We’ve got Rock, a giant, sweet, game for everything young Mustang, a work harness, single tree and a tire drag.
This was right after we unhitched him and he was still figuring out he wasn’t leaning into weight anymore.
He’d pulled the single tire before and then me on it. This was his first time “working”, dragging part of the pasture.
It’s unexpectedly, ridiculously rewarding seeing the before and after of manure piles when you’re breaking them up with the help of an eager young wildie.
Rock was totally invested once he figured out what to do and how to lean in and get and keep the drag moving.
I’m all for teaching Mustangs to be versatile and to give them the confidence to navigate different tasks and situations.
A horse with a “yes I can” attitude that’s willing to look and listen to a trusted and respected human for guidance will take you most anywhere, keep you and itself safe and it’ll most likely be fun too.
Tay Martin came to learn about putting the heavy harness on and stayed to be Rock’s side walker and emotional support human for his maiden voyage as a work horse.
*Yes, he can survive 20min of pulling without a collar pad. I need to get a bigger collar for him so that the pad will fit*
In 31 years of working with horses of all shapes and sizes on two continents (crazy to think about, where’d the time go!?), I’ve done a little bit of a lot of things.
I was first dragging pastures with previously barely handled Shetland Ponies in rural-ish Germany almost 30 years ago, and riding draft horses whose main job was logging in the Czech Republic just a few years later.
So fun to see it all come together, and to mentor and inspire friends along the way. I recently went cart and harness shopping with Taylor and Cassie and I’m so stoked to watch them enjoy bringing their young Devil’s Garden Mustang mares they adopted from Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy along.
#mustang#horse#workhorse#spring#mountains#work#fun#learning#teaching#joy#progress
