First Steps
It won't be as if I'm starting green with Willy as a yearling. I've been close to him since before he was born. He was given his first halter the day he was born, and he has since outgrown five more. At 11 months old, he weighs almost 650 pounds.
Willy had his first outing when he was about 2 months old. We marched mother and son for 1½ miles around our neighborhood, Vanessa leading Little Mare and me leading Willy. It was exhilarating and a sight to behold.
With his long lead rope looped behind his butt and my arm over his shoulder, Willy soon learned to walk at my shoulder, listen, and trust me. We practiced walking through snow and mud, crossing the road, listening to cars passing by, and standing still to be cute when the neighbors came out to see our little black colt. Willy felt his first jolt of the electric fence that day, too, when he tried to touch noses with PassU.
Willy was obviously pooped when we got back to the barn. He curled up and fell asleep in his stall next to his mom without ever nursing. It was a good start to the many months of training to come.
I slowly introduced Willy to the freedom of our 20-acre pasture. He first learned to romp with his mother in the snow when she ran all the way from one end of the pasture to the other. In the spring, he carefully got to know our four geldings over the fence. By summer, he was grouped in the big pasture with his mother and what we now refer to as his "uncles."
We usually visited Willy in the pasture in the evenings, after work. Willy likes people. He'll come right up to anyone in the pasture who stands still. We occasionally reinforce this friendliness with a handful of grain.
During the weekends, we brought Willy in on a lead rope with Little Mare to learn barn manners. To start, we removed and replaced his little halter. We added more handling as he'd accept it.
We progressed to entering and exiting the stall without Mom. This was a bit to ask at first, but he picked it up when he discovered Mom was just in the next stall. He learned to tie and have farrier courtesy (hoof and leg manners), but the thing he liked best was grooming time. By the end of the summer, he became one of the herd, entering and leaving the barn, competing with the rest.
Telltale Tails
Willy eventually bonded with all the geldings, but he seemed to make friends with them one at a time. It was easy to tell which of his uncles was Willy's latest friend. The uncle's tail would be chewed off.
First, we thought it odd that Little Mare's tail was bobbed. Then, one by one, each of the geldings showed evidence of Willy's friendship. The odd behavior affected their ability to swish flies all summer. I've heard several theories about this behavior; anyone of them could be true.
When Willy started to hang with our oldest gelding, Thunder's tail remained long. Little Willy must have learned that chewing tails wasn't permitted on retired 100-mile endurance horses. It seemed to be the lesson and teacher that the colt needed. The behavior stopped, and Willy hung out with Thunder all winter.
Personal Growth
Working with Willy this past year has been a wonderful and rewarding experience for me. With Vanessa as my guru and Willy as my future trail mount, I'm looking down the trail at what will be a long chapter in my personal growth.
The story of training Willy continues. This spring, we'll begin some light ground work with him. The plan is to introduce him to the sandy trails in Otter Creek this summer, ponied behind his only uncle who still has his full length of tail.
If you see us on the trail, stop and say "hi." Willy likes to make new friends.
