# Breaking Nala



## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

Someone suggested that I make a thread about working with my newest horse in this forum, so...here I am.

Nala is a 3 YO registered AQHA filly/mare named NLD Hancock Bar. She is out of Martins Cute Bar and by NLD Special Hancock, and was foaled in Saskatchewan. Her birthday is May 9 ('09). Currently she stands around 14 hands.

Nala is special because she will be the first horse I start from scratch myself. I will admit she is the least handled horse I've ever worked with, but so far things seem to be going alright. And though I plan on doing as much as I can by myself, my trainer is always just a phone call away if and when I run into problems or am unsure about something. I don't know everything and I don't claim to, so having someone extremely knowledgable and experienced available is a very nice assurance to have.

Right now, I bought her with the intention of reselling later on, but that remains to be seen. It depends on A) how well the training turns out (if I make a mistake -which I don't intend on doing- I would keep her to make sure she doesn't end up somewhere I wouldn't want her) and B) how attached I get to her in the next year  At any rate, I promised mom and dad I would sell at least one of my horses next year...I have too many  So whether that's her or one of my older well broke horses, I'm not sure right yet.

If anyone decides to follow along, you can fully expect daily picture updates, which will hopefully make the reading a bit easier  

I'll give you a brief recap on how things have gone since I brought her home.


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*Nala Comes Home*

Monday July 16: Day One

I hooked the trailer up and drove over to pick up my new horse about 11.30 in the morning. I'd paid for her the Friday before, but the owner wanted to be there when I got her because she was concerned she wouldn't load.

I went out to the field to get her (she was pretty good to halter, though she tossed her head up when it touched her ears), led her out to the trailer, and she walked right on without hesitation. So much for hard to load.

As soon as I had tied her and left her head, she began getting upset and panicky, so we got underway and didn't give her any more time to be a fool. The whole way home, I could feel her prancing around, shaking the trailer, and hear her whinnying.

At home, as soon as I got in the trailer with her and talked calmly to her, she was quiet, and was pretty calm when she unloaded. Her new herd came racing over to the fence to see this golden abnormality, and looked at her as though they'd never seen a horse before in their lives.

I put her in one of the big grass paddocks with my oldest, quietest mare (who is also at the bottom of the pecking order), and the older mare, a little surprisingly, started bossing her around and moving her a little, but mostly they were quiet.

So, I put the next mare in the pecking order out. As soon as she was off the lead and I stepped away, she turned and galloped to the end of the field to confront the intruder. She chased Nala around for quite a while, and made sure to keep her well separated from the older mare.

Last I put in the dominant mare, who immediately began moving both Nala and the middle mare (because the middle mare was getting a little too obsessive with her bullying). They galloped around, kicking and charging and being horses for a few hours, but by nightfall they had mostly worked it out and were pretty quiet.

I didn't work with Nala her first day besides doing my usual rounds of the field once every few hours. That means petting, putting flyspray on them...just general mauling that Nala never got at her old place(s). She wasn't sure she liked all this human contact, and avoided me pretty adamantly (never running, but at times I would be walking her down for 5 or 10 minutes), but they all come around eventually.


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*Hooking Up*

Tuesday July 17: Day Two

I took Nala into the round pen today and did a hook up with her.

I also introduced her to the saddle pad to get a feel for how she might be for saddling, and she was perfectly easy with it.

The old owner had warned me that she's pretty skittish...and OK, yes she was. But when you consider the circumstances: a 3YO horse who hasn't had much handling, in a new place with new people and horses, she's not too bad at all. Even on the second day, I felt like she'll be a really quiet horse when she settles down and gets some training. She is the 'jumpy' type of skittish - meaning she jumps, but she never takes it to her head or gets very anxious and worried and stupid. She jumps, and then it just slides right off her back. 

And you could tell she had her basic handling done: she can back, move her hips and shoulders, lift her feet (though it takes a bit of persuasion; she's just still so heavy in the front and doesn't know how to shift her weight that it's difficult for her to pick up her fronts)...none of this perfectly, but she could at least do it. She didn't know much else though. She can tie a bit, and she does know how to give to pressure - she just isn't consistent about it and at times tries to fight it.

And she desperately needed some lessons on respecting my space. She wasn't aggressive or pushy disrespectful, but when she got scared she really had no regard for where I was (which is the worst type of disrespectful), and I had to give her a few to teach her that even if there is a pride of hungry lions between us, there is never, ever an excuse for her to approach me without permission.

