It has been over a week since Bullet and Taser have had their visit with the America’s Wild Horse Advocates. Currently they are doing well and are getting more and more tame. Bullet and Taser have both had saddles put on them and are getting regular exercise. Now the main focus is on mounting. In order to get good outcomes on mounting I have focused on making friends with these two previously wild horses. They are still very wary of human contact. Before I start putting humans on any horse, I have to make sure a couple of things are in place. First that they are fully halter broke and will not fight the halter. Unfortunately, Bullet still has a great deal of problem in this area. He has been successful in pulling on the halter and so this problem must first be fixed before I can move on to the next item.
The next item is that the horses must come to the gate to greet humans like they are old friends when I approach the pasture. As of yet, they still run to the opposite side of the pasture and I have to enter the pasture to catch them. This is indicative of a lack of trust. After a month of working with them, they are still not convinced that I am not going to hurt them. But, they are improving and every time I go out there, they run less far, and are easier to catch. After that, I must teach the horse to come to the fence to pick up the rider. This he must do easily and without hesitation. When he does all the items I listed above, he is ready to be introduced to his first ride with a human.
