Taffy is a 5 yo BLM mustang mare. She is 14.1 hands tall. Taffy is a flash chestnut sabino (pinto)and was gathered from Stone Cabin HMA in Nevada in February of 2012. Taffy is not broke to ride although with training she should make a very nice riding horse. Be sure to bookmark this page, like us on Facebook and subscribe on YouTube to ensure you have the most up to date information about Taffy’s training progress!!
[su_spoiler title=”Training Details” class=”my-custom-spoiler”] [su_tabs class=”my-custom-tabs”] [su_tab title=”TIP Requirements”][usrlist “Can be haltered: 2” “Pick up front feet: 3” “Pick up back feet: 3” “Load into trailer: 3″ ]  [/su_tab] [su_tab title=”Basic Training”][usrlist “Makes Eye Contact: 3” “Approach and Touch: 2″ ]  [/su_tab] [su_tab title=”Saddle Training”][usrlist “Put on saddle pad: 2” “Put on bareback pad: 2” “Cinched Up:2” “Put on saddle:0” “Back cinch:0″ ]  [/su_tab] [su_tab title=”Obstacle Course”][usrlist “Wood Bridge: 3” “Mattress Step Over: 3” “Pool Noodle Squeeze:3” “Tarp:3” “Tire:3” “Teeter Bridge:3” “Logs:3” ]  [/su_tab][/su_tabs][/su_spoiler]

Taffy has been adopted!

April 19, 2014 

Taffy has been getting daily handling / reinforcement of the basics including standing tied, going through the obstacle course, haltering and basic grooming. She takes everything in stride!

April 9, 2014

Taffy really didn’t do much tonight. It was her first time in the small pen today and I was a little bit worried about how she would be to catch. That was actually no problem. She stood really still and let me come right up and halter her. I tied her for about 20 minutes and practiced with her feet which she is already really good for. About 10 min total with her, just a refresher but every little bit helps!

April 8, 2014

Taffy spent about an hour and a half tied at the tie rail. She still paws quite a bit when tied…she’d much rather be doing something! After she was standing quietly we worked on grooming, haltering and picking up feet. She is a pro at picking up all four feet but we still practice each day. For haltering she still isn’t sure she wants to stand still when I go to halter her. Once I touch her she is fine but about 20% of the time she trots off to the opposite side of her pen. I’ll keep working till she has enough confidence to stay at least 90% of the time when I approach. Definitely not bad by any means but there is always room for improvement!

April 5, 2014 – Day 12
Training Day 

Trailer loading practice for Taffy today. She is very good about putting her feet on stuff so getting in and out of the trailer was basically a non-issue UNTIL we tried to send her in. With us walking in with her or with the lead line run through the front of the trailer it was no issue. Both ways she had a forward pull on her halter rope and so clearly understood what was being asked of her. When I tried to send her in that is where she had difficulty understanding. Slowly but surely we worked on sending. Her trouble was she was trying to be light and when she would step ahead of me the lead line would create a backwards drag / feel on the line which would get her to want to back off the trailer. We were able to work through it after some repetition!

April 2, 2014 – Day 8
Training Day 8

Haltering was a little bit more difficult for me yesterday than today. She bolted off twice before standing to allow me to halter her. No big deal we’ll keep practicing. Could be the super fresh weather too since it has been raining. Tied Taffy up at the tie rail for about an hour while I cleaned stalls and played with other horses. She was very good. After that was done I worked with her on picking up her front feet. That lesson took about 20 minutes. She responded very well on her left side once she understood I just wanted to hold the foot for a minute. She was a bit more evasive on the right side but nothing overly dramatic or difficult just backing away from me. She learned that if she backed away I’d make her move her feet and if she just picked up the foot for a second I would put it down and back off for a minute. We used that method, approach and retreat, and pretty soon she’d easily pickup the right front foot and let me hold it. Great session for Taffy tonight!

