I have already written a post about the Story of Jackson, the broad circumstances about how we came to be in each other’s lives and where we are now. But I have had a few questions about the specifics of what our journey looked like so I dug in the archives for some old photos (thanks, Facebook!) and am hoping you’ll hang around for the story.
I feel like this should be my tag line, but… I’m not a horse trainer. I do, however, believe that we are imparting our wisdom (for better or worse) each time we spend time with our horses. I’m merely going to share with you how my time with Jackson was spent.
So, who is Jackson? Jackson is a big, beautiful BLM mustang whom I adopted as a wild two year old. You can read more about this in my previous post about Jackson, but the BLM brought a bunch of horses to an adoption event near my home and I took the leap.
I had no experience with wild horses and I thought because I have been around domestic, untouched horses that I knew what “wild” was. Wrong! I had no idea. “Wild” means WILD. Wild means when you reach up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, your horse flies away from you faster than you can comprehend what scared him. Wild means aggression when feeling threatened.
I had the awesome BLM staff put a halter on him in the chute before they loaded him in my trailer, I got a drag line hooked on it, and I dumped him straight in my round pen. I didn’t know much, but I knew I didn’t want him feeling trapped in a corner when he was learning to trust me so I figured he could live in my round pen for the time being.
For the most part, I tried to take things at Jackson’s pace. I spent A LOT of time with this horse and this horse took a lot of time. I remember calling my friend (who trains horses for a living), in tears, asking her if I’d made a mistake. I mean, what was I thinking?! Me, getting a WILD horse?! I could barely even touch the thing and it had been two weeks! I’ll never forget what she told me, “Does he have four hooves? A long face? Mane and tail?” Well, duh. “He’s a horse! Treat him like you would any other horse in the round pen.”
Oh.
I started driving him forward in my round pen, using the drag rope and my body language to associate “woah” with stop, using approach and retreat methods to get the first touch. The drag rope was a life saver when it came to both safety and progress. Safety because it helped keep that powerful hind end away from me when he got scared or angry, progress because I could start teaching him to lead/release pressure from the get-go, even before I could touch him.
I think the key in the beginning was not too much, not too long. Not only was he young (two years old), he was also new to humans so even just having me around was overwhelming for him. On weekdays I would go out before work and twice after work for short sessions. On weekends I would spend four or five 10-15 minute sessions with him each day.
Once we were able to safely lead, I moved him to a corral of his own so I could have my round pen back. We started going on walks around the property, we approached obstacles and Jackson had to learn to trust me to help him overcome his fears of these obstacles.
When it came time to introduce him to new things, I let him make his own introductions. I’ve taken to doing things much differently with horses that came after Jackson, but this method worked well for him and I.
Trailer loading is a prime example…
I just parked the pickup and trailer out there and hooked the corral panels up to the back of the trailer. Then I fed him in there.
When it came time to ACTUALLY get him going under saddle, I hauled him to my horse trainer friend in Montana. Over the course of a few days, she saddled him, rode him, and I got to ride him. It was magical. (I had previously had the saddle and pad on him, but never cinched. I just wasn’t comfortable enough at that point to “pull the trigger”.)
After that, it was mostly rainbows and butterflies. I hauled him back home, continued to ride him in the round pen, then moved to my make-shift arena, then the rest of the property before deciding he was ready to “haul-out”.
Jackson always had a lot of try. He made most things really easy for me, he was super easy-going, not a whole lot bothered him… I later learned this overly-calm demeanor is likely a symptom of his disease.
I learned a lot from Jackson and the people that helped me with Jackson. He came along at a time in my life when I really needed him, someone who was patient with me and enjoyed my company and let me learn from my mistakes without holding them against me. Someone who would help me rebuild my confidence.
This post is beyond difficult. Going back through these photos that were so full of hope and a promising future has me in tears. Jackson was supposed to be my “go-to” horse for a lot of years, and to have that dream cut short by a neurological disease diagnosis was devastating to me.
I still have Jackson. I still get sad about “what might have been” but I enjoy having him around, he’s an excellent halter model and he really enjoys our company. He’s a jerk to the other horses so he’s currently living in the yard with Garth (who is also a jerk to the horses) and he’s kind of like a big dog. I figure unless I can no longer afford him or he’s in obvious pain, he’ll get to live out his days with me and I with him.
After all he’s given me, it’s the least I can do.
The above images of Jackson (Mustang Silhouette or Mustang in the Snow), are available for purchase in the shop as canvas prints, shower curtains, or fleece blankets. He may not be much of a trail partner these days but I think we can all agree the boy is a model!
One Comment
What a great post, I so enjoyed reading it. I have 4 sons, the youngest of whom is 26 with Down Syndrome. I found out that my son had DS while I was pregnant with him. Someone told me then about a poem called “Welcome to Holland.” It’s the story of someone who had planned a trip to beautiful, fascinating Italy but the flight was detoured and she ended up in not-so-exciting Holland. This story paralleled my journey with my son. Your blog about Jackson reminded me of it. Google “Welcome to Holland” and you’ll see what I mean. Your time with Jackson may not be what u planned, but it’s a blessing nonetheless with much to be gained from it. Thank u for sharing your wonderful story. May u enjoy Jackson for a long time to come!
Comments are closed.