The Pay-off

Gambler and I are at that point where all of our hard work is starting to pay off. He was wonderful today! We got to the barn with about two hours of daylight left, maybe a little less, which is plenty of time. I set up the arena and brought Gambler in. He went through this phase a few weeks ago, where he would run away when I tried to catch him. I started just chasing him up to the barn. He would let himself be haltered there (he wanted his grain).Yesterday he wouldn't run back to the barn. Apparently he has decided it's better to let me catch him. I'm not complaining.

Gambler has excellent manners in his stall and going through gates. One of my biggest pet peeves is when horse owners let their horses push through gates and stall doors. 

His leading has come a long way too. I need to lead him more on the off side, because he prefers his near side. Notice that he is mirroring me by using the same leg I am. 

First, I did some desensitizing. I threw the stick and string over his back at the halt and then at the walk. He is still nervous at the walk, especially on his off side; but his reaction was better today than it was yesterday, which is encouraging. In the video, you can see a clear difference in my energy and body language between when I am tossing the string over his back and when I am asking him to go forward.

It was very windy today, so somebody was feeling frisky.

Second, I attached the 22' line to Gambler's halter. I flipped the line over to the other side of his body, wrapped it around his hindquarters, and asked him to give to pressure in order to untangle himself. The first couple of times he didn't understand. I've done this exercise before, but it has been a long time. Obviously, Gambler didn't remember how it went. Then I gave him the cue to yield his hindquarters while pulling on the rope. Once he started to unravel himself, he figured it out. 

Third, I attached the gaming reins to the halter and did some one-rein stops on the ground. I also asked him to disengage his hindquarters, which he is beginning to figure out. 

And here are a few gorgeous artistic shots. Have I mentioned that my brother is a fantastic photographer?

Fourth, I brought Gambler over to the mounting block and asked him to stand next to it while I rubbed and pressed down on his back. He did spectacularly. The wind was blowing crazily and we were next to the terrifying trees, but he only spooked once. In the video you can see exactly what I've been talking about, the trees are moving a lot. When Gambler did spook, or move around too much, I just asked him to trot around a couple times. He got the idea. I focused on bringing his head down, because I've heard horses can't produce adrenaline (I could be completely wrong about that because I don't remember where I heard it) or something when their heads are below their withers. This keeps him calm even while facing the horse-eating-trees.

Itchy Ear 

Last, I did some work on his feet. Gambler still doesn't like picking up his feet, but I'm attacking the issue head-on. Today I saw some real progress. By that time the camera's batteries had died (again) so I didn't get any pictures.