The Competition Begins!

Love and I are competing in the 2nd Bluebonnet Rescue Horse Training Challenge at the 4th annual Bluebonnet Horse Expo on October 16, 2010. Love has been my foster horse since late April, but the competition officially starts tomorrow! I have 3 months to teach her as much as I can about being a good horse and learning how to be ridden.

My first job was to evaluate her fully on what she knows as of today. Tonight, I saddled her for the first time at my place, and she was tolerant and curious of the saddle, but the way she moved away from the girth and kept turning around to look at the saddle tells me she has not really been ridden. (This was consistent with what I saw at Nan's the day we brought her home - she let us put the saddle on, but seemed like she didn't understand what it was.) Flapping the saddle flaps around today also seemed to take her by surprise, although with rhythm, she began to calm and stand still while I made some noise there. I also put a bridle with a bit on her to see what she thought of it - and the first attempt was difficult - she pointed her nose straight up and backed away from the bit. The second attempt I was successful, and put the bit in her mouth, but she constantly mouthed it as though she had never had a bit in her mouth before. Pretty quickly it was clear that she had not been ridden before.

We worked on yielding her hind quarters, trying to keep her front feet in the same general area, and the same on yielding her front end. We also worked on leading (and with the saddle, she seemed somewhat hesitant at times which I had not experienced with her before). We also walked and halted, and I asked her to back with me. When she would encroach my space, I would attack the ground with the end of the lead rope to get her attention. She is not as responsive to that method as Arwen was, but she does at least finally come to a halt.

So, I have my work cut out for me, and I am ready to get serious! I hope to be riding her by the end of the challenge. It's just a matter of routine, repetition and consistency. Oh, and a little moxie to get in the saddle for the first time. :) But that can wait. We have some ground work to do first in order to be safe. But Love does have such a sweet personality, that I hope she will be a quick study!