Max is a coming 4 yo Tennessee Walker and was born on this ranch. He stands a little over 14 hands and is a very willing, gentle horse.
Max steps his front feet up on the bridge, then gets all the way up. He finds no problem in putting his front feet up on the taller platform. His training is bridged with the clicker.
Starting Max
Since Max was born here, he has had daily exposure to natural horsemanship methods. Therefore, it can be said that he hasn't done much groundwork or formal training, but in essence he's had alot--just built into his regular life.
He's done most of the PNH ground work, TTEAM, and obstacle course things at one time or another.
A few months ago, I sat on Max in the round pen. He didn't seem to care. Climbed up, sat for a second, then slid off the off side. Then we reversed the procedure. These photos will show the second time he was sat upon.
First we set his feet
and let him know he's going to receive a passenger.
He's already used to having someone "up" over him
and used to the bucket banging around beside him.
Max is asked for some lateral flexion which also gives him a chance to look at me and see where I am--
an opportunity for him to check things out.
He sniffs my legs on both sides.
Max knows the request for lateral flexion from the ground,
so it's easy to ask for it while mounted.
Max gets a treat for responding correctly to the request.
He moves off a little. Note that I'm not asking him to do anything at this point--just practicing passenger lessons.
He takes a few laps around the pen, looking for left over food, taking a drink of water. He's totally unconcerned about me being up there, but his ears indicate that he is paying attention.
"Hey, you kids, knock it off! Can't you see we're trying to train a horse here!" Nothing better than a bunch of kids yelling, running around the porch, and throwing balls up on the roof to de-spook a horse.
Well, let's see if the groundwork of messing around with tarps over and under him works. I took off the vest very noisily and clumsily, and then rubbed him with it. In the end, it ended up on his head--he didn't seem to care.
Just for good measure, we swing the vest around to see if he's ok with it--and it appears that he is.
This session was only
about 15 minutes total in duration
which is plenty for a young horse,
but it gives him some exposure and
gives us an idea of how he's doing mentally
and psychologically.
Basically, we're just doing "passenger"
lessons. He's wandering around the arena,
just going where he wants to go.
Additional Photos
Under Saddle
