Charley's Training Progress

Charley, our young Suffolk Punch gelding, turned 18 months old in October and is growing into a very handsome and good-natured horse. He's begun (slowly) to show signs of his mature personality, and he promises to be a smart, calm, and willing work partner. Charley came to our farm just over a year ago, and it seems a good time to reflect on some of the progress we´ve made together.

About a month ago, we spent a weekend reconstructing a homemade round pen for my training work with the horses. Our "round pen" has gone through a few evolutions to find a design with construction sturdy enough to keep the horse and myself safe and secure within the pen. I've had the unfortunate experience of watching a horse sail over the fence and gallop away in the midst of a training session, undoing a lot of careful training work.

I pulled out a number of saplings 3-6 inches in diameter with my five year old gelding, Jake [1], and we rebuilt the pen with two rows of poles alternating with two rows of heavy Endurasoft fencing. No one will be sailing out of this round pen. Before the reconstruction of the pen, I was reluctant to do any work with my horses off the lead rope. Round pen work with the horse completely unattached to the trainer is certainly not essential, but if it is possible such work can be extremely valuable.

Thanks to the "new" round pen, I´ve been able to spend more consistent, focused time with Charley [2] in the last several weeks and he´s learned a good deal. Because of the other farm work, as well as my part-time office job, it´s not possible for me to work with Charley each day. But every time that I´m with him, whether feeding, grooming, doing chores, or leading the horses to pasture, I use those moments as training opportunities. These small steps can lead to big changes and valuable lessons learned. Charley has learned to back up by voice, to pick up his feet gently when asked, to stand still and quiet when groomed, to stand tied without pulling back on the rope or pawing at the ground, not to crowd me or shove into me when I bring out hay or the horses´ dishes of carrots and apples, to come to me when called, and other polite manners. All of these lessons have come simply through our daily interaction. Charley has also learned more significant lessons in the round pen.

Today was a true test of just how much he's really learned, and I'm glad to say he showed himself an able student. Though he´s learned to walk up to me when I make a kissing sound, he´s not always consistent. This afternoon, I stopped a short way from him with the halter and lead rope, with the intention of bringing him to the round pen for some work. I made the kissing sound and called his name. The other two horses and two donkeys were all close by, watching me, and Charley didn´t move. I increased the pressure and started to move out a bit to signal his hip to swing over so he would face me square on. Charley still didn´t move, so I swung the lead rope toward his hip. This made the other horses move, and Charley moved off with them. Charley´s buddy, our old Belgian (Toby), went trotting down the hill and around by the round pen with Charley running along right beside him. We were in a very big area, and it was very difficult for me to keep them from running past me to my side. Everyone was excited and enjoying the game.

After a couple futile attempts to contain Charley in a smaller area, I decided to open the gate to the round pen and try to herd Charley into it. I was finally able to separate him from Toby´s side and get him in the area of the round pen, completely away from the other horses. Without their security, Charley had a choice. He could continue to try to get away from me and run to the other horses, or he could turn to me. I stood quietly and let him decide. To my great relief, Charley turned and walked up to me with his head lowered, eyes on me and ears forward (friendly, calm, curious in horse language). I stroked his face and spoke to him gently and then asked him for another sign of his trust in me. I had left the halter at the round pen, so he was completely unattached to me. I stepped to the side, spoke his name and made a kissing sound, and asked Charley to walk with me into the round pen of his own free will. He turned away from the direction of the other horses and walked quietly behind me the 50 or so feet into the round pen. We then proceeded with a very productive training session.

This was an unexpected and, thankfully, very positive opportunity for me to see how far Charley´s respect and trust for me has grown. He´s developing emotional maturity, and it was wonderful to see how he was able to step beyond the impulse of the moment and the influence of the other horses and make his own decision. This experience also reinforced an essential tool of horse training in my own head -- the need to be flexible and open to the unexpected. I try to approach each training session with a plan, but long ago learned to be willing to quickly adjust my plan according to the reality of where the horse´s mood is and what he´s capable of at each session. Happily, the hour I spent with Charley today proved a good deal more fruitful than I had planned or hoped for, and I´m even more excited about the work we´ll do together over the next weeks and months.