HALLELUJAH!

Cue the choirs of angels... since Hallelujah... Praise the Lord... monster pony has a trainer! And not just ANY trainer, the best trainer on the planet! Seriously. Quick, go take a potty break, then sit back & relax with your caffeinated beverage of choice, because this is going to be a long one, I've got a lot to share!

It all began with a craigslist ad. I had some very interesting responses... such as the 15 year old girl who trained an 18.5 hand "thurobred" stallion by herself. Yup, she did it folks... who WOULDN'T want her breaking their pony?! However, after sifting through the junk I found an awesome girl who was willing to barter with my broke @$$ & agreed to help me train Cheyenne in exchange for helping her work some of the other horses she trains. Let me interject here by saying, I was about willing to become resident sheath cleaner at a 400 horse barn in exchange for training, so... best deal ever? I think so! Honestly I was a bit skeptical at first, it seemed too good to be true. Until...

I went out to her barn & rode her horses. They were seriously the best behaved horses I have EVER ridden! They stood completely still to be tacked & even untied didn't move a muscle when she hosed them down. They knew to stand whenever you put them anywhere (including knee high grass) & won't move until being told to do so. You can literally ride them without using the reins, & she has trained horses to ride bridle- less. I was in awe how easy & well behaved her horses were, so I was confident she would be able to help fix Cheyenne's issues.

Let me briefly interrupt to give you my list of Cheyenne's "issues"...
1. RESPECT.
2. Personal space (see above)
3. Pushiness (see above, respect)
4. Backing up
5. Cantering under saddle
6. Being a snot (see respect)
7. Lungeing

As you can see... there are a number of areas I've fallen short on as a first time horse trainer. I've allowed her to walk all over me (without realizing it!) and as a result she has become pushy and bratty.

Within the first hour my trainer worked with her, she had her backing up (She has NEVER done this! She will literally CEMENT her feet to the ground to avoid backing!) respecting personal space, and CANTERING UNDER SADDLE! She has only been cantered twice before, both times only on the lunge line. April was literally on for about five minutes before she asked for the canter, and Cheyenne gave it to her - no issues! I am SO thrilled!

Today was our second session together. I went out to April's and worked with her personal horse, Rosie. She is a sweetheart, but just terrified of people. She was severely abused by her previous owner, then sent to slaughter, rescued, and ended up at April's. I lunged her and even RODE her walk/trot. It is so sad to me that she is so fearful of people... but I can't blame her after being BASHED in the head with a hammer *sigh* Why do some people suck so much? I can't believe April has only had her since January and she has come so far! She did really well, but you can just feel how tense and fearful she is under saddle. She was able to relax a few times and she felt like a totally different horse. Hopefully she will come around and trust completely soon. The fact that she went from charging people & being unable to be haltered to being ridden & respectful in 6 months makes me feel like I've done NOTHING with Cheyenne since I've owned her!

April worked on lungeing with Cheyenne today. She did pretty well, but pulled her "I'm going to kick out at you because I'm pissed & lazy" move on more then one occasion. She just fired some warning shots, no one was ACTUALLY kicked. Thank God! April worked with her a lot on responding to body language, and changing direction. I learned that when horses change direction by turning to the outside it's a sign of disrespect (since they're turning their butt toward you) so April got her to where she would stop and turn toward the inside to change direction. Cheyenne has always had issues lunging, ESPECIALLY changing direction. It was to the point I would literally have to grab her halter, TURN her the direction I want her to go manually, then get after her to go. I can't believe what April was able to get her to do in one session!

I am on cloud nine right now. After the first day April worked with her, I had Cheyenne stand to be groomed, tacked, and rinsed without tying her! At first she moved around a bit, but April taught me that if she's not listening and being respectful (i.e. if she's moving when she should be standing) you correct her by getting her to move her feet. So every time she'd fidget and move, I would turn her in a circle. I had never heard of this method of correction before, but it is a MIRACLE worker... especially for a lazy horse who HATES to move unless absolutely necessary, lol. I'll save the "Why moving a horses feet when they're misbehaving works" explanation for another post, but trust me, it does work!!

Phew! That seemed like a novel, just had a lot of updating to do! Can't wait to share more as we make progress. April thinks she can have her completely trained by December. WOW! She said she's really a smart horse, and easy to work with... so hopefully it won't be too difficult. I don't know how I lucked out finding such an awesome trainer, who was willing to work with my poor stundent self... but I did!!! & I couldn't be more thrilled!