{"id":184,"date":"2022-05-14T00:35:22","date_gmt":"2022-05-14T00:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caneycreek.farm\/?p=184"},"modified":"2022-05-14T01:57:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-14T01:57:35","slug":"another-session-in-the-roundpen-with-jade-and-halo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/caneycreek.farm\/?p=184","title":{"rendered":"Another Session in the Roundpen with Jada and Halo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yep, another horse named Halo came for a visit yesterday. He was brought over for us to work in the round pen due to him being extremely jumpy at everything around him. Jada has gotten a little nervous working with him due to a lack of trust and he lacks the confidence to stay calm. So what to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These types of horses are actually the easiest to work with in the round pen and getting them over their fears is extremely rewarding when you’re done. It usually takes 4 or 5 sessions to get them really relaxed and then you constantly paying attention to any relapses going forward. Today, Ethan was doing most of the work with Halo and I had the fun job of scaring him while he was doing it. The thing is though, you can’t start working on scaring him before you first get him to join up with you. So first step: Joining up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this part it works just like the other discussions we’ve had on getting them to face you and follow you around. We’ll skip the details and you can read the other articles that I’ll link below related to those days. This process took about 20-30 minutes to get him facing us so we could move to step 2. Just remember, we don’t want to make them tired in order to get them to give up. We want them to use their brains. So pay attention that you don’t get them running too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next step is we need to start approaching the horse like you’re walking up to shake your friends hand. We’re not going to walk up to him as if he’s about to bolt and run over you. This freaks him out, just like it would you, if I walked up to you that way. So the next step, before we start getting those scary props, is to have him stand still while we walk all around him and facing us when we ask him. Again, this went fairly quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we get that done we need to pick up a rope or something that we can use to brush all over the horse and throw all over their backs and rumps. A lariat works best for this but a lead line will work if that’s all you have. We’re going to do this until we get no flinching or moving away from us. We want them totally board with the entire process. Remember to throw it at their feet and legs as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A side note: Don’t forget from time to time to walk behind and just to the side and kiss to them to turn around. We don’t want a hard kiss that makes him think you want him to run, just lightly enough for him to hear. Also, don’t do this while directly behind them. They need to have you in sight for this to work. The idea though is that we want them to move their feet but come back to rest for us to continue working around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you get this accomplished the next steps are more fun and exciting. We have an exercise ball that you’d use to do stretches on and the trusty old blue monster that usually gets them all going. (It is really just a blue tarp but don’t tell them, they really think it is a monster!) Just like with the rope, the idea is to play around with it until they get totally used to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n