Dreamer returned from Lanny Leach Horsemanship on Saturday. Lanny delivered him home and gave me a mini clinic on many things to follow up with over the next 30/60/90 days. Dreamer really, really, came a long way in the 90 days he was with Lanny and I see a bright future over the next training season.
The mini-clinic and instruction set included a pre-ride inspection that not only includes physical soundness but also mental soundness and readiness to work. After that check in, if I choose to ride, we work on mostly walk and trot, until Dreamer gains more confidence. Dreamer is watchy at the walk and trot, but is insecure when asked to lope. So I have that plan.
Dreamer had Sunday and Monday off, due to my schedule. Today our lesson was a reintroduction to each other. How I talk, how he talks, how I listen, how he listens, etc. The lesson I chose was to start pretty simple but work on his basics.
We did our warm up and check in which included small direction changes, cadence change and standing still. Then I decided that one of the most important skills I’m going to need him to have next, is to pick me up, from a rock, from a fence, from a mounting block. Lanny told me he has some experience with the mounting block so I started there after the warm up.
I stood on top of the mounting block and waited to see if Dreamer would come visit me. Nope. He camped out at the gate and started to fall asleep. So I asked him to move his feet from the mounting block. He’d make it a quarter the way around the round pen and turn. As long as his feet were moving I didn’t queue him. Once his feet stopped moving, the expectation was he should be beside me. Since he wasn’t, we did that for about 10 minutes and when he finally turned toward me and asked me “what should I do?” I let him stop and I climbed down off the mounting block.
I retrieved Dreamer, brought him with me back to the block and tried to climb it, he pulled just a bit but not roughly at all, or evasive. He did, however, get his head under the lead which eventually meant I had to let it go or be pulled off – haha. It was a bit comical. I retrieved him again and asked him to stand by me.
We stood for a few minutes. Then I got down, left the block and asked him to work 20 feet away from it for a few minutes. Back to the block. We stood quietly for a couple beats then I tapped his outside hip. After about 150 taps, and little steps ever direction except toward me, he finally took a step with his hind end toward the block. We stopped and rested.
A few minutes later back to the 20 feet away work out. Then we were back at the block, asking that outside hip to move toward me with far less taps. Maybe 75 taps. Then another 20 foot away work out. As we went back to the block, and I started to climb, he stepped right up to it!
Do I think he’ll remember it tomorrow and just start there? No, I don’t. Do I think he’ll remember it after the first reminder, yep. This boy is W-I-L-L-I-N-G and smart! What would be amazing, eventually, is if I climb up on something, he’ll just come sidle up next it and allow me to climb on. Katie did that naturally, and she had no formal training, but she had an advantage. She was a deeply domesticated draft horse. Poor Dreamer is but a multi-generational feral beast who wants to do stuff. He’ll get it. The hard work I put into his foundation before he went to Lanny, and the work that Lanny put into him, has set him up for a great life as a working partner.