Working Rosie and Rita

I decided to take on a job for my good friend Bev.  Her mares Rosie and Rita are staying with me, and since they are already here, the decision was made for me to work them.  Bev told me that they were hitch trained, and that they really liked to work.  I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to brush them up.  The Texas Draft Horse and Mule Association (TDHMA) is having a field day on June 25th and the goal is to have these 2 mares ready for it.

Catching Rita was easy.  She's real lovable and walked right up to me.  She did not like to lead though.  It took me 10 minutes to get her to walk to my hitching post.  She would take a few steps and then just stop.  How I handle this is to just wrap the lead rope half way around my waist and lean on it.  I keep constant pressure on until she takes a step, then I release the pressure, keep walking, and praise her.  It works, but it can take a while when the horse is being stubborn.  Rita stood pretty good though while tied.  An occasional scrap of the ground with her front foot, but other than that, she was quiet and calm.

Catching Rosie was more like catching my mares when they don't want to be worked.  We did 10 minutes of her trotting away from me, and me just always walking towards her.  Once she stopped and let me halter her, she was easy to work with though.  She leads fine, and really seems to tune into what I am asking of her.  Standing tied though ... that was where she grew impatient.  Thank God for good lead ropes and rope halters!  :)


The girls were good for grooming, besides Rosie's occasional distaste at being tied.  They were also very good for me when I harnessed them up.  This took a bit of time because I was sizing their harnesses to them.  Rosie let me bridle her very easily, and Rita fought me a bit on it.  Once the bridles were on, they both sat there tonging their bits like they had no idea what it was.  This had me curious on how well they were going to do.

Rosie.  Looking really pretty in her harness.

Rosie and Rita.  These are the biggest horses I've ever worked by myself.

Next I led them each individually with all the harness on.  Always good to make sure that they are used to the noise the harness makes.  Rosie did great.  She would step off when I asked, and stop when I asked her to.  Like I said before, she seemed to know the drill and would tune into me to see what I wanted.  Rita, not so much.  She would step off okay, but did not want to stop.  She seemed more concerned with finding where Rosie was than on listening to me, so we did lots of circles.  Woah is not one of her strong suites.  And while dealing with her not wanting to listen, I could hear Rosie back at the trailer trying to become free.  Lots of bangs and trailer noise and I was hoping that she wasn't hurting herself, or my trailer.  When I got back, everything was in order.  I then let the girls stand with the gear on for 15-30 minutes.

At this point, I was wondering what I should do next.  They weren't showing me signs that they were completely hitch broke.  They were also showing signs of pent up energy though.  Part of my mind wondered if they just needed to get walking and that maybe they would relax and settle in and show me how good they could be.  I decided to try and drive them together and see if they resembled the team Bev told me they were.

I yoked them together, and then hitched their butts together using the new (and soooo awesome) trick that Pat showed me.  I got the lines put on, and then untied them from the trailer.  The minute I started giving commands, the trouble started.  I asked them to Gee up by putting a little pressure on the right line.  They both went into reverse and would not stop.  I was smacking their butts and giving commands but they did not listen.  after 10 feet or so, they backed into my wife's Dodge Durango.  (Sorry honey).  Once they couldn't back anymore, they actually listened and walked forward.

I had a good 100 feet of good driving.  They were walking side by side, and doing well.  Then I asked them to stop.  Rosie stopped fine, but Rita would not.  She kept moving.  This then got Rosie very nervous.  She wanted to stop because I asked, but then she didn't want to be drug by Rita.  Not a good combination.  Eventually I got her to stop.  But Rita did not want to stand.  I started off again, and did a lot of accordion work (one horse standing while the other takes too steps, then the horse in front stopping, while the horse behind started walking.

At this point, I decided that I should not be working these horses together, because neither has a clue what I was asking them to do.  I was putting them in a position to fail.  I tried to get them to turn to the left, but as soon as they felt pressure on the bit, Rita decided to go backwards.  Even with me on her butt she stepped back and rosie soon followed.  I could not get them to step up only when they backed into the treeline did they stop.  At this point, I was feeling like I had no control over them, so I decided to lead them back and not drive them.  This went well till we were about 10 feet away from the trailer, then Rita decided to stop and not walking anymore.  Soooo Annoying!!!  Rosie was trying to pull her and do as I asked, but Rita was determined to be a stubborn horse.

I finally got her to move by throwing the end of the lead rope back to whip her butt, while still staying in front and in control.  Not as easy as it sounds.  I would have just unhitched them from each other, but I was alone, and did not trust them to stand while I unhitched them.  We finally got back and I tied them, and then I let them stand for 30 minutes more.  At this point though, they both stood well and relaxed.  Rosie was sweating pretty good from the stress of trying to move Rita.

SO ... that was our first day.  Definitely not how I had hoped it would go.  Lessons were learned though.  These horses need to be worked individually with a horse who knows what is going on first.  I also learned that when training a horse, I need to start from scratch and go through the normal routines I have figured out first.  I cannot just trust what people tell me and try to go on that.  Always start with the basics and work up to where you want to be.

My arms were beat after that.  I'm going to start hitching them individually with Rachael and dragging a sled.  They need work, and they need to figure out what I'm asking them to do.  Rachael is a great horse to team them up with for that.  Hopefully we see some success.  I certainly have my work cut out for me if I'm going to meet our goal (field day on June 25th).