Behind Every Good Horse Trainer

 Ralph the cat in his supervisory role. As we all know, behind every good horse trainer there's a hardworking barn cat coaching her.

First Ride!

Son of a Lynx was great today, he had his first sit, was mounted from the left and the right (I always do everything from both sides) and figured out that leg pressure means "go forward".  We even went for a little wobbly walk as he determined how to carry a rider's weight. I do love a boring first ride, so we quit with that.  

Compared to other methods it may seem a little slow to start like this in the beginning.  However, I've found over the years that fast is slow and slow is fast when a horse is learning something new.  I'd much rather have this all seem too easy and too simple for the horse than overface him or even just stress him out.  This way he's interested in what we're doing, but not scared or worried by it.  That mindset creates a horse who's eager to go to work, to learn the next thing, to spend time with the human who presents new puzzles to figure out. 

https://youtu.be/mHDpgCfK8Mw?is=caX3SK2AXeiILf1J

Mounting Block Progress

Son of a Lynx had a couple days off to think about our first training session while I took care of some non-horse related things.  We were back at it this morning though, and he did great.

I was able to find a girth and sheepskin cover that he likes much better, so no head tossing or kicking at the girth this time.  He also decided that me being on the top step of the block wasn't so alarming anymore. I did manage to surprise him a little when I began patting the saddle on the far side, but he realized it wasn't a big deal pretty quickly.  He even let me put a leg over the saddle on each side too.  

I take a lot of time teaching horses to stand quietly at the mounting block for a few reasons.  Mounting and dismounting are somewhat precarious moments in riding when a slight move in the wrong direction can create havoc really quickly.  I also want to make an environment where the horse is so comfortable with me hanging all over him that it seems like the next obvious step to just climb on, and he isn't worried or concerned at all.

After we were done in the ring I hosed him off and hand grazed him a little.  I'm hoping to get him to where he can be turned out in the pasture with whichever of my horses he becomes friends with.  My gelding Note is the trickiest personality in my herd, but so far he and Son of a Lynx have enjoyed polite indifference over the fence.  That feels like a big win considering how it took many years for Note to be turned out safely with anyone else.

Lastly we enjoyed taking a few selfies.  I swear Son of a Lynx understood the game, giving me a smooch on my cheek, smiling a little, and looking right into the cell phone camera. 

https://youtu.be/l7B2puEg5xE?is=H8CcKPvLkItNRpZ7

It's Always Fun When...

 It's always fun when your new horse also likes to take selfies!

Links for Voting in the ReBrand Competition

I've had quite a few requests for the links where your likes, comments, and shares will count towards the point totals for me and Son of a Lynx  in the ReBrand Initiative Trainers' Challenge.  Though we love seeing everyone's reactions in other online spaces, only the likes on the ReBrand page count for the competition points.  Here are the links so far:

This takes you to the introductions on the ReBrand page, scroll down to my graphic and like that image.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17WVDpKhke/

This takes you to our first training video shared on the ReBrand page, like the video to add to the points!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E5MBsRCkY/

First Training Session

Son of a Lynx had his first training season this morning, including trying on saddles and expressing that he doesn't like the girth I used today.  I'll find my other styles and get him one he likes better.

He also got to stretch his legs in a larger area, doing a little free lunging, chasing cats, checking out the mounting block, and having his itchy ears rubbed!

https://youtu.be/z01CWQ02Hok?is=85G2-BcxZssjaUOp

Introducing Son of a Lynx

Due to some unforseen circumstances, Special Tyler wasn't able to participate in the ReBrand Challenge after all, so he was sent back to the aftercare organization. This evening Son of a Lynx arrived in his stead, also from MMXX Standardbreds.

I'm told he goes by "Tony," and while he may be called that around the barn, I do like to refer to horses by their racing names in blog posts to be sure I recognize their racing careers as they begin their sporthorse experience.  

Son of a Lynx raced for eight years as a pacer, collecting 14 wins, 20 seconds, and 28 third place finishes. Total he won just under $170,000 over the course of his harness racing career. He's been retired for about a year and is currently ten years old.

I'll be putting Son of a Lynx under saddle and aiming him towards jumpers, but of course the horse's opinion matters and we'll learn what he wants to do for his next career as I get to know him better. 

Please join me in offering Son of a Lynx a big welcome to Bit of Honey, and keep an eye out for his regular updates!

Arrival!

Special Tyler made it to Bit of Honey this morning!  I was thankful he didn't arrive at the predicted 2am, but rather at 6am instead which gave me a chance to sleep last night.  Big thanks to Emily with Dragon Wing Transport for getting him here safe and sound.

