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Okay, Pagancat. You asked in another thread, so here's my mustang training story.
We saw an ad in a paper for a mustang. Asking $350. I went and assessed her, and found that she was terrified of all humans. Could not be approached. Only way she got shots was to trap her between panels, then let her rip loose after getting shots. The lady who had fed her for three years had never once been able to pet her.
But I saw a very soft and kind eye in her. So I offered to buy her. They wanted $200. "But the paper said $350." "Oh," she said, "that was just to keep the killers away. We didn't think we'd really find anybody crazy enough to buy her."
So, I asked if I could settler her in her current location before I attempted to trailer her. I asked permission to bring my own round pen and set it up each day, and tame her down before moving her. Lady said it would be okay, but how would I do that (bring a round pen)? I had just invented the Grazier System a short time before, and knew I could take a round pen anywhere in our little car. It was quite the fun thing for me, you can imagine.
So, I get over there the first day, and a group of people are around. You know, every boarding facility has at least one queen bee personality. Well, she was there, too. I entered the pen and started working the mustang. (This is well before the round pen, of course.) You're probably familiar with Parelli's face-me game, or Monty Robert's join-up...they all call it something different, but it's all the same thing. So I'm chasing after the mustang, spanking toward her butt, asking her to turn and face me. Of course, she and her paddock mate are running around pretty wildly at this moment. Enter Queen Bee.
This young lady rushes into the paddock to grab onto her horse, the paddock mate, and remove it. She scolded me pretty harshly, so everybody could hear: "I'm getting my horse out of here. You're not teaching these horses anything!" I stood and looked, glanced at my wife, waited till Miss QB was out, and went back to work.
Within about 20 minutes, this previously wild mustang was following me around the paddock wherever I'd go. She'd break off now and then, and I'd go back after her butt again. Several times that evening I walked up and petted her.
Next day. I work her again, and this day I put a halter on her while she stood still and permitted it. Nervous, yes. Every muscle ready to flee. But she stood, nonetheless. I'm standing there, and the facility owner came up and said, "Just do me one favor. Before you take her away, I want to pet her just once." I told her to come in right now. "Really??!" So she comes in, and I show her how to approach the horse and pet her. The lady just cried. Tears flowed. It was sweet.
"Just to show you it wasn't a fluke," I said, "here." I took the halter OFF. And with the horse at liberty right there in front of her, the lady petted her again.
So, I guess I earned my way past Miss Queen Bee's reprimand, and people started taking interest. Next day I bring the Grazier round pen and set it up, and coax the mustang into it.
Now I'll shorten the story. Over the next two weeks I'd go back over each day for one to two hours and work with her. I set up rocking boards, played games with rubber tires, etc. She tamed right down for me. On the final Saturday before I planned to move her on Sunday, I was over there, and found I had an audience of about 15 people just sitting and watching. I stood in the middle of the round pen, with my hands on a carrot stick, and tried my best to move NOTHING but either one of my two little pinkie fingers. If I lifted one just an inch or so, the mustang was to reverse directions on an outside turn; the other one meant reverse with an inside turn. It amazed people watching.
With me that day was a young girl at that time about 12, if I remember right...who happens to be the girl of the friends down there in Franklin, TN...and I asked her to come in. I showed her what to do, and had her doing the same pinkie-trick thing with the mustang within a few minutes. Great fun!
Now comes the day of the move. Sunday. I go over, and again there's an audience anticipating the event. So, I said to my wife, "How long do you think it will take to trailer this gal?" (Up to this time I'd not ever approached a trailer with the horse. "One hour, my wife said." I thought a minute, and said, "Fifteen minutes!" "You're on!" she chimed in.
So I take the horse to the trailer. Solid resistance. Still a lot of fears in the little gal. Okay, so after a couple tries, I walk her away from the trailer. "Throw me that tire," I said to somebody nearby. I put down a car tire, and asked the horse to put both front feet inside it. Pretty quickly done. "Thank you." Now, back to the trailer. She walked right in for me. Time it took? Ten minutes!
The trick was, once I had resistance at the trailer, I needed to ask her to do something for me that she *would* do, and she did it. I petted her, thanked her. By doing this I told her, "I might ask you to do something scary, but it won't hurt you." Then, taking her right back to the trailer I again asked her to do something scary, and this time she did it.
We got her home, and within another couple weeks I sent a picture to the lady showing the mustang saddled.
You can see this mustang in its original training that I just described on my web site. Here's a direct link: http://www.graziersystem.com/details/portapaddock.asp You can also see the little white car in the background that I used to carry the round pen every day.
There's the story. Hope you enjoyed it.
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