Week 6

This last week I have been doing lots of ground work with Major Bob in the big arena, especially working on building his confidence with cantering on the 22 foot rope on the ground while lunging.  Each day I have been building on how long he can canter for and each day he is offering more forward as his confidence has grown.  This is also helping with his ridden work.  He is the type of horse that is not very forward at all and has a tendency to go inside himself if you allow it, every day I am also working on getting him to show more expression.
 

All week I have been riding him in the big arena by himself.  The first few days I let Doc walk around inside the arena to support Bobby and the rest of the week Doc has been tied to the arena watching.  This has really helped with Major Bob’s confidence knowing Doc is still there with him.  Bobby wasn’t offering much forward at all when I was riding him by himself but I didn’t want to make him feel wrong or scare him by making him go forward, I had a feeling it was just a lack of confidence.  I knew I had to think outside the square and make a game out of creating forward.  So I set up two cones about 50 meters apart in the arena and played a game of ‘point to point’ with him.  I asked him to walk to the first cone, at first this took about 10 minutes to get to one cone as he would only walk a few meters at a snail’s pace and then stop, so I let him rest for a bit and then asked him forward again, I didn’t rush him and let him take his time to make it to the first cone.  As soon as we got to the cone I made a big deal about it, I got off him and gave him some pellets (that he now loves) and we rested with lots of scratches then turned around and make the slow walk back to the other cone.  After another 10 minutes we made it to the other cone so I got off and treated him again with some pellets and scratches.  By the end of the first session he started to walk much faster and not stop as often, he was starting to figure out the game.
The second day he walked faster to the first cone and then returning to the other cone he got even faster with his walk, he remembered the game straight away.  Before long he was trotting the last 30 meters to the cones and showing much more expression.  I was then able to start to refine his upwards transitions and he was starting to trot off a really light suggestion.  I was also able to take out the treats and only give them every few cones once he understood the game.
By the third day he was trotting nearly the whole way to the cones and then started to chew on the cones and pick them up in his mouth and knocked them over. He was really starting to enjoy the game as much as me.
Then yesterday I made a big rectangle around the arena with the cones and wasn’t sure how he would go with this.  But as soon as I pointed him towards the other cones he was off.  I was then able to work on some steering aids because I now had forward.  Then towards the end of the ride I was also able to do some small circles around the cones and teach him to back up too.  Without forward motion you can’t do anything and your horse can learn to jack up and go wherever they like.  By using the game of the cones, positive reinforcement and lots of patience I was able to get forward without scaring or stressing him.  Yesterday he did lots of relaxing blowing and also yawning and I could tell he was pretty pleased with himself.  It was slow going but I know once his confidence grows he will offer me so much more and I will keep his trust in me in the process.  Next week I plan on trail riding him with his buddy Doc all around the property, I think this will also help with his forward.  

If you want to follow Major Bob’s updates in more details check out my YouTube channel and if you like it please subscribe and feel free to share it with your horse friends https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2GtAYdNK7E-8ltEyleVndw
 
You can also go to my FB pages. Angie Wicks https://www.facebook.com/angie.wicks.54  or
Team Wicks https://www.facebook.com/Team-Wicks-197445426965642 

Major Bob has been getting more confident each day.  I have been teaching him to lead off my old gelding Doc and taught him to find the sweet spot beside us at a walk and trot on both the near and off side to help build his confidence leading up to his first ride.  

Once he was confident with this in the arena we were able to venture out around the property, the first ride out he was glued to Doc’s side but each day we went a bit further and he slowly became more confident.  By the forth ride out leading beside Doc we rode around a 30 acre paddock up and down the hills and he loved it.  

I have also been working on the mouthing process and long reining from the ground.  

Major Bob then had his first ride early this week in the smaller yard and at the end of this week he had his first ride in the big arena.  

I am super happy with his progress.  

I’m really loving spending time with this beautiful little guy.   

If you want to follow Major Bob’s updates in more details check out my YouTube channel and if you like it please subscribe and feel free to share it with your horse friends https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2GtAYdNK7E-8ltEyleVndw
 
You can also go to my FB pages. Angie Wicks https://www.facebook.com/angie.wicks.54  or
Team Wicks https://www.facebook.com/Team-Wicks-197445426965642 

I have had another great week with Major Bob.  This past week I have worked Bobby with my old gelding Doc who is super confident and calm.  I’ve worked through the preparation for saddle, saddling and leading off Doc.  Bobby has gained so much confidence through working with Doc and having him hold his hand every step of the way. 

Bobby is the type of horse that doesn’t want to move his feet a lot, he has a high startle response but has more of a tendency to freeze (shut down).   I believe if he was pushed over the edge of his ‘Window of Tolerance’ or not given time to come back down and deactivate his nervous system he could then go into fight mode with defensive behaviour rather than flight mode of run or move his feet.  I am super aware of this and every day I work on taking him up a little so he is in a slightly higher state of arousal without taking him too far and then I allow him to come back down and deactivate and this helps him find deeper levels of relaxation which allows me to go to the next step in his training.  I am also breaking every step down into tiny steps to build his trust and confidence.  It’s important I read when he wants to go into freeze (shut down) and then softly work on keeping him engaged with me and the learning process.  Every day he is trusting me more and more and he is showing more expression every day too.  I am really enjoying every moment of this journey with him.        

