BETTER AND BETTER

     An update on the progress of Sam I Am and his driving. He has been at it for a little over a month and is settling in very well. I took him outside the arena for the first time yesterday and he was again the star of the show! It is always a major thing for green driving horses to go outside at my place. I don't have any flat spots except where my arena is, so it is either up or down hill no matter where they go. It is the first time they have to really hold back with the breeching  so it can be kind of iffy sometimes the first time out. Sam handled it very well and didn't seem to be concerned about holding the weight of the cart(and me) coming back down into the arena. He was a little looky the first time around the driveway, but since his paddock is in the middle of the two drives I have, he wasn't worried about his buddy Shilo being in it.He wasn't sure how much effort he wanted to put into going up hill, but soon figured it out with a bit of encouragement and after that first time was not a problem. I will continue to take him out(weather permitting) and then it will be time to take him somewhere else.
     A couple of friend came to bring a mini horse in for training and helped me with Trick and Treat. Anne and Karen volunteered to be "strangers that are nice to horses" people and take Trick and Treat out to groom them and lead them around. We did some sacking out with the bag at the end of the stick and I showed them how the manmering halter works. Trick never pulled, tho he wan't very happy about the bag at first, but Treat tried to get away, but gave it up after he hit the end of the lead rope. Only once and he didn't try again. I have learned that, to be safe, I need to use the halter just in case. If I don't need it, it doesn't do anything. I have a regular halter on under it with a lead that I use unless they take off.. Only then will the mannering halter be put into play. Eventually, it isn't needed at all.
     It was very nice of Anne and Karen to help me out. Like I've said before, my Icys aren't afraid of most things, but strangers are still a bug-a-boo for them.
     I found a video on YouTube that showed Monty Roberts working with an Icelandic horse that did the same things mine did at first. Pulling away and not allowing anyone to catch him. He was kind of amazed how fast the little guy finally caught on by the end. I've found that my guys are very smart and once they understand the new order, are pretty willing to do it. The more they learn and do, the more they are willing to learn and do.

     I've attached a few very short videos of Sam driving at the trot in my arena. Since these were taken, he has become much more confident and is trotting stronger. He is light in the hand and is accepting the bit better all the time. I hope you enjoy watching him. Next thing to do is teach him to load in a trailer(his only trailer ride was coming home with me(I don't count the ride they took to the stock yard).

Enjoy

SUCCESS!

     I really haven't forgotten about this blog. I've just been busy and a one armed paper hanger. Anyway, my last post was my 2012 New Year's Resolution to get 2 of my Icys doing something. Well, I accomplished half of that. Actually, probably one and a half, because I did lay across Trick during the year.
    The big new, however, is that I have Sam driving. I took it slow with him because I needed to make sure he was not going to have a bad experience and what I have noticed with my Icys is that they hang onto a bad experience as proof that something is going to get them. So I took it slow and made sure he was really ready before I went on to the next step. Because the trainer's horses are the last ones to get worked, I had to hire myself to make sure Sam had the time put in on him that he needed. It has payed off and I am happy to say that my little Icelandic Sam I Am is driving in a cart. He is still in the early stages, but he has accepted it without a fuss and I expect him to continue in fine form. The next step after has some miles on him will be to take him some places for him to get used to other people and horse and carriages. One thing at a time, though.
     He is very cute and he is such a good mover. I love to watch him trot(yup, no tolt here) and he does the most relaxed canter. Right now he is in a cart and that is where he will stay for some months now. I don't put them into a 4 wheel vehicle until they are pretty comfortable in the cart. I will also have my student, Kristi, drive him eventually so that he gets used to someone else. They seem to be kind of one person horses. Sam even showed a jealous streak when I got a new dog this summer. He snubbed me for almost a week when I first brought JJ into the barn. Tried to run the dog down as well. You could just tell he was miffed by the intruder. Now they don't think anything about the other, but it was pretty interesting at the time.
     The others have also settled into the routine of the barn. I eventually moved all of them into the barn proper and they all settled down in that community well. When I had some outside horses come in this fall, I moved Blue and Shilo back out into the arena. It is working out well. I put them in separate poddocks, Sam and Shilo together, Trick and Treat together and Blue alone. I was having trouble with Blue pulling away when we were letting him out in the paddock with Sam and Shilo,  I finally decided that, because he is low man on the totem pole, he was bolting to get his place at the hay  before they could chase him around. When I put him along, he actually relaxed and I was able to work him out of the bolt away syndrome. He is much friendlier when he is along. He have Bo(young hackney horse) to chat with across the fence.
     All of them come right up to be caught now and they have relaxed enough that when I come in to water in the buckets in the stalls, they continue to eat instead of stopping to keep an eye on me. Trick is starting to tell me he wants more of my attention, so he will be next to work.
     I've attached a short video clip of Sam on his first drive.  He was a real champ! I drove him again today without a helper and he was just as good or better. So far we are still at the walk stage, but he will be ready to trot in a couple of more workouts. I'm very excited about my little Sam.

I will try not to be so long in updating this again. Kind of hard to keep up with everything I am doing.

Until next time, Fair well.