Silly Distractions

Well, in the last few weeks a lot has changed! We welcomed little Tango into the world (see his very own album for TONS of cute baby pictures!), Gypsy has learned how to be a great mom, and I have changed work schedules, which allows me more time in the evening to work with Gypsy (and now Tango!).

This week, we have been working on more lead training, and desensitizing! She has learned how to give to pressure pretty well, though she still has her stubborn moments that we work through. Now, my favorite part comes up. Desensitize to ALL of the things!

You’ll get to watch me make a fool of myself in the video below, as well as Tango, dancing around and playing.

Gypsy truly has changed after the birth of Tango. Before, she was feisty and willing to push my buttons a little bit, and was a little uneasy and overbearing to new people. Now, she’s as cool as a cucumber, significantly less spooky, and much more willing. I’ll be very interested to see if this is just new mom sleep deprivation, or if it is long lasting.

Enjoy the video below!

Under pressure

It’s been a while! Let’s update you on some things.

First and foremost: Gypsy is confirmed to be pregnant. She is due any day now, so keep an eye out for a TON of baby pictures and posts, as this blog will feature training for Gypsy and her little baby as well. Baby will not be going anywhere and will stay with us for it’s entire life. It works out perfectly because while Chief and Scarlett do not act their age (21 and 26 respectfully), a time will come when they will no longer be rideable. So having two young, strong and well sized horses to replace them will mean less stress and heartache when that time comes.

Now, onto more exciting updates!

Gypsy is easily haltered but was still very nervous about the lead rope. Understandable, as it’s foreign to her and things other than my hands or grooming equipment touching her can be scary.

With guidance from my farrier, I have stated having Gypsy learn to yield to pressure using the lead rope. As you’ll see in the video linked below, this doesn’t always mean actual pressure. This can mean me just looking at her hip and swinging the end of the lead rope as encouragement. You should know, nothing I do will ever be to harm any of my animals. The “thwap” you hear in the video is just the leather straps on the end of the lead rope slapping together to make noise. It' acts as a form of pressure other than just physical touch.

To start off, I just wanted her to yield to me pulling on her head with the lead rope. Giving to that pressure. This means that as SOON as I feel her head drop even the slightest amount, I lighten my grip and take that pressure off. While initially this is just teaching her how to lead, this will eventually mean that when it comes time to ride, she will understand that when I squeeze with my legs, that means go forward. I stop squeezing when she moves. Essentially, I am teaching her the first part of the equation of 1+1 =2. The better foundation you set up with “basic” behaviors, will set you up for success when it comes time to start doing the tricky stuff….or algebra. ;)

Next, I wanted her to yield her hindquarters away from me. I want her to learn the difference between my queue of “Pick up your foot” and “Move your booty”. So instead of running my hand down her leg like I do when I go to pick it up, I just look at her hip. I increase the pressure (in this case, using my hands will send mixed messages, so I don’t use them…instead I use the lead rope) until she does what I ask, then reward by removing the pressure.

Please enjoy the video below and as always, stay tuned for more! This smart cookie is proving to be wonderful to train and I can’t wait to work with her more.

Wide Open Spaces.

It’s been a while since I have been able to sit down and write about my progress with Gypsy. While I continue to work with her on being comfortable being touched and loved on, I haven’t had a chance to work on expanding her comfort levels with new things. Until today.

There will always be a small part of me that feels guilty about taking her out of the wild. She had thousands of acres to roam free in, and do as she pleased. In a way, I took that from her. I have to remind myself that while she had the space, and her wild herd family…there was also the danger of being killed by a cougar, a pack of wolves, her own herd if they decided they didn’t want her around anymore and even worse…being shot dead by angry ranchers. I remind myself that having her here with me, she is safe. I will give her the best life she can ever have in captivity, and once she is completely trained…we will get to go on many adventures!

