Benson, oct 19th

[htrimm08]

so as ya'll now know, I Lugged the little man over to NS with me. heres some infoo:

Poco Loco Brighteyes
ApHCC gelding
two years old

breeder: Timberline Appaloosas

Hes had no training done so far, not even completely halter broke so this is going to be a fun adventure. Ill TRY to post in this with every bit of progress. He just got here today, had quite the time trying to get him on the trailor from mcnutts to Morning Starr, but he didnt kick up a fuss about it.

For now the main goal is to halter break him! funn. get him to come off from pressure and all that, then its on to getting him used to a trailor, and thats about it so far. Tomorrow I may introduce the hose to him, because he needs a bath.

[shelly]

You've got yoor work cut out for your girlie! But you'll enjoy every minute of it! Good luck!

For the record he has been lunged before and been saddled/"sacked out" with the saddle. He was afraid of the sound of the fenders slapping but got over it pretty quick. He doesn't mind someone jumping around him to mount or legs sliding over his butt. Maggie sat one him once bareback and he was perfectly fine with it.
That said, he definitely needs ALL the basics covered before even thinking about throwing that saddle on again, hahaha! Get him nice and halter broke!

[Jess]

Wow, he wasn't halter broke?

[Suzanne]

sure he was leadable when he was a baby but was he actually halter broke? Not completely. And thats fine honestly, better to have nothing done with him then to have had bad experiences with him. He's eager to learn. I don't consider Echo COMPLETELY halter broke, but does she walk around on a line? yes. Nor do I consider half the horses that I've been around COMPLETELY halter broke.

Heather, you are going to have a time with him! good luck! I'm rooting for you guys every step of the way

[Jess]

The only reason I ask is because I remember reading somewhere, probably on their website, that Timberline had a trainer working from there or a trainer available or something, so I figured if that was the case then they'd be working with Timberline's sale horses. I just don't very often hear of two year olds that aren't halter broke, so it just surprised me I guess.

Anyway Heather, good luck and I'm sure you'll have fun with him.

[shelly]

Depends on your definition of halter broke. He's more halter broke that a lot of horses I know, but not halter broke by my standards. Maggie is not halter broke to my standards. Maybe my standards are too high? hahahaha!

There has not been actual training offered at Timberline for many years.

[Kayla D]

I have to ask, what exactly do you consider halter broke? Not trying to start anything just very curious

[oxmaybesoxo]

Congrats Hes a beauty!
Nicely said Sooze "Better to have had nothing done with him then for him to have had bad experiences"

[htrimm08]

I dont want to stress him out too much, just getting settled in and all, so today I just led him around, worked a bit on "woahs" and "backups". He did fairly well, he was just a bit excited, kept calling out to the other horses, very interested in everything. I did some pressure excersizes and made sure I praised him when he did well.

[jessicab]

Benson has always been a bit more of a worrier/spooker than the rest of the timberline babies I've worked with, so he's going to really appreciate you taking it slow with him. I think you guys are going to get along great!!!

[nat]

So excited for you Heather!!

[htrimm08]

I didnt post yesterday, but I practiced leading him around, backing up, circles and pressure excersizes some more, He was totally fine with it and very calm, so I decided to hop on his back. LOL. no I kid, not quite like that. I did lay on my stomach on him, which he didnt give two hoots about, so Im thinking that this is going to go quite well.

TODAY. Again, led him around, etc. In addition to that, I also walked him over some poles and cross rails in which he was a super star. The first few times that we did the cross rails he wasnt so sure about, I had to encourage him to go over them, but we kept working at that until he just walked right on over them. He is also responding quite well to pressure on the pole.

After that I got quite brave and tried trotting in hand, took a bit of encouraging to do but hes getting the hang of it. after that I decided that it was a good way to end the day on a positive note, so I just flicked him off, gave him some loving and threw him back out in the feild.

pics to add soon

[htrimm08]

Yesterday I repeated what we did the day before, this time it was without a hitch. I also played around with him a bit, desensitizing him with a lunge whip and saddlepad. He dosnt mind much.

Also the purina rep came in and had a look at the horses, and hes going to be started on some Hifat and juv, she also said that once hes on that and Im working him I should expect a growth spurt .

[nat]

Sounds like all is well! Keep up the amazing work!

[htrimm08]

Im still just doing the same stuff as before with him, I was gone for thanksgiving weekend so he wasnt worked with for a few days, i think he was a bit poed with me lol. I want to make sure that he gets everything good before moving on to bigger things. along with that Ive also been on his back a few times. Tuesday I put a surgincle on him, for that girthy feel, to get him used to it as well as bell boots, he wasnt so sure what was going on with the boots, it was rather funny at first.

after I did all the usual stuff with him, I got on and had suzanne lead him around which he didnt seem to mind. he dosnt care about me jumping around on him a whole lot either. yesterday we did the same things again, he was being a bit of a pig at first but after some correction (and help from suzanne) he quit at that. I got on and was led around. this time we tried some woahs and he responded to them. so with that we ended on a good note.

he also dosnt mind me playing around with his face at all, he was a bit head shy at first but hes breaking from that. I think Im gaining a good bit of trust with him, hes such a good little man.