The Finale

Well, our show did not exactly go as planned.

Sam, however, performed excellently. Everybody thought Sam looked amazing. He did.

Sam had to stay stalled the entire night before, and given his previous anxiety about stalls, we were nervous. He did wonderfully, other than being full of energy the next morning, he was as normal as could be.

In the general round, Sam did everything he was expected to do, with the exception of pulling a very large, like a meter and a half tall, wheel. We had assumed they meant a normal tire sized object, no. Sam did try to pull it, but the rope was caught under the edge and that made it very difficult to pull.

It was after that round and right before the free style round that the issue presented itself. Sam was spooked and we fell off of him. Due to injuries, we were unable to finish the competition, so Sam did not get to perform his best event.

Despite this unfortunate development, Sam came back home with us. He is now set to go off to boarding school. Not because he spooked, he holds no blame for that. He was SO proud of himself when he performed his first trick, stepping up on a pedestal, that we decided it would probably be best for him to be schooled in the discipline. He will be heading off to a new location, temporarily of course, to receive this training. He will be at school for a few weeks and we hope that it will further improve his confidence, balance and muscularity.  We want to give him a new experience to keep his mind at high functunality and keep expanding his horizons.

Thanks for being such a wonderful horse Sam!

This will be the last post. Thank you for joining us for this wonderful journey and witnessing the Wonderful Work in Progress that Sam was and still is.

The curtain

His poster

Sam on show day

The ominous wheel

Wonderful Week 12

Sam did so well this week, particularly this weekend. We took Sam out to a new place with some of our other horses. He was in a stall most of the weekend and did SO well. At first he was kinda nervous when the other two of our horses that went with him left, but by day two, a lot hadchanged. Sam began to only be worried for a few minutes and then settled back down.

Sam also got to load into a new trailer for this trip. It was  a 3 horse slant load, so it was full with the other two. He walked right in, no problem (I think he secretly prefers it to the other trailer). Then the next time we loaded him in the other trailer, he did really well, he walked right in and let us tie him up, then ate his treats. Before this week he usually didn't eat his treatswhile standing in the trailer, he would wait until we were moving to do it.

Sam's confidence and sweetness has grown so much in the nearly three months we have had him. He is so hard not to love, I don't know how anybody could not love him. he cares aboutus so much and it is such an obviously genuine care. He loves puzzles and using his brain to accomplish a task. I think with the right challenges and the right person to challenge him in this way, Sam's greatness could be infite, along with his trust in that person.

This is the most inspiring part of Sam, at least to me it is.

I think Sam is mostly ready for the expo on the 20th. He will be the one in the baseball outfit, and we will have plenty of decorations and posters on his stall. We even have some help from the community making some of the posters. If you have the chance, make sure you atttend the expo, there will be lots of great information and horses presented. Sam will be there showing off all the great skills he learned/hones in the last three months.



Just got on him, he wasn't so sure it was going to be a fun day



He turned around so we could scratch his butt before we got on



Sam looking disinterseted, sorry it's sideways

just being curious

Working on the line

 

Hope to see you there! Sam, you better get ready for your big day, 10 days to go.

Week 11

It is so hard to believe it is already week 11. The expo is this month. It is on October 20th. Sam is going to get to show aff all his new moves.

I can feel the energy from Sam, it is so much more relaxed and confident than when we first got him. Sam is so different now. Sam allows his sweetness to shine through. I know he cares about us and that he knows we care about him.

Sam has not learned many new things in the last few weeks, however, he has fine tuned many skills. Some of these skills are turning, moving forward, and relaxing when in a new situation. We took him out to go riding at aplace he has never been to. He did amazing. The only time his focus wasn't on us was when some other horse got loose and kept running around him.

I think Sam has come to a good place with himself, he seems happy.

Sam, thanks for trying so hard and get ready for the expo!

Week 10

Sam is trying so so hard for us. He is trying to put his fears behind him, and it is SO obvious he wants to please us. I am very proud of him.

We can see, especially when he gets scared, that he trys to compose himself, just to make us happy. Its working. He is becoming a refined gentleman with appropriate manners. I can just imagine him in a top hat. He is so sweet and loving.

Sam has some steering capabilities now. AND he can back up on cue.

