RAC (Ride-A-Curly) Adventure Blog

I love having a greenhouse business as part of our farm! And it is a great job to have on cold winter days.......however, we have had such beautiful weather lately - it leaves you with little choice except to want to be outside.......and of course - spending time with my Curlies! It doesn't take too much really, to convince me to be with them in some fashion. I can't seem to remember to record my training time for RAC, but I am so excited to be a part of the "action" this year! Even more exciting than being a part myself, is the fact that I see at least 3 Curlies that were born on our farm that are a part of RAC this year in some manner - COOL!!! It will be so much fun to watch their adventures first hand in 2009!


Heartdancing is one of my winter ground training projects. I started with clicker-type training, as he is a sensitive colt, movement oriented, and a bit leery after his weaning. Instead of a click, I used a simple "good boy" command, and he picked up on it remarkably quick. We have had just a few short sessions (3)working together - one in the round pen - and I have never had a colt "hook on" so solidly. Yesterday I was moving half the herd to another pasture, and needed to move him from his pen to the corral. I felt confident, and decided to just lead him, though he had never been led out in the open, and had only had a lead on once before. We left his pen, went through the first gate, turned to close it (he's doing just great!), past our Fjord's pen (not a problem), across to the corral, and through the gate (we are there - and not a single bobble or pull against the lead), and as I reached to pull the corral gate shut, it fell off it's top hinge! HA! That scared both of us!!! While I was putting the gate back together, Heartdancing was trying to figure out why the "scarey" lead was now dragging on the ground beside him. I left him to think about it(he was latched in the corral), as I had some other horses tied, and thought it would be a good chance for him to desensitize himself to a dragging lead - not the way I would have chosen to do it - but sometimes you just work with the moment.

It was about an hour before I got everyone moved, and I had been watching him in the corral, and noting how he had adjusted to the dragging lead. It was time to move him back. We first did some leading around the corral, for practice, and the lead was literally just draped over my finger.......Heartdancing was just so hooked on to me, that it took no pressure from the rope to guide him - forward, backward, left, right - he was doing great! So we ventured out through the crashing gate (now repaired, and not at all scary, according to my little man), back past the Fjord's pen (suprised our little hound that was sleeping in the hay), back through the second gate - turn to close it.......he did great! I was impressed, as he is not the typical "lazy" Curly that we so often see, but boy does he have potential to make a fabulous gentleman! And last but not least - I decided to do some more leading exercises in the barn pen - across logs, around trees, over poles - still leading with just one finger on the lead.......then it happened - the 11 Curlies and 4 ridiculous Chincoteague ponies that I had just moved out to the pasture behind the barn, all came galloping up to the pens - six guns a blazin'!!! My instant reaction was - get ready - he's gonna bolt, and run to the fence for a visit with his herd mates. Nope. He didn't. He never did. We kept both leading, and standing still, and he never once offered to leave my side the whole while they were running back and forth along the fence lines, whinnying and carrying on like mustangs. Did I say yet that this colt is hooked on? His training is just starting, and he is impressive. Not the beginner's horse yet, but he sure makes you feel like a good trainer! Colt's like Heartdancing are such fun to work with - and his retention has been most impressive - as there has always been at least 3 days between his sessions. Cool! I can't wait till the next one!