Day Sixteen

Yesterday he had the day off and today is absolutely miserable weather. First it is 102 outside and then the winds are so hard that we are eating sand. I turn Azinia out into the herd to be a horse for the first time since he got here. He thinks this is great but he also calls to me when I come back out and sticks close to my side as I wander the herd of six horses. I halter him easily and then we work a little on the rope. His groundwork improves. It isn't perfect but it is a lot prettier then before! I take the halter off and go inside to cool off planning to come out later.

day fourteen

Today I feel rushed, which is definitely not the type of attitude to have while working horses. Azinia is playful and does his roundpen stuff well so I saddle him up. While moving him around I draw backwards only to find myself falling into the barrel of water that is in the middle of the roundpen (where it does not belong!) It was so comical, my friend Lizz laughing her head off while I am speechless for once in my life. I am dripping wet and Azinia goes to take a drink as if to tell me that this is what water is for. I ride him a little, wet and slippery. He improves slightly but thinks naughty thoughts that never progress past thought yet. I am certain that his upward movement is not gone yet and I am waiting to see how that feels under me :)

Day thirteen

Yesterday was a day of frustration, really getting home late and being way too sore to work Azania. He got a day off and I let my body rest since I am still recovering from a car crash. Today I am sore but dying to play with Azania. I drink a cup of coffee and get him out. He is still a little unsure about the little gate I make him squish him through. We get to the roundpen and I turn him loose to play. Our roundpen skills are improving and his play drive is still high (coming charging at me once with some snotty attitude which earned him a swat on the hiney with the carrot stick). He has less upward movement and we work on the long lines for a split second (with the saddle on) and he quickly gets it. He resists a little but not much. I tie my lead into reins and on his back I go. It is dusk and we work until dark. At one point into the first part of the ride he steps on a barrel (really don't know why, guess it's a three year old thing to do) and he spooks sideways and I am uncertain if this will end well. He gets his head back on and I am still on so I figure it all worked out. He really can move fast when he wants to :)
By the end of the night we have a walk, a trot, and a half way decent whoa. We have direction and I am pleased with my big boy so I love on him and put him up for the night.
Hey! Make sure you scroll down to see the awesome videos Kathy took!

Day eleven (Wednesday)

Today I am hot and tired. I decide to work on more round pen stuff. Azania actually looks like a slightly more rideable horse but still has a little upwards movement. He has spunk and attitude and play drive which is fun on most days but can make you exausted on others. He is overall doing so well and I have to remind myself why I do this. I do this for the joy and love of mustangs. To show people how amazing they can be, even the ones that are harder at first. To do it all when they are ready, not when I am feeling like they should be ready and to learn to really listen to them. Not just me speaking to them but the mustangs speaking to me and playing with me and becoming amazing partners. You can make a horse do what you want but the key is to get them to want to. I hope this horse touches someone in a big way and becomes someone's lifetime partner. I am thankful that I got to be his first step to trust.

Day ten

Back to the roundpen for another session and my distracted three year old is slightly more sensible. We compromise and I allow him to come to me often to be rubbed and we manage to do some circles at liberty without too much drama. By this I mean that he reared only about half a dozen times before his play drive came down just enough to do some more meaningful work. He worked online better and even put my saddle on rather quietly. He moved around and allowed me to stand in stirrups, get on, and start to take some little walks around. He certainly has a great try in him but man is that play drive quite high. I have my doubts about him not having some little hot moments in Texas :)

day nine (or how Azinia discovered he was a wild horse)

On day eight Azinia relaxed and got familiar with his new surroundings. I am sure he was wondering what the heck this place was, full of horses, dogs, motorcyles, and occassionally kids playing. Day nine I lead him to the roundpen. That is a large feat in itself because he has to walk through a small gate, past a haystack covered with a tarp and down a long driveway filled with cars, dogs, and other odd things. Then he arrives into the roundpen (walking past a motorhome and through a orchard of trees) which has a flag flying overhead and next door neighbors that have motorcycles. He stays relatively calm and I turn him loose to adjust. Then we start playing. Online is not going well, he keeps spinning in circles and wrapping himself up so I turn him loose. I think my horse has gone nuts! He is sure acting like a three year old, running from side to side and unable to focus at all. After several hours of just trying to get some sort of circle around the round pen, we have a dripping wet horse and a slightly annoyed trainer. He has accomplished lots of things but none of which look like a circle. He has reared up several times because he would really rather be close to me and how dare I ask him to stay out on the rail, spun in circles making it look like he actually might have some sort of atheletic ability and came rushing at me for comfort. We get some small trys so I lead him to his stall and hope that I don't go crazy training this left brain extrovert.

Week 1 Videos

Azania is really handsome, and pretty much a giant puppy looking for a good scritchin' ;D He's as bouncy as a puppy at times too. LOL

Lets see what pics Angi has here already....
Hugs and love, check.
Pad, check.
Ropework, check.
Saddle, check.
Sat on, check...


That's a lot of stuff already.. but here's some vidos from the first week. ;D


Some good,


some bad,



and some just plain silly!



Once again PLEASE do not attempt to copy the crazy stuff! Angi plays with wild/formerly wild horses 6 days a week and yes sometimes she gets hurt.

Kathy

day seven

I have no pictures yet from this day:( Kathy is promising to get them to me soon. I played with Azania in the clinic and he was completely unfazed by the people and other horses playing around him. He had such a high play drive and he started to learn to do eye away and disengage better. His circles still have some upward movement that needs to be improved. We played loose a little in the arena and he would come charging at me, stopping with hardly a inch to spare. He wanted to charge around and play. I did a little flag work, which made him nervous and slightly kicky. True to his nature though, he worked through it quickly. When I thought he was done I put the halter on him so I could lead him to the trailer to start to teach him to load. I walked him up to it and he just followed me in. Quickest trailer loading I've ever taught! So much for that being a big deal. When we unloaded he followed me down the driveway and into his new pen at my house.

Day six

Azania got yesterday off and today I got up at 5:30 to play just a little before work. Azania lead right to the arena and we played with circles and yields. He was quiet until he decided he wanted a break and then he would do his rear up. He gave up when that accomplished nothing. Getting back down to work, he completed his circles learning to trot around cones. He picked up his hind feet with no big issue and allowed me to brush his tail out. Feeling good I put him up until the 30 minutes I had before leaving from work. I loved on him, climbed on a barrel and lay across him letting him carry me around the arena loose. I only put the halter on when I actually straddled him. Quiet standing still, he was a little unsure about moving forward. A few steps and I loved on him and put him back to eat his dinner. His first ride!!! Go boy!!!

Day four

I forgot to mention that yesterday Jill rode her horse in the arena with my big fattie mustang yesterday. His name is now Azania (Az uh neye uh) which means God has heard in hebrew. He was drawn instantly to what was a curious breed of animal, half horse half human? He had to smell every part of Dalton; his bridle, his rythem beads, his bareback pad and then Jill. He decided it must be okay despite how odd it looked and he licked and chewed. Today was a Huge day in his training. Still some upward movement when he doesn't want to go forward. I saddled him and he really didn't care but had a little trouble moving around with a rope tossing over saddle. Sure looks huge straight up on his hind legs. He quickly worked it out but was soaking wet and breathing hard. He practiced tied for awhile (wanted to dig a hole) with his rope just wrapped several times around the pole so it could give if he lost his head. He let me sit above him and rub all over him so I decided he needed a day off tomorrow.