# Adventures With Ms. Brandy



## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

Original thread: https://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/whole-buddy-sour-herd-813417

3/31/20

So per suggestions from a few different people, @kbrewer and I are starting a journal thread to track our progress working with Brandy, a horse who was left at the family farm by previous boarders. We do not know the full history of this horse but we were told that she was not very nice - this is definitely not the case, as we have learned!! We have not ridden her yet because she needs a hoof trim and a preemptive vet check, but she has the most wonderful ground manners and handles delightfully. She stands to be groomed, lifts all four feet easily, leads well, is very gentle and curious, and tolerates all manner of poking, prodding and tugging. Taking care of her gives us something to do during all this covid-19 mess 

Today we went out to the barn to practice ground manners and tacking up. When going out to get her, she stood and waited for me to walk all the way across the pasture to halter her. Whoever was turning them out before we started coming out to the farm always left their nylon halters on  so today I took that off and worked her in a rope halter. We were unable to catch Skippy, one of the other horses who is unrideable to keep her company, so we went without today. Brandy led like a dream, though she did get a little excited and forward as we neared the other small pasture we use for working (which is why we're practicing ground manners!).

I tied her up and groomed her thoroughly before we tried tacking up. She is a little sensitive to the girth being tightened, but she does not offer to bite or kick in any way. The best part was finding out that she LOVES the bit!! I slipped the bridle on over the rope halter since we were just going to practice leading in hand with tack on, and as soon as she saw the bit she started opening her mouth and grabbing for it. The entire time we worked with her today, she was calm, pleasant, and curious. Every time we see her I like her more because of her gentle curious personality, which is the opposite of what we were told!!

To end on a good note before untacking, we walked a few circles in hand around the small pasture and even jogged a little bit (until I ran out of breath). She moves beautifully and we can't wait to get in the saddle. 

Once we turned her back out, we were a little worried that she may bolt away as soon as we took the rope halter off, so I looped the lead rope around her neck while @kbrewer undid the halter. Brandy didn't move a muscle and stood there calmly, taking a crunchy carrot treat once I had fully released her, and she actually did not move from that spot until we took our attention off of her and started talking about something else. Once we were ignoring her, she took off with a tiny squeal to go round up her herd.

All in all, a really good day 

(pardon our terribly mismatched tack LOL)


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

Btw, anyone else feel free to post here with questions or comments as well! You won't mess up our journal keeping


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/1/20

So I guess we had too good of a session yesterday and had to pay for it today :lol: There was someone with a truck and a trailer hauling old fencing and brush out of the pasture, and when the truck had drove into Brandy's field of vision while she was standing tied, she did spook a little bit but calmed down quickly. From then on, she was giving me a bit more trouble than usual- moving around, pawing, not holding still well. I finished up grooming her and took her out to lunge a little bit once she had settled down. 

Both of us definitely need to work on our cues there, but once she gets moving, she's absolutely gorgeous! She has a lovely jog and carries herself beautifully. A few times she got a little too excited and kicked up in the air a little or tried to move away, but I stood there holding the rope and not reacting until she hit the end and pulled herself around. Despite the wild excitement, she was still very content the entire time. Tomorrow if the weather stays nice we're going to really drill down on lunging manners and work on reinforcing cues.

We were told by the girl who comes out to take care of the horses that since Ms. Brandy is the boss of the herd, she needs someone who can be equally firm and confident working with her. Luckily she doesn't give us more trouble than we can handle  just a little bit pushy and excitable, but she always reins it back in very quickly.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/4/20

Forgot to write about our session on the 3rd, but it was pretty uneventful.

Today I went out by myself for a little bit after work since it was still a perfect temperature and there was still plenty of daylight. Today brought some new challenges for Brandy - it was feeding time later in the evening, so when I caught her I was separating her from her buddies _and_ taking her over to do some work instead of eating. Someone was popping off gunshots a few miles away as well.

As always, she was a delight (and even nickered when she saw me for the first time!). No fuss about being separated, not even about being taken away from dinner and brought over to work. Though today was only session #4, she improves radically each time. We worked on vocal commands (speed up, whoa, stop, etc) and finally got her to lunge at something other than a trot :lol: I discovered that her left side is her weak side. She'll give a couple good circles then flip around and begin going the other way. She'll go to the right all day long, but would only work a little bit to the left before either stopping or switching. I have a feeling it could be a bit of a pain issue combined with that being her weaker side, so I'll discuss it with the vet and maybe farrier too when they hopefully come out.

