From the time of her birth, Goldie was hardly ever touched by a human. Sure, her owners fed her and her dam, along with her two older half sisters, but no handling was ever done. She was allowed to live like she was a wild Mustang, instead of a Thoroughbred with a possible racing future. In the late spring of her yearling year, Goldie's life changed, when she met me.
I was working on a ranch in Texas, where Goldie's sire stood at stud. Goldie's owners wanted her dam to be bred back to Goldie's sire, so we took the horse trailer to go pick up Goldie's dam. The owners also decided that we should take Goldie and her older half sisters, too. They were in desperate need of farrier care and some handling.
It took over an hour to get the 4 of them loaded onto the trailer. The older sisters had some handling, but not a lot. Just enough that a halter was able to be put on them and they would lead a little bit, but not great. We loaded the older sisters first, then Goldie's dam, and Goldie had to be herded onto the trailer.
Despite what her name may be, she was not gold in color, actually almost a dark bay, with only a hint of red to her coat. I don't think she even had any white markings, maybe a tiny star, but I don't remember, for sure.
Once back at the ranch, it was my job to start teaching Goldie about humans and start her early training. Since I had some experience with Mustangs, I decided to treat her similar to how I had been successful with them.
Goldie was put in the barn, if you can call it that, as it was more of a 3 sided building with 4 foot high panels on the front. You could open them up and give the horses a small run area. Her area was usually kept open and it measured about 16 x 32 feet, at most.
I would stand by her feed bucket as she ate, so she would get used to my scent and me being present while she ate. At first, I did this from the other side of the metal panel, and when she had accepted me being there, I would then stand beside the bucket, but on the same side of the panel as she was on, so I was now in her space. I wanted her to get used to me being there, my smell, my voice, my movements, etc.
Once she became more relaxed about that, I started to hold the bucket and have her come to me to eat. She could only eat if she came to me and stuck her head into the bucket I was holding. This took a few days, but soon she caught on and started to accept this, so then I moved to the next step, which was trying to touch her.
At first, every time my hand moved towards her, no matter how slowly, she would jump away and run to the back of the pen. But, she'd soon come back, hunger for the grain winning over her fear of me.
A few more days passed and I was soon petting her gently on the head. So, i then hung the bucket back up on the panel and stood next to it, again, as she ate, this time I had both hands free to try and touch her. First just her head, then her neck, then her shoulder, each day a little further.
Everyday we made slow progress in where I could touch her and pet her gently. When I'd try to go a bit further, she'd still wheel and run to the back of the pen. I never feared her kicking me, even though I am pretty sure she was kicking out in my direction, as she ran away, but something told me that she was not mean, and would not intentionally hurt me.
We were making great progress and I added a halter to the top of the feed bucket, for her to stick her nose through, in order to eat. This did spook her quite a bit and the next thing I knew the ranch owner was running out of the house and yelling at me that I was doing this all wrong and I was going to get hurt. So, she decided to take matters into her own hands and show me, what she considered, the "right way" to deal with a wild horse was.
I had spent weeks building up a relationship with Goldie and my heart sank as this woman returned with a lunge whip. She entered the pen with Goldie and all I could do was stand by and hope and pray she would not undo all my hard work to gain Goldie's trust.
A common practice, which I was aware of before this woman decided to show me, is to use a whip as an extension of your arm, but since I am legally blind, this actually is more dangerous for me, then the way I was doing it. I do not like using whips, unless I have to.
This woman reached out and started touching Goldie with the end of the whip and GOldie completely flipped out. She was racing around the small pen trying to find a way to escape, but there was no way out. Goldie was scared out of her mind as this woman insisted on continueing to touch Goldie. This went on for what seemed like hours, but was maybe 45 minutes. Goldie never accepting the lunge whip touching her. I was almost in tears knowing how scared Goldie must have been. She had only known my kind hands and now a whip was being flung at her, she was hit with it, several times, it wasn't just used as an extension of a calm hand.
We left Goldie to settle down and I had to listen to this woman tell me that I had to do the same thing the next day. That my way was taking too long and she thought I was going to get hurt.
