These 4 boys arrived at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy last year and started training. They were making progress but it wasn’t smooth and it wasn’t very much fun, not for them and not for me either.
Not every Mustang is especially excited to start school and I accept that. However, having to trudge through it day after day with progress that’s measured in 16ths of an inch at best, that gets old.
Due to the closing of Cañon City, we had plenty of Mustangs to work with so we gave the “short bus kids” as we call them some time off while we focused on the ones that were ready to learn. Like, a lot of time off.
They just ate and played and watched the goings-on. If someone needed a bigger pen to play in they got that. Gizmo was sad living alone so he hung out with Karma for a while until he realized that not having a roommate with opinions, a big appetite and a judgemental glare has its perks too.
Does that make any sense financially? None whatsoever. Several of these boys thrive to the tune of a bale of hay a day. Thanks to some generous donors – you know who you are, thank you! – we were able to give these horses the opportunity to get into a better headspace before bringing them back into work.
They had their back to school celebration last week and it turns out holding them back has done wonders for them all. They each retained what they learned before they went on their extended break, they’re no longer shut down or shaking in their boots and are a lot more willing and engaged.
Is parking a horse a training method? Not really. But some just need a little bit more time to settle and get their mind right. In some cases they’re simply teething and cranky, we’ve had that happen too and seen a huge change in attitude in some horses.
Additionally, if we’re doing it right we’re also not the same person or trainer we were a month or several ago. We came back together not with an exasperated “Oh it’s YOU again” but with “Oh fun, it’s been a while, let’s do this and try some different things!”
They’re not magically super easy now nor have they gentled themselves in the meantime, but we’re unstuck and moving forward, that’s what it’s about.
Welcome back to class Uncle (6 or 7yo grey, Roberts Mountain NV), Captain (5yo flaxen, Little Colorado WY), Gizmo (6yo sorrel, Little Colorado WY), and Wiley (3yo buckskin, White Mountain WY).
PSA: Not available yet. Can’t tell you when available. No you can’t call dibs. Let them make it most of the way through kindergarten, then we’ll know more about who they want to be and what they want to do when it comes to working with humans. They’re individuals, not wall art, and they deserve to be treated as such.
