Only minutes before these photos were taken, Gus, 4yo 15.2hh Antelope Hills WY Mustang gelding who is with Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy for gentling and finding his person, panicked when he saw me on Lacy.
Kelsey was leading him to the round pen for his first ponying session when he got bug eyed, snorty, started running backwards and rearing.
She got him far enough away so he could calm down and not be a giant safety hazard while I dismounted and went to get him.
To help Gus turn his vehement NO into a relaxed and willing YES, we broke the task – being ponied – down into small attainable steps.
Coming into the round pen to another horse and the mounting block. Seeing me on the mounting block. Seeing me on the mounting block standing above Lacy with him next to her. Once he could calmly handle that, I got on her.
Everything went perfectly. The end.
Kidding.
Instead, as soon as I sat up on Lacy, Gus took off speed trotting.
I had come prepared: A small, tall round pen to work in, a nimble little horse that could stay with him and a rope long enough so he couldn’t pull away.
Through pressure and release and carefully positioning Lacy I was able to help him settle and return to a learning frame of mind.
From there Gus quickly figured out how to walk behind, then next to, Lacy.
We ended the session with me leaning over a calm and attentive Gus from Lacy’s back.
By giving him an opportunity to work through his initial apprehension, we were able to strengthen our partnership and teach him the basics of a useful skill. We didn’t give up and leave him with a bad memory that we’d have to deal with down the road.
Setting (wild) horses up for success by making finding the answer we’re looking for easy, using a combination of tools and techniques, and putting ourselves in a position where we can follow through on our ask goes a long way towards establishing a successful partnership.
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PC: Kelsey Janosik
Training halters & ropes: Rowdy’s Ropes
