Cooter

[Krista]

silly pony :/ he's been bathed before but as you said, he's a really nervous horse.
you're doing so great with him Steph! but like Katie said - pictures would be great!
keep it up, you'll get his full trust in time
you got to start letting go when he takes off You did the same thing when you came to get him ;P

[Rodeo]

Haven't posted about Cooter's progress in a while.

I haven't been doing a whole lot with him over the summer. Mainly he's been just left to be a horse for a while, hanging out with his buddies, getting used to the routine of the barn and stuff.

Right now, I can catch and lead him with ease, brush him all over (he never liked his belly brushed and was iffy about his hind end), and I can pick up all four feet whereas before I could only get the fronts up. He's also been tacked up.

So the next step is to tack him up and get on. I think I'll be wearing my son's hockey gear for that lol.

[Emily Walsh]

I have a comment! I was up to today and Cooter came right to the stall door, sniffed me then let me pet him! He was the sweetest thing!

[Krista]

update?

[Rodeo]

Cooter is doing great Krista. I'm still doing ground work with him. One of these days I'll hop in the saddle. He's still a little nervous, but calms down again in seconds rather than being bug eyed and snorting. He's a sweet sweet horse though. Loves him to pieces!

[Rodeo]

Well, last night I rode Cooter for the first time. He was a little nervous getting tacked up, but he was just doing his song and dance. I did have Mike walk along with me with Cooter on a lead (he did have a headstall on) just in case he freaked out. I didn't mind him having a freak out or me falling, I just wanted to prevent him from freaking himself out more if I fell off.

But he took it all in stride and was great. So, we'll try again today!

[unino]

Thats Awsome Rodeo!!!! Glad it went well! Krista will be so happy when she ses this. Tell Mike to take pics next time.

[Krista]

so happy for you guys! even though i already told you that haha

[Rodeo]

I may as well start this up again. Cooter is finally starting some serious training rather than hanging around all day lol. About time I guess, seeing its been over two years! Well, I wanted to give him a year or so to just be a horse, and then when training time came around last year, I found out I was pregnant. So, not that baby is here, and its training time once again, we are getting down to work.

While he was being handled regularly, I wasn't doing much in the way of training with him. It was clear that he is still very nervous while in the turnout. He likes to keep a comfortable distance, and is very dependent on Teddy. If Teddy approaches the fence to be petted, Cooter will too. But he won't approach on his own.

So, the last couple of weeks I've started at his stall. I'd sit there and let him come close when he was ready, and just generally gaining his trust so that he was comfortable with me anywhere in his stall, and just petting him all over (he doesn't like his hind end touched).

Now, with the new small turnout done, we'll start there. I'll be turning him out on his own, and just generally haning out with him for a bit while he learns to trust me and approach me without having Teddy to follow.

I'm using a bit of Carolyn Resnick's methods right now, to see how that works. Hopefully we'll get some progress over the next couple of weeks.

[1234]

That's awesome! On another note, I know there are a lot of Parelli haters out there and I was one of them but I decided that I shouldn't really hate without first informing myself.

You can go on the Parelli website and sign up for a free month trial, if you decide to keep going it's only $10 a month or $90 yearly payment.

I learned sooo much just with level one (which is completely free!) If you are in to building trust and a relationship with the horse I highly recommend it! (And hey, if you do try it out, could you put my e-mail in as the person that referred you? [e-mail])

It will give you a lot of ways to build trust and understanding. I have a totally different outlook with horses now.

Thought I would share in case you'd be interested!

[Krista]

i did a parelli clinic with helen perkins (spent 20 years training with parelli) in march with jack and pj and i now have a new understanding with my horses too.. hate the guy - love his method.. i'm doing another groundwork clinic with helen in may to build more on what we did at the last one!

i'm so glad you're getting to work with cooter again! he'll be an amazing horse !

[Rodeo]

I like to use different techniques from different trainers. The only one I refuse to even consider is Clinton Anderson. I just think he is an arrogant SOB that makes money off other peoples ideas. And after seeing a couple of his videos, I find him a bit over the top with certain things. Doing up a cinch is one of them.

If you look at Parelli, and CA, they are basically the same. CA just renames everything. Funny though.... The CA "Followers" love to bash Parelli. Humph.

Anyway, enough of that.

Coot (as I call him, Mike calls him Spooks) was great today. We just did a little work in the main turnout. I have a terrible cold so once this is gone, we'll be getting down to business.

My number one goal is to get him going under saddle, but getting him to trust me is the first thing on the list.

[1234]

Yeah I looked at the person you are following and I do agree that they are very similar! I would just as easily follow her methods as Parelli's, so I don't know why they would be up in arms about Pat's ways.

I like Clinton but I tend to think his methods are still a bit too much old time western training for my purposes anyways, even though many of his ways are pretty much the same as Parelli just more...rough?

Anyways, keep it up. I'd love to hear updates on what kind of work you're doing and how you and him advance.

Good luck!!

[Rodeo]

I haven't been doing a whole lot with Cooter. Just basic stuff. I spoke to a few people about him and what he is like, and most everyone agrees that he is a horse that will work, but doesn't want to be fussed over or picked at.

So he's basically a horse that will willingly work under saddle, but really doesn't want to be picked and poked at. Which is fine by me. If he wants to work for me when asked, but likes to keep to himself in the turnout, that's fine with me.

This week we are revisiting the saddle, bridle, and hopefully another pony ride (by that I mean my on his back and Mike leading us around).

[1234]

Rodeo, if you follow the Parelli program you can change your horse's attitude towards being handled by people. My old horse was a dream to ride and pretty good to handle but nipped, dragged people and put his ears back a lot. He also bit people when he was eating his grain. The Parelli program really can change horses' attitudes like this. And it is just as good for them as it is for you.

As Parelli puts it, are they a prisoner or partner? A prisoner might allow you to catch them, groom them and ride them like a dream, but are they in the relationship as much as you are? I highly recommend getting a free trial membership on parelliconnect.com in which you can also access the Saavy club that has TONS more videos and information. If you do let them know I referred you. [e-mail]