Mostly though, that disrespect made me step back and find that alright yes, she does need to respect me ALWAYS, but I also should go easy on her and give her a bit of slack. I need to break this down piece by piece: work on respect and such in quiet places before taking her out of her comfort zone into 'scary' situations and expecting the same level of behaviour. Does that make any sense at all? Basically, I needed to TEACH her what I expect before realistically being able to expect it.


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## lucky2008 (Aug 17, 2010)

Haha that was me who mentioned that you should do this 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SamBadger (Aug 7, 2011)

Subbing


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*First Saddling*

Wednesday July 18: Day Three

I started the day by taking Nala for a walk, and then took her into an enclosed paddock so we could have quiet and focus.

I introduced her to her very first saddle today. She insisted on having a thorough smell of it for a few minutes, but when I went to put it up on her back after, she was perfectly fine with it. I had rubbed and tugged and pulled on her with the girth before, so when I went to do that up, she was fine with it as well. 

I took her out into the middle of the field then to start her with the concept of lunging. We just stayed at a walk today, and worked to get her to maintain a relatively even circle around me without pulling too much.

I am super conscious of working with her equally on both the right and left sides. It feels like she's more comfortable being handled from the left, so I'm trying to make her 'ambidextrious', I guess :lol: There's so much stuff that you would never even think twice of around a broke horse that you need to work with and prepare a greenie to accept - like things dropping around her, like blankets slipping off her back (so she doesn't self destruct when it happens for real, like some horses will), like things touching her legs and random parts of her body...stuff like that. 

It's sort of your natural tendency around a skittish horse to be quieter and gentler so you don't spook her, but I have to keep reminding myself to just do it normally, or she'll never learn to accept it. I tried jumping beside her, and she went :shock::shock: AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She looked at me like I had snapped and gone completely insane. She was pretty terrified :lol: Something to work on..


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*More o' the Same*

Thursday July 19: Day Four

I just continued with more of the same: lunging, yielding her body parts, picking up feet, tying, standing...generally, just getting her accustomed and in keeping with her new routine.


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*First Bridling*

Friday July 20: Day Five

For the first time, Nala approached me in the field when I went out to see her in the morning. I didn't even touch her until I got home from work, but I could tell even then that something had 'clicked' with her overnight.

And it had. She literally seemed like a new horse - twice as quiet, twice as respectful and trusting...it was pretty amazing.

Well, I wanted to start her driving, but I realized as soon as I tied her up that it's WAY too early for that - this horse has never even worn a bridle. So I brought a bridle out, took the reins off, and poured some molasses on the bit and went to work. 

I let her lick some of the molasses for a taste, then rubbed the leather all over her face and ears especially until she submitted to it, because she seems to dislike halters and whatnot being pulled up over her ears. I stuck a finger in the corners of her mouth and massaged her tongue and gums, and petted all parts of her lips and chin and face until she accepted it.

She didn't lower her head on cue very well yet, so I just pulled up a block so I could reach her and gradually started asking for more. She resisted pretty hard a few times, but after a lot of calm and gentle urging, we worked up to getting her taking the bit.

I let her hold and drop it a few times before putting the headstall up over her ears, and then left her tied to think about and chew and mouth on the bit while I went back to the house for a much-needed drink. I came back to find her standing quietly, so unbridled and bridled her once more (she's still unsure, but was much quieter this time around), and then called it a day.


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## ChipsAhoy (Jul 1, 2012)

She's adorable! What do you plan to train her in? (sorry if you said that and I missed it)


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

She's lovely


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

Sorry I haven't been writing much...I'm at work so much and never have the time to keep this updated. I'll try to get more in today. She's had a couple rides on her by now...exciting! 



ChipsAhoy said:


> She's adorable! What do you plan to train her in? (sorry if you said that and I missed it)


I want her to be a good all-round horse who can do anything and could be taken any way by anyone who buys her. I believe she's from WP bloodlines, but she's got really good movement as well...could make somebody a reining horse? :lol: I think I'll just get her going and then sell her on and let the new owner decide which direction they want to take her in.



Skyseternalangel said:


> She's lovely


Thanks!


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*Lessons in Tying and Bit Pressure*

 I have been really, really awful about updating this, haven't I? Well, I promise you guys I will have it all updated within the next 2 days. That is my promise to you!

