Day 6 – Phil’s Courage’s Journal

Morning feeding: I continue to mix his feed with my bare hands to put my scent on his food (soaked beet pulp, pellets). Phil met me at the gate. I asked him to back with an authoritative BACK voice request. This was my pre-cue (ask). Then I told him with a wave of my arm (tell). If he had ignored me I would have lunged, squealed, and kicked dirt at him (promise). Always ask, tell, promise (credit to Pat Parelli). Phil backed and moved out of my way. Remember the Alpha mare never alters her path; the herd will move out of her way. I see a lot of handlers walk around their horses so they don’t disturb them. What they have unknowingly done is they have shown their horse that they are not the leader. When I walk into my pastures all of my horses pick up their heads to acknowledge me and willingly clear a path.

Phil politely waited for his breakfast to be served. I groomed him while he ate. I discovered another “hole” in Phil’s education. Read more

Day 5 – Phil’s Courage’s Journal – Round Pen

Phil gave me the middle finger this morning! Yes, you read this correctly.

The breakfast routine was followed. Phil lined up behind me (this was good) and waited for me to rub his head (this was better). As I turned back towards the food dish Phil trotted ahead of me (this was bad). I expect Phil to follow behind me to the dish. I drove Phil off around the round pen with a loud squeal and kicked dirt at him. He kicked at me while I drove him off. Essentially, in horse language, he gave me the middle finger. I kept his feet moving, changing directions, squealing and kicking dirt at him until I noticed a little change in his posture. He softened his eye. I asked him to stand and face me while I circled his food dish. Every time he made a move towards the food I drove him off with a squeal and a kick of dirt. I was imitating an Alpha mare claiming her food and space. A mare when she means business will flatten her ears, lower her head, and if this warning is ignored, she will squeal, lunge, and bite. Phil stood like a gentleman while I claimed my space. I also put my hands in his food and rubbed his dish to leave my scent. Read more

Day 3 – Phil’s Courage’s Journal

This morning’s breakfast routine was repeated. Phil was a little less pushy. This is a huge step for him. I asked for the head down cue and let him go to his food dish. He did dance around a bit, but I did not let up on my head down request.We worked on walking through the gate again. I insist Phil stands slightly behind me while I open the gate. I will walk through with Phil following. Well, at least that was the plan. Phil feels so much pressure from the gate he rushes. This is very common, it is a natural survival instinct not to be in a position where there is no escape from a predator. Read more

Day 2 – Phil’s Courage’s Journal

Today, I had to teach from 7:45am to 12:45pm. I am adjunct college faculty. I left school to pick up my kids from school and returned home around 3:00pm. The kids had 2 hours of homework. We fed the horses at 5:00pm.

We are a breeding farm and have 13-15 horses at any given time. I handle all the breeding and foaling. My family helps out tremendously. They are the only employees at Blue Steel Quarter Horses and they are paid poorly.

My schedule did not allow me to ride or formally school any horse today. However, every interaction you have with your horse you are either teaching or un-teaching a behavior.

Feeding routine: My husband fed this morning and reported Phil was dead set on eating. He sent Phil away until Phil acknowledged him and let him pet his forehead. I fed Phil and sent him to the far end of the round pen this evening. I let him approach to eat and used this time to groom him. Phil will begin to associate me with good feelings during eating and the physical stimulation of grooming like his dam used to do. If you don’t have brushes with you, rub your body on your horse. This not only brings back memories of your horse’s dam, but puts your sent on him. While Phil was eating I asked him to move out of his feed dish and go to the end of the round pen. When Phil gave me a submissive posture, I let him follow me to the feed dish and let him resume eating. I repeated this several times. Read more

Day 1 – Phil’s Courage Journal

When I first met Phil he was absolutely stunning, a real eye catcher. I was in awe of his stature and magnificent beauty. My “awe” quickly was replaced with ”oh, no” as soon as the human element entered the picture. While Phil was magnificent in his world, he didn’t quite fit into the human world. Phil was pushy, mouthy, and did not know there were rules when interacting with humans. Phil was mentally unstable. Read more