Her and I are both rusty in the horsemanship department - she hasn't been ridden in years and I haven't been actively riding in a year :lol: While I never learned much groundwork in my previous lessons, I've done a lot of research and am learning as I go. I think Brandy and I both have many things to learn from each other


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/6/20

Went out to work in the evening again on lunging and a bit of ground manners last night. The new stimulus this time was the boarder working her horse in the neighboring pasture at the same time. Brandy was very curious as to what was going on, but once we started working she brought all her attention back to me.

We worked on direction changes and transitions on the line and received some helpful tips from the boarder who had worked with her before about a year ago - apparently her random direction changes are just her way of throwing a tiny hissy fit about working and I quickly learned how to spot them and correct it before she got anywhere. We even got up to cantering for just a minute and she moves beautifully! I stretched her legs post-workout and while she was a bit confused at first, she then relaxed and let me pull on her legs to help relieve some of that stiffness. 

When we left, I took the bridles with me and took them apart to clean and oil them. We also confirmed that the farrier will be coming out to see the herd next Monday morning and we'll be scheduling a vet check up today


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

What an exciting journal! I love ground work and once you are more at ease with her you can try little games with her. Teach her how to sidepass from the ground. Teach her to move over to a mounting block of fence (youtube has great videos teaching this) Rewarding her for coming to you and standing tied is great. You can add stretching - like carrot stretches to help her body get used to being supple again.

I look forward to more entries


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/7/20

Thank you @carshon! She yields hind and forequarters excellently but we're still working on sidepassing. She's very responsive and eager to please 

Yesterday I went out solo, later in the day again after their evening hay. We warmed up in the work arena for a bit on lunging, yielding her head and body for a little bit before we went on a walk around the property for the first time. I waited to start doing this until I felt she was more comfortable having me as company instead of other horses since the entire herd is buddy sour. She was excellent - head nice and low, completely relaxed and yielding to me up until the point the other horses realized where she was and started calling out. This made her a little antsy so we did some small circles on the lead rope at the top of the hill until she regained her "thinking cap" and we were able to continue. We stopped up on a nice grassy patch by a little pond a little ways away from the other horses and I let her graze for about 15 minutes. She only called out twice in response to their constant whinnying but was otherwise completely responsive to me and relaxed. 

She is overall a very attentive and sensitive horse and I can't wait to see more of what she can do. I did finally realize what was bugging me about how she stands - her toes are so grown out that her heels have worn down on her rear legs and it's causing her to stand with her hind limbs camped under. I don't know when she last saw a farrier but he will be coming out this coming Monday so I will grill him with questions then 

We also tested a saddle fit. Seems to fit her well but my big ol' behind doesn't quite fit the seat well because it's so sloped. I don't have the funds to purchase another currently so I will deal with it for now.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/8/20 

Brandy decided to have a little fun with catching yesterday. She played keep away for a little bit, walking and trotting away (with the rest of the herd in pursuit) as I calmly followed with the rope halter and lead in hand. This continued for another five minutes until she decided she'd had her fun, and stood there licking her lips while I put the halter on. I swear she was giving me a little cheeky smile :lol:

Per usual, she was very good and polite on the ground. We lunged for a little bit as a warm up, working on gait transitions and burning off a little bit of that extra spice she had today :wink: Brandy was very good and she continues to get better every session when it comes to cues, and there was no tomfoolery this time with stopping or switching directions. Once she was warmed up, we went for a light walk up the hill again, stopping up top to let her graze once more. Since the other horses were way out in the field, they didn't pose much drama this time, and Brandy was perfectly calm and attuned to me. 

I have officially scheduled a vet appointment to get her a checkup now for next Wednesday, so fingers crossed!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

good work.


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

I'd have a hard time in that saddle too, hopefully something better will come along for you and this nice horse.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/11/20

Spent a solid 3 hours out at the barn after work yesterday working on some lighter groundwork outside of lunging. She is very soft and gives easily to anything I ask...except backing up. For some reason it doesn't click in her brain that I want her to move _away_ from me. By the end of the session I was able to get her to back pretty well with me at her shoulder, but not standing in front of her. The nice boarder gave me some tips on that to try next time!

