Thursday, August 26, 2010

30 days later...








Well, 30 of the 90 days have gone by since I brought these boys home. Ranger is now being ridden regularly under saddle and Cody is learning how to work in a round pen. Cody also had a fan club of little girls come visit him and such a sweet boy when I showed him off. You can tell he really like kids! Here are the pictures to show it, can you tell how proud I am?

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Riding!






Since these photos, I have been on Ranger without the lunge line. He has remained relaxed and calm. Cody has been working on leading and doing very well. Natural horsemanship techniques have been the foundation of all their training. They both respond well even though they are very different in personality.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010





Updates on Ranger and Cody

Well, the "boys" are doing well. They have each started to express their personalities and both prove to be smart, willing, and kind. Cody has amazing conformation, probably because his herd originated from cavalry horses. Many of the cavalry horses had quarter and morgan and he sure looks like he could be either one. He is alert and attentive to his surroundings, he watches with a careful soft eye as other horses, trucks, tractors go by his pen. I have been leading him in and out of his pen for the past 3 days now and he is building a lot of confidence with every new adventure outside his pen.
Ranger has a "been there, done that" kind of attitude. After having him for 13 days, I decided to see what he thought about the mounting block. As he stood quietly, I started to pet him and lean on him, testing to see if he would be ok with a rider on his back. He barely batted an eyelash and so, with a trusty friend holding the lead line, I gently slid onto his back. I got my first ride being lead around in a rope halter bareback. It was really cool that Ranger thought nothing of it. The next few days were spent getting him comfortable with a bridle and saddle and lunging. As you can see from his pictures, he is getting ready to really begin his in saddle training very soon.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

6 days of practice






The mustangs made a lot of progress in these past 6 days. Ravendales' Ranger (buckskin) walked out of the pen and into the round pen for his first session today. This was after he lead successfully in his pen, hoof picked all 4 feet, de-sensitized to plastic bags, sweatshirts, ropes, etc. and got a bath! Coppersmith Cody (blood bay) did a fantastic lunging job in his pen, leading well, and hoof picking. Cody is younger and seems to want to go at a slower pace than Ranger so that is what we are going to do. He has still done exceptionally well considering the amount if time he has been here. I am so proud of the progress they have both made in just under 1 week! It looks like I might have to go find my saddle sooner than I expected!