PHASE 2 - Surcingle and Saddlework Start!

After the first two weeks, Gabrielle and Westside had gotten their schedule under control. The red mare had seemed to perk herself up quite a bit, whinnying when Gabrielle came over each day, and following her sound like a lost puppy as she did the barn chores. Of course she checked for her treats, which she would get after a small behavior! By this time she had learned touch, target, and the beginnings of other behaviors, as well as fist bumping, which helped a lot for the farrier!

The mare’s hooves had grown long from the year out on pasture, so her first farrier visit gave Gabrielle and the farrier some time to chit-chat about the makeover and how Westside was doing. “She’s been overall wonderful!” Said Gabrielle excitedly, “She’s starting to come over to the fence and whinny when she knows it’s time for work, she even stands still and doesn't pin her ears when I approach with the surcingle! I’m going to start her on more line-driving and then ridden work soon!” The farrier smiled and continued the trim on the long-overdue feet of the wonderful red mare. Westside had no issues with the farrier lifting her feet, but holding them up for long was a hard task for her. (Or maybe an easy but unwanted task!) Gabrielle would give her a “Good!” and reward her for holding up her legs for the periods of time she needed. By the end of the trim she was perfectly still!

After the trim, Westside had a few days of very minor work, just to make sure her hooves weren’t sore from the new angles. It had been almost three weeks since her arrival at Valorant Farms and she had gotten more used to the sights and sounds of the, now lively, facility. She seemed to enjoy the basic maneuvers refresher, eagerly touching, targeting, and even walking to targets! Gabrielle had added in a mat that Westside would be rewarded when she placed her front hooves on it, and the mare had picked up very quickly how to place herself on the mat. The mare seemed to really enjoy all of the maneuvers, and Gabrielle enjoyed teaching them!

One day, Gabrielle brought out a saddle just to test the waters with Westside and see what she remembered of tack. She let the mare sniff the leather and the mare didn't seem fazed at all by the object, swishing her tail and returning to her flake of hay. Gabrielle had gotten in the habit of training while the mare munched on her morning and afternoon hay, as she realized she wasn’t stressed if she kept eating! This gave Gabrielle the sign when she brought out a western saddle pad, and motioned to put it on the back of the chestnut mare. Westside shook her mane and continued to eat, unwavering. This was progress! Gabrielle quickly rewarded the mare with an extra bit of food, keeping the pad on her as she moved and allowing it to fall off naturally. The mare perked her ears when the pad fell, but did nothing else before turning back to the young woman, waiting for her next bit of feed. Gabrielle decided to put the pad back on and swing the saddle towards the mare, who lifted her head slightly, watching as Gabrielle stopped mid-motion, holding the saddle in the air. When the mare lowered her head the moved the saddle back down, allowing the mare some more relaxation. Westside likely had past connotations with the saddle, which Gabrielle would need to work on before truly placing a saddle on the mare. 

Back to the previous square, Gabrielle placed the western saddle pad on the mare the next day, before adding the surcingle. The mare didn’t seem to mind this combination and would eagerly work for her rewards, even trotting figure-eights with the linedriving gear! This showed the connotations Westside had are with the saddle, rather than the pad, giving Gabrielle a better idea of managing her signs of stress. Anytime the mare went and investigated the saddle on her own, Gabrielle would reward her, and over the course of a few days, the mare seemed to relax more when it was inside the roundpen with the two. 

When Gabrielle saw this improvement, she decided to try and place the saddle on Westside’s back again, hoping the work had a better result. She started by working Westside in the pad and surcingle, getting her slightly warmed up before bringing the saddle back out as the mare took a break. To Gabrielle’s surprise, the mare had no reaction when the saddle went close to her back, she almost seemed to move toward the object, swishing her tail at flies lightly and exhaling deeply. When the saddle was placed directly on her back, however, she lifted her head again, snorting lightly. Westside then dropped her head back down, and took the reward from Gabrielle’s hand with slight hesitation. The young woman could tell that the mare was slightly apprehensive, but was willing to try for her. 

Deciding this was enough for this session, Gabrielle quickly rewarded the mare again and removed the saddle, earning a deep exhale from the chestnut mare, who rested herself on a leg and shook her mane. The mare had shown that improvement had been made, but some more days of just placing the saddle on her back were needed. Each time the saddle was placed she’d be rewarded, and at the end of week three Gabrielle was able to actually place the saddle on Westside’s back without any issue, even going as to tighten the girth as well. Thankfully the mare wasn’t girthy, and the surcingle pressure had helped that if she was, so when the saddle was finally tightened, Gabrielle asked for the mare to move with it on. 

“Walk on, Westside.” Said the young woman as she urged the mare to move, the chestnut mare didn’t budge. “Great. Perfect.” Gabrielle exhaled as she grabbed the targeting stick and asked for a small stretch from the mare and a “Target!” This seemed to work as the mare stretched out her long neck to tough the stick before being rewarded. Showing there was some effort, Gabrielle asked for a farther stretch, which had the mare step one foot ahead before being rewarded. This continued until the mare had successfully made a few steps with the saddle on her back.

When week four hit, the saddle work was just getting started, the mare finally walking with the saddle on her back, slowly but more than the week prior. This would be the foundation for each session, starting from the mare being saddled to her walking with it on her back. Each day would delve into asking for the mare to do more, eventually, on thursday, the mare breaking into a trot with the saddle on, stirrups flapping from the lack of weight. This was big and the session was quickly ended, to allow for a massive reward and feeding to be done. Each session would start with positive reinforcement and then delve into natural horsemanship, allowing for the mare to then start moving when asked, which at first was a no-go.  Westside has picked up the act of moving = reward, however, meaning she still eagerly awaits her rewards she knows Gabrielle has! This made week 5 the new week for riding work, how exciting!