The funny part in trying to catch her today was that she played "keep away" again, so I turned my back on her and started paying attention to the other horses. At one point she thought it would be fun to free lunge at a walk around me without me asking so I couldn't catch her just yet :lol: and after a few minutes of being a little turd, she stopped and waited for me to come up and halter her. Any tips on dealing with this? it doesn't seem to be malicious or fearful at all - she walks away calmly and waits for me to follow, and after a couple minutes of this stops and waits for me to halter her up.

We'll be going out to see her get her hooves done tomorrow first thing and hopefully get her on a 6-week trim schedule. Will post updates!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I once leased a horse that occasionally played hard to get at catching time. He was out with aboout 10 other horses, on 20 acres! So, I can't chase him. What I did was when he was avoiding my approach, I went and grabbed several nice handfuls of good alfalfa from the nearby feeding station. I spread it out for the 'gang' to eat. 



But "MY" horse was not allowed to indulge. Every time he approached to eat, I drove him off the food. He would circle, then try again. I drove him off. Just enough to keep him from eating, not enough to make him run far off.


eventually, when I approached him as he was standing on outskirts of the circle of eating horses, he brought his ears forward, looked at me with an honest face. I slowly haltered him. I gave him every chance to run off again, if he chose to. But, he did not. 



After haltering him, I 'brought' him to the food and let him eat with the others for a bit, until it was gone, and then we walked up the road to the barn.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

If your horse is having trouble backing off from a feel on the leadline, bend him to one side first, so that he may take a sideways step with one of his hind legs, prefereably the inside one (inside to the bend). Then try asking for a couple of backward steps, once he has 'broke loose' a bit. 

Reward after the first step or two, with loose leadline. If he steps back toward you, immediately tell him to step back. Correct him when you just see him start to rock his body forward, say' ah!' nothing too fierce, just correct his thought before he completes that action. 



similarly, reward his (her) thought, even before she completes it, initially. if she is even thinking about backing up, at first, reward that with an ease up on the pressure. take your time.


Look for her thought, and respond accordingly.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

@tinyliny Thank you so much for the tips! I'll try to employ them next session  We're going to give her a bit of break this week since she just got her hooves done today and will be getting a checkup on Wednesday. 

Normally the horses are locked in the paddock when the farrier comes but for some reason they were all out today, so we had to play horse wrangler. Brandy came easily as always (I figured if I took the leader inside first, the others would be more inclined to follow but alas). We spent a little bit rounding everyone else up then watched them get their trim. I didn't get pics of her shiny new hooves, but she seems to be standing more evenly on flat ground now. The farrier says she'll be fine without shoes for now if we're only doing light riding around the property, but once we really start working her we can call and get her shod. 

After her trim, Brandy came up to me and gently nuzzled my jacket and played with the buttons, then I found her itchy spot on the side of her neck for the first time and she loved it. This is the first time I've seen her be more outwardly affectionate with me and it was very sweet 

We also found out that the family decided to rehome Skippy and Dolly (the two old bay mares) to a place where they'll get better attention. They're both ancient and unrideable outside of probably someone holding a very small child on their back and leading them around. Hopefully everything works out for the better!


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/15/20

Good news everyone!!

Brandy's vet checkup was today. We caught her easily (no games this time, thankfully) and tied her with some hay in the concrete paddock and groomed her while waiting for the vet to arrive, both to relax her and also to get some of that hair out of the way. She was very good the entire time even as a stranger tugged around inside her mouth and pulled on her legs. He was very nice and explained everything, including a concise summary of caring for and maintaining horses since I asked.

The good news...she got a perfect bill of health, and we found out that she is actually around 8-10 years old which is far lower than I originally estimated!! She's been here for at least 5 years which means she was 3-5 yrs old when she was brought here....which means it's very likely she hasn't had a whole lot of training, combine that with a non-horsie person, and that explains why her former owner fell off!! I know she definitely has had some work done based on her behavior during our sessions, but to what extent I don't know. I really wish I could know more of her history - she's a gorgeous horse with a wonderful temperament. Very smart and willing to learn! We're going to start groundwork with tack on tomorrow (I held off on that until she got a checkup just to be absolutely safe)

I'm sure I'll have plenty more questions pop up once we start moving on to more complicated work and especially once I get in the saddle. It would be more ideal to be working with a trainer and/or in lessons, but since our college team lessons are canceled for the foreseeable future and we're in the midst of a global pandemic, well...we make do, I guess


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I think you are talking yourself into owning this horse. She sounds like a diamond in the rough.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

tinyliny said:


> I think you are talking yourself into owning this horse. She sounds like a diamond in the rough.


