Facts Are Facts

I saddled my boy this morning thinking I would introduce him to ground driving dressed with a saddle and rope hackamore. That is, with him in the saddle and hackamore. It is always interesting how the facts get in the way of your plans. We were nowhere ready to start ground driving. First off he was very sensitive to the rope touching him on the flank. Not jiggy sensitive but when he felt the rope on his side he thought he should turn toward me. We played a bit with me putting the rope around his body and he would figure out that he could turn in the direction of the pressure and unwind himself from the rope. This horse is so soft, he gives to the slightest bit of pressure. He makes me get softer with him. I also stayed to the side and behind him just a little and walked with him from one side. I think this will go a long way to help him understand the ground driving exercises. We played a little more both on and off-line. The saddle was totally a non-issue. I like to put it on him so when we are ready to mount up it will still be a non-issue. Even though we didn't exactly get to ground driving, stopping and figuring out what would help my horse on that particular day was more important for both of us. If we would just listen..........

At the end of our session I climbed on the fence and Dakota came up close to stand near me. I thanked him for trying so hard and for just being him. We both stood there taking in the beautiful day (70 degrees in May in South Texas? Yeah, that's a gift) and enjoyed each others company. Ahhhhhh horses! Nothin' like it.

My Blue Heaven

My Blue Heaven aka Dakotah

March, 2011. 3 years old

This picture was taken about a week after he arrived from North Dakota. There had just been a big snow up there so his winter coat was still hanging on. It was warming up in Texas and it didn't take long before the long hair was gone.

Everything I Know

Yesterday I was thinking that when I take Dakotah into the arena that he always wants to jump out - of the arena. From what I understand it would not be difficult at all for him to clear the fence in my arena. Um, they have a reputation. I thought that if I became more interesting to my horse than what was out side the arena then he might start to want to be in there with me. Sounds daunting trying to be more interesting than grass.

I started our play session with my own little game of Look at Me, Just Kidding, I'm Leaving. It involves getting my horses attention, taking the pressure off, then breaking the connection so we can build a new one which will be stronger. Pretty soon Dakotah started to trot toward me. When he got close to me I put my hands up to stop him so he would know where my boundaries were when playing this game. Pretty soon it got to almost be a game of hide-and-seek. He waited for me to ask him to look up and then also waited for me to take off the other way. After a while we were walking and trotting around the arena together at liberty. He wasn't so interested in what was out side the fence. At the end of our play time I walked over to say hello to my husband. Dakotah was at the far corner of the arena, I called to him and he trotted over to me. I looked at Joe and we both just smiled.

Now I am not going to start with "Oh these guys are so smart, these horses are so much better....blah, blah, blah". But I will say that the response that I get from this horse is always so much different than what I would get from horses that have been raised around humans. His instinct is always in high gear, and not in a bad way. I wonder how much of that natural instinct gets dulled when horses are born and raised in captivity. One thing for sure, their flight response doesn't seem to dull, but I digress here.

In the beginning, I was so excited to bring this horse home and "teach" him everything I could. I am quickly learning that he is my teacher. Every day is an experience and it has helped me in my relationships with all my horses. Having never started a horse from the very beginning I am always thinking that I don't want to screw this up. My friend Jack told me a couple of times that I wouldn't, but I know I have so much to learn. - I'm just wondering during his first trailer ride home, if I was listening, I might have heard Dakotah say "I can't wait to teach her everything I know".

Bringing My Blue Heaven Home

On March 10, 2001 I went to a Nokota Colt Starting Clinic that Jack Lieser (Jacklieser.com) was hosting at Watts Way Arena in Chappell Hill, Texas. The format was that we would work with the Nokota Horses (Nokotahorse.org) for four days and get as far as we could with them. We all knew that could mean we would be riding some or only get to where some would let us touch them. That is pretty much how it went.

Let me say first, these horses are off the plains of North Dakota. They come from the Nokota Horse Conservency that is dedicated to preserving the Nokota Horse. Please check out their website to find out more about the horses and how they came to be and also you will see the work that Jack Lieser and Aaron England are putting into help this breed.

The horses came in from North Dakota a few days earlier. They had just had a snow storm in North Dakota and we were having some dry, windy weather here in Texas. Frank and Leo Kuntz put the horses in a stock trailer and made their way to Texas. They said that when one went into the trailer the rest followed. The horses were basically untouched when they arrived. Their ages were from 2yr olds to 4 years.

On the first morning we all went out to the pasture where the horses were staying. They pretty much stayed huddled in a group. We stood a ways away from them and just observed. After a while we started to move them into the next pasture and then into the arena that was divided into an open area and an area with 3 round pens in it. We took turns walking into the heard and just trying to be with the horses. Lets face it, we are not horses and they are painfully aware of it. We managed to reach out and touch them and then get some haltered. We took turns in the round pens and other open areas playing and just basically being with our horses. What stuck with me so much was the trust thing. I have worked with a few horses of my own but these horses seemed to magnify everything that you presented to them. You could really see the impact of your actions on the horse.

We had a great four days. On the third day, I stepped up on the horse I was working with. Jack actually got on him first then it was my turn. It was pure Heaven! My Nokota just stood there. We did not take any steps that day. On the fourth day I got on him and walked about 20 steps. Jack got on him and trotted a bit, still no buck. I was very impressed and decided that I wanted to take my horse home with me. There is something there that is a bit different than our domestic horses. You can see pictures of our clinic at the Nokota web site (Nokotahorse.org). The horse that Jack is standing on in a couple of the pictures is my Nokota. His name is My Blue Heaven aka Dakotah.

Getting Dakotah in the trailer was one of the biggest lessons I have had with this horse. I won't go into the details but Jack got him loaded and we drove back to my place. We did take a few days and practiced getting him into the trailer before hand. He would go in but it was always with much hesitation. Once he was at home I put my trailer in the pasture with Dakota and fed him out of it. He was still not getting in when I asked him but he would always get in with his dinner waiting inside. I took the trailer out of the pasture and would walk Dakotah up to it. I started to tap him and ask him to go forward, he always would run backwards. I decided that giving him a go forward que with a tap on the hip was not working at all. I started to simply walk up to the back of the trailer and just stand there. I told him that I was not going to try to get him to go in any more. If he wanted to go in he could but we were going to stand here until he wanted to be in the trailer. All my focus was in the trailer. It didn't take very long before he started to load-up on his own. I was in shock how much easier this was. I have no idea why I did it this way but it worked and now we walk to the back of the trailer and load-up about 6 times a week. He loads into a trailer really good now.