It was a quick visit to Gobie today, thanks to the weather. The forecast was a 50% chance for thunderstorms all day, but Sunday was a 90% chance so I figured I'd give today a shot!
When I got up to the barn I headed straight to the tack room. I wanted today to be a work day since the weather was cool, it was nice and overcast and I had been pretty lazy the last couple of visits. I had the halter and lead rope all ready to go out in the field and get Gobie, but he was way ahead of me. He must have seen my car pull up, because he walked from waaaay down the far right paddock, to right where I was at the tack room and was waiting at the gate to be let in!
I gave him a treat and put his halter on and we took a walk around the paddock. Remember when it was a struggle to get him to follow anyone anywhere on a lead rope? No more, friends!
In fact, his skills as a halter horse and pretty impressive if I do say so myself. We walked around in circles, backed up, did some figure eights all will ease! I even tried some trickier things. Usually when you back a horse you face them and apply a little pressure to their chest and ask them to back up. But Gobie is smart and you don't even have to touch him, just start walking toward him. Even better than that, though? You can be leading him around and then start walking backwards and he responds in kind! That's actually pretty fancy.
The other advanced thing we did? While walking around the paddock I started jogging and he picked up the pace right behind me. Sometimes a horse will stop or keep the same snaily pace as before or barge ahead of you or worse run you over, but Gobie matched the pace perfectly. Even better? When I stopped quickly he also put on the breaks. He got a treat for that!
Leading a horse was one of the "tests" we'd do at Summit Stables. You could pretty quickly gauge what a horse thought of you just by leading him around and stopping. If the horse stopped way behind you, it was a pretty good guess that he was little apprehensive. A little petting and he'd come up closer. If the horse stopped ahead of you, he though he was the leader of the team. Giving him a poke in the chest would scoot him back. And if he stopped with his nose right at your shoulder it was safe to say that he respected you as the leader. Gobie had been the first, but now his nose is always at my shoulder.
After our leading exercises I tied him to one of the posts and got ready for some grooming. He loved it! He let me very gently clean the scuzz around his eyes, brush his face with a soft bristle brush, comb his tangley mane, and brush down the rest of him. He was so relaxed he lifted his back hoof a little in repose.
By this time the sky was getting cloudy and darker, but we still had one more thing to do in our grooming routine and that was the feet. He picked up his front two feet up like a champ and they looked great. I treated him after each successful time I could pick up, pick-out, and put down his hoof. The left back hoof was pretty good, too. He kind of wiggled it around a little but I think that's more an issue with the way I'm holding it or supporting it than him giving me trouble. The right hind hoof was not as good. I was able to pick it up and pick it out, but he took it away from me and then didn't want me to pick it back up. Three out of four hooves isn't too bad, and by that time it was starting to drizzle.
I wasn't sure if it would start pouring or just be a little mist, so I headed back in the tack room and got Gobie his special concoction of black oil sunflower seeds and supplements. As he ate it the rain got more steady and there was a rumble of thunder in the distance. He finished his food and I let him back out with his pals to huddle under the shelter of the pine trees.
As soon as I got back to my car it started POURING. Just in time!
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