Remembering All The Things

It's been unseasonably nice lately! We got snow in October, but so far November has been feeling downright spring-like. We had a extra long weekend because of Thanksgiving, so I was able to get in some extra pony time this week.

On Saturday I went out to do some actual work with Gobie. The last couple of visits had been pretty laid back. We started with some grooming of course. I tied him to a post and he was quite good about standing still and being patient. Despite the warm days it still gets pretty chilly in the evening so Gobie's still sporting an excellent fuzzy coat. He was pretty muddy so he took a bit longer to get clean. He's also been getting some scabby spots that I'll have to investigate. I don't know if it's the rain, or maybe some bug bites of what. What is for certain is that Gobie is a tick magnet! I had to pick two of him today. Apparently chickens are good for keeping ticks down, but I doubt Bonnie would appreciate me gifting some to her. Ha!
After the grooming we did the usual yielding exercises--leading, back, turning on the forehand. He's a pro at this stuff by now, but it's always good to know what kind of a mood he's in.
I had read up a little on lunging earlier in the week, so we did some of that, too. Basically I learned that the key is consistency--so as long as I'm consistently bad he'll figure it out. Kidding! He did do a great job on lunging on both sides today, so either he was absorbing what we had done earlier or I was doing something brilliant that I wasn't aware of. I'm inclined to think it was more him than me, though.
I also put the bitless rope bridle on him and the surcingle. We had done this once before, but not both together. He was initially a little uncertain about it and didn't like me tugging on the surcingle, but got over it pretty quickly. The new thing added to the mix was running the lunge lines through the surcingle loops and attaching them as reins to the bridle. I have to admit, all that line was hard to manage and I was bit worried I was going to get Gobie's legs hopelessly tangled. But we managed pretty well thanks to my management and Gobie's easy going personality. Soon I had the long reins where they should be and me behind Gobie. I thought I would try getting him to back up since he's usually more than willing to do so. So, standing several feet behind Gobie with each long rein in a hand, I pulled back with equal pressure and asked him to "back." No problem! He backed right up, his ears tilted back to listen to my words. Now, if only the moving forward and the turning were so easy! I asked him to walk and he did, but it was obvious he found the whole thing a little confusing and he really wanted to turn to look at me and get some visual feedback on what I wanted him to do--and to get some treats of course! We ended but being able to walk in a little rectangle, but getting him to go straight and turn to the right wasn't going so hot. Whenever we got into a stick spot, though, I could always get him to back up and that was our saving grace. We ended the session with that so we could go on a good note.
Gobie stood quietly and dutifully as I took all that tack off. He really was trying to be a good boy. I brushed him down afterward and gave him a bunch of treats before turning him back out with his pals again.


I think part of the confusion may have been the bitless bridle. I think it's kind of a piece of junk--or I guess more accurately it doesn't work the way I think it should work. I'm looking forward to the Horse Expo in January so I can check out some more bitless bridle options. I think it will all start making more sense to him when he's got something better around his face. I may continue working with him in just a halter, since at least that will have some pressure release involved.

Before I left for the day I mixed up some black oil sunflower seeds and some supplements. It's been a while since he's gotten this mixture so I thought it would be a good reward. We did a lot, after all!

Tomorrow I'm visiting the tack shop for a couple of winter/Christmas type goodies for ol' Gobie. Monday afternoon the whole gang is due for a hoof trimming--Booboo's first at the barn--so that should be exciting!

A visit from friends

This weekend Gobie entertained my pals Ross and Katy who came out to the horse barn for a visit. Fortunately for me, Katy took a couple photos and even a video!

When we first arrived BooBoo's person, Lori was leaving. It was nice to finally meet the human behind the horse! She gave us apple to give to the horses, which was pretty nice considering my pony has been a royal jerk to her's in the field.

We all went out to say hi to the horses in the paddock. Gobie came right up to socialize. So did Cinder, who especially like Katy.

After we were done messing around in the field, Sam tried luring Gobie into the work area with an apple.

Bribery works every time!

The weather was perfect--sunny and 65. I gave Gobie a quick groom while everyone watched/played with corgis/roamed around.

A girl and her horse.

Apparently the nice weather meant rainbows all over the place. Gobie was a bit distracted, and energetic, as he worried about the herd dynamic back in the field.

Look at my horse, my horse is amazing.

