River did well with line work and just about anything "out in the open." Where he had difficuly was in close-up activities such as being groomed, feet trimmed, etc. He would often go into mindless trepidation if someone just approached him with a grooming brush. So while we definitely needed to advance on these troublesome issues, we also needed to mix in heavy doses of the activities that River could handle well in order to help build his trust and self-confidence.

A little "horse-on-horse"

Hello, Keno

Hmmm... Can I pull off your spots?

One of the ways we kept River calm when handling him "up close and personal" was by building a handling chute. We needed some artificial restraint so that River would focus on what we were doing rather than on how to avoid contact. The purpose here was not to completely restrain River, but rather to avoid situations where he would compulsively dance around and we'd get all busy just trying to stay up with him as attempts to restrain him at the tie pole just made him more frantic. Complete details about River in the chute can be seen Here.

River has some room to move in the chute, but he can't swing away or over the top of the handler, which he would do at the tie pole.

Relaxing at the tie pole River's first rider

Snoozing with a foot on the bridge Corrine on River

OTHER RIVER LINKS

River's Training Case Study

River in the Handling Chute

River's Buddy, Keno

River's Buddy, Corey

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Vital Statistics

Foaled: 1997 / Gelding

Herd: Butte HMA (near Ely, NV)

Present Owner: Corrine Davis

Present Location: California

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