“My Bad”! I have missed posting on the blog for two weeks now!  We’ve been SO busy that I’ve barley had time to breath! With a full house of horses in for training, including our two new mustangs, Viggo and Sparrow;  and, being on the road for clinics and demonstrations, it has been hard to find time in the evenings to write. But, I’ve been busting at the seams to tell you all about the progress with our new mustangs!
These horses, you might recall, have been adopted already by two Pennsylvania families, one in State College, and the other in Pittsburgh, but Lauren and I are training them and will be competing with them in the upcoming Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover in Fort Worth Texas this September.  They arrived at NLHTM on May 17th and yesterday I just took Viggo for his first trail ride! Lauren is also riding Sparrow and soon we will be trail riding these guys together over hill and dale. A lot has happened between the time they arrived and now of course – in just a few short weeks these horses have progressed from ‘Wild to Wow’!
When I started the gentling process with Viggo, I knew immediately that he was going to be a challenge. Unlike any of the other mustangs I’ve gentled, Viggo was not reactive or flighty at all. By contrast, he was quiet, almost stalker like, and very ‘sticky’ footed. He is the only mustang that I’ve gentled so far that charged me – 5 times! Viggo didn’t like to be ‘pushed’ or asked to do anything and his normal reaction was not to flee from perceived danger but rather to turn and face it and make it go away. He is five and was just gelded this January. For sure he was reacting as a stud would by challenging his predator. I had a real job initially with Viggo to simultaneously establish my place in the pecking order and yet develop a real and lasting relationship based on mutual trust and understanding.
Time alone won’t train a horse but rushed training can wreck a horse. At NLHTM we know that consistency and repetition in training over time works miracles. And, as time passed in Viggo’s early training, he began to understand that I was not a threat and instead started looking to me for direction. We progressed in the initial round pen training and longe line work and he became more consistent and free in moving forward in his gait. He began to excel in our Foundations series ground work for body control and navigation and was a champ at desensitizing to objects and his surroundings. Before long we were going over jumps and through other obstacles on the ground and had progressed to hobbling and laying down in preparation for our first ride. Though Viggo was comfortable with me on him, just like his sticky footedness on the ground, he was reluctant to move forward under saddle.  He was initially resentful of my asking him for forward motion and bucked out extensively but within the first several rides began to see the bigger picture. By the third ride we came out of the round pen and into a bigger space in the arena and right out onto the trail!
At this point in his training, Viggo has turned a corner. His attitude is different now, much more light and refreshing, eager and positive to see what lies ahead for him. He is starting to see the benefits of his new-found relationship with people and is enjoying his interactions with people much more. He LOVES the trail and so we will now begin his training there to learn many things under saddle in the environment he knows so well.   We have a lot of work ahead now to teach him as much as we can under saddle to prepare and be competitive for the upcoming competition in Fort Worth. But, with the Foundation  Viggo now has, his training under saddle is about to skyrocket!
Many people that have been visiting the farm or otherwise following the horses’ progress are amazed at how fast the once wild horses have transformed into willing partners and begun learning the NLHTM Training Program. When asked I find it very easy to explain. It’s the Program at work. We don’t just wing it and hope for the best.  We have a very systematic approach based on the NLHTM Program that is applied to the horses’ training. We don’t skip steps, take short cuts, or rush to the finish line. Rather, we push forward stepwise in the Program ensuring that the horse has time to learn each step along the way. It’s been 27 days since the arrival of the mustangs at NLHTM and the start of their gentling and training. Though we are just riding them now, the time spent laying their Foundation has secured their future as sound and willing partners and will pay off huge dividends in their training yet to come.
And, Viggo is fast converting to the ‘lover boy’ I knew had always been hidden deep within his facade. Stay tuned for more updates on Viggo’s progress!
~Suzanne