But in my way, Goldie never raced around the pen frantically looking for a way out. For me, with my vision, that is way more dangerous than me standing calmly at one end of the pen, just trying to calmly touch her as she ate, and if she needed a break from me, she could just go to the back of the pen and I would let her have her moment and then she would always return to me.
The next day I tried to stand by the bucket, like I had done all those days, even weeks, before, but Goldie would not have any part of me. I started to cry, I couldn't help it. I told her how sorry I was, but that the lady was my boss and I had no say.
I quit that job about a week later, never regaining Goldie's confidence. I had other reasons, not just the Goldie experience for leaving this job, but it was part of it. I think the main theme of the difficulty is the lady's insistance that her way was the only right way and that any variation of that was wrong and dangerous. I tried to explain that I had to do things differently, sometimes, due to my eyesight, but like many others, she just didn't understand or want to understand, she was stubborn in her thinking and not willing to believe that there could be more than one right way to do something.
Experiences like what I went through with Goldie leave me wondering why do people insist on their way always being the right way and the quick way being better than a slow way? I will never understand people like this. I need to do things a bit differently, because of my vision, this doesn't make it wrong, it just is what works for me and I still get great results. I have never been seriously hurt by a horse, but if I do get hurt, it happens to sighted people all the time, it won't be due to my vision or my techniques.
I had been very successful with the Mustangs I had worked with, see my post on "The Mustangs of Hawkeye Hill", for more details, and I know that if Goldie and I had been left alone, just a little bit longer, I would have had that halter on her, had her leading, had her loading on a trailer, accepting tack, and eventually a rider.
Someone else was brought in to work with Goldie, after I left, and I don't know all the details, but she was eventually broke to ride, but I don't think she ever made it to the track. A shame, as she was a nice filly, just was never given the chance from the start.
Showing posts with label bad trainers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad trainers. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Baron's Early Training
As Baron healed from his leg wound I started to begin light work with him, on my visits to the boarding stable. I still only got out to see my horses about once a week to once every two weeks, depending on Gordon's schedule or if I could get a ride out with someone else, which was pretty rare.
At first, I just worked more on his ground manners, which didn't take me long, as he always had excellent manners.
He was so small, for his age, only about 14.1 hands at his 2nd Birthday, that I didn't want to do a whole lot to stress his bones, joints, etc, so I just had fun with him. One of the first extra things I taught him was to bow.
After he was gelded in April 2001, right before his 2nd Birthday is about when I started doing this, I think. I would use a carrot, which he loved, as his reward. I started out saying the words "Baron bow." Then I'd put the carrot just below his nose, starting to work on him learning to lower his head. As he caught on, I put the carrot lower and lower, eventually I had it placed between his knees and he'd flex his neck to get to it.
After that, i started working with him on moving his legs so he could reach even further back and lower. He would put one leg forward and move the other back, eventually having them about two feet apart or more and I'd put the carrot down around ankle level. He was so smart that all of this didn't take long and he learned it with very infrequent training sessions, due to my lack of transpartation to the barn.
After he mastered bowing, to my satisfaction, he had grown a bit and I thought it would be okay to start putting him in the really big round pen that the barn owner had. I started teaching him to lunge, just with a lead rope, at first, going in circles in both directions, around me and around the roundpen.
Again, he learned quickly and I soon was using a regular lunge line and also working with him on free lunging. I knew not to do a lot of trotting with him and no cantering, at first, until he was closer to his mature height.
As I worked with him he grew and learned quickly. I started adding a circingle and then the side reins that, at first, I just attached loosely to his halter, so he could get used to a girth like piece of tack around him and the sensation of reins next to his neck.
I did what I could to work with him through his two year old summer and into fall, but when winter came, it was just too muddy to do much in the roundpen, so when I got to go visit, I just spent a lot of time grooming him and Bunny.
As it started to warm up and Baron approached his 3rd Birthday, he was now almost 15.1 hands, so when I started him back in the roundpen, I was able to do a lot more with him. I was amazed, we picked up just about where we had left off months before. I had always known he was a smart horse, but this truly solidified it.
He quickly progressed the spring of 2002 and by June it was time for me to start getting on his back.
