Wormin' and Walkin'

This weekend all the horses had to be de-wormed. It's a regular health maintenance thing--every two or three months you medicate your horse with a deworming paste to keep any parasites living in their guts in check. Horses inevitably get worms from eating grass, grain, hay and other stuff on the ground. If you're not careful, humans can get worms, too!

We worm the horses on a rotation, meaning we use dewormer with a different active ingredient every so often. Different medicines are better for getting rid pf certain kinds of worms, and switching it up helps prevent any resistance the worms might build up from a particular kind of medication. This month we dewormed the horses with Strongid, which is supposed to be good for killing bot fly larvae. Good, since if you remember, Gobie had some bot fly eggs laid on his legs.

As you might imagine, the horses aren't crazy about getting dewormed. The paste must taste pretty yucky! Most of the horses are very good about taking their medicine.

I dewormed Gobie by myself. First I got an estimate of his weight, since the amount of wormer you give them is based on how fat they are. You measure a horse's weight by holding them in your arms as you stand on a scale, and subtract your own weight from the total. JUST KIDDING. Actually they make a tape measure that you put around a horse's body, at the girth behind their shoulder, which gives you an estimate. Gobie is a bit over 800lbs. The first time I did this, Gobie was a little afraid of the white tape going around him, but since we've been doing so much work together it didn't bother him at all this time. When it was time to deworm him, he did the usual throwing his head around. But we were patient, and when he stopped tossing his head around the wormer went away. Soon I was able to put the wormer against the corner of his mouth without him being ridiculous about it. Then it was just a matter of speedily sneaking the syringe into the corner of his mouth and pushing the plunger. Of course there was a lot of licking and head tossing afterward which got some wormer all over my jacket, but all in all, not too bad!

The other horses were much better at it. Old pros! I held the horses while Bonnie gave them the medicine and I helped hold their head up to swallow. That's a trick Bonnie showed me after I had wormed Gobie. Next time we'll see if that decreases the amount of wormer I get on me!
Between the deworming of Gobie and the other horses I took Gobie for a walk around the property. It's a nice little exercise in ground manners. Walking a horse in hand is something you do all the time--leading them from one place to another. It's important for a horse to be polite and not try to run ahead of you, stubbornly plant his feet, or crash in to you if he sees something scary while he's being lead around. So I took Gobie out of his comfort zone, and we walked around the property in place he's seen but never actually walked around in. He was an extremely good pony. If he saw something scary he just stood still, but for the most part nothing really concerned him. He walked along politely beside me and was very mindful of when I stopped, turned, asked him to back up and so on. Basically he's the perfect pony.

Walking down the drive way. The asphalt under his feet must have felt weird and you could hear the clip-clop of horse hooves on the road. I think he was most nervous about this part--plus we were under the pine trees with all the pine needles laying around. Even so he was good--vigilant but not spooky.

Teasing friends by the fence. Look where I am! It was funny--as we walked by the fence Honey and Boo-Boo ran right up as if to say, "Where are you going? What's it like on the other side of the fence? Don't leave us unsupervised!"

We also walked under the trees in Bonnie's side yard. There were lots of leaves on the ground. He ate a couple, but mostly wanted to nose around in them.

It was a good visit, as usual! I was glad that I could help Bonnie with the other horses, and get some low-key but still important training time with the pony.

Changes

Have I mentioned that October is a super busy month? Even so, visiting Gobie at least once a week takes priority. This weekend was a big event at work, though, so the visit was brief. But it was more than enough time to scope out all the changes going on at the barn. Coming up the drive way was like traveling down the yellow brick road--the pine trees lining the drive have all been dropping bright yellow needles that carpet the path.

Amongst the needles, I spotted this wooly bear caterpillar:

Heralding a milder winter. 

There were lots of crow around in the fields, too. It had rained pretty good up in Marriotsville, and I think they were taking advantage of the moist ground and bugs. I walked down to visit Kahlua's grave where Rose had planted some yellow mums and made a protective barrier around the plant to ward off nosy horses.

Peaceful. 

Gobie and the rest of the horses were in the side paddock. I was a little cautious about going in with them because the new horses was there. I didn't think he was a troublemaker or anything, but the social dynamic of a herd always changes when there's a new kid. Never the less, I squeezed in between the fence boards and gave Gobie a hand grooming. The first thing I noticed was those crazy yellow pine needles caught in his mane like some witchy hair accessory.

Augmenting his highlights, don't you think?

I brushed over his back and withers and legs with my hand, unsettling the dust but he was otherwise pretty clean. I started tussling his mane again and that's why I found this:

Ouch! 