Well.... :wink: we have started calling her "my horse" and she has clicked really well with me. She will stay at her current home for as long as feasibly possible (at least next 2 yrs), but once it becomes too much of a task to drive far out and see her she will move with us. I am too poor (college student life) and not knowledgeable enough to 100% take on full responsibility for her just yet, so I will keep her at the family farm as a safeguard as long as I can. Think of it like learning to care for a horse with training wheels on :lol: 

I've ridden off and on for 7 years but sadly never got to spend much time actually learning about what goes into the care and maintenance of horses, so this is all new stuff to me!

I've already picked out a saddle pad and asked about ordering a custom lead rope to match her halter....I'm in deep aren't I :lol:


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/16/20

Today was Brandy's first session working with full tack on! She didn't seem to like the snaffle bit as much as the curb, so I will switch the bridle back to the bit it had before. We lunged and worked on backing (got a few baby steps without me having to physically push on her, yay!). She was a doll the entire time, even when we found out that I had forgotten to replace the missing latigo on the saddle and we had to go root around in the barn for it while she waited patiently. This time while cinching her up, I tightened it just enough that it touched her belly, then walked her in a few circles before tightening it all the way. No more complaining from Brandy 

Her cues get better every time and so do her manners. She didn't push into my space once today and stayed even with my shoulder while leading. I'll probably start testing adding weight to her next week (hand in stirrup, foot in stirrup, leaning on back etc) and see where we're at 

She's quite the looker in blue or purple tack! The tan/purple woven pad is the only horse-sized pad we have currently lol. I'm going to order a Diamond Wool pad once I have the funds as well as overreach boots and splint boots for her hinds since she is a bit clumsy (and a little too extended) at times and I don't want her to injure herself.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/18/20, session #10

We have achieved liftoff!!

We started with a warmup session on the lunge rope per usual, but this time I really focused on getting her brain working. Lots of direction changes and gait transitions, all of which she handled like a champ! And so came the biggest test...walked Brandy up to the mounting block, had @kbrewer hold the lead rope underneath the bridle just as a safeguard, and slowly added more and more weight onto the stirrup. Brandy reacted in no way other than flicking her ears back while listening to me, so I swung onto her back - and I was mounted!! We gently looped the rope around her neck and walked a few circles around the work pen. She rides like a dream, despite my overly excited fumbling (I also haven't been in the saddle in a year, so I'm rusty too)!

I said "I wonder if she knows how to neck rein?" and tried to steer as one would. It took her a second to get into that mode but she absolutely does, phew!

She's such a good girl. When you tack her up there's a visible change in her demeanor. She goes into "work mode" and you can tell - all eyes and ears are on you! I can't wait to really get into riding with her. We'll spend the next couple sessions in the work pen just so I can get a better feel for her before we take it outside. So much excitement!! 

(pardon the improper rein holding, I had to switch hands to take the picture lol)


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/19/20, session #11

Last night was our first "real ride" out in the pasture while the other horses were locked in the paddock for dinner time....and hoo boy was it a doozy!

I remembered the boarder's warning that Brandy is extremely barn sour and she was very eager to show that to me tonight....in the first couple minutes of riding, we ended up stuck at a random point in the yard, spinning in circles. She wanted to go to the barn, I wanted to go away from the barn and we were at a stalemate :lol: Yet, slowly but surely, one tiny step at a time, we inched our way away from the barn. I had the mantra "make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard" playing like a broken record in my head LOL! When we had moved far enough away from the barn and she settled, I would ask for a halt and we would stand and chill and I would give her lots of praise - but once we started moving on with our circle and she tried to bolt for the barn again, I would steer away. Rinse and repeat for the next hour and a half!!

By the end of our session, I had gotten her to walk some nice laps around the imaginary rectangle I had marked off in my head in a section of the pasture furthest away from the barn. Not a single head turn towards the barn or bit of resistance any more!

