Well my girl isn't trained in saddle yet. But so far she can untie herself when no one is looking, hold food in her mouth until you are not paying attention then drop it in your sweatshirt and of course walk on a lead line.

We are still working on the basics of standing when tied and perfecting our lunging skills.

 

mine eats and poops with the best of them.

 

hmm lets see...
walk/trot/canter/gallop and back
move sideways - leg yeild and side pass, no half pass though !
flying and simple lead changes
turns on the haunches and forehand
jump, and cross country
experience at shows
trailride
great ground manners- ground ties, cross ties, backs from a distance, yeilds.
lunges very well at all gaits with changes of direction
trailers perfectly, and she loads herself !
can ride through a gate
can ride on the road
knows how to kiss and hug on command, learning how to shake her head yes and no lol
she can also do the parelli 7 games
she free lunges as well as she lunges [even in a large arena, she will circle around me]
she also has a command that means pick your head up and stop eating. i do this mostly when i want to fasten her chest straps on her blanket while shes eating off the ground.
she can also be ridden bareback, ive never tried her in just a halter though

im probably forgetting something, but shes a really good girl ! shes about to turn 6 and i couldnt be happier with her =]

 

That's real nice, gypsygirl! My boy also just turned six, and I forgot to mention that he ground ties and loads himself in a trailer, just like your girl. I'm planning to start teaching him simple lead changes soon, but I have to find myself a trainer - I don't want to mess anything up, as I'm not that experienced to do that all by myself.

 

thats awesome !

i never thought that my horse would ever want to get into a trailer, because her first trailer ride was when she was shipped to me and she was crammed into a slant load trailer stall with another horse =/

do you have any pics of your boy ??

 

It's all about correct and positive reinforcement - I believe, that with such training almost all horses are soon willing to do anything eventually.

Yeah, I have some of his pics in my album, and also in these threads -

http://www.horseforum.com/horse-pictures/fooling-around-day-after-christmas-107681/

http://www.horseforum.com/horse-pictures/moving-new-home-112553/

 

hes so cute !!

she never had any hesitation, but shes very noisy and curious and she trusts me and would probably follow me anywhere !

 

My girl can
walk/trot/canter/gallop
free lunge/knows liberty
ground tie/ cross tie
leg yield & side pass
spin right but not to good left lol
ride in a rope halter and one lead rope bareback
come when whistled for
follow me on command
show experienced
a TON of trail miles on her
hops right on the trailer <3

 

My 5 year old

Walks/ collected trot/ long trot/ canter/ collected canter/ gallop
side passes
rollbacks
pivots a full circle
neck reins
Stops on command
Backs up on loose rein
follows without being lead
Does barrels
does pole bending
trail rides
Only been to a few shows so far, but is already running placing times

My yearling
leads and ties
will work on loading and unloading soon
Posted via Mobile Device

 

Let's see here my 5y/o

Walk/jog/extended jog
Can canter on both leads now! Still working on staying upright and balanced through the corners/circles and starting to play with collection
Backs almost in a straight line :lol:
Turn on the haunches, just started playing with turns on the forehand a couple days ago, but she's starting to figure it out. Next up is side passing!
Very good breaks!

On the ground:
Lunges
Squares up usually on the first attempt.
Pivots
walks/jogs/halts with minimal cuing
And "carrot" stretches to keep her limber. She can reach almost back to her hip now.


Not too bad considering I've only had her about 6 months :lol:

 

My nearly two year old:

Stands to be caught
Leads- w/t/stop
Squares up, pivots
lunges on a line in the arena or round pen. (w/t/c)
free lunges in the round pen. (w/t/c)
Stands tied/cross tied/mostly ground ties (unless he goes ADD)
Stands for the vet and farrier. Good with feet/strange people.
Blankets.
Has worn a bareback pad, saddle pads, english saddle, and western saddle,
Has worn bridle with rubber d-ring snaffle. and front boots.
I can do a health check on him and he falls asleep.
He has been tied left, right and straight (bit respect)
He has been ground driven.
He follows me as well. Well, walks beside me without the leadrope. We can walk circles, pylons, jog, he just wants to stay next to me.

Next he will be ponied and start his saddle training.

