Pam, Pam, what to do with Pam.

Well, last Saturday I found myself with semi-muddy ground (as opposed to the soupy mud the last 3 months has kept us with) and warmer temps. I took full advantage and worked with Pam.

Sadly, I found some things out that I did not anticipate. As before, I put the bridle on her, and she once again began tonguing the bit like crazy. Last time I did this, and she did the same thing. It was almost as if she did not know what it was, like it was new to her. I put the bridle on her with blinders to keep her focused on me (which actually worked awesome! No herd anxieties!). Well, I hooked up my driving lines to ground drive her, and she would not budge. I could not get her to move forward with kisses, clicks, hiyahs, and even smacking her on the rear. She just stood there. Same for backing up. I decided that maybe I could turn her to the side and get her walking with a turn. The minute I pulled on one side of the bit, she would flip 180 degrees and look at me.

We spent the next half hour to 45 minutes doing lots of leading, with me giving her commands. Lots of starting, stopping, and turning.

I have concluded that Pam has no formal training. I am under the impression now that she has always been a brood mare. She is people savy, and will stand great while you put a halter or bridle on, but she has no idea what I want her to do aside from leading.

This was quite a setback to me. The thought of working from scratch on an adult 17 hand tank of a Belgian really did not sound like a good idea for me.

I thought long and hard about what to do. I am in a situation where I can only have 2 drafts. Because of this, I need them both to be functional, and not just look pretty. I had thoughts of finding her a new home, however … I decided that she is a good enough mare that she deserves a chance. I talked to a friend of mine who is a wonderful trainer. I am going to send Pam to him for 30 days of training. He told me that after 2 weeks he will be able to tell if she is too set in her ways, or if she is learning well and worth the money to train her.

I hope things work out well. Once she gets 30 to 60 days, I will resume working her by ground driving, and then making sure she knows what a harness is and all that. Pam will not be a Lily (already trained, just needed to be used), but I’m going to put the money into her to see if she can become a great work horse. She’s built for the job, I just need to see if she can be taught the job as an adult.