If you can't tell, there's what looks like a big scrape that runs perpendicular along his mane above his withers. The hair was all gone and the skin was dry and wrinkly but otherwise pretty healthy, or at least healing pretty well. He didn't have it last weekend, so it couldn't have been too old.


Of course, bites and kicks and scrapes are kind of par for the course when it comes to horses hashing out the herd pecking order. Bonnie had already given me the heads up that Gobie was jealously protecting Honey from the new horse, so it wasn't too surprising. The new guy had quite a few more nicks than Gobie. I hope they sort everything out between each other soon, and start acting more polite!


It was around feeding time so Bonnie came out and asked that I lead Gobie to one of the other paddocks while she got ready to give the gang their grain. I took him out of the side paddock and walked him across that pine needled driveway. He was a little nervous about the whole thing, but he minded his manners quite well and soon he was in the other area.

Feeding went on without a hitch. After Honey finished the grain her her bucket, she went over to socialize with the new horse.

Fraternizing.

The new horse is about Gobie's age, and a cremello Mountain Horse gelding. He's white haired and pink skinned with blue eyes. His name is Boo Boo. Pretty appropriate for Halloween I think--looking a little like Casper!

According to Bonnie, Boo Boo was picked on at his previous barn, too. We wondered if it was his name ("Boo Boo? of course he's picked on!" "Boo Boo, after all the boo boos he gets?") but I think it might be because of his unique coloring.

After everyone ate their grain (plus some treats and supplements for Gobie) Bonnie asked me to guide Honey and Gobie to another paddock so she could move in Boo Boo, Cinder and Bo. All I had to do was walk along the fence by Gobie, down to where I wanted them to go. "He really likes you!" she said. Aw, shucks!

With everyone in their happy field, the gang all settled down for a good nosh on some hay.

Boo Boo and arch nemesis, Gobie.

Before I left, though Gobie came back up to the fence for one more treat.

Naughty, but still handsome.

Halloween Fun! Part TWO

The main event for our Halloween Funtimes was Gobie's first time "meeting" a pumpkin!

First thing was first: proper introductions.

 Gobie, this is Pumpkin. Pumpkin, Gobie.

And now a video of what happened next:

As you can tell from the video, he wasn't quite sure what the HECK to do with it. Is it something I can eat? How about a toy? Will it chase me if I run away from it?

After he booked it outta there, I picked up the pumpkin and showed it to him again.

Checking it out with his wiggly muzzle.

He decided it still might be food, so I put it back down on the ground for a more thorough sniffing and checking out.

It does smell and feel interesting...

How about another little taste?

But ultimately he decided that no, it was not food. They are edible and safe for horses to eat, but apparently it wasn't Gobie's bag.

You got any other treats?

I hear some horses really enjoy pumpkins but both Gobie and my first horse Cinder just had a curiosity based reaction to them. Fun to nibble a little, and roll around the paddock. That's ample entertainment for me!

Halloween Fun! Part ONE

I love Halloween, and so my family and friends and animals often patiently indulge my halloweenie activities. Today it was Gobie's turn!

First, a Treat!
We had just been to Larriland Farm for apple picking and pumpkins, so I was sure to share the wealth. I dropped an apple in a felt pumpkin bucket and enticed Gobie over.

Poor unsuspecting bucket.

Gobie made quick work of knocking the little bucket over and it rolled down the stairs of the mounting block leaving the apple on the top step.

You missed the goodie!

But that apple seeking muzzle soon found the tasty morsel and Gobie started noshing away on it. He took it all in one bite, and as he chewed it apple sauce got everywhere!

Delicious!

He very clearly enjoyed the apple, though I had to watch him carefully to make sure he didn't choke on it. It was pretty small. He got juice all over the bucket, checking it once again for more apples!


Bat Ears and Pumpkin Garland
Technically I can claim this was all in the name of our desensitization efforts! But in all honesty, I just wanted to dress up my pony in some Halloween inspired garb.

Bat ears.

Gobie barely noticed when I put a headband with bat ears on him. As far as he was probably concerned, it was just a funny feeling halter piece. He's very good about me messing with his ears, and yielding to pressure on his poll (that's the part between his ears on the top of his head).

The garland was a more elaborate process. It was a pretty long length of plastic-like black garland with reflective orange jack-o-lantern faces. It made a rustling noise when you would touch or move it, and in the sun the orange pumpkins glittered and reflected colored light all over the place.

Step one was letting him sniff and check out the garland.

Using his nose to check out this scary stuff.

Step two was having the garland making a little noise, by shaking it around, letting it move and drape as it would naturally. At this point he started moving away from it, but wasn't running or in a panic or anything. You can see his ears are point to the origin of the noise, but his nose and his eyes are on me.

Not crazy about it, but being very good.

