Adventures with Liberty

Today I had decided was the day for Liberty to do his water training. Everything has been going so well. He's settling in nicely and acts like it's no big deal to ride at home now. I think that taking him out more and more will be the next ticket toward making him a really good horse. I took him for a walk like a dog on a leash to do this training. No way did I want to ride him through water and down hills yet. We took a nice walk and he snorted and stopped a bit at the sights, but he's so much better now about getting going again and he doesn't over react. Freeley will try to bolt past what scares him. Deli gets stuck like Liberty, but stays stuck longer. Liberty stops and looks around, but you can tell that he will be ready to go on soon. We worked on the hills on our way to the water. I stopped him on the hills and backed him several steps and then went on. He's learning to go down the hills softly, at least with me on him. Of course, getting to the hills, he's still scared of everything, but he's learning that I'm going to wait for him until he's ready and so he doesn't stress as much as if I would get after him.

We finally got to the water and he started blowing b/c we had to go down a hill and into the woods. He was sure something was going to jump out at him! He snorted at the mud and the water and I just stood there. This is not an easy little bank. The water is too wide to cross and the bank is steep into the water, so it's not a great place to practice, but it's what I had. He's previously taken me into the lake where the bank was nice, so I didn't figure the water would give him much of a hassle. I put my whip down so I wouldn't over stimulate him and just waited. He started longeing half circles around me, stopping each time he returned to the water. I didn't ask him to do anything except not squish me. He got kind of close to me a few times b/c we were in a tight space. After just a few minutes, he got down to the edge of the muddy bank and sniffed at the mud at water's edge. I figured he'd turn and spin out b/c most horses have to work up to going down the bank and in the water, but not Liberty. Next thing I knew, he had plunged in quickly, running through the to other side and I almost lost my longe line. I was working him on a 20 ft. longe, but evidently, it was further than that to the other side. I was so close to being pulled into the water with him, or having him take the rope and running up the hill without me, neither of which seemed like a good option, so I hung on for dear life. He came back across and the proceeded to longe all around me through the water like it was nothing. I did get him to stop in the water instead of going all the way across after a few times and he just stood there and drank and pawed a little. I realized that he actually likes the water a lot!

He's spooky on the way to and from the trail, but he's handling his stress so well. He startles in place and then touches whatever he's afraid of all on his own, like he wants to understand it. ON the way home some dogs came out of no where and it was the first time I've actually seen him truly spook. I think that was b/c he was at a funny angle to the dogs and couldn't really see them through the wooden fence, so it looked like they had just appeared. I couldn't be more proud of his progress.