Smokey’s 13th Thru 19th Week Of Training

Smokey has been with us for a little over 3 months now, and he is continuing to show how willing and anxious he is to learn all we offer to him. He seems to love to play all the games and never seems to reach a point of “I don’t feel like playing anymore, guys”.

In this video Dennis and I cover reviewing the round pen movement, and changing directions.

We introduced the lariat and working off pressure and asking for flexion. It important that you never use more pressure then needed to get the job done. Keep it light, because we all want to achieve that soft feel with our horses, this is the first step.

During our training sessions Smokey will chew and lick a lot, this is him accepting and soaking in what he learns. Dennis swings the lariat around Smokey's head and body until he accepted this. Dennis reminds us to never wear it out, keep changing it up, so Smokey doesn’t get bored.

Dennis then introduced the raincoat, this is really fun! Smokey seemed to really like the raincoat, I think it was keeping the flies off him.

Working Smokey with 2 sticks, one short one on the withers to direct and longer stick to ask for movement from the rear. This was very interesting and a big step for the future when he is under saddle. We will be able to do all this when we are in the saddle and he will be ready.

Introducing the parachute is very important so Smokey will not hesitate to walk over these types of objects on the trail, such as water, tarps, bridges etc. Also, fun to place several objects like the ball, hula hoop, step, and poles around the round pen, so Smokey will get use to walking around unusual objects calmly.

We reintroduced the raincoat in the end, and Dennis practices putting on and taking off the raincoat as Smokey remains calm and quiet, it might start raining out on the trail.

Stay tuned for our next video, as Dave bought a wireless mike for Dennis to add commentary. He is a really good teacher and his mind is constantly coming up with different ideas that you can try with your horse. It is also good to review all of these things with your older trained horses as this will help you out on the trail.