Upcoming clinic

[prizmbluekigers]

Fit and I are finally participating in a local clinic April 10 & 11. We are only doing the groundwork parts of the clinic, both mornings actually. The clinician is Clint Surplus and he got much of his methodology from Ray Hunt so I am looking forward to going. He came to our place to work with Fit a little last week because I asked his opinion on the work we have done so far. Fit was pretty well behaved altho he tried to mouth Clint once - only once and there was no animosity in the act. They worked in the round pen for a while and I learned better how to move his forehand which was a little stuck. I haven't been getting the flex we need on his front end. When they were done he was pronounced a welcome participant in the clinic. Clint said Fit had great confidence, wasn't spooky and was quick to learn. After Fit thought about several things for a minute he had no trouble doing what was asked of him. It is nice to work with someone who is not put off by stallions. The second morning of the clinic we will have obstacles to work with and Fit enjoys new challenges. I hope they have a water obstacle, we don't have noe of those. I'll get to see some Andalusians and Lusitanos at the farm sponsoring the clinic and I'm hoping we represent Kigers well. His mane lays to the right side so his brand will be visible. Here is a link to the ranch. www.pilotoranch.com/

Fit has been shedding like crazy and I noticed in the sunlight yesterday that he is starting to get that copper glow to his coat so he won't look like a wooly mammoth. He needs conditioning but overall he looks pretty good. It is a challenge to keep him busy enough that he doesn't mind being in a pasture by himself (no girlfriends this year for him). Unfortunately the folks around me have way more mares than geldings.
The llama across the street holds his interest for a while, especially when it stands up on it's rear legs and snorts and looks about 8 feet tall. When some of the neighbors drive by Fit likes to escort them down our fence line, usually at a lope.

[prizmbluekigers]

Homeboy does well!!! There were so many"firsts" for Fit at the clinic. He had never been in an indoor arena or a stall or around other horses and it was only his 3rd time in a trailer and he walked right in as though it was an everyday thing. He was very vocal at first and wide eyed, but he did not spook at anything. We did obstacles, a water hole, jumps, backing in a circle and more an while he was not perfect, he just didn't refuse to try any of it. The clinic was small - 8 horses, two mares thankfully not in heat. He was complimented a lot, people liked his looks and manners (especially as as stallion they said). More than one person identified him as a Kiger. There was a Marchador gelding in the clinic that loked sooo Kiger - he was small about 14.2. I'll spare you the long story but I wanted to comment on one behavior. We were in the arena working on direction changes, lunging in small circles and when Fit came around circling one way and came close to a gelding circling in the opposite direction he seemed to make a move for the horse. I wondered then if I had really seen the attempt, but he did it again later with a different horse and Fit put more effort into trying to charge or chase the horse. He is so responsive and apparently the hours of ground training and yielding was worth it because a quick tug on the rope brought him back to me. Someone offered that he probably felt threatened, I was thinking he was trying to establish dominance.

One lady did say his stance reminded her of a Thoroughbred??? when he stretched out and arched his neck and she thought he was tall for a Kiger (I taped him the other day at 15.2 or 15.3 so he isn't 16 hands yet as I thought he was).
My biggest take away is that I still let him crowd me at times and invade my space. He can be a little pushy and when I use the stick and flag to back him away, he thinks that is the time to bite the flag.

He has been saddled and sat on, now for the saddle portion of training. I will have to post pictures of him under saddle with hopefully no wreck on my part

[fantasykiger]

Congrates on a successful clinic with Fit. It does sound like you had a fabulous time. I hope to be able to attend some clinics in the future, should things start to look brighter My confidence is getting better and Wickee is doing wonderfully.

I am sure Fit felt a little of both like his space was invaded and he needed to posture to show dominance, to protect himself. When he made an aggressive move toward another horse. But then he got a clear signal from you that your the leader and he does not need to take that role when your around, like you said he responded well . He will learn to keep his focus on you, trust you to keep him safe and know what is best for his behavoir.

[barbhorses]

Congrats on a good clinic! That is really great that he was able to be confident in you and himself where he wasn't freaking out at the new and strange surroundings.

I have seen a few Kigers that reminded me of TBs. Usually, they remind me of Quarter horses or Morgans though.