Step three--once he was looking to me about what do with this noisy, glittery thing--was stopping all that noise. He was totally at easy by this point. I untangled the garland and draped it over his withers.

Calm and interested in what I'm doing with that silly stuff.

Draping the garland over his withers. No big deal! 

Once it was over his withers I brought it up by his ears and over his head. Starting with the withers is a good idea because it's an area horses aren't very protective of. It's the spot where other horses mutually groom each other, and one of the first spots where people start petting them. The ears, for a lot of horses, is an area that's sensitive and they can be protective about. Horses that are "head shy" raise their head out of reach whenever you try to touch their ears, which can be a problem when you try to put a halter or bridle on. Gobie doesn't have those reservations!

Garland on his head. Good boy!

I also loosely looped the garland around his neck, like a horse wearing a rose wreath after winning a race. I think he actually started to fall asleep a little.

You win at Halloween!

I was very proud of his good behavior. After all, it's nice to have a friend who will dress up with you for Halloween!

Learning new things

Good news, everyone! Bonnie found another boarder. Although we'll miss Rose and Kahlua around the barn, it is comforting to have some new friendly face, and folks to help out with hay with the coming winter. The new horse is a cremello Mountain Horse gelding.

Cute! 

He's currently in his own paddock so he can get to know the other horses over the fence, without having to get into any kicking of biting matches. Already Gobie is being a butthead, and as Bonnie reported, wouldn't even let the poor new guy SNIFF Honey over the fence. He's a jealous boyfriend for sure. I was fully anticipating Gobie to be on his worst behavior because of the changes going on with the herd, but to my surprise he was in most excellent form today! I was so impressed with his manners that we tried some new things: the surcingle, and the mustang bridle.

Surcingle
I use a surcingle in training to get a horse use to having something squeezing around his middle, listening to cues when you're not standing right next to him, and teaching them to drive a cart. I find it's a good middle step in getting to sitting on their back and riding.

My goal today was to just get him use to the feeling of the surcingle. We weren't going to do any cues or driving just yet. If you remember we've been doing some desensitization work so Gobie learns that when he encounters something scary he should not FREAK OUT and look to me for direction. All that foundational work paid off!

Sniffing the surcingle.

Wearing it. No big deal!

It was super easy putting it on him, and buckling it to the first notch. I had him lunge at a walk with it on pretty loose, and it was no problem so by increments we tightened it up till it was pretty snug around his girth area. This is the same stop the saddle will hug him we it's time to ride. Once it was on securely I had him walk around in a circle at a pretty brisk pace. It didn't seem to bother him at all! Some horses don't like the strange feeling of having something around them at all and will buck, roll, or try to kick at the surcingle like they're trying to shoo a fly. No such funny business from Gobie!

Mustang Bridle
The next new thing was the bridle. I've trained horses in bitless bridles only--using pressure points on the face and nose to guide a horse instead of using a bit in their mouth. I don't think there's anything wrong with people who use bits, it's just not how I learned to train or even really to ride.

However, I'm not sure that we'll stick with the Mustang Bridle. It's made of soft nylon which I'm sure is comfy for the horse, but when you pull and then release it doesn't seem to go back to its original position. The whole point of yeilding to pressure is that when you do, you get relief from the pressure and I'm not sure that's being done in this case.

Either way, having something new on his face was a good step. He sniffed it, and was totally unphased, and as far as he was concerned it was just a softer version of his halter.

Totally unconcerned.

I hooked up the reins and put them over his head. Still no big deal, so much so that he put his nose down to eat some grass. To test out the control, I pulled up on a rein. He responded easily.

He also responded really well to backing up with pressure, and turning his nose in to touch the left side of his belly, and then the right side of his belly. We even tried turning his nose in and moving his hindquarters out and he did it like a champ.

Of course, he does these things brilliantly without a bridle, so he could have just been responding to our usual yielding routine.

We'll see what happens when we couple the surcingle and bridle together and try a little driving.

Good Feet, good weather

Friday was another farrier day, so I left work early to make it on time for the appointment. It was sad not to have Rose and Kahlua join us, but Cinder's person Meredith was there. She gave Bonnie a framed photo of Kahlua--it was very sweet.

The whole gang. Gobie was very good at being trimmed. He probably doesn't need it every time, but I keep it consistent because he really is getting better at standing politely with all the practice. Plus the farrier is such a patient fella. I remember how dry and chippy and cracked Gobie's feet were before. Now they're looking beautiful, if I do say so myself.

Fancy! 

A horse barn in autumn is the best thing in the world, and Friday night the weather was perfect. There's nothing like being greeted by some furry friends:

Oreo the cat, and Furby the dog being pals. 

And watching nature embrace the changing seasons:

Halloween spider. 

I'm hoping for more excellent weekends in the future!