FROZEN MOTION gate training

Owen walked Frozen Motion onto the track. The gray colt quietly walked besides him, one of the only horses in the barn that never needed a chain over his nose. He flicked his ears back and forth to rid of the crazy bugs on the warm summer day. Owen led the colt to the blue gates where Morgan waited. He perked his ears forward as the gates began to loom over the small colt. He only seemed slightly curious as he approached, not at all scared. Owen pet his neck, rewarding the young gray. He passed the lead rope to Morgan who was in the gate. Frozo halted a second before the gate just staring at the whole thing, wondering what on earth it could be for. He seemed to act almost human as he shrugged it off and walked calmly in the gate and out where Owen got him again. "Geez, you'd think he's done this a million times!" he said while smiling ear to ear. Every since Frozo was born Owen took right to him. The two were inseparable. You could only imagine what a pair they'd be on the track.

"Let's trying keeping him in the gate for a bit now. He's definitely a lot calmer then Stormi with the whole gate situation," Morgan laughed. Owen circled him back around and then walked through the gate again. Morgan halted the colt so he stood quietly in the gate. He almost seemed to doze off. "Hmm, hopefully the bell will wake him up when it's time to run," she said, hoping he was a little bit more energetic when it came to race day. Owen laughed as he came around in the front. He rubbed Frozo's gray nose and lead him back out. This time he led him in again and handed him to Morgan who held him still. He walked around and closed the front gate. Frozo perked up, his head held high as he stared ahead at the bars. He didn't spook but seemed to become tense as he realized he didn't have as much freedom as before. Morgan reached down and rubbed his neck. He flinched with didn't move. Once he calmed down Morgan gave him a few treats and pet his neck. Then Owen closed the back gate. They let him stand in there for another fifteen minutes as he gradually become more used to the whole idea.

After more work in the gate Frozo seemed like a professional. He was improving so fast that Morgan and Owen decided to take a small break and then work a step further than Afterglow. After their small break and Frozo's little grazing time in the small paddock, Owen went and brought the small colt back to the gate. They quickly went through the first few steps with just the bridle on. Owen tied the reins so they wouldn't fall forwards over the colt's neck. Morgan set up a small fence that would stop Frozo from running all the way around the track. Owen loaded Frozo into the gate where Morgan waited when she was done setting up. She held his bridle as he waited patiently. He wasn't as tense the first time but still seemed decently tense. Owen went over to the other side of the fence where the gate controller was. There he gave a thumbs up to Morgan who gave a thumbs up back. Owen pressed down on the button that opened the gates and created a loud ringing sound. Frozo seemed scared at first when he heard at first, but once seeing the open lane ahead of him he bolted, stumbling out of the gate and tripping slightly along the way but was able to regain control before the fence Morgan had set up.

Owen had a bucket of grain to help get Frozo back from galloping around the small section of the park. He calmed the gray colt down and walked him around. Morgan caught up and talked with Owen. "Pretty good for a first starter. We'll just have to teach him more on how to jump out of the gate. But I think that's good enough for one day," she said. Owen agreed and the two walked Frozo back to his stall where they un-tacked him and then brought him back out to his fellow buddies. They both watched the young colt bolt as soon as his halter was taken off and fly down to nearly crash full force into T.J. The two shrilled and struck out playfully before galloping to meet Criminal and Richie on the other side of the pasture.

step one gate training; finished (getting the horse used to the gate and comfortable inside it when both the front and back gates are closed. then one jump from the gate to introduce the horse to jumping out and starting the race.)
step two gate training; unfinished (getting the horse back in the gate with both a saddle and bridle. get the horse used to it again and now work on getting the horse to successfully leap from the gate at least once.)