I will post more when I can look at his accomplishments for the week.

Sam, you are doing so well, we are so happy you have decided to try so hard for us.

Week 9

Sam has done wonderfully this last week. He has nearly mastered the art of ground driving, at least for our purposes. He now walks in a circle when driving and has a better general grasp on the idea of a circle.

Sam received a special gift from us, even though he doesn't think so. We got him a CD with scary noises on it to listen to while he eats. At first it really disturbed him, now only certain sounds scare him. This week Sam was working on circles when he heard an owl that he couldn't see. The owl put him on high alert, he began to notice EVERYTHING, even normal things were suspicious. Then, the Sam spotted the neighbors' black cat. This made Sam pretty worried. Black animals tend to scare horses more than other colors, I think it might be because they kinda look like shadows. Sam did really well despite being scared, he tried his best to keep his focus on us and it was amazing to see Sam trust us like that.

The only other really new thing that happened this week with Sam was him playing with the noodles on one of his obstacles. Sam repeatedly took the noodles down, even after I put them back up. Then one day I get home to find that Sam has almost cut one in half with his teeth, there are holes in the pool noodle. But, I think Sam must have had fun doing it, because he seemed content.

Sorry I don't have any pictures yet, but if I can get one of the noodle, I will.

Sam, thanks for adding some variety to our lives and giving us a reason to laugh. We love you.

Hakuna Matata: The Week 8 Moto

Hakuna Matata was definitely Sam's attitude toward this week.

Sam had no worries. He has really gotten his confidence up this last week. Doing all of his puzzles and obstacles has helped him so much.  Sam is trailering much better, not being so worried about the door closing. He even walks through the barn alleyway now. Sam also walks through 6 out of 8 noodles on one of his most naturally challenging . Our other horses didn't even think about going through such an obstacle. All of the pictures are from week Seven, Sam's week 8 pictures will be posted at a later time. (Sam's color is darkening, it is not just this pictures- he is becoming even more handsome.)

Sam also learned a brand new skill this week! He learned how to ground drive, and I think he kinda likes it. At first he was hesitant about somebody wlaking be hind him, but he got used to it after a while. I have a picture:

Now on a more spiritual level:

Every time I look at Sam, I see a different horse, one more comfortable with himself-one who is releasing the pain of his past, allowing himself to accept the love waiting for him in the present.
Sam has grown every person who has had contact with him in some way. I am not sure how he does it, but there is something about him that just touches people. I am more connected with the things going on around me. I notice even more than I used to, I can sense more, my feelings are stronger, and I have a much stronger sense of leadership. I believe, all of this was Sam's doing. Before he arrived, I almost never had such strong feelings, they were sent to the back burner so I could focus on what I was supposed to be doing. Writing this for Sam and being able to see all of his advancements has blessed me in a way I will not soon forget.

Anyone who gets the pleasure to cross Sam's path will forever be changed. He is powerful. His will is awe-inspiring. His desire to please is astounding. Note: although Sam does all of these amazing things now, he was part of a cruelty case, which makes him SO much more special. He has not allowed his past to negatively affect his character, if it did affect him, it only made Sam that much better.

Sam trots through these

A puzzle for Sam, he has to find different ways to get through it

Sam's curtain, and 4/8 noodles on an obstacle

Just Sam hanging out with a hula-hoop on his neck, no big deal

Sam showing off his changing color

Sam thank you for changing my life so much. We love you.

Week 7 (Halfway point)

Sorry this post is so late.

Sam has done really well this week, although I regret to admit not much forward progress has been made. Despite this fact, Sam has broadened his horizons immensely.

The main event of this week was a new obstacle and a new game. The obstacle consists of pool noodles horizontally perched on a pole, making a semi-scary looking gate the horse must pass through. The game Sam got this week is one that stretches his brain, he has to think about how to get through the path without touching the poles. He really likes this game. We will have to try to make even more games for him, because we can see and feel his happiness upon completing the puzzle.

I will post Sam's week 7 pictures and pictures of the obstacles when I can.

Sam I am so happy you enjoy learning as much as you do.

Week Six

Sam has had a few big break-throughs this week. He became a ballerina of sorts, escaped into the other horses' pasture, accepted a bit, and let us spray him with fly spray.