I had been given a nice senthetic western saddle that I had been putting him. I mostly ride english, but this was a nice saddle, so I figured I would use it. Baron didn't seem to mind and it fit him fairly well.
I admit being pretty nervous as Gordon gave me a leg up that first day, but Baron was perfect. I swung my right leg over his back and eased my way into the saddle. After letting Baron stand there for a few minutes, to get the feel of me on his back, I had Gordon lead us around the roundpen a few times. Baron never showed any signs that he was going to buck or do anything wrong, so I praised him and dismounted after about 10 minutes. It was a flawless first ride, I couldn't have asked for anything more from him.
Gordon and I were getting married in July. We'd be gone for a week on our Honeymoon, to Saratoga Springs, for opening week of the Saratoga racing meet. Then when we got back I had a barn builder set to build the barn in mid August and a fencing company to come out about two weeks after the barn was finished.
Because I would not be ready for Baron to come to our new home until late August, I decided to send him to a trainer. The boarding stable was 1 1/2 hours from where I would be living, so I would not be able to visit him, anyways.
I trusted the lady I boarded with, she had never given me any cause not to, so when she recommended her trainer, that she sent all her youngsters to, I didn't hesitate. I had seen a horse come back from him and it was fine, so I figured that Baron would be, as well. So, in early July, Baron went to this trainer's farm to continue his education.
Bunny and Angel, who we had been given, would remain at the boarding stable, until the farm was ready. Gordon and I had also purchased another Thoroughbred mare, Messenger of Light, who we nicknamed "Leia", and she stayed at the barn she was already at, until my farm was ready. Leia, like Bunny, was pregnant, so I didn't want to move Leia too much.
In early August we went to see Baron at the trainers farm. He looked fine and I watched the guy ride him, putting him through his paces. Then I got on for a short ride. I was pretty happy, but I could tell Baron wasn't quite as relaxed as he'd been even on his first ride with me. I just figured it was because I hadn't seen him in over a month or something like that. So, I dismissed that feeling, but I should have listened more closely.
After the barn got put up we were still waiting on the fencing, when Gordon and I decided to go see Bunny and Angel and make arrangements for them to be brought to us. It was about 2 weeks after I saw Baron. We were standing out infront of the lady's barn and we were talking about Baron. When suddenly the lady said, "The trainer may be the town drunk, but he is really good with horses and I've never seen him drunk around the horses."
I swear I must have turned ashen, as I felt all the blood drain from my face and thought I was going to pass out. I couldn't believe she had not told me this key piece of info before, I would have definitely remembered something like that.
She lived almost two hours from the trainer, so how did she know if he was drinking around the horses or not? I was so mad.
As soon as Gordon and I got in the car, I told him that I was going to have the trainer bring Baron home immediately, fence or no fence, i didn't care. Gordon agreed, we wanted Baron away from "the town drunk" as soon as possible.
So, I called the trainer and told him that the fencing would be done sooner than I thought and asked if he could bring Baron home a little earlier than planned, to which he agreed.
If I had my own truck and trailer, I would have gotten him myself, but we didn't and still don't. I didn't know many people with trucks and trailers, so I had to trust the trainer to not drink before bringing Baron home.
Luckily, Baron arrived home safely. I had opened up the foaling stall for him, so he had a 12 by 20 stall. I deeply bedded in shavings, too, so he would be comfortable. I also hung two fans for him.
We may not have had horse pastures fenced, but we did have hte back yard, so I did bring him up to the back yard for grazing, for an hour or two a day.
Baron watched from the stall as the fencing went up about a week after he arrived at Perfect Peace Farm. The workers were amazed at how calm he was and when I told them that he was a pure Thoroughbred, they were in even more shock. He just calmly watched them work, driving the posts into the ground and hanging the Centaur brand fencing that I had chosen for my farm.
As the fencing was being finished, we moved Leia to a neighbors farm, just down the street, where she stayed for about a week or so, then we brought her home the day after the fence was finished. A few days later Bunny and Angel joined them and our small 4 horse herd was finally all together.