He's definitely a cutie, was very well mannered for walking up the gravel road to the barn.  You can tell he's gaited (he raced as a pacer) so we'll see how ground pole exercises work for him once we get to that!

Welcome to Special Tyler and we're all so pleased he's joined the Bit of Honey Training herd!

On The Way

I got the news that Special Tyler is on the way!  He had a very skeptical look on his face in the photo I was sent of him in the trailer, but I'm sure he'll enjoy himself once he gets here.  

"Are we sure this lady knows where we're going?"

I told the others that a new kid is coming tonight, and he'll of course be separated for a bit to make sure he and everyone else stay healthy.  I did insist they will have to be nice to him once they all know each other and he joins the herd. 

His large stall/run out area is ready for him, clean with fresh water, shavings, and a full hay bag.  He and my herd will be able to see each other from their prospective sides of the barn, so no one should be lonely.  Now we excitedly wait for him to arrive!

Arrival Scheduled!

Hooray!  Special Tyler is scheduled to arrive Sunday night into the wee hours of Monday morning.  Having shipped and recieved horses from all over the country I'm accustomed to tricky pickup and drop off times, that's just how it goes when a shipper is moving multiple horses to different destinations.  Hopefully the drive itself will be uneventful and soon the new kid will be all settled in the barn!

I did get this photo of Special Tyler shortly after he was informed of his summer plans...  he appears less than enthused about going to Southern Virginia where in mid July it will still be 90 degrees and humid at 10 o'clock at night.  Needless to say we'll be doing most of our work in the early mornings! 

So much excitement here about meeting him, and fingers crossed for safe travels!

The Introductions for ReBrand Initiative: Trainer's Challenge

Part of the process in this ReBrand Initiative: Trainer's Challenge is creating online posts to help draw attention to the horses and their aftercare organizations.  Here's the introductions for me, MMXX Standardbreds, and of course Special Tyler!

 

ReBrand Initiative: Trainer's Challenge

I'm very excited to share that I'm one of the participating trainers in the ReBrand Initiative:  Trainer's Challenge!  It's similar to other makeover projects I did in Colorado, but this one is specific to Standardbreds.  I'll be aiming my horse towards jumpers, but of course his opinion matters so we'll have to see what he prefers to do for his career  post-track racing.

 

This story begins when I applied two weeks ago for a trainer position, and five people were accepted, myself included. The program is kind of a "racehorse makeover" to show how nice these Standardbred horses are that are coming off the track, and how they can be trained for new careers and be competitive.  I'll be blogging and sharing videos, training techniques, photos, all kinds of info to draw attention to the breed and to the aftercare organization for good publicity!  There will be a trainer competition aspect to it, the participating trainers will get points for attention on social media when posts are reshared, get likes, comments, etc, as well as points being assigned for challenges and the horseshow at the end.  

I'll have 90 days to put my horse under saddle, train him, and (hopefully) teach him to jump.  Then I'll take him to Nationals at the Horse Park in NJ in Sept, and I'll compete with him there.  If the horse doesn't get adopted at Nationals in NJ, I can give him back to the rescue and he's much more likely to be adopted for having the training and show experience.  

My horse is coming from the aftercare organization MMXX Standardbreds, and he's going to be traveling here to Southern Virginia from upstate New York.  He's 8 years old and has only had harness racing training as a pacer, so he pulled a jockey in a two wheeled racing cart called a sulky at the track.  He has never been saddled or ridden, but has had significant let down and turnout since his last race in 2023.  

These are the photos I have of him from MMXX Standardbreds, he's a good looking fellow and I'm super excited to meet him!  His name is Special Tyler and he raced 45 times with 9 wins over his career, only retiring because he was "stalling out in the speed department" which is the best reason to retire.  Everyone is happy to hear there were no injuries!   

Keep an eye out, Special Tyler will arrive in the next week or so here at Bit of Honey Training and I'll have so many fun details, photos, and stories to share! 

In the meantime, you can check out Sweetpeacefuldream, Doit's Cat, or Grace , who all were part of past makeover challenges in which I participated.  Sweetpeacefuldream went to the Kentucky Horse Park for the big show at the end of her Retired Racehorse Project challenge in 2015, Grace and Doit's Cat went to the National Western Complex for Horse Expo in their Equine Comeback Challenge years, 2014 and 2015/2016 respectively.  Here's to excitedly looking forward to a wildly fun summer!