Not sure what to say... I can't say I look forward to the next few days. Today I went out and reviewed many of the things that I have already done with Spade. For the most part he is picking up all that I have taught him. He led much better today and lounged on the end of the line without trying to drag me off. He seems to be understanding the pressure of the halter and when he does get scared I can bump the halter and he immediately faces me. He was still a little jumpy in areas and since he tried to cow kick me yesterday I decided to "bag" him more thoroughly today. He was reluctant, but accepted it all over his body until I got to the right hind leg. I grazed the back of his hock and he quickly kicked the bag at the end of my stick. Now I knew, the problem is there and it is a big one. I now knew that he is a little trigger happy on both hind feet and I was going to have to do something about it. To further investigate how much I was going to have to do, I rubbed him all over his neck and shoulder down to his belly(which he was much better today) and back toward his flanks with my hand. When I reached his flank area I made sure that I had the right length of rope in my hand and that I was in front of his girth area, to be in the safest place possible incase he decided to kick. I watched his face close as I rubbed further back. A horse will tell you in their face that they are going to kick. I saw him pinch his nostrils (the equivalent to a growling dog warning you that he might bite) and his ears he wanted to pin but it was like he knew better, so they were halfway between being pinned and just turned back. I continued to rub hoping he would relax. That is when I felt him drop his hip toward me. I immediately pulled his head toward me and disengaged his hindquarters. He was setting up for a very forward kick and given his short back he might have reached me. I wasn't happy that he would even dare, so I quickly sent him out and made him take a few hard laps around the pen so he would know that wasn't acceptable. After bringing him back to the center of the pen I tried it again just to let him know why he was in trouble. This time he stood there and let me rub a little further, but I was defiantly not dumb enough to walk back there. Since I knew we had a problem I went and grabbed the lounge whip and draped it over his hind end toward his tail. The minute he felt it dangling around back there he started kicking and jumping. I just moved with him until he froze. I then gave him release. I did this four or five more times and it didn't seem to bother him anymore. So I wanted to bring it one step higher before I left for the day. So I pulled out my lariat and introduced him to all the sounds and movements that a lariat makes. I threw it over him a few times. After he understood that it was just another training aid he was ok. That was until I put the loop around his rump. He froze. I was glad to see that he was ok standing still but I knew if I added forward energy there is no telling what would happen. I slowly, with lead in one hand and the lariat tail in the other, I asked him to take a step forward. He did exactly what I expected. He tucked his hind end under him and when he realized it was back there he started pitching. After a few double kicks he decided that it wasn't there to kill him and he started to walk briskly around me. I waited until he walked at at normal pace and then stopped him and took it off . I did this to both side a number of times. He wasn't happy about it, but he started not to respond at all. I ended there. I will pick back up on it tomorrow. In the mean time I will be watching a training video on problem horses and how to break them from kicking to make sure I am prepared.
This whole kicking thing that Spade is pulling has placed me in a very odd place. As I was filling in my husband today on all that happened he thought it was a little interesting. He looked at me and said "I find it interesting that God sent you a horse that has a lot of problems that you don't know how to deal with." I was a little aggravated that he had made that observation but he was right. Why would one horse challenge my skills so much. I have trained hundreds of horses. First I had to teach Spade how to eat and drink out of domestic items. Then I had to touch him and break him to the halter. Now I am working on the kicking thing. All of these issues I have either never or rarely delt with. I started asking God why he would ever set me up to fail. And as soon as I thought it, God responded, "I didn't set you up to fail, I set you up to learn all the things that you don't already know in horse training. I want you to be the best and to be that you can't have "holes" in your training." Having holes in your training is a horse training term that we use when a horse has only been taught half the things that he needs for the function that he is trying to do. I knew what God was talking about. When I was 10 I was kicked square in the chest by a mare that was a known kicker. Since then I have always had a fear of a horse that I knew would kick on purpose. It is to the point that I won't even take a clients horse that kicks. Spade is currently in that division for me, but this time I don't have a choice but to face my fears and train him to be a loyal partner, without the flying heels. After I processed what God was trying to do I knew that Spade was the horse I was suppose to get and that the Lord was behind me on this. I can't tell you how much I have already learned from him. And I can't wait, even though it is hard, to find out the next hole that I need to fill. Thinking about all this I remembered the story of Joseph and how he had a promise but went through years of hardship before it came to past. God had ordained every encounter to mold Josephs character and to train him to be the leader that God wanted him to be. If I had tried this mustang challenge even two years ago I can tell you I would have already been hurt, because there were a few horses that have taught me how to deal with some of Spade's problems. Think about your life today and all the things that God has placed in your life that is forming you into the person that HE wants you to be. Some times we blame God for the hardships in our lives when really we should be praising HIM. As long as you have things that challenge your character, that means that the Lord hasn't given up on you yet. He knows that you can pull through and become the person He sees in you. So when it gets tough just remember that God, is just filling in the holes...
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