Well, it’s more like a slow, low-key kind of a rodeo.

He’s a draft horse, so nothing really ever revs to over-drive.

But, Brave is under the magnifying glass now.

We need him to be a good, well-behaved young man.

He is the last of our original drafts.

I don’t want to loose him too.

I’m more than a little paranoid and possessive……………that’s understandable.

Given the multiple, bizarre, mysterious deaths of so many of our horses during this last year, I intend to be obsessively obsessive.

Brave’s got to be trained up and handle-able as soon as possible.

I need to be able to move him quickly to other pastures or farms when I have to………..right now I can’t do that…

He’s not mean.       He’s not aggressive.       Brave’s just a very large, strong, soft, plushy toy………………with dinner-plate-sized hooves.

 

 

Another equine-friend is helping me.

Suellen (yep, that’s an alias) has a game plan……………

 

 

She understands a horse’s psyche.

She’s been with horses all her life.  She’s also a Whipper-In with our Fox Hunt too.

She knows her stuff.

She knows the tried & true methods, but Suellen can also think outside the box.

This week, her methods consist of Brave walking himself around the pasture with a long lead rope attached to his heavy-duty, draft halter.

Why you say?

 

There’s good reason and logic to this…

He’s big (really he’s absolutely mammoth)……….and he’s strong (he doesn’t even know how strong he is…………and we don’t want him to find that out, either).

But, every time he steps on his lead, he jerks himself to a stop.

No one else is doing “THAT” to him………..he’s doing it to himself.

He then has to figure out what to do all by himself.

 

“THAT” means he has to give in to the pressure of the lead rope on his head.

He has to stop, back-up slightly, and take his hoof off of the lead.

He can’t correlate a human doing “THAT” to him.

He’s on his own.

 

Suellen said to let him do this for a week or so……………..after that he should be willing to be led easily…

……….he will already know that he has to yield to the pressure……..and then (with treats in hand and a little encouragement) Brave should be able to be led……

……………..a few steps at first…………and then more…………and more…

Onward and upward…