MUSTANG GENTLING




This blog is about the gentling of wild Mustangs and their stages of training.

































Thursday, June 4, 2009

It's been almost a month


Kevin working with Dunbar with Dino's help.
I know it's been quite a while since my last post. A lot has been happening. First we moved to a new place and so the boys have been put on the back burner as we've just been too busy.
Second, Duke had an accident on his third day home and we have been waiting to see if he would recover enough for us to continue training. He flipped over in the round pen and got a bad concussion. We had the vet out and had him on steriods to get the swelling down on his brain. He has held his head with a tilt and every day it get's a little better.
Dunbar has been difficult to work with. Kevin has been working with him but has not been able to get very far. He can scratch his whithers and up his neck, but then Dunbar bolts. He wouldn't let Kevin get to his head. Kevin has finally been able to scratch his head a little.
I finally started working Duke again the other day. He is different than most horses. He get's scared when I am next to him. He wants me facing him. So I approached him and bent my head forward so he can smell my hair. He put his nose up to me and smelled, then his lip went up. I guess he doesn't like my shampoo. I did it again and he sniffed my hair and gave me a little nip with his lips. It was quite an experience to approach a wild horse this way, I couldn't see him as my head was bent down. He lets me scratch his forhead with the stick and then I can work my way up to use my hand. He kind of goes into a trance and then realizes I am there and snorts and moves away. It was quite a thrill for me as Kevin has always been the one to gentle the wild ones.