If you want to follow Major Bob’s updates in more details check out my YouTube channel and if you like it please subscribe and feel free to share it with your horse friends https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2GtAYdNK7E-8ltEyleVndw
 
You can also go to my FB pages. Angie Wicks https://www.facebook.com/angie.wicks.54  or
Team Wicks https://www.facebook.com/Team-Wicks-197445426965642 

I have had lots of fun with Major Bob this week, every day his confidence and trust in me and his new environment has grown.  Next week we will be working a lot more on building trust in other people.  It took such a long time for him to trust me so it will be a slow process for him to trust other people.  We will do this really slowly and be super aware of his thresholds.  

He is not a horse that wants to move his feet a lot, he would rather go internal at times and pretends everything is okay when I know it’s not.  He looks like he is asleep and relaxed most of the time but he has a super high startle response to environmental sounds, rather than flight he would choose freeze.  It is really important I read when he is actually relaxed or when he is going inside himself.   I would rather freeze than flight, though none of these if I had the choice.  

Over the coming weeks I will help him to choose to keep actively engaging with me and his environment in a relaxed way.   I want to help him to come outside of himself so we can see his little personality shine.  I know this will develop in time as his confidence grows in me, people and his new environment.  I am really aware when he goes inside himself and I make sure I do something slowly to re-engage him back to the learning process and to re-connect with me.   

This week he has spent a lot of time with my old gelding Master Doc who is super confident, calm and gentle, I know he will gain a lot of confidence from Doc, I am so blessed to have him help me on this journey.   I am loving learning more about this little guy every day.     

If you want to follow Major Bob’s updates in more details check out my YouTube channel and if you like it please subscribe and feel free to share it with your horse friends that may enjoy it too.  I will be posting a lot of his training videos on YouTube where I talk my way through lots of training sessions with Major Bob.    

YouTube channel-  TEAM WICKS Equine Training https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2GtAYdNK7E-8ltEyleVndw

You can also go to my FB pages. Angie Wicks https://www.facebook.com/angie.wicks.54  or
Team Wicks https://www.facebook.com/Team-Wicks-197445426965642 

DAY 1 - Monday 6th July
‘Major Bob’ a beautiful chestnut brumby turned up this afternoon around 4pm. I feel like my level of horsemanship hasn’t been tested like this for such a long time, I’m super excited about what I will learn on this journey. I know most of that feedback will come from Major Bob, so I will need to tune in and listen real carefully. 

DAY 2
I have already spent a huge amount of time with him since he arrived yesterday afternoon with lots of short regular sessions. After working with him yesterday afternoon I thought it would be days before I would even be able to get near him, let alone touch him but he is slowly starting to trust me, he initiated his first touch on my arm mid-morning and after lunch I touched him for the first time, by this afternoon I could rub him with my stick and unlock his hindquarters and get him to follow me a little. He has a very high flight instinct for a brumby but we are making progress. I can feel myself already getting very attached to this little guy… 

DAY 3
I did a lot of short sessions with him again and his confidence in me has grown immensely. Today I was able to do a lot more desensitisation with my stick and string and my body movements using approach and retreat going in and out of his ‘bubble’ and really tuning into his thresholds. It is so important how I use my body posture, body position and energy when I do this. I want to make progress but if I go too far at any point I lose his trust and confidence in me, a real balancing act at this point in time with him. Trust takes a very long time to build but you can lose it in a second. 

DAY 4
We made massive progress today and the little guy is trying so hard to trust me. I broke down all the steps to haltering and haltered him safely and calmly. He is lunging at liberty and facing up and changing directions. I was also able to clip the lead rope on and start working him on line too. 

DAY 5
Today it only took a few minutes before Major Bob ‘Bobby’ allowed me to touch him this morning. He also chewed on the stick a few times and told me where he wanted me to scratch him with the stick. When I was rubbing his shoulder he moved towards me to ask me to scratch him harder. He is showing so much more expression today and I feel like I’m just starting to see a glimpse of his personality. He then went onto to yawn for about 5 minutes straight. This was a HUGE break through and I was so proud of him. I can tell he is really enjoying his interactions with me and we are already forming a lovely relationship. 

If you want to follow Major Bob’s updates in more details check out my YouTube channel and if you like what you see feel free to share it with your friends. I will be posting a lot of his training videos where I talk my way through everything I am doing.
YouTube channel- TEAM WICKS Equine Training
You can also go to my FB pages. Angie Wicks https://www.facebook.com/angie.wicks.54 or Team Wicks https://www.facebook.com/Team-Wicks-197445426965642 

Due to the COVID restrictions Angie's Brumby VBA Major needed to make the journey to Angie via horse transport. 

VBA Major was loaded on Saturday along with our other Brumbies that were headed off to warmer weather in NSW and Qld. 

Whenever we need to transport unhandled Brumbies, we always work with the team at M&J Peterson Horse Handling and Breaking Horse Transport. 

These guys are calm, empathetic and they are just wonderful with our wild ones! 

Thankyou so much to Matt and Logan who headed off on the long trip up to Upper Caboolture Via NSW with our precious cargo!

We are looking forward to Angie's updates from next week.