 

My almost 21 yr old:

Eating
Eating more
Knocking over the hay rack
Dragging the hay rack
Eating
Farting
Stealing the hose during baths and sucking on the hose
Eating
Making a mess
Not letting go of the bit when taking of the bridle
Blowing bubbles in the water trough
Taking his halter off by himself
Chasing wild turkeys
Eating

Oh you meant skills that were actually useful!!! yeah he has those too:lol:

 

Busy, your horse is awesome, I want mine to grow up just like yours!!! He's on the right tracks - I've seen him blowing bubbles in water and he also loves keeping a sip of water behind his cheek and then drooling it right on my face when I expect it the least.

Thanks, gypsy - yeah, he's really cute and he sometimes uses it against me, when he actually wants me to go his way, lol.

 

Only doing mine, since I'm not accountable for my dad's horses... :?

17 year old:
-Walk/trot/canter/gallop/halt, will back up reluctantly
-All gaits can be cued using only your leg and seat position
-Neck reins and direct reins, also can be rode bridleless
-Leg yields, no side passing or half passing though
-Will turn on the haunches, will turn on the forehand but not as smoothly
-Goes English, western or bareback
-100% traffic safe, with any type of vehicle you can dream up
-Trail horse extraordinaire - will go anywhere alone or with a group, no hesitation or resistance, not barn sour or herdbound, occasional spooks are small and easily handled
-Has never bit, kicked, bucked, reared, bolted etc at anything (animal or human) when in the presence of a human, and has never threatened to
-Can get her out of the field after months of layoff and take her bareback down a busy road, or put kids/beginners on her - she's dead broke
-Will pop over small jumps
-Ties solid or in cross ties, not the best at ground tying (will wander off to eat if you leave her long enough)
-Bathes, loads, trailers, never tried to clip her but I'm assuming she'd be fine with it
-Tons of show and 'world' experience
-Good with kids
-Very well trained ('knows her place')

7 year old, who hasn't had a whole lot of riding on her in the past due to health issues:
-Walk/trot/canter/gallop/halt/back, just working on tightening up each gait and finding good balance
-If you know what you're doing, she's good about responding from body only
-Direct reins, learning to neck rein (wasn't taught properly before)
-Leg yields, working on side passing
-Turns on the forehand and haunches
-Goes western or bareback, hoping to try her English this year
-Traffic safe with a confident rider (really anything safe with a confident rider)
-Brave, willing, and not barn sour or herdbound - just needs trail miles
-No vices, but gets anxious and reactive if the rider's an idiot
-Will pop over jumps, but I'm hesitant to teach her to jump or else she'll never stay in any fence
-Ties solid and in cross ties, ground ties decently but I would never leave her for a long time or distance
-Bathes, loads, trailers, never tried to clip her but I'm assuming she'd be fine
-Some show and 'world' experience, hopefully putting more on this year
-Wants to please (super sensitive to pressure)
-Smart and level-headed
-Very very sensitive to her rider's cues and emotions (both a good and bad thing)

The 4 year old, with maybe 6 rides on her:
-Walk/trot/canter/halt, working on getting faster, cleaner and more consistent responses to the aids
-Direct reins
-Have only had her western so far
-Has never seriously spooked yet - not a lot bothers her (do I see a super trail horse in the future?)
-She's been on one short 'hack' so far; looked at everything, eyes wide and ears up, but just kept walking - never offered to stop or refuse, or get excited and worked up
-Super smart and ridiculously level-headed
-Likes to please, loves attention and praise
-Hasn't kicked, bit, bucked, reared, bolted etc (yet :lol
-Bathes, gets a little anxious in the trailer but loads and travels fine, never tried clipping her
-Ties solid, but never had her in cross ties and I know for a fact she won't ground tie yet
-Never been to a show, has world experience in the sense of trailering out for lessons

 

That's great busy! You forgot one thing, eats holes in bank accounts. Mine are masters at that. :lol:

I have too many to get into much detail. I have a variety from a 9 month old to a 30 year old and everything in between. So we've got the little man, who has good ground handling & the basics, greenies in training, a finished reiner, a wp futurity champ, and the old man that does it all.

 

Ooo I wanna play too!! This looks fun.

Lets see... what "special" skills has Indie learned over the past three years? Hmm...

*The basics, walk, trot, canter, gallop, ditch jumping lol, neck reining, leg commands, can be controlled with seat and legs alone, ect.