Everyone observed that Gobie and I have similar hair. I'm still not sure if this should be take as a compliment or what.

Who's your stylist?

I thought Gobie could blow off a littler energy with some work. So I had Ross hold the horse while I ducked into the track room for some stuff. He did a good job!

Are those treats in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

We tried a little lunging. I think this was probably Gobie's four time doing it. We should be practicing it more, but I'm not confident in my lunging abilities. I'm sure it looks pretty terrible, through no fault of the horse's.

Once we were done with that exercise we did a bit of yielding, too. Then it was off to muck around some more. I've found that Gobie has an uncanny ability for embodying internet memes.

Haters Gonna Hate. 

It was a nice, short, sweet visit! I'm glad my pals got to meet Gobie and experience first hand what a treat monster he is. And take the photo and video evidence to prove it.

Thanks Katy!

Somber Weekend

This Sunday I visited Gobie and we kept it pretty mellow. Bonnie called me this weekend to let me know about Kahlua and it was kind of a shock--yes she was old, but colic always comes so suddenly. It must be hard to lose a companion you've known for decades, and have seen grow from a silly, leggy foal to a mature, stoic matriarch.

Bonnie also let me know that she's looking for another boarder. Bills have to be paid, after all! It will be interesting to have another horse in the herd and see how the dynamic changes.

She also told me that I better get a move on training Gobie to ride--since she's without a trail partner now. No pressure! Ha!

When I arrived I came out to say hi to the horses milling around the side paddock. I visited Honey to see how she was doing and gave her a treat. I could tell she was feeling a little sad--standing by herself in the field.

Gobie came over to stay hi, too. I figured we should probably do a little work at least so I got the halter on him and lead him to the work area. It was a looong walk because he would stop and refuse to move once we got nearer to the gate. I don't know if it was because he didn't really want to work (we got down to business last visit) or if he didn't want to leave Honey or if he wasn't excited about sharing a fenceline to Kahlua's resting spot.

Regardless, we made it to the paddock and I gave him a good grooming. His hair was looking pretty fabulous and messy. Unbrushed it looked like he had highlights in his forelock. Such a fashionista!

His hair is always a little wonky and flips on both sides of his neck. Ideally it would fall on just one side. I could probably correct it by shaving him a bridle path, or by braiding it all to lay on one side.

One braid, for funsies.

His hooves are looking fantastic. It's amazing what some consistent, skilled hoof trimming will do. He's got no chips or cracks in his feet at all now and his feet are so prim and cute looking. A little Peter Pan-ish even!

One thing that I wasn't excited about seeing--bot fly eggs! When I first met Gobie last Fall he had bot fly eggs, too. Basically there's a species of fly that lays its eggs on shafts of hair of horses, usually along their legs. This mostly sucks because if the horse ingests them--by rubbing their nose or lips on the eggs to itch--they can make their way into the horse's digestive tract and cause problems.

Our grooming routine included flyspray and scraping some of the eggs off. Gobie acted quite dramatically about the flyspray bit, but settled down about it quickly enough. I had a lava stone to scrap the eggs off, but they are super difficult to remove. He had quite a few of them, too, and it was nearly impossible to get them all off. I consoled myself by remembering that at the rescue he didn't have someone dedicated to getting rid of these eggs and he turned out just fine.

We did a little lunging just because he seemed to have a little bit of energy, but it was more of a token exercise to keep his memory fresh. Honey was also starting to call out--neighing all by her lonesome--so I figured it was a good time to reunited the two pals.

I hung out in the field a little bit more with the horses. I noticed that there were some pine branches along the fenceline in the field, where it looked like someone had trimmed them and let them drop where they may and then left them. I was happy to pick them up and chuck them over the fence so the horses didn't have them in the field. I'm sure they weren't a danger or anything, it just seemed like a productive use of energy.

Gobie thought the whole thing was pretty interesting. He came over to investigate and "help" by standing on some of the needles while I tried to chuck their branches over the fence. It reminded me a lot of Cinder, who was always right beside you as you worked around the field scooping poop or doing whatever chore it was.

Supervising.

Just another quality I really enjoy in Gobie: his willingness to just pal around and be kind of a pest. It's nice to be sought out, even if you are trying to get something done.

You can tell by the smell of the wind

It's cooling off, finally, and you can tell that autumn is in the air! And you know if the people notice it than the animals definitely notice it and that was certainly the case today when I came out to visit Gobie.

