Holden's first "session" and turnout

Holden during his first turnout session.

So today being my day off, I went to the barn after breakfast and played with Holden. It was my first time really interacting with him, and I learned a fair amount about him and I think I can make some reasonable deductions about his past.

For instance, he is not a fan of bitting. And being well over 16h, this can be a little challenging for me. I have a KK Ultra, which I think should fit in his mouth well. My strategy is to put a little mint extract on the center of the bit (this immediately got his attention) and just be gentle with him. At first he yanked his head up out of reach, which I countered by standing on a mounting block and waiting for his minor melt-down to be over. Once it was over I resumed, and slipped the bit in without drama. I am hoping that the mint will make him more enticed to allow me to bit up sans mounting block, and that maybe the gentleness of the bit (compared to his racing D, which was not friendly) will help him overcome his bitting aversion. His teeth probably need to be done some time in the future. The BO mentioned peanut butter, which I may try later if there is no improvement.

Tacking him up was a breeze - I pulled him into the center isle and dropped the leadrope on the ground as if "ground-tying" him. He initially took a step forward or backwards and I would correct him by placing him back where he was originally standing - after two times of this he seemed to get it and stood like a remarkable citizen while I groomed him, put on polos, boots, saddlepad and surcingle - I took my sweet time and was tacked up twenty minutes later (lol). I have a strategy of leaving one lead-rope on the ground and having another clipped to him - so if he moves I can just use the second leadrope. It seems to work and worked well with my last horse.

I should probably mention that the BO had intercepted me on my arrival at the barn and had been present the whole time, which slowed my progress a little as she is very loquacious. She seems to mean well, and was interested in seeing "us" interact so she could learn more about the horse and myself.

After tacking him up I led him into the indoor. I hand walked him around the ring in both directions for about ten minutes, working on "walk on" commands and "whoa". Holden seems to be very respectful - he wants to stop when I do, and is always watching me. If I stop he halts almost immediately, with no pressure on the leadrope. I think he is pretty polite. He picked up on "walk on" quickly, and after ten minutes of walk/halting we graduated to "lunging" on a circle.

At first, Holden seemed perplexed by this new question.  I had started on the left, which is the side he is used to being handled on (racehorses, unlike other horses, are only handled from the horse's left side - which is why leading on the right side can be difficult for some). He wanted to always be facing me and was confused on why I was stopped but still asking him to move. He would move sideways if I clicked my tongue or raised the small whip. I went back to hand-walking him, but this time I walked further from him, as if I was ground-driving him. This worked a little better, so I slowly started "reeling" him in until he was on a circle and I was standing still, rotating to face him. He would occasionally slow down as if to stop and ask if "this was okay", in which I would just raise the whip slightly off the ground towards his haunches - I would supply this gesture with a "walk on" vocalization - and after a few times of questioningly slowing down he seemed to get it.

I then switched to the right, and we encountered some technical issues - which I expected. Holden was confused on why I was on his other side, so we once more hand-walked around the ring and gradually reeled into a small circle. I kept this direction brief and praised him often. He listens, which I really like - his inside ear is always turned to face me. But I think he is still very unsure of me.

Because he was being so calm, I unclipped his lunge-line and let him loose in the indoor. I wanted to see him trot out, as his left leg was still thick without heat. He trotted around a few times with no drama, and showed off his nice (and BIG) trot with his tail elevated like an arabian. The more I interact with him, the more I am coming to the conclusion he is far more sensible and intelligent than I am used to dealing with. Most horses I've worked with have been either very spooky or reactive, and this is a pleasant surprise.

After trotting around a little (the BO being in the indoor as well), I recaught him and walked him around the ring at a nice loose walk to relax him and let him know he was being a great boy. I then brought him back into the barn and untacked. The BO and I had a serious discussion (albeit sensitive) about my qualm with allowing the BM to handle Holden -- and the BO agreed with my anxiety that I thought the BM had been a little too rough with handling Holden the day we got him off the track. She assured me that she would speak to the BM and that it was not a problem. I should mention the BM is the type that believes in "joining up" (read: Monty Roberts training methods & Parelli combined) and punishes the horses when they misbehave by asking them to "work" by backing them up furiously until they comply. This errant type of training wont work for a sensitive horse who is already mistrusting of people, and I explained this to the BO as best I could. She agreed and told me she would gently break it to the BM that no one except for myself is to handle the horse - and she urged that I don't speak to him regarding this topic unless he does something I may be uncomfortable with.

We then moved outside after untacking and grooming Holden - and I turned him out for the first time in a small grass paddock that is used as a riding ring. I walked him around the ring a bit before letting him loose -- and I was expecting to see heels flying. Instead, he calmly looked at the hill and started to walk around the ring, smelling various patches of grass and nibbling as he walked by. The horses on the other side of the fence flew up to the fence-line -- he walked over to them and there was a very swift discussion in which the other gelding struck out and squealed (there is a mare in the paddock) and Holden backed off immediately and lost interest. It was so quickly done I was shocked -- again, I was expecting the usual squealing and snorting mess that comes when two horses meet. Holden gave the fence-line a wide berth after this, and moved over to the other side of the ring to nibble on grass.

Ten minutes or so passed uneventfully, and then we saw him spin out and snort at something in the hills. A deer (a very common sight here) had broken through the brush and startled him -- and he it -- and it bolted. And then there were antics!

Holden again, inspecting the other horses.

He started to trot up and down the ring in this big, long trot-  tail high behind him and his head scraping the clouds as he went. He then must have realized he was completely free to do whatever he wanted and was for once in his life NOT tethered to something  -- in which he started to flip those heels in the air and canter. He demonstrated to us his extensive airs-above the ground, as well as some nice flying lead changes and a rather big buck (I hope he doesn't repeat this undersaddle!). He only did this for about a minute and started to settle down, and I took the opportunity to catch him while he was simmering down. He had other ideas, and played keep-away from me at the trot until I showed him I had grain. He never once turned to kick out at me, which is the usual for me when a horse doesn't want to be caught. I gave him the grain and slipped his halter on, and we walked around the ring for a few minutes until he cooled down. I was unsure if bringing him in immediately would make him associate that if he acted up he would be brought back to the stall (which may encourage such behavior in some horses) so I continued to walk him a little bit more.

We went back to the barn, I gave him a once over, threw some more hay, and left. Tomorrow both myself and the BF have the day off, so I am hoping we can come in the morning and play some more!