Day 1 - She had previously been saddled before and ridden in the roundpen with an attached rope halter. That was about a year ago and didn't go very far. Today was the first time I began working with her.
She took a saddle well and longed very well. She is extremely athletic and that was demonstrated as she cantered with a pretty short rope halter with ease. She had very very quick direction changes while longeing as well.
Her eyes were very big when we started with her. The way she would lift her head when we raised our hands suggested to Steve and me that she may have been abused as a young horse.
I started the mounting process with Steve at the halter. First stepped in the stirrup - came out and rubbed her neck and awarded with sunflower seeds. Repeated. Stood up in the stirrup - came off, rubbed her neck, gave suflower seeds. I was able to swing my leg over, sit in the saddle for a few seconds, and immediately came off (and praised her again).
I was able to remount and ride at a walk with Steve leading. Of course I gave her sunflowers when I released her in the pasture (I'm a strong believer in awarding treats if you haven't guessed).
Day 2 - We saddled her once again and put her through some good longing. She performed well.
We used the bag monster to depook a little (The "bag monster" is a crop with a plastic grocery bag tied to the end). She did not appreciate that! At the beginning, I had her follow the bag. I shook the bag back and forth and pulled her along after me. This exercises confidence that she's (in her mind) forcing the bag to go the other direction. Once she stops resisting the halter rope, I'll praise her and stop shaking the bag.
I shook the bag in front of her until she put her head down and stopped pulling on the rope. Sometimes I'll let her sniff the bag and I'll rub it on her neck. Sometimes you should be very forceful with the shaking to "spook" her until she relaxes. Raise the bag up high, shake it under her belly, and shake it heavily over the saddle. Do not stop shaking the bag until she stops resisting. You are telling the horse that it's ok to be afraid, she just has to stand still. Remember, you'll eventually ride this horse and you want that horse to stand still when it's instincts tell it to run.
Once again, I rode Charbonneau with Steve leading her around the riding ring. This time we rode a little longer. She's getting much more comfortable.
Day 3 - I used the bag monster again. I also added a loud jug with rocks inside as a despooking device. This just gives a way to introduce other scary things, but still expecting the horse to stand still when scared.
I spent time with Charbonneau today. I didn't saddle her up, I just walked her around the pastures and pet her neck. It must have been an hour and a half that I did this. We walked to the pond and she drank some water and I just talked really nicely to her.
Charbonneau is a spooky horse, doesn't totally trust humans, but is warming up to me. She'll even hide behind me when someone is being loud or boisterous with their gesters. It's really sweet. Spending time with these kind of horses is very important to your relationship (of course it's important with all horses). If you can stand and relax with your horse for a long while, your horse begins to trust you and consider you one of their herd.
She does not like her feet or legs touched even slightly. Steve once tried to pick up one of her feet and she fell over. We'll work on that one day.
Day 4 - Again I spent a little time with Charbonneau, just like yesterday. We did some longes. Again - so much energy! It will be so great to ride this horse.
We did some "down" exercises. I held her halter at her chin and said "down" while pulling her head down. When she figured it out, she would lower her head with a slight pull. I do this to show them that they can relax. You can tell that most horses are relaxed when their head is neutral (not raised up high), so while they are doing these exercises around me, they should have their head relaxed before I go to the next step.
Next we did some neck-reining practice. Stand on her left side and put your whole left arm under her neck to be able to push only where the reins will sit. With your right hand push away from you where your legs would be. Pull her neck towards you while pushing her body away. You will naturally walk in circles. Repeat the other way.
We worked on some backing and I awarded treats. Steve held her halter while I mounted her bareback and he led her a few steps.
Day 5 - We began a unique training technique for horses: Clicker Training. We had a clicker tool and a stick with a ball at the end. We'd say "target" and wait until she'd put her nose on the ball and then click. We'd award treats directly afterwards. She did really well. After we showed her what we meant, we did reining practice using the clicker. She learned flexing her next very well because of that.
Longes were next. I longed her for about 2 minutes. I practiced mounting and being led for a while and then Steve longed us at a walk and trot.
As Steve stood in the ring, I would take her away from him so she could learn to leave her "herd." She did this twice.
Day 6 - We despooked a little around her legs. She does not like things touching around her legs and almost falls over when it happens. She was able to trot behind Steve outside of the ring as well.
Day 7 - We worked in the round pen mostly this morning. She did well. I mounted and we worked in a longe while Steve held the buckrein. Steve asked her to trot on her good side. She did great. We cantered for the first time and she took that well, too.
Day 8 - We did some serious depooking in the riding ring today. We used the bag monster and a gray tarp that we tied to the saddle horn. We had her run through two barrels that were close together, with the stirrups making noise, too. She never became used to the tarp, but she did all the other despooking well.
We rode in the woods twice today. The first time we didn't canter, mostly walked and trotted. The second time we trotted and cantered in a line.
Day 9 - We did another despooking with the tarp. She didn't really improve on that. I taught her to jump over a log. She got up to about 1 3/4 feet.
Charbonneau needs a lot more depooking work. We'll probably work more on that over the summer.