All I really did was stick to that seat, and guide her away from the barn. Just being patient and asking nothing more than for her to move away. All that spinning and speed was her decision completely :wink: And with a lot of patience, we succeeded in the end. That was my first real ride in almost a year and I'm definitely feeling it this morning.

Anyone have western bit recommendations? I think the broken mouthpiece is giving her some trouble. I have no clue what she was ridden in before unfortunately. We do have a random solid mouthpiece curb that I found in the barn when cleaning, but I'm not a fan of a bit that has no movement or flexibility to it at all. Would something like a mullen mouth be better suited? Thank you!


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

This is why we all have a stash of bits. She may prefer something more solid. Or she may like a snaffle or hackamore, the only way to find out with a horse like Brandy is to try them out.


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## Keira Cloudhawk (Nov 18, 2019)

whisperbaby22 said:


> This is why we all have a stash of bits. She may prefer something more solid. Or she may like a snaffle or hackamore, the only way to find out with a horse like Brandy is to try them out.


OP has started a new thread about bit options for her mare. She has been recommended bits and has chosen a bit similar to a Myler bit. 🙂


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

@Keira Cloudhawk is correct! I'm actually heading to the barn in a few hours to ride again soon and I'll be trying out a bitless sidepull halter in the meantime, so we'll see how well that goes  sadly the bit isn't in stock on the website I was ordering from, so I have to wait an additional couple of days


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/21/20, session #12

Guess who got unhorsed for the first time :') (I'm completely fine, don't worry!!!)

Like yesterday, she was being a little testy during lunging. I wonder if she's in heat? We have been working with her for a little over a month now, starting in March, so the timing lines up. She has been a bit irritable and sensitive on the ground. We worked on gait transitions and cues on the lunge but it was difficult due to her wanting to throw her little tantrums and switch directions at random. Once I had gotten a few good circles, I mounted up, riding in a sidepull rope halter for the first time! It did take her a moment to adjust to the new sensation. Due to the shape of the halter, the reins are attached a fair big higher than they would be on a normal Western setup, but she still neck reined beautifully and also finally backed up with ease, yay!! 

I didn't feel comfortable taking her out in the big pasture with just a rope halter on at this point in her training, so we stuck to the work pen. Even on ride #2 she vastly improved about the whole barn sour issue. We even got a gorgeous canter going on for a brief moment, restricted by the size of the arena...and that's where I fell off :lol: You see, the work pen was once a big square pen that later got separated into two separate pens with a fence down the middle. We got a nice smooth canter going in the second pen, but in the first pen we work in most often there are several trees that Brandy has learned to navigate around so I don't get clotheslined. I had tried to cue a canter in the first pen with the trees and bless her little heart did she try, but she lost traction and balance in the center and came to a hard stop. I was a little off balance already and went over her shoulder, caught the saddle horn with my hand, spun sideways and landed cleanly on my feet :eek_color: It was completely my fault and out of all the possible ways it could've gone, it was the best possible way for it to happen.

Brandy stopped right in her tracks and stood there calmly and let me lead her back over to the fence to hop back on with no issues. She's a very good girl and I'm proud  We cooled down with extending and collecting the walk for a little bit longer before I finished up our session for the evening. 

Boy, will I be feeling that for the next couple days....


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## Keira Cloudhawk (Nov 18, 2019)

Kattington said:


> 4/21/20, session #12
> 
> Guess who got unhorsed for the first time :') (I'm completely fine, don't worry!!!)


haha, don't worry, it happens to all of us. I find the first time to be very memorable...


Kattington said:


> Like yesterday, she was being a little testy during lunging. I wonder if she's in heat?


Sometimes, we have a off/bad day. Ofc, it can be of heat or excitement. It can also be a pain issue. Finally, it can be her feed that is making her hot. Not sure if I got it or not, but what are you feeding her?



Kattington said:


> She has been a bit irritable and sensitive on the ground. We worked on gait transitions and cues on the lunge but it was difficult due to her wanting to throw her little tantrums and switch directions at random.


