Love how he wobbles his ears all around when you stroke him. Definitely thinking it over!...I’ve been following you & Sam for a while now, and I can really see how much better it is to work without food rewards. When I see someone less experienced bribing a new mustang with treats it’s obvious the bond doesn’t develop as well.
Honestly I think it’s better for less experience to work with food rewards ( if they know how to use it ) these two girls have worked with a lot of mustangs and they know what to do and when. Also I’ve seen sam use food rewards when first gentling a horse and you can see cat using it all the time for tricks and such. If you look at mustang Maddy she uses positive reinforcement and has an AMAZING bond! To me ( idk if this is correct) but cat doesn’t use a lot of treats because she has a deadline. Usually horses at FIRST take a little bit longer if you are doing primarily positive reinforcement. I highly suggest you look up R+. I use to think I had a bond with my horse but once I started to use positive reinforcement we were inseparable!
The great advantage you have is that you raised and trained all those other mustangs from the ground and got to learn all those little nuances these horses give off that others may miss because they need to push a little harder to get on their backs. Fun to watch and learn from your methods.
Just found your channel, this is so intriguing to me and my 6yo daughter loves horses as well. Looking forward to more! Thank you for sharing. Nice to meet you Stitch!
You’re so sweet with him. He has been through so much trauma being rounded up taken from his herd mates and all the unnatural clanking metal sounds at the corrals and you are showing him that you can provide soothing with your taking pressure off and also rubbing him.
When you are trying to make first touches, do you talk to the horse? Or are you quiet? I just discovered your videos and really really appreciate all the explaining you do. I have a lifelong dream of having my own experience with a wild mustang. Before you got a wild horse did you study natural horsemanship? Or did you already have a background working with horses? Thank you again for making these videos.
I do talk to them! With my voiceovers, I have to quiet the background so you can't hear it. I rode hunter jumper horses for 10 years before I gentled my first mustang, the most I had done is ridden a few green horses and helped develop them. My first training experience was with a wild mustang. Thank you for the support!
Just got my first horse after working with them for a few years. I’ve come across green horses and foals/youngsters but have all been handled from day 1. My yearling has basically been wild in a herd with both his parents and half siblings until transport to us - definitely “tamer” than a mustang but still a learning curve for me. Revisiting your videos on this guy after I first watched them a year ago is so helpful - was playing around with your pressure release method today and got my first touch and scratch on him (36h after arrival). Hoping to get a head collar on and leading within the week but taking it slow as I know I don’t have the same experience! Just wanted to say thank you as I’d definitely be a bit lost if I hadn’t found this video in the back of my mind.
I've always been interested in animals Learning their body language to understand their moods and need is fascinating to me Of course, I've only ever interacted with pets like dogs, cats and birds, so it's fascinating watching you interacting, explaining and reading his moves.
You are amazing! This video is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Your description of what was being done and why were spot on. Congratulations on your future with Stitch...this looks very promising. Do you ever use verbal commands? I couldn’t really tell from this video. Looking forward to viewing your progress! Thanks for the education...can’t wait for next one.❤️
One thing when you hold a rope that's attached to a horse: gloves. Friend of mine had the whole inside of her hand shredded by her horse when he bolted on her unsuspectedly while leading him.
*coming from a place of concern...nothing else* wonder if its just his feet but he seems low in the fetlock joints all the way around....you really see it where you take the number off...wonder if it's just his feet or the angle maybe😯he's such a smart standoffish guy...once he finds his person it will be a huge bond! good luck with him!!!
Your voice is so calm and soothing. I may listen to this video the next time I have a hard time getting to sleep. Best of luck with Stitch. I’m sure you’ll do great.
Hey Cat! I just wanted to say your work is so inspiring. I want to be like you! I want to train mustangs and do mustang makeovers. You are an inspiration. My old dog, his name was Beau to. He passed away though. I’m glad him memory lives on with that mustang. You are such an inspiration and so are all your horses. I am one of your biggest fan. Thank you for all you have done. 🐴
I love this video. The progress is amazing. I have a question…Are you talking to him throughout this process? If so, what are you saying to him? And if not, why?
Interesting. I'm working with a QH Palo mare 20+ yrs old. An ex rodeo mount that was given up to someone else when his money and luck ran out following the circuit from Texas. The current owner got her from the guy who bought her from the Texan. This mare is a horse who as put succinctly from the movie Horsewhisperer is one with lots of people problems. Fear aggressive, food aggressive, always on alert. In other words an abuse case. As I have described her: a bomb with a smoldering lit short fuse. There are times when she can be very sweet and just as fast her hooves are flying in all directions. I've ridden her several times and is great under saddle. To me she will be along term project to show her I'm not like her previous 5 owners. Between owners 1 and 5 she was really screwed up. If nothing else I'll give her a soft place to fall.
