The State of Durango

Durango’s moved out to his new home, and is getting settled in. :D

Last class day before the final. :”(

When I went out to catch Durango today, all the horses were riled up. Someone was picking on Durango, and he came running up to greet me/get away from his bully. I put his halter on, and turned to walk back to the barn. The little jerk reached out and bit the heck out of my arm. I smacked him back and got onto him, but ooo I was mad.

We went inside, and when Lindsey told us it was time for class, I went straight to that roundpen to lounge him. He responded perfectly to vocal cues, and overall lounged very well. He kicked out a couple times, but less than he’s been doing. When we finished, I sat down on the mounting block to catch my breath and work on personal space with Durango. He’s been getting in the habit of getting in my face when I’m sitting or squatting, so I worked on keeping him out of my bubble. 

Then Melanie and I took our kiddos to the hot walker and walked around on that for a little while. Durango did fine until he got the lead rope caught on the wrong side of his neck and started rearing and freaking out. I got him undone, gave him a few minutes to chill, then hopped back on to do a couple more laps and finish on a good note. Then Melanie, JenAnne, and I headed down to the pond to go swimming!

We had an absolute blast (others joined us later), and were down there for the majority of the class. Durango was very unhappy with being in the pond, though he sucked it up and did as I asked. Poor thing looked like he wanted to cry, though. Then we headed back up to the barn, and I turned him out. Goofy boy immediately laid down and rolled over. 

Wednesday will be his last full day out at the school; I’ll be moving him to his new home on Thursday, after we finish our final. I’m really excited to be moving him to this new property, but it’s also a little sad - my baby boy is not only mine, but he’ll be moving on to the next chapter of his life in just a few short days. Didn’t I just see him for the first time yesterday?

DURANGO OFFICIALLY BELONGS TO ME!!!

We went through our normal routine: grooming, lounging, self-loading, hot walker, bit, and a little bit of jumping over small jumps. :)

We dewormed the horses today, then I groomed Durango and headed out to the roundpen. 

I was very pleased when he lounged off my vocal cues today, but he still was kicking out at me when I moved him up to a lope. I stood on the mounting block and talked to Durango so he’d get used to hearing my voice up behind him. We walked around behind the hot walker, and luckily, he didn’t rear this time! 

We self loaded into the trailer, and continued to do everything else we’ve been doing.

I was really hoping Durango and I would have a better day today, but we didn’t.

He refused to lunge off of vocal cues, he kicked out at me multiple times, and was just an overall jerk. 

We continued working on everything we’ve been doing.

We took the horses down to the pond and got them to get in for a few minutes. Durango went in, but my poor water-disliking boy, wasn’t really a fan. 

He and I started to head back up to the barn, and he threw a huge fit. He reared up, and kicked out at me 2 or 3 times. So as soon as we got up there, I grabbed a whip, and took him to the roundpen. I spent the next 10-15 minutes just running him. Then it was time for class to be over, I put him up, and I left. Whoo…fun day. :/

We were introduced to the “hot walker” today! Durango freaked out a little at being led by a machine rather than by me, and he kept his eyes on me the entire time, but overall, he did ok. He reared once, but then he calmed down a little. 

After that we went through the normal motions, worked with the bit, lounged, self-loaded in the trailer, and then we took a bath!

Not a class day, but I wanted to come see him/check on the cut on his foot. It was completely covered up with mud, so I tried to wash it off. The mud wouldn’t come off, though, so I poked at it. He seemed a little sensitive, but it didn’t cause him much discomfort, so I headed out to the pasture to let him go.

Patty was washing the walls of the barn with a sprayer, and apparently Durango decided to be scared of it. So we spent a good 30-45 minutes watching Patty/listening to the scary thing, then he decided it wasn’t such a big deal after all. 

Yay for learning experiences! I am determined to make him as bomb-proof as possible.

I got to class an hour early so I could trim Durango’s feet. After 10 minutes of struggling, I finally gave up and got Melanie to do it for me. Then we spent a good while grooming. His winter hair is really starting to come out, and he’s getting nice and sleek! I sprayed some fly spray on him (which he accepted like a champ), then headed out with Lindsey to try out the new walker. He was really confused, but followed it hesitantly for a few minutes. Then he decided he was NOT ok with it, and started rearing. I unhooked him quickly, and walked alongside it (with me leading) for another round, then called it good and loaded him in the trailer for a few minutes. 

We went and lounged for a while. He was throwing a temper tantrum and didn’t want to listen, so I ran him for a while. After that, he paid more attention to me, but still didn’t do as well as he normally does. We worked with the clippers for a while. He’s fine with them on his face, but he’s really freaking out about his ears. We’ll be working on that more each time. After that we took a bath since it was so hot outside! He used to hate water, but he loved it today! He leaned into that hose, and even drank from it. :D

I meant to put the saddle on him before we took a bath, but I forgot, so we didn’t work on that today. We played with the bit for a few minutes, then went out to the pasture to drink some more water. We worked some more on bending and backing, then I started doing different “exercises” to make him focus on my body language. By exercises, I mean I’d walk random patterns and make sure he followed me without my having to put pressure on his halter, I’d randomly stop and make him stop at the same time, and I’d increase or decrease my pace randomly, as well. 

That kid’s come a long way in just a few short months! We still have some things we can improve on, but I’m so proud of him. He learns so quickly. Granted, I work with him every single day, but I don’t ask him to do much on Monday, Wednesdays, or Fridays; those days are focused on reinforcing what we’ve already done. I can’t wait to own him officially!