This is Sparky, the morning of his first full day at home. Sparky is one dazed and confused and rough-looking character!

Michael says he should have been named "Pokey" or "Dudley" instead of Sparky.

So I set about to follow that advice. Still, deep down, I did have a bit of a goal: I really wanted to be able to get hold of that lead rope. 

Well, Michael went out first thing in the morning, fed all the horses, and spent some time with Sparky. He reported that at one point Sparky took some hay out of his hand - by stretching out way forward and grabbing it, (actually Sparky had done that with me last night, too). Once, Michael was able to pick up the rope. But he decided to do no more than that - not to push the issue. 

This was the moment I'd been waiting for so long - I was here in the pen holding my new mustang by the lead rope, and now it was time to gentle him. 

But what to do?

Ask by pulling on the rope in the direction you want him to face...

Try - he lifts his foot and takes a step inthe desired direction

I picked it up and then... Hmmm... Now what? 

I had many times watched Lesley Neuman and others using "Pressure and Release" techniques in the round pen. Any time I'd ever seen this, however, the horse spent a good deal of time at first, running in circles around the pen. 

Well, it was obvious pretty quickly that today Sparky was just not a running kind of a guy. 

Again I remembered Lesley saying that each horse is different and you have to work with what that horse has to offer.

So what did Sparky have to offer?

Well, I thought, it seems that maybe the first thing you want to accomplish is to get the horse to face you, to acknowledge you, to look at you. 

So I worked at that: I would tug gently on his rope in the direction I wanted him to move or to stand to face me. The nano-second he made an offer of trying to do that, I let the rope slacken.

1. Ask

3-2-1 CONTACT:

He got pretty good at the pressure and release thing after awhile, so I thought, well, just maybe I can get closer to him - maybe work toward actually touching him.

This was scarier for him. He would tolerate me inching closer until suddenly he didn't like it any more, so I would have to step back. 

After lunch we took up where we left off. Talk about licking and chewing! They say that licking and chewing is a sign the horse is thinking about things and beginning to understand. Sparky was doing a lot of licking and chewing.

Then he gave one last panicked attempt to stop his headlong path into domesticity. He reared up and tried to get away. I just held on, giving him enough slack to avoid falling over and hurting himself, but not enough to think he'd "won," and then he turned to look at me with this look of revelation on his face, and he was licking and chewing to beat the band.
 
At that point he just let down and softened all over! And he not only LET me pet and scratch him all over, he actually relished it, and wanted more whenever I quit. So off and on throughout the day, Michael and/or I would go out and pet him. Each time he seemed more secure in his relationship to us.

And then, to finish it off, just at dusk, Michael went out and worked with him for about a half hour, during which time he actually began to lead - with a slack rope - no pulling!

What a day! Who would have thought this could happen so quickly - I certainly never did!

Follow Sparky's Progress: Sparky 2001 - Adoption | Gentling Sparky | Sparky Settles In | Sparky is Sick | Sparky Spring 2001 | Sparky - Summer 2001 | Sparky In School | Sparky in School, pt 2 | Sparky's First Rides | Saddle Training 2 | Sparky 2006 | Sparky 2007 | Sparky2008

Our Horses: BENNY | Ruby - BLM Wild Mustang Filly | SILVER - half-draft | SPARKY - Mustang Colt | Dawn & Bert Burros | Eleanor Mule | Max | Piney the Pine Nut Pony | Lewis & Clark