Restarting Monte, Part 1

Monte is a registered Arabian from Polish Arab stock and was used an on the track racehorse before my late my wife bought him when he was 15 years old. A really handsome Bay Gelding, she could not pass him up when he became available as she was, then, successfully passing cancer treatment and was looking for an additional trail horse to complement her steady Sorrel Gelding Charlie who was then in his late 20's. But just as soon as we brought him home, my wife's cancer came back. Subsequent brain surgeries and radiation made riding, especially a very reactive Arab, a dangerous proposition. So Monte basically became a companion horse for my wife's two other horses for just over 7 years.

For those seven years, I had been taking Monte out of the pens and turning him out. In doing so I had to get him to lead on a soft feel, rate his speed and position, stopping, and backing. Subsequently he became soft in his face and generally a gentleman. That was the extent of his handling and his understanding. So, that routine along with the farrier trimming his feet every 8 weeks, getting brushed and groomed, and, Vet calls for annual Coggins, health checks and teeth floating, were Monte's life. After my wife passed away late last year, her best friend Arlene, who was holding my wife's other hand when she passed, asked me if I would let Monte go to her. I readily acquiesced as that was a great idea and Monte would go to a great home. So we made plans for me to restart Monte and get him safe for her to ride and ready to ship to his new home. That day has came a few days ago. Although I had a seven day trip away from home followed by a 10 day bout of Sepsis which kind of set me back restarting Monte, I was able to work with him and ride him for almost 2 weeks prior to his ship date.

When Arlene flew in for a few days prior to shipping Monte to get exposed to what I had been doing with Monte and to ride him where I could watch and help. Day One was basically a demonstration on how I approached re-starting Monte, demonstrating both on the ground and in the saddle. Day Two was a repeat of Day One however we filmed much of it in short sessions, which I am including in this five part series, then having Arlene ride Monte so I could watch and help her and him. It was important that Arlene was here riding Monte before he was shipped because in my experience, working with a horse without the owner is much less effective than working with the horses and owner/rider. And Day Three was spent trailer loading, showing how I prepared Monte to load and backout, which would be useful as a basic template for loading other horses in the future.

In the beginning Monte was pretty reactive.....big, quick movements with the minimal pressure. It wasn't my first rodeo with an ex race horse as when I ran a large public barn people were bringing in ex racehorses from the local racetrack all the time. Some I helped when asked, others sadly enough were regulated to owners who wanted an immediate trail or roping horse without doing the work or understanding how to go about it. As I worked with Monte on following a soft feel on the reins to lead up I saw right off that Monte could come down emotionally and slow his reactions. And by leading up or becoming halter broke, I mean soft to halter; understands a neutral lead rope to stand and wait for a signal; to move forward on a soft feel; to back up on the same; responds when I start to connect the lead rope to directional control of each individual foot, and, gives to pressure when applied slowly and measurably.

Although seemingly a very basic way to re-start a horse, I think the understanding the horse gets from being softly asked for a response and given the time to respond really sets him up for success, as I'll be asking for the same, in the same way as I progress to the saddle and that occurred on day two. The text article and videos I'm posting through this five part series, are snippets or highlights of the 10-12 rides I put on Monte to get him ready, and safe, for Arlene. And these short videos were intended for Arlene to show I spent the time getting him ready for her. I hope this helps someone else.

We all need a horse to stand still until we direct him, so I worked with Monte understanding what neutral is. That is no feel on the lead rope. I call this neutral as eventually a horse will move, but he'll learn and become more and more responsive to a gradually pulling the slack out of the lead rope (and the lead rope will become a rein or the lead portion of a mecate soon) and move towards me. Many people don't worry about a horse understanding backing until later on in the starting process as forward momentum is so important. However, I like to get that working early on, as backing is useful to positioning a horse up in so many ways.....backing up to get room to open a gate, re-position from crowding you, re-positioning on the shoeing stand, and much more.

As I have on 2 and 3 year old's as well as older horse's being re-started, I can move right to connecting the lead rope to a foot by asking a front foot to step out to the side. This allows me and the horse a better start from the saddle when I ask the same with the rein. Then I move to the back end, standing right by the stirrup, or where the stirrup or front cinch would be if the horse has no saddle, with a loose lead I will rub and pet on him, sometimes making noise with the saddle until I pickup the lead alongside his body maybe slightly tipping his nose until he steps over and away from me, with the rear foot nearest me stepping underneath himself in front of the other rear foot, untracking his back end. This will be more and more useful as we go forward, doing turn arounds, facing up, practically everything.