We were working Sam on moving his hind quarters, and he was doing well, but when he got up to speed, something strange happened. Sam decided he should just pick up one of his front legs, keeping the other one planted. Essentially, Sam was spinning. The front hoof on the ground was revolving as Sam moved his hind quarters, giving him the appearance of a horse ballerina. I wish I had gotten a picture, because this is a little difficult to believe. Sam is a little too smart for his own good.

We had let the horses out to graze into another big pasture, but did not let Sam out with them. However, Sam did not take this with the grace of a ballerina. Sam paced up and down the fence line for a while, then he stopped, so we assumed he would be just fine. No. We looked back out the window literally five minutes or so later and he was out with the others. After a timely inspection of the fence, we found that Sam had abandoned his ballerina ways when he jumped the fence, breaking the top hot wire, stretching the wire below it, and even heavily bending a T-post. That was evidence of a ballerina jumping a fence, it was something totally different. Sam, despite the damage done, was not hurt AT ALL. We were astounded by this unbelievable feat.

Sam's next feat was letting us SPRAY him with fly spray. He used to not let us do this at all, he was terrified. The truly amazing thing is that we have not worked with him on being sprayed. The first time we tried it, we saw it terrified him and have had yet to revisit it until today. And he just let us spray, no big deal, except that it shocked us.

Another bit of shocking information we learned this week was that Sam does not really mind having a bit in his mouth. After only a little hesitation, he took it in his mouth, mouthed it a little and stopped. Sam only really kept mouthing the bit when he got nervous about something.

Another thing Sam did this week was pass under a curtain that was slit in multiple places, even letting it touch him. I had cut up the shower curtain and then hung it up on one of the round pen entrances. I chose the gate that we let Sam in. Sam gets to go in the round pen during the day, so that he has more room and we keep this gate open.The idea was that if he wanted to go into the round pen, he would have to walk through it. The first day he did not want to go through it, I watched him wait for the wind to blow the curtain to the side so that he could pass without it touching him. After he was in the round pen, and he wanted to leave, I watched Sam wait for nearly three hours so the wind would blow the curtain enough so it would not touch him and he could leave. But now, after the curtain being there for a few days, Sam walks under it just fine, even when it hits him.


Sam has become quite the camera lover, as I was taking his pictures, he kept following me around and trying to taste the camera, so some pictures are a little strange, but they are all him.

Sam and Lincoln chillin' in the shade

Watching the action



Sam's scars

He kept following me



On his way to me

Sam smelling the camera

Sam getting an ice cube

Sam's reaction to the ice cube

Sam following me through the curtain on the way out

 

Sam you have come SO far and it is really amazing. We love you.

Sam's Week 5

Sam is doing so well, but we did hit a few bumps this week.

We learned that we absolutely must do as much desensitization as possible and that his natural mating instincts are fairly strong.

Sam has obviously staked his claim as Sunny's man, despite Sunny not agreeing. Sam did not appreciate Buddy interacting with Sunny(who is now out of heat) and decided that he could not let that happen. Poor little Buddy did not no he was doing anything wrong (and he wasn't) but Sam thought buddy was making trouble. All three of them were just fine together, before Sunny went into heat. Now the tides are still a little rocky between Sam and Buddy, and Sunny kinda hates Sam again. We think as long as Sunny is not out with the boys, they chould be fine.

We took Sam to his lesson for this week and were introduced to many new ways to get him used to very odd things, things that could happen while riding. One way was to do the rope exercises we were already doing with Sam in a different manner. We used the Jolly Ball to accomplish this. These exercises were very good for Sam, and even some of the other horses. The ball was very popular here, in fact, a little thief came and stole while we were working with Sam. I was able to get a picture of this.

The Jolly Ball and the thief



Sam started doing a couple of new things this week. He went out on the 22 ft line and made an okay-ish circle. Before this week, his circles were terrible. He has also started going in the trailer, turning around and then just standing (not coming back out) and waiting for a treat. Before this week, he would usually try to walk back out of the trailer instead of stand in it.


Sam chillin' with the cows

Sam has been terrified of the cows across the street, but then, we let some cows go out behind Sam's pasture. Within two days Sam was just hanging out with the cows (on the other side of the fence of course). In the picture, you can only see the white one, but there are some black cows hiding in the trees.