Saturday July 21

I bridled Nala and, since she was being a twit when tied, left her at the rail for nearly an hour until she calmed down a little. Then, I took her into the yard and clipped a lead rope to each side of the bit. She learned to give to the pressure in seconds, and then I sent her out on the lunge - the lunge line attached to her halter, with a second lead rope attached to the bit. The lunge was the largest part of control, but I used the bit rope to get her responding and bringing her head in while I had a second rope to enforce that.

My dad had a garbage fire lit beside the yard, and was dragging and banging machinery and scrap around beside us and Nala wasn't much bothered, so I was pretty happy with her.

She was already exponentially better than when she first came home: she was uncomfortable but no longer :shock: FREAKED OUT when I jumped beside her, fly spray didn't really bother her anymore...just a lot quieter in general.


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*A Little Drive and a (potentially) Big Mistake*

Sunday July 22

I made my first mistake with Nala, and now that I'm weeks in advance and know it's not a big deal I'm not very worried, but at the time I was pretty concerned. Now looking back on it, I know it's something to avoid next time, and I guess that's what making mistakes is all about, right?

I decided to try driving her, so I took her into the round pen and did another hook up. When that was successful, I tacked her up, tied the stirrups together under the girth, and ran the driving lines through the stirrups. (I had to use this rig because we don't have a driving harness small enough.) 

She stood just fine until I had all the lines sorted out, then I sent her off around the outside. Immediately, she started getting a bit nervous about the outside line rubbing and tugging against her ***, and it was then I realized: 'Should have had a lead line on her.' Now I was stuck with a progressively nervous young horse and only the reins (which she had never entirely felt before and had no clue how to respond to) for control. Mistake.

So, I did what I could: I spoke to her, told her to 'whoa' (not that she had really learned the voice command yet), and pulled as gently as I could on the reins. When I did, she went UP. High. She didn't move a muscle when she came down, and I put the lead line on her (as well as pulling the outside line across her back instead of behind her). The rest of the driving went pretty well as I expected - she tossed her head up a few times when asked to stop but didn't continue the rearing, and was pretty quiet and responsive by the end. I made sure the lesson ended well, as always, but my mistake was weighing pretty heavily on me.

When she reared, I felt it was best to back off because A) starting a fight and eliciting a panicked/flight reaction in response to punishment with so many ropes and lines underfoot didn't seem like a good idea, and B) I would be punishing her with an aid she doesn't understand, punishing her for something she didn't purposely do wrong. I knew that I had made her rear - I thought and think from the 'nutcracker' effect of the snaffle, and probably I could have had softer hands - there would have been no use at that point for punishing a rear. 

I was just worried: had I made a habit, out of one mistake? Would it continue? Had I ruined this horse already, just days into working with her?


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*First Ride*

Wednesday July 25

Big day. Nala's first ride.

I got my friend to come over and help me out, because I figured it's probably best for someone who doesn't have years and years of experience to have a second hand.

I hooked up with Nala, then tacked her up, then got my friend to just hold her. Then, pretty standard, just started putting weight in the stirrups, hopping up and down a little, patting her all over...that sort of thing. Then a little more. Then a little more. Praising and encouraging and reassuring her all the time, every other second.

The first time I actually went to put all my weight in (as if to pull myself up), she had a little freakout, by which time I was well away from her and ready to try again. My trainer always taught me that at this point, they 'misbehave' and freak out because they genuinely are terrified, so it's better to be able to just step away, let them know you aren't slowly killing them, and try again. Attempting to stay on and cowboy it out just scares them more - it's better to just step back and try again.

After this, I got a bucket to stand on beside her so I wouldn't scare her again by having to lunge to get on (I'm short :lol We went from just leaning my weight over her back and petting and touching her all over from up there (both sides - both sides for everything), to taking a few steps. Then I shifted so I slowly swung a leg over and was sitting on her, and we just let her process that for a minute. Once again, my friend led us around - just a few steps at first, to let her get the feel, and by the end of the ride I was smooching and squeezing very gently with my legs to get her moving. 

I considered it a success so ended it there. Besides the one minor spazz attack at the beginning, she took it all in stride and with trust and confidence. Good girl! 

And sorry, but I don't have pictures of the first ride!


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*Ride #2*

Friday July 27

I put the western saddle on Nala for the first time, and was able to mount from the ground today with no fearful reaction from her, so I did so from both sides. My friend led us around the round pen a few times, then I had her step out of the way completely and I actually rode Nala myself.