Baron and Leia didn't get along, at first. Leia is just so calm and laid back, she is easily picked on. I'm not sure, exactly why he didn't like her very much, but he'd chase her, so we eventually had to separate him from Leia. We put Baron in with Angel and Bunny and Leia, the two pregnant ladies were in the other small paddock, on the other side of the barn.
After Baron had settled in, I started trying to work with him again, but my horse was different and I couldn't figure it out. I would get on him and he'd go a little ways and then freeze. I could feel the nervousness in him and I knew something must have happened with that drunk trainer. I apologized to Baron and told him I wouldn't have sent him there, if I had known what I learned later. I told himt hat if I sent him to any other trainer, I'd do more research, visit the place, if possible, and stay on top of the trainer to make sure that this kind of thing didn't happen to him again.
Little did I know, that even if you do your research, get tons of good recommendations from people, stay on top of the trainer, bad things still happen and trainers can sometimes turn from what seemed like a very reasonable person that you got along with to someone completely different. Poor Baron ran into his fair share of trainers that went nuts while he was with them, but at least he doesn't have to worry about that anymore, as he is safe with his new owner, Laura, who has now had him for 2 years.
At first, I just worked more on his ground manners, which didn't take me long, as he always had excellent manners.
He was so small, for his age, only about 14.1 hands at his 2nd Birthday, that I didn't want to do a whole lot to stress his bones, joints, etc, so I just had fun with him. One of the first extra things I taught him was to bow.
After he was gelded in April 2001, right before his 2nd Birthday is about when I started doing this, I think. I would use a carrot, which he loved, as his reward. I started out saying the words "Baron bow." Then I'd put the carrot just below his nose, starting to work on him learning to lower his head. As he caught on, I put the carrot lower and lower, eventually I had it placed between his knees and he'd flex his neck to get to it.
After that, i started working with him on moving his legs so he could reach even further back and lower. He would put one leg forward and move the other back, eventually having them about two feet apart or more and I'd put the carrot down around ankle level. He was so smart that all of this didn't take long and he learned it with very infrequent training sessions, due to my lack of transpartation to the barn.
After he mastered bowing, to my satisfaction, he had grown a bit and I thought it would be okay to start putting him in the really big round pen that the barn owner had. I started teaching him to lunge, just with a lead rope, at first, going in circles in both directions, around me and around the roundpen.
Again, he learned quickly and I soon was using a regular lunge line and also working with him on free lunging. I knew not to do a lot of trotting with him and no cantering, at first, until he was closer to his mature height.
As I worked with him he grew and learned quickly. I started adding a circingle and then the side reins that, at first, I just attached loosely to his halter, so he could get used to a girth like piece of tack around him and the sensation of reins next to his neck.
I did what I could to work with him through his two year old summer and into fall, but when winter came, it was just too muddy to do much in the roundpen, so when I got to go visit, I just spent a lot of time grooming him and Bunny.
As it started to warm up and Baron approached his 3rd Birthday, he was now almost 15.1 hands, so when I started him back in the roundpen, I was able to do a lot more with him. I was amazed, we picked up just about where we had left off months before. I had always known he was a smart horse, but this truly solidified it.
He quickly progressed the spring of 2002 and by June it was time for me to start getting on his back.
I had been given a nice senthetic western saddle that I had been putting him. I mostly ride english, but this was a nice saddle, so I figured I would use it. Baron didn't seem to mind and it fit him fairly well.
I admit being pretty nervous as Gordon gave me a leg up that first day, but Baron was perfect. I swung my right leg over his back and eased my way into the saddle. After letting Baron stand there for a few minutes, to get the feel of me on his back, I had Gordon lead us around the roundpen a few times. Baron never showed any signs that he was going to buck or do anything wrong, so I praised him and dismounted after about 10 minutes. It was a flawless first ride, I couldn't have asked for anything more from him.
Gordon and I were getting married in July. We'd be gone for a week on our Honeymoon, to Saratoga Springs, for opening week of the Saratoga racing meet. Then when we got back I had a barn builder set to build the barn in mid August and a fencing company to come out about two weeks after the barn was finished.
Because I would not be ready for Baron to come to our new home until late August, I decided to send him to a trainer. The boarding stable was 1 1/2 hours from where I would be living, so I would not be able to visit him, anyways.