I am sorry I do not have more pictures this week, if I get some, I will post them.

Sam you are doing great and thank you for all the new information and love you have provided us.

Fast and Furious Week Four

I apologize for being a day late posting this.

Sam was pretty good in his fourth week here. We found out he can run if he wants to.
One day we were working with him in the arena, which is in our hayfield and does not have a fence, except around the entire field. We were attempting to get Sam to lope around in a circle on the line. He did not really want to do this or his body does not have quite all the muscle build up it needs to do this. Anyway, the rope got out of hand and he took off. He was flying! he ran all the way back through the open gate of the hayfield and up to the driveway.
At this moment out hearts stopped. We thought "Oh no. He is going out to the road and is going to be scared to death."
But, Sam turned around and ran back into the hayfield and down the fence line between the other horses' pastures and the field just as fast as he had run out!. Needless to say, I went and closed the gate as quickly as possible. After Sam got all of his energy out, running like we did not know he could, he let us just walk up to him and put him back to work on the line. Sam literally had the mind set that nothing at all had happened after we caught him.

We are not 100% sure why he turned back, w know he does not like being alone if he does not have to be. We also know that he is not fond of the cattle across the street from us. Our best guess is that Sam did not want to go past the cattle alone, so he came back to be with the other horses.

That was the adventure of the week, besides that, not much else happened other than us getting to trot on him and a better bath time.

Now Sam has decided he likes the water, he is still unsure of the water on his butt, but he is not moving away from it now. Sam now requires multiple drinks from the water hose when he gets a bath.    Sam is doing so well.

Sam, thanks for coming back!

Here are some of Sam's week four pictures

Just getting a drink at bath time

Sam standing on a tarp, no big deal

Sam just hanging out with a barn cat

Sam looking handsome under saddle

The Week Three Tango

Week 3. This has been an eventful week. Sam got his first actual bath! Sam found what he thinks is love AND Sam got his first hoof trimming!!

Sam was a perfect gentleman when he got his first bath. This one was with the water hose, not just a bucket and sponge! He had just finished working, so he was all hot (mainly due to the fact that the heat index here is over 103 degrees F by 9:00 am) and he appreciated the cool water running all over his body, until it reached the point of hitting his butt. Sam was not very sure about letting the water run over and down his rump, but after a while, he stood still and just let it happen. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of this (I did not want the camera to get wet).

Sam's love story is laughable. Sunny, the only mare on the property, is actually kinda mean to Sam. She doesn't make contact, but she pushes him around by making these frightfully mean looking faces at him. This is strange for Sunny to do, because the sweetest horse of all time, Buddy, is her pasture mate and he is in charge of her (Buddy does not push Sam around, they do not have an established dominant horse). Anyway, Sunny went into heat this week, and when she does this, she tends to cling to any male horse (gelding or stallion) that will let her. Guess what, Sam liked this attention, so you could say 'he was flirting with the mean girl.' It was hilarious to see the literally overnight change in their relationship, from one-sided hostility to lovey-dovey. Sam is gelded, so he couldn't impregnate Sunny even if he wanted to, but we separated them, just to prevent any possible injuries.

Sam has been consistent with his training, anything he learns stays with him and he gets fairly close to mastering them with in three days. At Sam's lesson, we worked on desensitizing him to movements that could occur while he was mounted. Once again, Sam was pretty good, until it came to his butt. The rope fell over his butt and that inspired a lot of movement, after a few minutes of working the rope around his butt, he calmed down and was good to go. This is one of the most amazing things about Sam, as soon as whatever was bothering him is gone, so is the panic, its almost as if it never happened. This week we have done more of this type of work and even rode him around the round pen for a bit, just at a walk of course. We are working on giving into pressure, so that we might be able to get some steering on Sam. At week two, we could never have steered Sam, but now its more like with enough patience and clear signals, a turn or two might come out of him. He is progressing very quickly, they said Mustangs are fast learners, but man, we did not expect Sam's training to go this quickly.

