Day 8 of the starting process

Today we repeated all that we did yesterday, and Tarni again rode Flamenco around the round yard (with me leading her) for about 5 minutes.

Again, we only spent about 20 minutes with Flamenco, and finished the session on a good note.

Day 7 of the starting process

First time on her back! Tarni spent another 15 minutes or so 'bouncing' and putting weight in the stirrups, before just swinging her leg over and sitting up.... and Flamenco took it all like a pro! I was very proud of both of them!

I led her around the round yard for about 5 minutes, and then we un-tacked her and turned her out again.

Although I am taking this process very slowly, and only working with Flamenco for no more than 20 minutes at a time, she is learning fast, and is relaxed and confident during the process.

Day 6 of the starting process

The next time I put Flamenco in the round yard, I asked Tarni (age 15) to help out. We worked on 'bouncing' up and down on both sides of the mare, and then Tarni put her foot in the stirrup on both sides and leant over Flamenco's back.

At this stage I then led Flamenco around for a few steps, before letting her go again.

She was a bit nervous with the weight on her back to begin with, but quickly settled, and ended the session in a relaxed frame.

The next step......

It was about 10 days before I got back to working with Flamenco! The wet weather persisted, and the ground was just too slippery to work on, so I let her have the time off.

I then repeated the previous steps, adding an old 'breaking' saddle to the mix. She wasn't really impressed at first with the saddle, however it only took about 5 minutes before she was quite comfortable and relaxed.

Day 4 of the starting process

My farrier was here on a regular appointment, so I asked him to trim Flamenco's hooves. This was the first time that her hooves had been trimmed in her life, as she has very good strong feet and there had previously never been any need for her to be trimmed.

After the few days of handling, Flamenco was quite willing to pick up all her legs, and the farrier commented on how easy she was to deal with, for a young horse! I was very happy with her!

Then it was back into the paddock with her, as the wet weather continued.....

Day 3 of the starting process

After a day off, I again fitted the roller and the bridle, but this time I tied Flamenco's head slightly tighter on one side than the other, in order to get her to give to the pressure on the bit. She was left to her own devices like this for about 10 minutes, and then the other rein was tied shorter as well, allowing her to experience the bit pressure on both sides equally.

Again, Flamenco handled this stage of the training extremely well, and soon discovered that in order to lessen the pressure on her mouth she just had to turn her head slightly.

This method of starting a horse is now considered 'old fashioned', however it works and I am happy to commence a young horse's training in this way.

At this stage, I had to stop Flamenco's training for a few days, due to extremely wet weather that made the round yard too sloppy to work in. I turned her out into a small paddock with another horse, and she was happy to spend the next few days just being a horse! During this time I was able to walk up to her in the paddock and catch her with no problems at all.... a huge improvement over her previous behaviour.

Day 2 of the starting process

On Day 2, I fitted the bridle, using a plain snaffle bit. The reins were slipped through a loop on the roller, and tied loosely. Flamenco was then left in the round yard for about 20 minutes with the bridle on, before I removed it.

Again, she handled this very well, with no resistance.