Like I said, it can be a pain issue. I would recommend getting a lameness exam. Ofc, it can be natural for a young horse who is starting to be a bit sensitive to bad ground. What kind of ground were you lunging her on? As for me, I make sure my horses aren't sensitive/picky to grounds such as sand, mud, gravel, etc.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

@Keira Cloudhawk She's on free hay and pasture all day. We did get a vet out for a checkup last week and she got a clean bill of health, but we didn't do a thorough lameness test. Up to this point she's been fairly well behaved, and in last night's session she also was for the most part aside from trying to randomly stop and change directions on the lunge and seeming a touch irritable. Under saddle she was very good as well - still very forward, but her body language was relaxed and she yielded very well when I asked! The footing in the pen is just grass. Sadly we don't have anything else to work with but she seems to handle it fine so far 🙂 She rides wonderfully once she's not dead set on making it back to the barn (which only crops up under saddle) so I'm eager to see how she'll do as we keep working that issue out


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## Keira Cloudhawk (Nov 18, 2019)

Is this the first time she has acted this way? Either way, I would still recommend a thorough lameness exam. Additionally, I would recommend on working with her since you say that she acts up when her mindset is dead on the barn (hopefully I worded that correctly). In the future, this can become a bad habit and can lead to possible buddy/barn sourness, which is not good.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

making the right thing easy, and the wrong thing hard is a tiny bit different from what you were doing with her.


In your case, you stopped her from chosing the 'wrong' thing, and turned her toward the 'right' thing. She let you . .. sort of. Her mind, however, was not changed into believing that she would prefer to not run back to the barn. Instead, she is being obedient, but is still, down inside, convinced that things would be better at the barn.


That is becuase when she choose to rush back to the barn, you didn't LET her go there, and work her harder over there. you didn't make the 'wrong' thing harder, before asking her to consider the 'right' thing (moving away from the barn, and immmediately making that so easy and nice".) It is allowing HER to make these choices and live out the consequences that bring about a change in her mind.


As for falling over the shoulder, well, that happens a lot . You weren't really 'unhorsed', since she wasn't to blame. But, it's not likely to be the last time you'll fall off. It happens to the best riders.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

@Keira Cloudhawk Yeah, she was very barn sour to begin with. She was dumped at the farm of my best friend/roommate's family 5 yrs ago, and we started working with her on the ground last month. She acted like this on the ground at first too, but as time went on and she became more comfortable around us she mellowed out. Unfortunately we know very little of her history. If the issue persists I'll definitely get the vet back out! I'm very new to taking care of horses and she is still mostly under the care of @kbrewer 's family, but we have been coming out to work with her and got the vet out last week for her first checkup in who knows how long.

@tinyliny That is a good point, thank you!! Unhorsed wasn't the right word if that's what it means, I just thought it sounded funny. I definitely take full responsibility for falling off and I'm just glad that both of us were unharmed. I'm surprised it took me this long to finally come off, too!! In my first years of schooling over seven years ago, I rode some pretty interesting horses and somehow managed to stick on - a 25+ yr old retired barrel racer who still got excited when she saw the poles or barrels come out, and once my instructor put me on a sensitive mare who took off at a canter before I even got my other foot in the stirrup :lol:

During the ride in the pasture I did ask her come to a halt and just sit and relax when we faced away from the barn, but I didn't figure out a way to ask her to work harder as we got closer to the barn - looks like I forgot to mention that in the original post, oops. She would speed up more and more as we got closer, so asking her for more speed would make that a tad dangerous. What are some ways I could get her brain engaged instead when that happens? Ask for a halt, backing up, yielding hind and forequarters etc instead?


Last night riding in just the work pen was a massive improvement. While she is a forward horse, she listened very well to all of my cues, even with a totally new method of communication (rope halter with reins attached). All the grumpiness went away once I had worked her on the lunge for a little bit. The boarder also related that her horse would act similarly when she tried to work him in her pasture years ago when they started training, possibly because he hadn't yet learned to associate that pasture can also mean work when you have a rider on your back.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I would have let her go back toward the barn, as far as she could, and at that place, start circling her at a brisk trot. During this circling, you stay perceptive of any sign from her that she is looking for a way out this activity. You 'catch' that when she is facing away from the barn, and you open your rein and 'invite' her to move away from the barn. If she does, you let her walk as far as she will. do not stop or direct her. if she walks a few steps, pauses, then turns back toward the barn, LET her. as soon as she committs to that thought, and actually turns toward the barn, you start getting all sloppy with your legs, banging her sides. If she hurries more. LET her. At the barn ask her for circles, at a brisk trot, looking for that place where she is looking for something else, and you offering a different direction. 