I trusted the lady I boarded with, she had never given me any cause not to, so when she recommended her trainer, that she sent all her youngsters to, I didn't hesitate. I had seen a horse come back from him and it was fine, so I figured that Baron would be, as well. So, in early July, Baron went to this trainer's farm to continue his education.
Bunny and Angel, who we had been given, would remain at the boarding stable, until the farm was ready. Gordon and I had also purchased another Thoroughbred mare, Messenger of Light, who we nicknamed "Leia", and she stayed at the barn she was already at, until my farm was ready. Leia, like Bunny, was pregnant, so I didn't want to move Leia too much.
In early August we went to see Baron at the trainers farm. He looked fine and I watched the guy ride him, putting him through his paces. Then I got on for a short ride. I was pretty happy, but I could tell Baron wasn't quite as relaxed as he'd been even on his first ride with me. I just figured it was because I hadn't seen him in over a month or something like that. So, I dismissed that feeling, but I should have listened more closely.
After the barn got put up we were still waiting on the fencing, when Gordon and I decided to go see Bunny and Angel and make arrangements for them to be brought to us. It was about 2 weeks after I saw Baron. We were standing out infront of the lady's barn and we were talking about Baron. When suddenly the lady said, "The trainer may be the town drunk, but he is really good with horses and I've never seen him drunk around the horses."
I swear I must have turned ashen, as I felt all the blood drain from my face and thought I was going to pass out. I couldn't believe she had not told me this key piece of info before, I would have definitely remembered something like that.
She lived almost two hours from the trainer, so how did she know if he was drinking around the horses or not? I was so mad.
As soon as Gordon and I got in the car, I told him that I was going to have the trainer bring Baron home immediately, fence or no fence, i didn't care. Gordon agreed, we wanted Baron away from "the town drunk" as soon as possible.
So, I called the trainer and told him that the fencing would be done sooner than I thought and asked if he could bring Baron home a little earlier than planned, to which he agreed.
If I had my own truck and trailer, I would have gotten him myself, but we didn't and still don't. I didn't know many people with trucks and trailers, so I had to trust the trainer to not drink before bringing Baron home.
Luckily, Baron arrived home safely. I had opened up the foaling stall for him, so he had a 12 by 20 stall. I deeply bedded in shavings, too, so he would be comfortable. I also hung two fans for him.
We may not have had horse pastures fenced, but we did have hte back yard, so I did bring him up to the back yard for grazing, for an hour or two a day.
Baron watched from the stall as the fencing went up about a week after he arrived at Perfect Peace Farm. The workers were amazed at how calm he was and when I told them that he was a pure Thoroughbred, they were in even more shock. He just calmly watched them work, driving the posts into the ground and hanging the Centaur brand fencing that I had chosen for my farm.
As the fencing was being finished, we moved Leia to a neighbors farm, just down the street, where she stayed for about a week or so, then we brought her home the day after the fence was finished. A few days later Bunny and Angel joined them and our small 4 horse herd was finally all together.
Baron and Leia didn't get along, at first. Leia is just so calm and laid back, she is easily picked on. I'm not sure, exactly why he didn't like her very much, but he'd chase her, so we eventually had to separate him from Leia. We put Baron in with Angel and Bunny and Leia, the two pregnant ladies were in the other small paddock, on the other side of the barn.
After Baron had settled in, I started trying to work with him again, but my horse was different and I couldn't figure it out. I would get on him and he'd go a little ways and then freeze. I could feel the nervousness in him and I knew something must have happened with that drunk trainer. I apologized to Baron and told him I wouldn't have sent him there, if I had known what I learned later. I told himt hat if I sent him to any other trainer, I'd do more research, visit the place, if possible, and stay on top of the trainer to make sure that this kind of thing didn't happen to him again.
Little did I know, that even if you do your research, get tons of good recommendations from people, stay on top of the trainer, bad things still happen and trainers can sometimes turn from what seemed like a very reasonable person that you got along with to someone completely different. Poor Baron ran into his fair share of trainers that went nuts while he was with them, but at least he doesn't have to worry about that anymore, as he is safe with his new owner, Laura, who has now had him for 2 years.
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