I have kept her in her paddock that she first started in, for as long as I have for many reasons. The biggest reason being that I didn’t want to introduce her to the rest of the herd outside of her paddock while Blackhawk was still with us. This type of re-introduction is always filled with drama. Running, kicking, biting…it’s all part of the process. Even though they all are comfortable with each other with Gypsy on one side of a fence, it’s a whole new ballgame when she can freely mingle with the rest of the herd. Blackhawk was not sturdy enough to be able to be part of that, so I had to wait until he was no longer with us to feel comfortable taking those steps with Gypsy. Blackhawk crossed the rainbow bridge on October 25th 2021 so he is no longer in pain. While we miss him terribly, that dangerous element is now gone. I won’t have to worry about him falling or getting killed in some freak accident when I introduce Gypsy fully to our herd.

Now, today while I was cleaning stalls, Gypsy gave me a big long sigh, and had a very sad look on her face. I could tell she was bored, and starting to get depressed. She doesn’t like to go in the sloppy, muddy, cold snow if she can help it, which means she was basically confining herself to her stall. That’s no life for a little 2 year old full of life and energy. So I decided to do something about it.

I made sure the fences were well secured, the hot wire was on (just in case she got any ideas about hopping a fence), dogs secured in the back yard, I moved the other two horses (Chief & Scarlett) into the far pasture, and put out some hay in different spots throughout the pasture. Then, I opened the gate.

At first, I opened the gate inwards, thinking it would be safer if she were to try and run through it. Well, that didn’t work because she ran away from the gate. Silly girl didn’t understand what I was trying to do. So, I opened the gate the other way. To my surprise, she didn’t run through it. She did EXACTLY what I would have wanted. After some initial coaxing to let her know it’s ok (up to this point we have practiced giving gates “space” so that she doesn’t try to push past humans when they come in/go out…which worked like a charm in this instance), she calmly walked through the gate.

Once she got through the gate and realized she had more space to explore, she had a great time! She didn’t want to stray too far from the other horses, which is what I was counting on. I didn’t want her to get too excited and slip and fall, or try to go through a fence. Historically, she has been very respectful of fencing, but things can change so quickly when horses are scared. She came to me for comfort if needed but otherwise, she kicked up her heals, found the food, ran around a bit and just generally had a GREAT time. I’m so happy this girl will now have the chance to stretch her legs.

Now the fun part…getting her back in for the night. ;)

See the video below!

Haltered!!

This week we worked more on hatlering.

I learned that Gypsy LOVES her grain…a little too much, as she started to test our boundaries about who is boss. She is fine any time I feed her treats or hay, but get between her and her grain and she gets grumpy. With some quick correction on my part (a light flick,/tap/open hand smack…none of which actually hurt her in any way and a verbal “NO” in a deeper voice than I usually use) each time she challenges me, she comes around rather quickly. I can’t say I blame her too much. Where she came from she had to fight for her food, and she was used to humans getting out of her way any time she was grumpy.

She is quickly learning that I don’t stand down, am not intimidated in the least by her threats and that I truly am the “Boss Mare” of this herd…despite the fact that I walk on two legs and have no fur.

Little Miss Gypsy is one smart cookie! She was able to figure out very quickly that if she holds still while I put the halter on like I do with the other horses, from the side instead of the front, then she gets treats and scratches!

Next week, we will be learning to walk on lead. Enjoy the pictures and videos below!

Quiet Moments

This week was a little different than the last few.

I didn’t have as much time to work with Gypsy as I had hoped, as life got in the way a little.

That being said, one of the things I find most important when working with any horse, let alone a new one…is that you have to be in the proper head space. Animals and humans are alike in that they have emotions, and express those emotions subconsciously sometimes via their body language. Horses who are not feeling well will have a drooped head, lethargic demeanor, and often not be interested in food. (Honestly, I’m the same way when I’m feeling under the weather….maybe I’m part horse? Haha)

This week I was so distracted by things that needed to be done around the house, one of my other horses needing medical attention, and more recently…a very large wildfire that is too close to our house for comfort. I knew that this was affecting my mental space and I didn’t want to cause undue stress on Gypsy by exposing her to that more than needed. In all my years of working with horses, that’s the number one thing I have learned. They pick up on these emotions and feed off of them. If you’re stressed, they’re stressed. If you’re calm, they’re calm. I am very good at staying calm when I’m around horses most of the time, however this week I couldn’t help it.