Once that was covered and she did well, I took her out of the round pen and rode her around the paddock outside it for a few minutes. My friend stayed relatively close, but Nala of course didn't do anything and was great.

The ride wasn't long, but I was still pretty happy with the improvement and the progress, so ended it there.


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*Ride Three*

Wednesday August 1

Pretty simple today. I took her out into the larger paddock and rode her there, just continuing lessons on giving to pressure and control. I really wanted to teach her to trot today, but generally we have someone on a broke(r) horse to lead and start the greenie off, and I couldn't convince my friend to come out again and help me.


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*Fourth Ride: First Trot*

Friday August 3

Despite the fact that I said I was going to do her training myself, I decided to go over to my trainer's and get her to help me out and check out my progress.

I brought one of my other horses with us, who my trainer rode, and I got on Nala (durrr). At first, me and Nala just followed the others, not really doing anything, then we began to ask for a little more control: with circles, going away from the other horse, stopping and standing while the other horse walks away, continuing walking while the other horse stops and stays behind...all that sort of stuff. When my trainer went and sat in the middle of the circle, Nala didn't pull or try to go back to my other horse at all, and had no problem with anything I asked of her.

At last ready to trot, my trainer brought my horse over again and we followed along as the other horse trotted - at first just short little jaunts, to let her get the feel, but in no time at all we were doing full laps and circles. When I started asking her to trot without the other horse's lead, all the smooching and bumping in the world wouldn't get her to budge (we always needed a pick-up), but my trainer advised me to get after her a little more aggressively and once I did, she eventually learned to trot by herself. She already has a nice little trot - for the sake of convenience, and to stay out of her way, I posted, but it feels very easy to sit even now.

The trot having gone well, my trainer took us out of the paddock and on a little ride behind the barn, littered with apparently nerve-wracking obstacles. The two horses had one spook, I think at a dog coming out from behind a piece of machinery, but Nala stopped immediately and didn't lose her head (as if she ever has). 

So yeah, good ride! We progressed a lot!


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

*Ride Five*

Saturday August 4

I rode her in the big paddock today. When I asked her to trot today with a smooch and a leg bump, off she went right away, and never took any urging. She steers and controls awesome. She already looks and rides like she's broke. What a fantastic little mare.


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

This month has been great. 

Last weekend we had a couple big trail riding days, which did her a WORLD of good. The first day we just went out from my trainer's, and she was jiggy and spooky. A couple days after that, we loaded up her and three other horses and trailered over to the Cliffs. She was still jiggy, still spooky, but very much less so than the first day.

Home after the weekend, she felt broke. I rode her for the eleventh time yesterday, and she does feel very trained. She's only cantered a couple times so far so isn't proficient at it, but she picks it up with ease and has great control through gait transitions. She walks, trots, canters, 'whoa's, steers. She is super balanced and agile already, there was none of the floundering to find her legs and balance my last horse experienced. 

I have been riding her out on little hacks, working her in the big fields away from home. The other horses have recently started going NUTS every time she leaves the property, and they race around screaming being idiots in the pasture. Nala has, as a result, started whinnying quite a bit every time we go out, but I can live with the whinnying because she doesn't do anything else. She doesn't try with any ambition to pull towards them, she doesn't fight or resist or lose her mind because I'm keeping her away. And after a few minutes of work, she settles down and stops calling. I have rode horses before that jig and prance and basically take leave of their senses when their buddies are calling. I am super proud of my 3YO with (previously) under 10 rides who really doesn't give a ****.

She goes everywhere, too. She might spook, but she still goes. She spooks a lot, but she's never actually afraid of anything. I've been doing a bit of desensitization to try to stop her little jumps and spooks, but mostly I've just been riding her (I'm too lazy to do desensitization :lol She has no fear of traffic whatsoever, and a lot of things that scared the beejesus out of previous green horses don't really bother her. I had her out hacking alone by her sixth ride (her first trail ride was her eight, I believe), and she never once has been difficult or resistant.

Any little difficulties she throws in are minor, average green horse stuff. She's never been mean or bratty or malicious about anything.

She is definitely one of the easiest horses I've ever trained. She just has a fantastic mind. I know I bought her intending to resell her...but I'm not really sure I will _want_ to give her up at the end of this  I just sold my old, deadbroke pony mare (and with that money may have bought my first truck!!! -it just depends what dad thinks after his inspection)...I have room to keep another horse, don't I?


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

Here's an action shot of the Baby, one of my favourite photos of her.


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