JM Farms

Might not look like much but making a little progress with “Pl***oy”. If you haven’t seen the last couple of videos of him please go check them out on our page or our YouTube channel. He’s been pretty reactive on some groundwork which probably explains some issues he’s had in the saddle. But no real problems today so maybe we are heading in the right direction.

Pl***oy is still very reactive about anything around his back legs. It's crucial for any horse to be desensitized to things like this. The ground driving that we are trying to do is a huge part of their foundation and cannot be skipped. This was all from one session, I just changed camera positions to show another angle. He eventually realized this wasn't going to hurt him and we ended on a good note. (We have had another session with him since filming this one and unfortunately the outcome was the same, very reactive!) He is definitely one that is going to take a lot of time to overcome this.

Matt Shivers
Bob Shivers

This was my last full ride on JD. She went home this weekend. She was truly a pleasure to work with!

Matt Shivers
Bob Shivers

Working with JD in the arena this morning. Shes a bit lazy but at this point in her training that’s actually a good thing. She is responsive and overall riding great! Been a pleasure to work with!

Working on loping JD. It might not be much but it’s a start and she did well.

Matt Shivers

“Pl***oy” didn’t like this exercise too much. We like to desensitize a horse using an old soft rope around their back legs, teaches them that things touching them around their rump or back legs aren’t going to hurt them. Well he wasn’t even remotely ok with this. He needs a lot of desensitizing and groundwork to fill in some cracks in his foundation.

Slowly exposing Nala to some obstacles. She’s riding pretty well so far. She’s relaxed and willing to learn.

Matt Shivers

Another good session with JD. Slowly building her confidence.

First time on Nala. Still working on a review of some groundwork before our rides but she is progressing nicely and so far a pleasure to work with!

First time on JD. We started by reviewing some ground driving which is crucial for a horse to learn to move out, stop and turn. Once on her in the saddle we ponyed for a couple laps around the pen. Then I worked on moving her out, on her own and following our horse. She did great for this first time. I’ll post the full ride later on my YouTube channel. More updates this week as we continue to expand her comfort zone.

Matt Shivers

This week so far with JD. She’s taking most of the groundwork and desensitizing well. Still needs a lot of ground driving as she’s reluctant to move out once we got her out of the round pen. Overall she’s progressing nicely.

Not the best video here but this was the first time ground driving JD. She took it ok. She definitely needs a lot of this.

Great ride on Qunicy this morning, here's just a small clip from that ride. He is doing very well, relaxed and moving out nicely.

Getting more forward movement out of Qunicy with each training session we have. He is doing well riding alone in the arena as well.

Matt Shivers

I didn’t get too many pictures or videos during this session with Molly and her sister Daisy because I was just enjoying the rides too much. They are such a pleasure to work with every day.

Making some progress with Quincy. Working on forward movement. He’s doing ok so far, gentle and willing to learn. Another step in the right direction.

Check out our YouTube channel for more videos of the horses we are working with.

Matt Shivers

https://youtube.com/?si=_6Yz1WsG0fBDvb6e

Starting the week off strong on Sedona! She’s riding well, nice and calm while going through some obstacles. Every day she is exposed to a little bit more while getting a lot more miles in the saddle with each ride.