much time pass
and then I would chicken out
because I would not be prepared. I needed a team of horsemen. I thought long and hard about what this should look like. It came to me in an instant; I should form a drill team. With my husband and I owning a trail riding facility, my weekends are swamped, which means that I needed to practice during the week.
I posted on Facebook that I wanted to start a drill team and PEOPLE SHOWED UP!
To make things even better, the women that showed up were almost all former rodeo queens! I couldn’t believe the line up! We formed the Country Tough Drill Team! Our first practice was absolutely wonderful except for JoJo. We couldn’t trot in a straight line, couldn’t trot all the way around the arena, couldn’t canter around the arena, and our stop took around 15’ to accomplish. Plus, the horses did not know what he was and why he was beside them!
If you are looking for a step by step answer for how to find motivation, there’s not a “catch all” answer. I am a people person and enjoy being on a team. In addition to improving my basic horse/mulemanship skills with the use of the drill team, I also took private lessons, competed in a few obstacle challenges, and even went cattle sorting. The way to feel more confident is to believe in your training. In order to persuade myself to train, I set a goal. It is sometimes easy to set a goal, but not easy to keep yourself from backing out later on. By having the team, I felt like I would be letting them down if I did not show up. Whatever you have to do to keep yourself from backing out; do it. You could prepay for a bundle of lessons, write your training time down in ink on your calendar, and make a promise to yourself to not cancel.
I am now the 2017 Benton County Rodeo Queen. Did I compete on him bridleless? Heck no! But I did ride him bridleless for two laps in the arena the night of the rodeo with one of my drill team teammates by my side and another one guarding the gate.
CONTINUED >
Brandy is a ranch owner, horsewoman, instructor, competitor, judge, equestrian event host, a wedding host, a black belt in martial arts as well as a former biology teacher ranging from college to middle school for 11 years. She is driven, ambitious and confident. Operating
out of her family ranch in
Mora, MO, Brandy and her
husband David are in the
business of hosting a wide
variety of equine events.
Visit the Ranch website at www.vonholtenranch.com
make them back up until they are able to correctly to do what was ask. If your mule starts backing up on their own when they are scared, then you cannot use backing as your correction. It is a fine line that you will have to decide what works for your mule. Out of my four equine that we use on the ranch, I can use backing for three on the four equine.
CIRLCE 75
This was a new technique I picked up from Amish trainer, Sam Shetler. This is highly affective with spooky mules and horses. Have you ever had a ride do a 90 or 180 with you on them because they spooked. Typically, our first instinct is to pull the animal back towards the thing that spooked them. Wrong. Think about this; they were scared and now they have pressure applied to that side of their mouth. You just justified their fear. Instead, you should have that mule spin on their haunches with pressure for 75% of a circle in the direction they spooked. You want to make their decision a BAD decision. Once you come around, 25% of the circle has no pressure, which is in the direction of the initially scary object. If they spook again, around you go again. It does not take long for them to start seeking the release of pressure towards the object that once scared them.
TREAT TRAINING
I am aware that I will probably get some humbles from the crowd from saying treat training. However, last time I checked killer whales are doing performances with swimmers, dogs are doing some amazing agility maneuvers, and children have been taught how to use the potty for years with treat training. Here’s an animal that spends over half the day eating, and you don’t think they would be motivated by a treat? I do not use treat training with every animal, just the ones that are highly reactive, and I only use it after other tries have failed. Typically, it is a sound spook or cumbersome items such as a raincoat, umbrella, or a massive stuffed animal. I present the object and when they stop reacting I give them a treat. There is a major right way and a major wrong way to treat train.
Brandy and her mule, Jojo
use the potty for years with
treat training. Here’s an animal
that spends over half the day
eating, and you don’t think they
would be motivated by a treat?
I do not use treat training with
every animal, just the ones that
are highly reactive, and I only
use it after other tries have
failed. Typically, it is a sound spook or cumbersome items such as a raincoat, umbrella, or a massive stuffed animal. I present the object and when they stop reacting I give them a treat. There is a major right way and a major wrong way to treat train.