Diamond has been loaded and unloaded from a trailer several times, and I have turned her around until I decided to take her to a horse show to encounter a lot of action and new sights and smells.  The only thing is that I had to load her into a trailer that where she had to step up a quite a bit higher, and also she had to back out because the trailer had a rear tack.  This being said, I loaded her at home and backed her out and she did this without a hitch the night before.  On saturday morning about 5:30 I caught her from the pen, loaded her into my trailer, and drove a half hour to Caldwell.  Once I arrived, I had to unload her from my trailer and then load her into another trailer with a stallion that I show.  She went in like she had been doing it for years. 

     Once at the show I left her in the trailer for a while and she stood quietly.  Later, when I had some time between classes, I pulled her out and rode her in an outdoor arena with three other riders.  I had one of my good friends give me a few pointers before we saddled her and it will help some of the progess as we go.  Diamond took in all the new smells, sounds and objects in stride.  Later after the show, I resaddled her and went into the indoor arena that is owned by Al Birt where I was able to ride and give her a new experience with music turned up to simulate some of the experiences that we may encounter.  She is thinking people are a good thing now.  She was travelling around in the arena, and she saw Al standing on the outside of the fence and went over on her own to get a rub and a breather by Al.  We are well on our way now.

Confidence and Trust

Crossing the front end over

Tonight I rode Diamond in the arena and asked for some collection at the trot and we managed to trot a consistent small circle with her following her nose.  Also, I asked her to back and she is going to be plenty light when she backs.  Before we went to loping, I asked her to do a haunch turn and cross her front end over.  She is picking that up nicely and does it fairly flawless and she has plenty of foot speed.  I was able to lope some circles and kept loping until we had a few pretty circles. To finish the session, I asked her to transition down and do some more slow circles and eventually walk over a bridge.  It took a bit of time before she stepped on, but once she did, it was water under the bridge(no pun intended) and she walked over it effertless several times.  At the very end of the session, I had her step on the bridge and stand.  At this point, I stepped off and rubbed her down and took her boots off while she just stood there.  I led her over to the tack shed, and unsaddled her and then jumped on her bareback and rode her back to her pen.  It was a very positive session.

A lot has happened since my computer crashed two and a half weeks ago.  I am plannin on being on the ball from here on out.  I have been riding Diamond in the arena and working on consistentency at each gate.  She has learned to stand well when tied and she loads well.  Two days ago, I put protective boots on her and rode her in the arena and asked for a consistent speed.  It took a little while, but by the end of the session, we had it mastered and then I asked her to stop and boy did she hit the skids.  Makes me think we will have a nice stop come July.  I let her sit for about five minutes and then I stepped off of her and rubbed her down for a while.  When I unsaddled her, I curried her all over and then proceeded to comb out her mane and tail, and also trimmed a bridle path.  Also I have started using a western saddle with a back cinch and a breast collar.  Another monumental milestone is she has hooked onto grain and comes to eat it as soon as the grain is dumped into the feeder, so she is more comfortable with human contact.( Thanks to my clients from Washington that were down for a few days recently!  Judi, Penny, and Debbie)

Time to find a name for my Mustang

If you have a great idea, feel free to post a comment and we will select a name for our little sorrel 4 year old mustang filly from the Warm Springs unti south west of Vale Oregon.  She is doing well and is accepting all that I have introduced to her.  Thanks a ton.  Matt Zimmerman

Today, she had a surcingle on and we had attached bouys to it to simulate my legs and get her more familiarized with something hanging on her side.

Ride No # 2

Today, I was able to walk up to my mustang and I began to lay across her back and she stood still and I was able to desensitize her all over and I am gaining trust fairly quickly as she let me stand on her back, bareback with just a halter and lead rope. 

     Then I saddled her and had a good friend Tarek Elsworth stand in the middle of the round pen and move her around as I moved and rubbed her all over while in motion.  This went well and he eventually moved to the edge as I moved her around.  Today, I rode her with a halter and just a lead rope to see how she would react because she was giving and flexing to the halter from the ground.  Another successful evening.

First Ride

Today, I was hopeful to get the first ride on my mustang filly, based on last nights success with her letting me hop up on top of her.   I round penned her for a little while to take the edge off of her and had her consistently turning in, which she is getting really good at.  After she faced up and let me catch her, I put the saddle pad on at least 50 times from each side until she was licking and chewing(this tells me that she is comfortable with it) and then I put the saddle on about 25 times from each side until I got the same signs.  At this point, I gave her some bit pressure until she yielded her hindquarter and then I asked for her to give to the bit and flex.  Both of these things she remembered from the night before, so she seems to be catching on to all the previous sessions.  At this point, I flexed her and stood up in the saddle and at first she moved her feet a little, so I stayed in the stirrup with my body on the left hand side until she stopped moving her feet, then I stepped down and repeated this several times.  This let me mount her several times with a postive outcome, instead of just swinging on and grabbing as much leather as I could, which is the way we used to do it when I was growing up.  I did this on both sides and we had equal success on each side.  Also toward the latter part, I would mount and sit in the saddle with my leg over and in the stirrup, and then dismount and do this again several times so she could see my leg on the off side.  This went really well and things were rolling along fairly smooth.
     Well there comes a time when you ask the horse for some forward motion, and initially she had some sticky feet, but I finally encouraged her to move forward and just give me a few steps before doing a one rein stop and then flexing a few times before we asked for forward motion again.  We repeated these steps and worked our way up to a jog and then also a lope.  So we had our first ride, and learded a lot of one-rein stops, and she is flexing and giving to the bit well.  It is always nice to have a successful first ride and at the end, I stepped off and rubbed her on the head, and she lowered her head, and moved it toward me.  Couldn't have asked for a better outcome.  Tonight I gave her a little grain on her hay for the first time.