put the halter on which he did not fight. Then the leadrope.

That was when the rodeo started

I just stood and held onto the lead rope and let him buck and fight the pressure. After about a minute or so he stopped and I asked him if he was done?. He said yes by turning and facing me

I then gave him the cue to move forward. Nope he was not going to move forward! Brutus is a big boy i estimate at 38" so if he doesnt want to move forward how do you make him? well i walked tword his hip and that got us moving 2 steps and he stopped. Walked tword his hip and got 1 step. I talked quietly and reassuring the entire time. I then had kyle throw me a small whip. I showed Brutus the whip and let him smell it. Then asked him to move forward. He refused. I pointed the whip tword his hip and got 6 steps. Repeated this for about 5 minutes until i got free forward movement without stopping. The entire time as long as he is moving the lead is very loose so there is no pressure. He then liked it so thought hed walk way ahead of me. so we made circles everytime he went ahead of me. He figured out pretty quick it was easier to walk with me. Now that I had him moving in a controlled nice way we practiced whoa and he did very well. Then we walked the whole lot and he saw some things that scared him and wanted to crowd my space. I got the whip again and used to blunt end to show him how much distance he had to maintain away from me by butting that up against his shoulder. Walked around scarey places some more until they were no longer scarey.

Rubbed and petted him and told him how good he was. Went to take the halter off and he head butted me

: So we had to start over. Kyle said "oh mom just take the halter off" Now if i done that I would have taught him that it was okay to head butt and that everytime he head butts me I take that halter off. NO NO NO. We made another lap around the lot and stopped again. Rubbed and petted and went to take the halter off. No head butting! So we ended there on a happy note.

Sorry this is so long but this was his first time with a halter since we picked him up so it took some doing for lesson one. This probably took 30 minutes. Brutus is 2 so I felt he could easily handle 30 minutes but i would not do this long with a young horse.

Hubby came home and saw brutus leading nicely and said it was like watching a kids first day at school when the lightbulb goes on

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[Mona]

Thanks Kay for these notes...I love reading them!

 

[chandab]

Hubby came home and saw brutus leading nicely and said it was like watching a kids first day at school when the lightbulb goes on

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This is so true.

Keep up the good work. :aktion033: :aktion033: :aktion033:

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Don't apologize for being long, Kay, you're doing amazing work! Also remember you could well be helping another horse and owner with your step by stpe instruction. Well done by all! :aktion033:

 

[kaykay]

thanks dimi! i read it after i wrote it and thought geesh im going into too much detail lol. Can you tell i love training horses?

I want to emphasize that i never hit or really even touched him with the whip. I only use it to create energy around his hip so he would step forward. I always try the easiest approach first which was me just walking tword his hip. But since that barely worked i went with the whip

The only time it actually touched him was when i was butting the big end against his shoulder to make it clear to him not to walk on top of me.

thanks for reading brutus's story

 

[Steph_D]

Actually, I wouldn't mind MORE detail. Maybe pictures, a cassette tape, a DVD :new_shocked: LOL, I need all the training tips that I can get

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Keep them coming. Sounds like Brutus is coming along nicely.

 

[kaykay]

thank you steph!! im telling you this horse is just so dang smart! we were going to work again today and i was going to have abby take pictures but now its raining

 

[alphahorses]

You're doing a good think, Kay! THANK YOU for putting so much time and love into these little guys.

 

[Leeana]

woohoo, so glad that he is still coming along so well. Hopefully i will get to see him before he gets adopted out. We're going to have to plan a 'play-day' sometime :lol: :lol:

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Im so happy that he is taking to his training so nicely!!!

Good job kay! :aktion033:

 

[maplegum]

Oh Kay, I have been waiting and waiting for your next installement! Thank you, Thank you. :aktion033:

I love reading about his progress, I am taking on board your training tips.

And no, it's not too long and too much detail...its perfect

Please keep us updated, I really do love this.

 

[AppyLover2]

I agree with everyone else Kay. I think your "diary" might prove to be invaluable to someone with less training experience than you have. And...that "someone" might be me.

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