The most recent accomplishment of Sam's is his hoof trimming. All of the horses here are barefoot, meaning we do not have them wear shoes. The farrier we use is very patient and gentle. He also works with a veterinarian's office, so he was able to confirm our suspicion, that Sam has a weaker back end than most horses. This is most likely just due to lack of exercise and balanced nutrition, so by the time three months is up, he should have a beautiful back end. That being said, Sam was as perfect as could be, he only tried to pull his foot away a couple of times, for the first foot-his front left. We likely made a mistake with the next foot, we moved to the back left foot, like we do on all of the horses, but Sam has a weak back end. With the weak butt and back legs, it was probably harder for Sam to hold himself up and trust the farrier, so he got a little worried, not too bad, but worried for sure. As the farrier kept working on the back left, Sam got more worried and a bit of panic set in. We moved on to the right front, but it was too late, Sam did not want to let the farrier work on him anymore. After a fair amount of struggling, we finished the right front and left it at that. He probably would have been just fine if we just did the front and didn't try the back until he builds up the muscle to make him more comfortable.After the farrier left, it was right back to the normal Sam, hungry and curious.

Here are his week three pictures:

Sam hanging out in the shade

Being lazy

Sam's front feet before trimming

Sam's front feet after trimming

Sam's scars at week three

Sam showing me his disinterest

Sam looking for food

Sam waiting for food

Sorry the last picture looks funny, he was not worried about posing, he just wanted food.

Sam your are doing so great, so much better than expected! Keep it up Mr. Sam!

Sam's Second Week

Olympic size feats! That is the term to describe Sam's second week.. He has come so far! Today we were able to mount Sam WITH the saddle on! It was awesome! We even had Sam walk around with a person on his back (being led). He also had his first bath, it was a sponge bath! He was not sure at first, but by the end he decided he might like it.

This week, so new information about Sam came our way, he is gaited! Everyone assures us this will just make him even more comfortable to ride. I can't wait to ride his gaits and found out exactly how many there are. Sam does not always get into a discernible gait, but when he does, he looks so magnificent. Sam even looks better now, because he is shinier and some of the roan is coming out of his color. This is happening because he now has a balanced diet and is getting all of the natural vitamins and minerals that our hay doesn't have.

Sam's trailering skills have improved so much in the last week, he walks in pretty well, and turns around. He likes to ride backwards in the trailer, which will have to change when he starts getting into the slant load, but that will still be a while. Now, Sam will even just stand at the edge of the trailer and wait until we ask him to come out, before he would kind of run out. I have posted some pictures of him loading this week.

Sam is so eager to work and learn new things, it is truly amazing! He comes up to us just hoping we will get him out and mess with him.

Here is the picture of Sam with somebody in the saddle, on his back.

Sam working out

Looking pretty for a picture

The scary looking sponge from Sam's bath

Sam's scars-Week 2

Showing off that shine!

Sam's favorite trailering position

Just walking on out

Sam you are doing SO well, its time to ramp up the speed!

Sam's Schedule

Right now Sam is doing GREAT! He is performing well when doing ground work. He is letting us put the saddle on, without too much hesitation. Sam will get better at the saddling part of his training as time goes on.
We send Sam out to work on the line and he occasionally throws in a few bucks when he has the saddle on but other that, does extremely well. Since Sam has to work so much, he gets a lot of supplements, mainly the natural ones that our hay/grass cannot provide him with. At first he did not like this concoction, but now eats it very eagerly. He is shaping up well, you can compare his first day pictures with the pictures that will be on the next post (Sam's Second Week) on 7/29.

Sam works most days out of the week but usually gets some energy work on Tuesdays and absorbs it on his Wednesdays off.
I will try to post all of Sam's weekly summaries, including pictures, on the Sunday after that week.

Sam, you are doing so well, I am so proud of you and how far you have already come. Thank You for being to accepting.

Sam's First Time

Sam did so well at his lesson on 7/23. The challenge Sam is competing in allows us to have a limited number of training sessions(with a professional) so that we can make sure he has a solid foundation. The trainer who gave the lesson has worked with several other once feral horses and worked amazingly well with Sam. Sam was not fearful, just reasonably hesitant.