So this week, we took it easy. We stuck to just some calm pets and rubs at breakfast and dinner time, which has been our usual. We practiced more with the fly spray…which will come easier when she is halter trained, to keep her from shying away so she can more easily get used to it.

Tonight, she was either feeling neglected from not having as much attention this week, or she picked up on my worried mood…possibly both. She nudged me with her nose and politely put her head into my torso, saying “Scratches please” in horse language. I had just put her food out, which she loves, so for her to seek my attention over that was interesting. We shared a nice, quiet moment of cuddles, scratches and head hugs. It was one of the first moments I actually felt affection from her, and it was wonderful.

Enjoy the pictures from this evening, videos to come later this week or next week. Depending on how life dictates.

Watermelon, Fly Spray and Halters - Oh My!

Week 2 of training with Gypsy went very well!

She learned what watermelon was - and so far is not a fan. She also learned about fly spray, and we started work on halter training.

I discovered that while I can pet her all over with my hands and a brush, she is still not too sure about anything else touching her all over. I am nearly able to pick up her front two feet, and can touch her back legs down to her hooves but have yet to try picking them up. She’s too flighty for that yet.

My number one priority is safety. Both for her sake, and mine. I never want to put her in harms way if I can help it. And until she trusts me 100%, I wont push too far out of her comfort zone yet.

In the first video, you can see her opinions on watermelon and our beginning stages of fly spray. She recovers remarkably well any time she “spooks” so I call that progress!

The second, slightly longer video is the beginning of halter training. You may notice she lifts her front hooves a lot and stomps. This is because she is very sensitive about the flies and bugs that zoom around her. Hence our work with the fly spray. I know it’s not directed at me, so I ignore it and reward the behavior I am working on. Towards the end of the video you can start to tell she is getting bored and/or tired of my games, but still wants treats so she is willing to continue working.

I try to keep our sessions as short as possible, taking mini 2-5 minute breaks each time. This way we both don’t get burned out and we can actually do more, in less time. You have to remember, even though she’s big, she’s still only a baby after all. Horses brains don’t fully mature until they’re around 12 - 15 years old. And even then, each horse is different in how they mature (I’m looking at you Chief…..).

Please enjoy the videos! Feel free to like, share and comment as well! I could always use feedback, and am happy to answer any questions.

The Wild Thing - Week 1

It has officially been 1 full week since the arrival of our newest family member, Gypsy.

Formerly known as “Alpine” this little filly came from the hills of Tonasket WA, from a herd known as “9 Wild Horses.” Read more about this story on Gypsy’s gallery page. She is estimated to be around a year and half old, and stands at an estimated 14.2 hands high.

Every week I will be posting about our progress in training. The wonderful people that help the “9 Wild horses” crew almost made socializing too easy for me! I can already touch Gypsy all over, and have been able to pick up her front two hooves a couple times. She is friendly towards people, and has never offered to kick or bite (unless you’re a fly…she HATES flies!).

This week, I didn’t want to introduce too many new things while she was settling in. So far she has learned that water buckets are fun to play with (you’ll notice in the pictures below, a clever solution for a clever horse! Thanks to my fiancée Chris for thinking up that one!), how to eat hay from a slow feeder, what a curry comb is and what hot wire is. She has been very polite in all of our dealings except can be a little pushy when it comes to grain. We will work on that.

This week (8/1/2021 - 8/8/2021) we will be learning about fly spray, a thermometer, and introducing the halter. I will go only as fast as Gypsy wants. I am patient and want to make sure she is comfortable. Enjoy the video of this weeks progress! (A portion of the video is sped up, otherwise it would have been 5 minutes of me brushing and that’s a little boring.)