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Buffalo Bill Cody (AKA "Cody")

The new arrival

He is very calm, he really didn't spook at anything, even when a bunch of kids/dogs went running by (making appropriate kid noises), with one in a cart being pushed around, he just turned and watched. The first time a person on horseback went by he did hightail it to the other end, but the second time he just looked. Even when he stepped on my foot and I heaved him off, he was very good about it.

Second week after adoption

11/28/99

Had a nice day with Cody. Spent about 4 hours with him, took about an hour before I could get close to him again, but by the end, I was brushing him all over while he happily munched hay! He looks (and feels) a lot better now. People were really amazed, but seeing how smart Cody is :-) I am not! At first I was kind of disappointed I settled for a younger one as I won't be able to ride for a while, but I am REALLY enjoying this, and I know there is a lot to learn (for both of us), so now we can just relax and take our time.

12/5/99

Today for the very first time Cody came up and greeted me when I arrived!! Wow!! It is just so great watching him develop and learn and trust. He even let two friends handle him today, and we worked on picking up his front feet.

12/11/99

I finally took Cody's halter/drag line off today. I most likely could have taken it off a week ago since I was able to walk up to him from any direction with him turning to face me on approach, or even come toward me a little, and at that point I could scratch him all over. Being the wimp I am, I went a little slow and by mid-week I would approach him and put another (larger) halter on and off over the one he had on (which was a little snug to start) several times. Today I repeated that a few times, then took the original one off, put the new one on, then old one back on, did that a few times, then took both completely off, walked away, came back, put the new one back on, off and on a few, to the point of totally boring him completely! Of course who knows what will happen tomorrow!

I do believe the drag line was a big help in getting him used to yielding to pressure, and I may continue to use it when I am training, but I don't see any need to keep it on. Keep in mind that I have only spent 3-4 hours each weekend day and maybe 1/2 an hour one day during the week with him.

1/9/00

Cody is now picking up all four feet on a verbal command. I can't believe I have only had him a month and a half!

3/4/00

The only thing I have really had a difficult time doing is getting Cody to lead. (Guess I did a good job on teaching him to ground tie and not spook, I can't even chase him off.) Backing hasn't been a problem, it's forward motion I was having trouble with. To make a long story short, I tried clicker training today with Cody, and I am floating on a cloud!!!

We started with a few Click- Treat sequences, and then a click-treat when he even moved his front feet to follow me, and by the end of maybe 15-20 minutes I had him walking - no lead rope, no halter - right along side me, head even with my right shoulder, turning when I turned, stopping when I stopped. How totally cool!!!

3/19/00

Big day today. Since the clicker training, Cody leads like a dream. Today was the first time I took Cody out of the paddock he has been living in for almost 4 months. Using the clicker, he took his first few tentative steps out of the gate. Despite the crunchy gravel underfoot, the horse being ridden around in the arena just a few feet away, and the wind blowing, he did great. I was quite proud of how he kept himself collected even though you could tell he wasn't sure about all of the "new" things going on around him.

We took a few short steps, then turned around and went back inside, taking the gate nice and slow. By the third (spaced apart) excursion, we walked the entire length of the riding arena, along the other paddocks, and he even stopped to nibble some grass along the way!

Good thing I can clean all four feet as he will need to have his hooves trimmed soon!!

3/28/00

Cody has his feet trimmed for the first time today and he was great! I had him already haltered and was brushing him when the farrier came in to the paddock. Cody just looked at him like "do I know you?" Since he is used to a routine of being haltered, then brushed, then having his feet cleaned, it was a natural progression to having his feet handled. He picked up his feet for a total stranger and didn't even seem to mind having it done. He kinda dozed off while I scratched his neck!

Y2K Cody