Mustang Saga

Well, it looks like we're going to go to the "2nd Annual Mountain Trail Novice Explorer Challenge" at the Oregon Horse Center in Eugene. I don't know which class I'll enter. They have so many. I ADORE the fact that they have an in-hand class for horses ages 3 and over. AND they have a green horse class for any age of horse (as far as I can tell) so long as they weren't ridden at all before May first of this year. Which Tonka wasn't. We could also enter the maiden horse in-hand... I really want to try to ride though. So it's time to put our noses to the grindstone around here. In a fun way, of course.

Tonka is such a big sweet goof. I threw a couple barrels in the pasture and then went out about a half hour later and asked him to play around them. Walking over them, through them, backing a figure 8 around them. I swear for a while he thought he was just supposed to knock them over and push them around. Finally he picked up his feet and stepped fully over them. Backing a figure 8 around them was really hard for him. But he finally did it. Then I trimmed his back feet and let him go out with his buddies.

HOW do you teach a horse to move his hindquarters TOWARD you? Sideways, like the opposite of yielding the hindquarters away. I know it can be done. I just have no idea how. There are all sorts of things to teach a horse to move away from you, but how on earth do you get them to move a body part toward you, when you can't push or pull on it from the other side? I was thinking it might work if I had a cue for it, and then had someone else push on him from the other side... There has to be another way though...

I hope to have pics or video of us playing with the barrels later today. Have a great day!