About a year ago we realized we had a very remarkable foal on our hands in the form of Nikki. Incredibly smart, calm, easy-going and — dare I say it — gorgeous, too. A dream foal, except for one small problem. She was blind.
Her first few months of life had been rough, but by the time she was a year old, she had blossomed into an adorable young horse who awed visitors with her ability to buck and kick and whirl around her corral, and never run into a thing. Nikki would race right up to the corral fence, hit the brakes, and stop a foot from the panel. Then she would pivot with athletic grace and take off like a flash to the fenceline on her right, coming to a dead stop — again — just a foot from the corral panel. People would ask us, "Is she really blind?"
Thus it began to dawn on us last spring that when she turned two this year, we should begin training her for under the saddle. We wanted to find out what she could do and how far we could take her. Last December we interviewed and hired a trainer named Nichole Zupan. Nichole went to college on a rodeo scholarship, majored in equine studies, and was experienced in starting colts. Just as important to us, Nichole showed a real interest in working with a blind horse. As it turned out, Nichole lives just 20 minutes from the ranch, making it very easy and convenient for her to come out a couple of times a week. We agreed that when the snows finally melted and we had bare ground, Nikki’s training would begin.
So today was Nikki’s first day at school. We set up a round pen this afternoon, and Nichole came by this evening to get started. Nichole spent this first session doing some basic ground work: getting Nikki to circle and use her head, not her shoulder, to lead with. Nikki was more fluid on her right side, but stiffer on her left side and she wanted to push her shoulder out, rather than lead with her head. In the photos you see Nichole with Nikki in the round pen. (Click on photos for larger image.)
To give you a better sense of the ground work, I also shot some video of this first training session. It was very breezy, and although I didn’t realize it at the time, the microphone picked up all the wind … so that’s pretty much the only audio you hear on this video … sorry! Except Nikki does get a word in at the very end.
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
Leave a comment