KBR Training Case Study

"Velvet"
(Originally known as "Debbie")
Part Three
What the well dressed mustang is wearing...
As is often the case, February and early March were rainouts, raining on average about 9 out of every 10 days. There were few places on the ranch that were safe to ride. We finally gave up and literally rode down the road to the Love's place with a covered arena. Debbie didn't much like the cars that passed by but she didn't spook. We did have to play "touch it" with one horse-eating brush pile which Debbie touched after a round of really articulate snorts. She seemed unimpressed with the covered arena and we plodded around in there for a while.

It rained even harder in the days following so the dirt road we used to avoid part of the highway became unsafe.

We did get used to riding through mud and puddles. Actually half the place was mud and puddles so it was really natural. Debbie never really fussed with the first couple of puddles we crossed but after the first couple of times, she'd just glance down and go through. Our only problem was that after some water and mud drills, she thought we wanted to go through mud so on a fairly solid track, she'd start veering over to the slop which made after-ride cleanup a real treat!

Check out the Water Babies!

One great thing about Debbie is that we could have better than a week between rides and even though she had less than a dozen rides under her belt, she would go under saddle like it was no big deal and we had to spend very little time on remedial issues.

She did get easily distracted so to help keep her focused, we'd start out with Prints in front and pretty much trail ride around the place, letting Prints lead at first, then getting Debbie to go out front. (Like Starfyre, Debbie was fascinated with Prints' spots and would want to try to pick them off.)

By about her dozenth saddling and her 7th or 8th real ride, Sara was ready to ride her horse for the first time. The bad weather broke, the arena pretty well dried out and we had a glorious day. Sara rode Debbie in the arena while her 4 year old daughter rode Prints. Obviously we had a great deal of confidence in Debbie that she wouldn't blow up and cause a wreck, and she lived up to our expectations.

Willis & Debbie with
4 y.o. Audry on Prints

Since Sara's daughter will undoubtedly want to ride Debbie, we have concentrated on being quiet and steady. They can practice speed work later when being a consistent, steady mount is well ingrained.

The horse course wasn't quite dry enough to ride in this day, however a breeze kicked up late into the afternoon and into the following day where by the afternoon conditions seemed right to try the obstacles under saddle.

Well, she got used to water!
8th ride... no hands
(Please don't try this at home)
Glorious weather for a change
Warming up before Sara got on
Starting out in a caravan
Sara's first ride

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