Bonnie is on vacation so one of the long-time boarders is looking after all the horses. I said hey to her when I arrived, but she left to run some errands which left me to the horses. With the cooler weather I was excited to do some actual work! The stuff I had ordered from online had finally arrived, too which meant I had exactly zero excuses for dragging my feet on doing some novel training with Gobie.

Gobie and the rest of the gang were down in the far pasture hanging out under all of the pine trees. When he saw me coming he started heading over, so it was an easy job of putting the halter and lead rope on. Walking back to the work area took a little time, since he wanted to stop and challenge being lead a little bit. I think that was the first clue that his change in routine--that is having someone other than Bonnie around feeding and telling them all what to do--had him out of his regular mood. But we made it up to the work area and I left him off the rope.

As soon as I did I could tell he was feeling a little wiggy. Usually when it gets cooler the horses start feeling a bit silly and energetic. I don't know if it's the more comfortable temperatures, or just the change of seasons or what. But he was definitely on high alert, his brain preoccupied with the crisp air and rustling leaves. I decided that today wouldn't be the first time to try out the new equipment: a surcingle and bitless bridle. Instead, I thought it'd be better to channel some of that energy into lunging instead.

First, though, we started out with the usual yielding exercises. It's no good trying to anything without establishing the "you have to listen to me" rules. He went through the motions well--backing up and turning on the forehand quite well.

Then it was on to some despooking. I thought we might as well since it was a little full-of-it as it was. He ran around a little bit, more than in our couple of last sessions, so it was a good refresher. Soon he was mindful enough to do a little lunging.

For the first time I remembered to actually bring the proper lunge line so he had enough length to really get going. And it helped that he had a bit of run in him anyway. We worked through going clockwise and counterclockwise pretty well, and stopping. I didn't work too much on his "gears" per se--that is telling him to walk, trot, etc. Since I've always been horrible at lunging it was more of a refresher for me on "can I get this horse to move in a circle." And I did, if somewhat ungracefully. Hopefully kinks we can work out as we practice!

We ended the session with a good grooming, and then I let him out with his pals. We socialized a little over the fence, too.

All in all a good visit! It somehow lasted almost two hours but don't ask me how that happened. I hope the weather stays nice and we're able to get some consistent sessions in.

More work!

As you can tell I've been pretty slacky about doing actual WORK with this pony. But I had several good reminders that it's time to get back to training.

First, Gobie had his feet trimmed again on Friday. His feet are actually looking pretty good! They're still kind of dry and cracky, but they're definitely benefiting from some consistent farrier work. That's the good news. The not so good news is that he was a bit of a jerk for Ben, the poor farrier. He handled the naughty pony extremely well, mind you. And Gobie wasn't dangerous or anything. But I felt bad about him trying to grab his feet away, trying to run away, etc. We didn't use nearly the amount of feed as we did the first time so it was certainly evident that Gobie wasn't so good the first time because he wanted to be--it was because he was distracted by all those delicious noms.

Before Gobie got trimmed he was positively dramatic about being separated from Honey, who was first to have her feet trimmed. Honey's feet are pretty terrible and she needed the farrier most of all. Her feet are super dry and cracky and she even lost a shoe which took a good chunk of her hoof with her. She was being antsy about having her feet done, which isn't characteristic. And Gobie was very passionately calling to her, and running along the fence. He was less nutty when I joined him at the fenceline.

Second, apparently the horses engaged in some stupidity that ended in knocking over Bonnie and her hitting her head! She is fine but has a good lump on the back of her head. Poor Bonnie! I don't know the specifics, but she was out with the horses and Gobie and Cinder had some kind of an altercation (probably about Honey?) and someone knocked Bonnie over. Rude!

So today I went out with the firm intentions of doing some ground work. Sam and Locksley accompanied, to get out of the house. We got right down to business, and Gobie willingly left a little mound of hay he had been munching on.

As I led him from one paddock to our working area, he stopped. I had been trying to get him to move by moving off to a 45 degree angle and starting again, but he was getting wise to that and walking only a couple more steps. So I tried an apparently much better tactic: wiggling the lead rope and bumping him under the chin annoyingly until he took a step forward. This got him moving in no time, and each time he stopped, we repeated the exercise. He definitely got it, and tried my resolve a couple times but as a way to keep him moving (and keep me moving not so much) it worked like a champ.

