Getting to Know Gwenyth

Gwenyth and I spent some time getting to know each other this morning.  After feeding all the horses, I haltered Gwenyth and tied her for grooming and tack fitting.  She was very well behaved and I found a saddle in my collection that can accommodate her high withers as well as her very wide ribs/back.

Because I was waiting on a girth extender, I ended up taking her to the round pen without tack.  I turned her loose in the round pen to play a little, just to see how she behaved without anything affecting her movement.  She did trot and canter around a little on her own, pausing at the gates to look for other horses.  Once she had investigated the whole round pen and taken a cursory glance at some of my toys (ball, tires, barrels, poles, tarps) she settled right down and came into the middle of the pen where I was standing.  She is a typical draft horse, who needed to be given a little time to think and process her new environment on her own terms before being asked to do something by a new person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEWsRqT4eHE

After she came into the middle, she just followed me as I walked around with no lead rope.  Eventually I sauntered over to the gate where I keep my lunge line, and I attached it to her halter.  We then proceeded back to the center of the round pen and I asked her to walk, trot, canter, whoa, and reverse on the line.  This is all old hat for her and she was very well behaved with no bucking or nonsense, and she paid close attention to my requests.

Faster speeds in a smaller circle can be challenging for a draft horse because they are built with the conformation to pull a cart, plow, or carriage at slower speeds like the walk or trot in a straight line.  Because of this, it can take some concentration and space for a draft to canter in a circle.  Gwenyth is of course a big mare, and so my lunge line circle was fairly large, and I'm fortunate to have a large 100' round pen.  However, as long as she had room to maneuver she easily picked up the correct lead at the canter going each direction.  She was a little cautious about my dogs cavorting around and barking at the lunge whip (their favorite toy), but as soon as she realized they were just being silly she ignored them completely.

Our next workout will include saddling up and repeating today's routine with tack, and investigating bits that might work for her.  I like to introduce things in this boring order, first day round pen "getting to know you", second day repeating it but with tack, then proceed from there so a new horse can get used to the routine and will know what to expect on any given day.  I of course vary the workouts to keep in interesting, but I find that with these first sessions, the more closely I adhere to a routine the easier a new horse acclimates to Bit of Honey Training.