*Chicken herder.
Back when we had a flock of free roaming chickens, they'd sometimes wander out into the sub-division next door. chasing them on foot was a lot of work, so one day I took Indie out to herd them back in. She actually has a natural knack for it, and with just a nudge of my heels she was off and herding the chickens back into our yard. To this day she still tenses up when she sees loose chickens as if asking "OH CAN I?! CAN I PLEASE?!" :rofl:

*Charging.
This has been explained already, Indie LOVES to chase things down, its just in her. So I set up mock dummies for practicing my jousting on, when I drop the reins and give the heel she pulls her whole body into a powerful charge. She'll also chase down people on command, I've considered this useful in case my creepy neighbors try something >.>

*Bow
Not completed yet, but she bows pretty good, will even bend so far as to tuck her whole neck under her and put her butt way up in the air :lol:

*Pole bending.
Indie is pretty quick on her feet, we only have 3 poles to practice with but she's doing amazingly well with it.

*How to climb up on the porch and get into the house.
Not uncommon if she smells me cooking in the kitchen, she'll wander right into the living room :l

*Walking on stairs

*Comes when called, specially if she thinks we're going out on a ride that day.

*Tolerates when I hitch things to the saddle horn (tree branches, dead deer, ect), not very comfortable with it, but it'll come to her in time

*How to guilt unknowing people out of their food. :rofl:

*Voice commands, both on the ground and saddle. (useful for horseback archery )

Hmm... there might be more, but that's all on the top of my head.

 

MH -
"Banging head on wood" He isn't really that bad. Just $90 a month.

The other one, she's a different story:evil:

 

I, like MHFQ, have too many to go into detail but I'll just put it this way. Any horse of mine that is saddle broke can and will do whatever I need them to at that particular moment whether that means plodding around bareback through the middle of town at midnight or dragging a 1000 pound mad momma cow into a trailer.

 

Sunny can untie herself. Is that good enough? :lol:
Posted via Mobile Device

 

Useful skills? My horses don't know what work is. :?

Norman has many unique talents, though. He can snatch my brushes out of my grooming box when I'm not looking, open stall doors, pull rubber caps off of T-posts, makes carrots and apples disappear before your eyes, and stay nose-to-nose with my Thoroughbred when they race around the pasture. Seriously, he's the fastest draft horse I've ever seen. He can haul a$$ when he wants to. :shock:

Victor loads really nicely, I'll give him that. And he lunges like a dream. But that's about it.

Oh! And they both stand tied really well. And they're very good for bridling. I can walk up to them in the pasture and bridle them. I haven't met too many horses who will let you do that.

 

Wait, I thought of one of Odie's useful skills!!!!

When the lawnmower breaks, he gladly fills in! He'll even aerate the lawn for my dad:lol:

 

Mudpie can bring absolutely anybody out of their shell, and he has a way of making everyone feel loved.

He gets along with all other horses (even horses that are trying to be butts end up loving him in the end) and is just a sweet guy all the time.

And he also has some sort of amazing instinct where he knows when someone needs him to be gentle and quiet and affectionate.

 

My horse opens the gate for me when my hands are full and proceeds to follow me to the barn, stand when I ask him to and stay standing why I put all his gear away *na na na na na* :lol:

But then this is the same horse that tries to steal my snacks by nuzzling my fingers and nickering.. cheeky monkey.

 

Lusty - 13 yrs old

Trot/canter/gallop/halt/back
Free lungeing (round pen)
Intermediate Dressage
Good trail rider
Dig to China when tied
Steal carrots out of your pocket

Cicero - 6 yrs old

Two speeds: slow & stop
Play tug-o-war with his brush
Play follow the leader
Kisses his momma
Find hidden carrots

 

W/T/C, back up, lunging with verbal cues, working on sidepass any tips would love to here them, Trail rides over and through woods, rocks, water whatever is there, Road rides vehicle and machinery safe, but i'm working on schoolbus safe she hates them big yellow things, in and out of trailer without problems, started jumping small jumps

 

but i'm working on schoolbus safe she hates them big yellow things,

I got Indie over her fear of school buses by taking her to the bus stop and waiting till some of the kids we knew get off, then they'd give her treats I had brought. She learned that school bus=kids. And Kids=food!

Just a suggestion