I was at my folks’ house last weekend, and was looking through some boxes of old photos, and came upon a letter I had written them many years ago when I was a lonely school teacher just out of college, with only horses to keep me from feeling homesick. Reading through it gave me a mix of feelings—happy to remember the fun day on horseback, sad to think that I ended up buying and losing this mare in a horrible accident, and very glad that I had written it all down in a letter so I could treasure the memories more completely.
Here is the letter:
Dear Dad, Mom, Kevin, and Karmen,
Today is the first day of autumn and I made the most of it! The weather was beautiful, and I borrowed the Huston’s Ford pickup and stock trailer, and Anna and I went to Rock Creek, a place with horse trails.
I took Beauty, Sletten’s horse, and Anna took her mare Lady. Beauty was wonderful! Today was the first time she’d ever been in a trailer, but I’d worked with her yesterday for 2 hours just getting her used to it, but she didn’t actually get in ’cause it was Sletten’s little 2-horse, unhitched, and would tip up when she put her front feet in.
I let her take her time getting in. What I actually do is take her up to it, pick up her front foot and put it up in the trailer. Then I walk in the trailer and cluck to her and talk to her and she eventually puts weight on that foot and brings the other one up with it. Then she just steps in with her hind feet fine. It’s just that first leg that she needs help with.
The neat thing about her is how she really likes me. And she’s so quick to learn! She knows if she backs away from the trailer, she’s gonna get in trouble until she goes back up to it.
And on the trails today they had these little wooden bridges across creeks, and they were about 4 feet wide with side rails. The first one, she stopped, spooked at it, and couldn’t believe I was actually asking her to go across it! She tried backing away from it, and I said, “No!” and nudged her some with my heels. She really responds to voice commands, more than any other horse I’ve ever ridden before.
So then she’d take a step toward it and I’d pet her, say, “Good girl” in a lighter tone, and let her stand without kicking her. So eventually she had her front feet on it, sniffing, on a loose rein, no real pressure, only knowing if she backed away she’d get in trouble. And then she walked across, clip-clopping on the wood.
There were about 8 more bridges that we had to cross that day, and the first one was the only one she stopped at! She learns fast. That is what is a real joy to me—seeing her come around to my way of thinking and trust me enough to go when I say go.
She was so wonderful all day! We walked mostly, her fast springy walk (Lady couldn’t keep up!) and she never got fussy or excited or anything. I galloped her in an open field for awhile, and then I walked her again, and she doesn’t even get hyper with me.
I really like her, and I want to buy her. The Sletten kids want to give her to me. I haven’t talked to their parents yet, but I’m sure they’d take money for her, if they’d let me have her at all. They raised her, so the only expense in her so far is feed. I would hate to see those kids ride her, that’s the bad thing! I’m already feeling like she’s mine.
Her big deal is letting someone get on her. Anna tried today, and she wheels around in a circle and won’t stand still. With me, I get her to stand as best I can, then just grab ahold and climb on as she’s turning. Fine for me, but not quite a kid horse yet.
Well, I’ve written four and a half pages about a horse. Be glad it isn’t about a guy! I miss you, love you, and can’t wait to talk to you soon. Here’s a picture of me and Beauty!
Love,
Kerrie
And this was the photo I sent them:
I loved that little horse, and I did go on to buy her for $300 and kept her for a year or so before she died in a ravine during a storm. I would love to have Beauty again, she was one in a million.
Reading through that letter reminded me of some horse training strategies that I haven’t had to use in awhile, but the principles are good for anything you’re working to accomplish with your horse.
Just like when asking her to load in the trailer, or cross the bridge, there is a process to follow that will help you keep a positive outlook.
1. Ask for an action, such as loading or crossing a bridge.
2. Allow the horse to stop and think about it.
3. Reward a positive look or forward movement in the horse, but correct any backward movement in the horse by putting it to work circling or squeezing it with your lower legs until it moves back into it’s previous position close to the object, then release all pressure immediately.
4. Let the horse stand and think and look at the object, but don’t push or insist on forward movement unless the horse looks away from the object or tries to back up. Then commence squeezing with your lower legs or moving the horse in a busy circle until you get it back up to the place where it was previously.
5. Encourage any forward movement and obedience by patting the horse’s neck, speaking softly to it, and releasing all pressure or squeezing. Give the horse plenty of time.
6. Continue until the horse is in the trailer or over the bridge.
If you use this method, you can be fairly certain that the horse will not look at the occurrence unfavorably again. So many people lose patience and go to spurring, or take a rope and put it over the horse’s rear end to pull him into the trailer. While those methods may reach the same obvious end, the horse’s mentality can be permanently unhappy about trailering or crossing bridges because of the amount of pressure and lack of timing by the handler.
It’s all about feel and knowing when the horse is trying for you. Reward the try. When the horse is looking at the object and thinking about doing the right thing, don’t push him. Make it hard on him to move backwards, but release pressure on any sign of obedience. And the horse will learn that you’ll wait for him, you’re interested in taking care of him, and you’re thinking of that obstacle with sensitivity to his feelings.
That kind of riding produces a happy horse. Beauty was a very happy horse, and it makes me happy that I got to be part of her life.
Here I am with the pickup and trailer I borrowed from the Houstons.
This is my little Beauty horse.
