Your best bet might be to encourage or "invite" his curiosity. Generate interest in you for him to come on his own and investigate. Play just a tad hard to get at first, try not to touch him yet. Have something in your hand that makes a bit of noise: crinkly paper, a couple pebbles, a plastic water bottle, something that can call his attention to you and what you are doing (NOT treats: you want his interest in YOU, not the treats). If/when he approaches the first time, be sweet, ask nothing, pocket your treasures and walk away. Seriously. He won't be offended, he is a horse. Eventually, with patience on your side, he will come to see you straight away when you get there and want to extend his time with you. The sooner he acknowledges/approaches you, the quicker you greeting is that he can tolerate before he runs off. The key for a wild thing is for us to leave the immediate party before they (get scared) do. The point is to have them develop an actual interest in being a part of our lives.The most important point here for YOU is that appropriate human interaction is not automatic for the horse, he has to be taught.

If possible, work another horse hear him so that he can see for himself what goes on between human and horse, all while talking to him now and again. Groom/handle another horse near him and casually just show/offer him the brush, let him check it out, if he leaves, he leaves, let him go. He'll be back because he wants to be and THAT is the attitude you want to encourage : ). 


 The next step is what their part in our lives will be. Let him follow you as you do "chores" while with him. Keep his focus on what you are doing until he appears to be genuinely intereste in helping : ) Then, talk to him, let him touch you first and investigate, smile and coo at him, be nice and easy to be with, be STILL. Ask little at first, and when you DO get up to some formal work, keep it short, easy, micro managed until his confidence develops. Give him a chance to be unafraid, to get over the unsurety, to learn of who, what and why you are.

The best way to manage a Wild One is a hugely eclectic conversation, as diverse as the people that apply it. Do what works for you and YOUR horse, be patient when you've been patient for months on end and have none left, know that everybody alive within 50 miles of you will tell you how to handle him and how wrong everbody else, including you, is. Stick to what works for the two of you and make a genuine effort to be consistant, keep it simple and brief. Your main job is to protect him from the not so great ways that human interaction can take him. Always remember that HOW he learns will directly influence WHAT he learns. Take your time. Trust him first, it's ALL new to HIM : )  Again, polite and easy interaction with humans is NOT automatic for them, there is nothing natural about the human in the horse's immediate world. They are captive, not so much "domestic" other than intentionally bred by humans....

Enjoy this adventure as many if not most of us don't get the chance of a lifetime to bring a horse, an untouched one, along. This can be a great experience for both of you, congrats!! Take your time, the joy of this whole thing is that how well he turns out will be all on you : )

Perhaps a "Sedonasilver's Wild Child" progress thread is in order : )

Hugs to you on Lorenzo's new life : )








-- Edited by justice on Monday 21st of March 2011 07:01:33 AM

Justice, I couldn't have said it better myself.

You seem like a very intelligent, curious person, Lauren - thus I don't think you will fall easily for the "old cowboy" way of training a horse. That is, essentially forcing a horse into submission through fear. What Justice has described is a very ideal situation for a horse. It's hard for humans to relate to how a horse might feel in a situation like that because we are fight animals and they are flight animals, but we can try. Being the "uninterested" party is sure to draw the horse's attention faster than being the annoying "reading-over-your-shoulder" type who is constantly irritating the horse by not giving them space. Patience is key, as is learning to be okay with uneventful days training-wise. Soon you will learn to appreciate even the slightest bit of progress, and see steps backwards as new opportunities to try to draw his attention to you once again. I'm very excited for the both of you; as Justice said, not many people get the opportunity to gentle a 'wild' horse in their lifetime. I'm sure this is going to be an exhilarating journey for you both, as well as all of us bystanders! Remember not to take any criticism too harshly/personally, and rejoice in all of the progress you do make; it will make it that much easier to get through the difficulties you are sure to face.

Keep us updated, and let us know what you decide to name him! ;)

Oh my dream come true would be to help you.... I have a wild horse, and my trainer trains wild horses and how I wish I could tell you what to do to gentle a horse...... my horse Oliver though, is an orphan... he has no "flight" instinct. He has "fight" instinct..... he does not need any more gentling... he thinks he belongs in the house.... good luck with your horse and please do the suggestions that others have requested here..... you will love having a wild horse..... congratulations... they are so smart... :)

Thanks for the tip guys! Some very wise advice all of which I will utilise over the coming weeks. I will keep everyone posted :)

I'm actually starting a blog (www.three-years.com) which will document our journey. I only just registered the domain name yesterday so will build the site over the weekend and post our progress and photos.

Me, too!! Pics will be expected, of course : )

-- Edited by justice on Wednesday 23rd of March 2011 06:17:39 AM

Hi guys, A quick update on Archie :) we handled him for 2 weeks before my breaker came and picked him up. Ooooh boy, did Archie HATE Trevor. My shy, wild little Andalusian is actually a rather nasty piece of work. Incredibly dominant and did not want to come to the party when Trevor asked him to stand still so he could put a rope halter over his nylon one.

He comes from all angles, striking out with front feet, kicking with back legs and rearing and punching and all in matter of seconds. He's incredibly quick, incredibly cunning and incredibly angry, it appears. I suppose I would be too if I was seperated from everything I knew and didnt understand what was going on.

He's starting to come good now though, in only 2 days working with Trevor so fingers crossed he'll stop his dangerous, aggressive ways and decide he wants to be a part of his new people herd.

Picture below - looking a little skinny on the day we picked him up.

 

 

-- Edited by sedonasilver on Friday 15th of April 2011 03:47:03 AM

He's a beauty. Initial naughtiness is no indication of final result, some horse don't just give away their heart. Once he decides you are The One for him, he will do anything for you. The trickiest ones to train are often the smartest and in the long run end up being the best but may take a little longer to figure out and you have to put in the miles to get there. Real exciting to start from scratch, I'll check your website for updates. Good luck and have fun!

Will be following your blog!

He is gorgeous!