you do not ever haul her to a stop. She will stop and stand, when she has made the change in her thinking that AWAY from the barn is better than NEAR the barn.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

That's very good advice and a good way of thinking about it, thank you so much! Sadly the forecast is predicting rain for the next few days so riding will be postponed until after that, but I will definitely give that method a shot and let you know what happens  She's responsive and a fast learner, so I expect she'll pick up on it fairly quickly (fingers crossed)

I am learning a lot as we go as well and I'm grateful to be working with a horse who will give me a challenge, but not in the dangerous way.Thank you all for being so helpful with all of my questions! I really wish I could be working with a trainer in-person right now, but sadly that's just not quite feasible with everything going on.


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

4/24/20, session #13

Ride #2 in the pasture was much better this time!! K and I went to a new (well, new to us) horse supply store nearby to see if they had any bits, since the one I wanted to order is now not expected to be in stock until halfway through next month  After much rooting through their little selection on the wall, I finally settled on one: a curb with a copper barrel in the middle and a low, wide port that's rotated forward so that it takes almost all the pressure off the tongue. The shanks are a bit too long for my liking, so I figured I would be returning it - but once we tacked Brandy up and tried out some halts and backing up in the work pen, she was a whole new horse! Backs up soft and easily, halts at the drop of a hat. Whatever crankiness she was having last week was gone as well.

So we rode off into the pasture after doing some nice and easy warming up in the pen. All was well until we came around the corner of our first lap and she spotted the barn, slowly increasing speed as she got closer. I tried out what @tinyliny suggested - allow her to approach, but once we got there, work her in tight circles and offer her an "out" once she started looking for it. She would take that exit, walk a few steps away, then you could feel her going "hmm...not yet" and turn back around :lol: And so we repeated, on and on, until she decided she'd had enough of that and meandered away from the barn.

Now...this horse is too smart for her own good, and the next time we completed a lap around the pasture, she made a beeline for the alternate entrance to the paddock which is a narrow, thigh-deep mud passageway. This time I did have to ask her to back away from it instead of working her because it was too dangerous - didn't quite work as she went to the mud and slipped anyways, but on her third attempt at trying to sneak in the alternate entrance, instead of slogging into the mud, she backed up into the fence (I didn't ask her to, she ran up to the muddy area then just started backing lol) and we worked circles there until she'd had enough - and that was the last time she tried bolting for the barn tonight!!

The boarder was riding her horse Wrangler as well, and she offered to ride with us around the pasture. What a difference! With Wrangler on the outside and Brandy on the inside, she was much better and no longer even looked towards the barn or tried to get to it. We completed several laps around the pasture at a nice calm walk before I finished up.

That was only ride #2 in the pasture and she's already vastly improved. The new bit helped out a lot, so glad we found that shop!!


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## Kattington (Jun 26, 2013)

Wow! I completely forgot about this thread (typical). I wanted to come back and give a big update, 6 months later:
Brandy and I have come incredibly far together. She has gone from a head-tossing, fit-throwing, barn-sour turd, to a willing, soft, and dependable mare. If only I had known back then what I know now! Sadly, she is a 50 minute drive away currently because we had to move back to campus for school. We are looking into moving her to a boarding barn 15 mins away. 

I have taught her many things in the past few months, and she has done the same for me. We have even begun practicing beginner level jousting together and she loves it. She has gone from stubborn and disinterested, to finally giving me her heart and being willing to try new things just for me. We've learned sidepassing and yields, as well as how to give softly to the bit, how NOT to make a beeline for the barn all the time. The most amazing improvement for me is how much her backing up has improved. She used to root her nose up in the air, toss her head, and drag her feet. Now? She will back easily on the ground, and under saddle, she will now back up even by my seat alone (the first time that happened, I could've cried). Considering I had no experience in training 7 months ago, I'd say that's pretty big 

I joined our college's equestrian team. I get to ride big, fancy, experienced horses, but believe me, I'd rather be back home riding my grade no-name mare!! Working with horses has taught me so much about empathy and how to really put yourself in the animal's place. The bond we have formed is very special and I can't wait to see where we go once she's moved closer to me and I can ride more frequently.


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