The trainer has a few steps for starting a new horse: accepting a human,then a saddle, and finally passenger. Sam accomplished the first two of these in just over an hour. In this lesson we realized that Sam can do and learn so much faster than we are giving him new information. For the next week, Sam will practice accepting a human and accepting a saddle, while still keeping up on his ground work activities.At the next lesson, Sam's trainer may attempt to mount him after evaluating Sam's progress and preparedness
Sam did well trailering and loading on the way to the lesson, but when we arrived and unloaded he got a bit nervous, but not too bad. Sam got pushy like he does when he gets nervous; that was the first part of his lesson, not to be pushy. Next the trainer rubbed him all over, which he was perfectly good with, thanks to his previous foster home. The trainer did a few other similar exercises, then he jumped onto Sam's back and using a couple special techniques, and sat on Sam. It as amazing, and Sam took it so well. He just sat, so Sam would be like "okay, whatever." Sam only had reasonable reactions to each of these steps, he did not run off, even though he did try to leave a few times. After this, the trainer worked with the other horse/rider combinations, and we worked with Sam on all the new stuff that had just been introduced to us.

Just sittin' on Sam, no saddle

I have a few pictures from this.

Sam watching all the action

Sam's next challenge was accepting the saddle, which we had already begun work with. Sam was already accepting the bareback pad and its girth. Sam need to accept the pad that was going to be under the saddle first and did, that was not a problem. The first time the trainer threw the pad on instead of placing it on him, Sam got a bit nervous, but every other time was acceptable. After just a couple of minutes, Viola! Sam was wearing a saddle. Sam allowed  the girth to be tightened, both front and back. As soon as Sam was asked to move, Sam looked as though he belonged in a saddled bronc show. After just a couple minutes of this, Sam allowed us to catch him again, with relative ease. Then, when he was sent out on the line, he bucked a few more times and settled down a bit.

 Sam, you were SO amazing at your first lesson with the trainer! Thank you for being so AWESOME!

What a Wonderous Week One

Its been a full week since Sam came to live and learn with us. What a week it was! Sam has come so far already, on 7/23 we are taking him to a lesson, so that we can get some experienced help as we near the point at which Sam will need to start learning how to accept a rider. The next update will follow this lesson.

Sam has been in color therapy since he arrived. The colors are the results of a specific range of the electro-magnetic spectrum. Color therapy is also energy work in the sense that perceived colors are the results of light, which is most certainly energy. Sam's colors are turquoise, purple and some green. The turquoise promotes calmness, clarity, and communication. Given Sam's background, communication and clarity have been slight issues, and he is jumping right over those hurdles with us.Occasionally, Sam becomes frazzled, so the calmness factor come into play there. Purple is a known separation anxiety easier. When he wears his purple halter(despite it being slightly feminine) he absorbs the energy it emits and it helps him deal with his separation anxiety. Green. "The color green is the color of balance, harmony and growth" according to 'empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com' and this certainly seems to ring true when it comes to Sam. Sam wears a green rope halter when he works(as you can see in the pictures) and his mind and body have grown so much since his arrival one week ago. Green is said to encourage diplomatic behaviors, such as being agreeable, dependable, and positive. Sam has been all of these things every time we work with him.

Sam's crystals came in the mail yesterday. The crystals he will be wearing are Aventurine Quartz and Hematite.

Aventurine Quartz

The Aventurine Quartz is the color of the Heart chakra, the energy vortex over the heart. Physically, this stone helps with heart issues, infections, inflammation, and a multitude of other items. Emotionally, it helps with fear, trust issues, abuse/neglect, and heart pain (as in the pain you feel when your heart has been broken, a deep emotional hurt).

Hematite

 The Hematite stone is involved with three chakras- the Root, Sacral, and Solar Plexus. Physically, it deals with blood disorders, kidneys, low energy, shock, and the muscles. Emotionally, it helps resolve issues of aggression, agitation, and willingness to come.

I am posting the first set of pictures of Sam. I have post a few pictures, but this him in action and to see how his body changes from the first week to the last week.



Sam's brand means he was captured by the Bureau of Land Management, was born in '02 and his unique number is 83333. His number indicates Sam was captured in Arizona.

Sam's BLM brand

Sam's brand drawn out



Sam's butt at week one

The Crew watching Sam work

Sam's scars are starting to heal a little

A crucial step, the bareback pad

Sam looking majestic, while working

Sam being sweet and getting some lovin'

Watch and Learn

 Well Sam, it has been a great week, keep it up and oh the places you will go!