April 1, 2014 – Day 7
Training Day 7

Because Joe had difficulty with Taffy yesterday we spent about 15 minutes tonight with JUST haltering. From all different angles, all different ways. Regular haltering, nose first haltering, holding the halter way out in front, hiding it behind, rubbing with the halter first, not rubbing with the halter, haltering after being asked to move off, haltering after being asked to trot off, etc. She doesn’t really have any problems with me haltering her so I’ll see if Joe has some time to work with her on it again.

March 31, 2014 – Day 6
Training Day 6

Today was stranger training day for Taffy. Yesterday Taffy’s halter was removed so that we can begin daily haltering practice. Since I was busy Joe decided to play with her and see how far he could get with her. We have noticed some mustangs have an aversion to strangers. They get used to the way I act and work them and while they get comfortable with me they can be uneasy with others. I can walk right into Taffy’s stall and halter her within about 1 minute. She was NOT having any of that with Joe! He worked with her with a lot of approach and retreat and it took about 20 minutes for Taffy to say OK, you can walk up to me and pet my shoulder. Joe repeated that a few times with her and they ended the session on that note!

March 30, 2014 – Day 5
Training Day 5
More work with Taffy today on the obstacle course. Once again she tackled obstacles with great ease. The teeter bridge and tire never bothered her. You can see on the video her first time over the tarp was a breeze as well. She wasn’t too sure about the pool noodle squeeze now that we tightened it down but she figured it out! This is one super smart mare. Friends are nicknaming her “Chiva” which means goat in spanish because she likes putting her feet on everything!

Taffy was also introduced to tying. She set back a couple times but nothing major and after that stood calmly at the rail for about an hour. We are confident enough in our ability to catch Taffy that she is now living halter free. All in all a great day with Taffy!

March 29, 2014 – Day 4
Training Day 4
Today was the second time for Taffy to come out of her stall. She is allowing us to approach pretty well now. This time, she walked right by the tack room without issue. The fact that we were leading her in daylight this time also helps to eliminate scary shadows. Taffy was led to our obstacle course where we worked with her on some of our obstacles. This video shows her first time crossing over the mattress as well as her first time through the noodle squeeze. We always start wide with the noodle squeeze then gradually move the posts together as the horse gets used to it.

March 28, 2014 – Day 3
Training Day 3
Training day three went very well for Taffy. We started off with normal desensitization. Neither the burlap sack nor the bareback pad bothered her so I went ahead and cinched her up. She bucked about three times then trotted around really nice. Never did buck again either direction. Since she tolerated that so well, there is only so much we can do in the stall it was time to take her for a walk. Our walk went pretty well. She did have a minor spook which you can see in the video below. All the mustangs seem to have an issue walking between the open door of the tack room and the first stall so almost everybody balks at that. No big deal. Even fly sprayed her for the first time without issue!

March 27, 2014 – Day 2
Training Day 2

Another great day for Taffy. The drag line really helped her she was really easy to teach to lead. I also worked with her with approach and retreat and was able to love all over her on both sides. I did lots of desensitization with my carrot stick. She is a very tolerant / unafraid mare and had no problem with me standing behind her and touching her back legs and reaching between her legs, under her tail and by her hocks. Never offered or threatened to kick. I was able to measure her with the height stick very easily. She is 14.1 hands. We can’t wait to work with her on the obstacle course this weekend!

March 26, 2014 – Day 1
Training Day 1 

Easy day for Taffy. We worked on approach and retreat. She is a very curious girl and walks right up to the middle of the pen to have a look at me. Within about 10 min she was following me around pretty easy and letting me touch her all over her body with the carrot stick. I ended our session by snapping a lead rope on for a drag line. She seems like she’ll come around pretty easy and really wants interaction!

March 26, 2014 – Day 1 

Arrival day! So far Taffy seems like she’ll be a quiet mare but we’ll know more once we get in and work with her later this evening! Here are some pictures of Taffy!!