Fantastic first day in the muck!!! Am curious (I’m from California, we don’t get rain like u get) have you ever had first day training while the pen is super muddy other than with this one? Cuz he was super chill. Question 2. Do you use calming speech and clicks right from the start? I’ve found that using “Constant” talk, sounds, clicks both calms and keeps the animals attention and curiosity. It works with dogs as well. Btw, am curious, where did the chestnut gelding in the pen of eight shown right before you brought your boy home rank? He would have been my choice, based on what I believe will be superior athletic agility and overall balance of head to tail, over the other 7). Someone you know select the chestnut? And, what one thing, made you want this guy. Small head, short bodied, great for polo ponies, but, could be lacking in endurance. Would love to get your thoughts to these questions. Other than that, you had a Great first day with your new friend. I look forward to seeing the progress of your horse and all the others adopted, and Can’t wait for the Competition in 99 days! You face some stiff competition as there are other very talented trainers doing wonderful work with these beautiful animals!!!! Best of luck!! Karl from Cali.
Kind of random, but my gelding has been really strong lately when I’m taking him in and out off the pasture. He will start trotting and walk really fast, this morning it got so bad that he started cantering and I lost him. I used so much time getting him back into his pasture and ended up being late to my zoom class. Any tips or ideas are appreciated!!
Take him into the roundpen etc and go over the basics in leading again. If he walks when you dont want him to, make him go backwards to the place where he should have stopped, most horses really dislike going backwards. Just train starting, stopping and when neccessary going back. Make him respect your personal bubble by flicking the lead where its attached to the halter when he tries to muscle past you (not hard, just so you startle him out of that "gogogo" mindset). Use the end of your lead to flick his chest/wave in front of him if he doesnt want to back up (again, not hard, just make him respect your space). It would be good if he got to the place where, if you back up towards him, he also backs up to keep the distance. When that goes well, start training on the pasture where he might get excited because youre presumeably getting him out for food etc. Dont give in just because its quicker, make him go back and forth until he goes at your speed, even if it takes 10 mins longer every day. Hope you two figure it out :)
Maybe it would be easier if you would have ask him to follow you first. I think the pressure of the pulling rope doesn’t make any sense for him. Yeah but probably im wrong.
This might be a weird or dumb question. But do you stick with these techniques even with a trained horse? For instance the relieving of pressure if they pull away?
They are taken from the wild by the government to make room for domestic livestock, and they are put in holding pens where most mustangs have to live out the rest of their lives if they don’t get adopted :( sad.
Because BLM hasn't figured out that they can do simple vasectomies on the dominant stallion, castrate the colts, and not have this population increase. Much cheaper than rounding the entire herd up, transporting it, and then keeping it up at a huge expense. Until, eventually, someone adopts them, one by one. Thus breaking up all herd dynamics.
I’ve seen this done deliberately do when they step on the rope they experience pressure and figure out release on their own. Makes learning to tie go much better!
@@hannahstolzer2085 Mainly because it is scientifically proven to not be as effective. You cannot anthropomorphize because we don’t process things the same.
Negative reinforcement is not negative as in "bad". It is negative as in "subtraction". You are subtracting the pressure to communicate to the horse that he did the right thing so that he can relax and learn how to get release from the pressure the next time you ask. Everyone uses both positive and negative reinforcement whether they think they do or not.
Love the name, seems to suit him well. Btw maybe try speeding some parts up? It's a lot of repetitive work so once you make the comment you want, just speed the rest of the same exercise up until you want to comment on something else, that would shorten the video considerably :)
I’ve gone back and fourth between speeding stuff up or cutting repetition out, and people always ask me just to keep it all in lol! So it’s a bit of a weird topic!
As my trainer used to say to me, "It's like watching paint dry." If you want to see the whole thing, it cannot be sped up. I watch to pick up tips in working with horses. Watching the slow work helps, not hinders, my understanding.
Poor horse being taken from the wild and leaving his family with not saying good bye he will never see them again and that is awful 😢 but he has a great trainer 😜
It’s sad what the BLM is doing to the mustang. There is plenty of land for the mustang but the cattle n ranchers are taking it over. The BLM gets money n kickbacks for the grazing leases from the ranchers. It’s all about the money.
Mustangs are an invasive species that the land cannot possible support if their wild population grows too large. When they grow too large, the wild mustangs are in extreme danger of dying horribly from lack of resources. The mustang roundups are a necessary part of managing their population and actually helping them survive.
@@missmay713 While true, they are not a recent invasive species. They were here for a very long time, and alot of their lands ARE being taken away for grazing use, but yes, the populations do need our help. Especially the Nevada horses. It is not unheard of for them to starve or die of dehydration, but WE pushed them to that territory. Its important that the govt help these horses, as long as you also recognize the govt is part of the problem