The first thing we did was the usual backing up, and turning on the forehand yielding exercises. He's quite good at these so I feel like it's always a good place to start and judge how he's feeling. As usual he was very accommodating.

Next was the fly spray. It's a training exercise all by itself, but it also makes other things easier if your pony isn't swishing his tail and stomping his feet to get rid of flies and other nasty winged biters. I'm happy to report that Gobie was pretty perfect when it came to the fly spray. He was a little flighty at first, but I ask him to stop and he did. I was able to spray up and down on both sides and he stood still like a champ. If he did start moving, he would stop when I told him. He's practically an old pro now.

Heartened by his fly spray expertise, we moved on to some desensitization. I have a white plastic bag tied to the end of a dressage whip which I shake like a crazy person all over the place. He was really good about this, too! He wanted to move away at first, but I ask him to stand still and he did. And I was really shaking it--loud, and furiously! And he stood there, a bit unsure, but very well. Now we'll have to start using other things and see if he remembers who to look to when scarey or novel things happen.

We then tried a little lunging. To be fair, I'm not that great at lunging in general. But he was doing a pretty good job at figuring it all out. I got him moving around in a circle pretty effectively, though he would decide to stop on his own and then no get moving again. But he did have good brakes when I asked him to stop. He would even turn in and come up to me when I asked. It was the getting him moving and staying moving in a particular direction which was tricky. I even got him to go from a walk to trot (though I don't know if you could technically call it a trot). So as soon as I can figure out if I'm doing everything correctly, I expect the actual lunging lessons to go pretty well.

After lunging a bit, we tried being tied. As far as I know, Gobie's never been tied for any length of time. So I thought now would be a good time to start as any. Step one was wrapping his lead rope once around a round fence post, taller than his withers. He's a pretty mellow dude, and barely even noticed for the first couple of minutes. Because I was standing right there, with the end of the lead rope in my hands, I gave him enough room to put his head down and get grass. Eventually, though, he pulled back and realized he couldn't go anywhere. No big deal, though. He just moved forward like he was supposed to when he calmly realized pulling back wasn't getting him anywhere. If he freak out, I could give him extra rope so he could back up, and then take up the slack again when he was relaxed. But he was pretty good about the whole thing. He was dancing around a bit, going parallel to the fence this way and that. And he also neighed to his friends. But for the most part it was an uneventful first go at being tied. Next time we'll do it again, only for a longer period of time.

It was super hot out so Gobie got a break for some water and a wander around the paddock. I should probably mention that the whole time Locksley was barking his head off. He's not a farm dog by any means, and is pretty observant of anxious animals and humans. So whenever he see me working with Gobie, he's very concerned about it. The more he sees it, though, the more he's bound to get use to it.

The last thing we did was picking up feet. I had Sam stand on the other side of the fence with Gobie's lead rope, while I picked up his feet. He was very good with his front feet. But, as I kind of expected, he wasn't good at all with his back feet. It's partly my fault. I'm a giant wuss, for no practical reason, when it comes to back feet. I'm pretty sure I don't stand close enough, and I'm pretty sure I don't hold the foot securely/reassuringly enough. That's because I want to jet out of there quickly in case he wants to kick. Academically that makes sense, but I've never been kicked before so there's no practical knowledge for that. Because of these failing on my part, I think he wiggles his foot around which reinforces my "better stand away!" behavior. Instead of going for picking up the foot I think I need to scale back and be happy with being able to touch the leg, stand close to the leg, and work my way up to picking it up and picking it out. And I probably need to psych myself up for getting cow-kicked a little and just get over it.

So actually the last thing I actually did was the yielding exercises. To end on a good note. I was getting a little frustrated about the feet thing, so I didn't want to end negatively for me or the horse. He was of course, great with backing up and everything. So I let him join his pals in the shade.

The whole thing took maybe an hour and I felt like we cover a lot of stuff, most of it kept short and sweet and positive. I wish I was able to come out more frequently since the lots-of-short-sessions method seems to work really well for me (who gets tired/frustrated/lazy) and the horse. I am also coming to grips with the fact that it's been a zillion years since I've trained a horse, and I've forgotten in muscle memory and actual memory some of the stuff. I need a refresher, and maybe a buddy! And patience and sustained motivation! Wish me luck, friends :)