New Developments!

We are getting a bit of Maryland Summer, finally, and by that I mean heat and humidity and a bit of storminess.

Sun-pinked nose.

The most important development, though, is that I finally got a saddle and a pad for my purposes. They are, in fact, the same kind of saddle and pad I had previously: a black Wintec Semi-Quarter Western Trail Saddle, and a Professional's Choice Roper Elite Pad.

The saddle is really light, which can be appreciated by horse and rider alike. And the pad is flexible enough that it gives and fills out as need--making an excellent cushion between horse and saddle.

We started by doing a little general desensitization: the plastic bag on the end of the short whip. He needed a bit of a refresher--and I think it was partly because he was remembering this was the spot where he had his bath--but he pretty quickly recalled that he should look to me when scary things were going on.

After, he was introduced to the saddle pad. He was interested in sniffing it--new and right out of the box I'm sure it smelled a bit weird.

Checking it out.

He didn't balk, try to run, or even flinch when I tossed the saddle pad on him. I patted on it, wiggled it around, and so on and he remained entirely unimpressed by it.

No big deal, lady.

We also did a bit of lunging around with the pad on--just at a walk so it didn't fall off. He was unconcerned by moving with this thing on him.

Next was being introduced to the saddle. This also got a thorough sniff, and a muzzle search-over.

Whaaat.

Same thing, with the pad--I tossed the saddle on with absolutely fanfare or reaction from Gobie. He wasn't oblivious to it being there, he just didn't seemed bothered by it at all. And, true to form, he was more interested in where the next treat was coming from.

Hey, I think you left the treats by the fence.

I didn't cinch up the girth or anything this go around--I figured I'd keep it short and sweet. The majority of our work today--for the most part unphotographed--was lunging. After all, before you hop on a horse it's handy if he knows cues for walk, trot, and "whoa" at the very least.

This is something we've been working on for a while and I'm happy to say Gobie and I have both gotten loads better at it. I haven't gotten better at trying to simultaneously lunge and video it:

But, you get the idea, I think! Today we did a lot of walking and trotting on both sides, with some pretty stellar switching over. His whoa could use a bit of work, but since this was all in a halter with voice commands I think we're doing really well.

The flies, you may be able to tell, were out in full force. I put some swat along his legs before we began which seemed to help a lot. You may also be able to tell that Gobie's looking pretty FAT, too. Hopefully more work means a more trim and healthy pony!

After our good work I turned Gobie back out with his friends and he ran down the hill to the pine trees to greet them. I hung out with the whole gang in the shade for a little while before going home. After all, a little socializing after work never hurt anybody.

First Bath

Over the winter Gobie's coat had gone a little crazy. He evidently had some insect bites, and had rubbed naked patches on his neck and shoulder, and had a bit of dandruff around his mane as well. So as soon as it got warm I vowed to give him a proper bath.

Easier said than done, of course, to a rescue pony not use to that kind of thing. I have no idea if he ever had a bath in his life but I suspect not. Last summer Bonnie would bring the hose out to spray on the horses to help keep them cool, but Gobie wanted none of it.

The first step was just getting him wet, so as soon as there was a weekend in the 80s I brought him out to meet the hose. Bonnie had an old one with an adjustable nozzle attached to the house, so I took him under the trees and tried it out. Gobie was decidedly not a fan. I did manage to get him wet, but he was terrified of the thing. He backed up, ran around in circles, and pranced around with his front feet. But he got wet, and we ended on a positive note.

This weekend I came prepared with some shampoo and a new hose. With the new hose I could attach it to a water source closer to the fenced in work area, it was coiled for easier handling, and the adjustable nozzle was all new and pretty water tight so it didn't make any scary hissing water noises.

All in all it went rather well--and extremely well, I'd say, because I was doing it all myself. It's a bit tricky after all, to manage one nervous horse in one hand, and manage a crazy hose in the other. He was much more calm this go around, but still wanted to run about in circles. It was also brutally hot--which was helpful because I could tell in his moments of calmness that he did enjoy how the water cooled him off.

Things did get a bit dicey when he stepped on the hose. It's coiled, remember, which means that if he stepped on it just so it would wrap around his leg. Horses generally don't take kindly to feeling like their legs are trapped so he would start kicking to remove the bother, which would sometimes mean the hose would wrap even MORE around his leg. Removing such a thing from a bit panicked horse can be dangerous--you run the risk of getting kicked, or your fingers stomped on. But, as a testament to the great trust between us, Gobie was very good at listening to me asking him to stop, and then allowing me to deftly removing the coiled bit. It was dangerous at times, but entirely successful and most especially, built the trust between us even more.

On to the pictures:

Dry pony, pre-bath.

All wet, and looking a bit silly.

Some consolation noms.

Here also, for your viewing pleasure, a video. This is directly after his bath. I was hoping he would take the opportunity to dry off a bit and roll in the grass, as opposed to the dust (and therefore mud). But, as you can see, he thought about it but never did roll. Fortunately he dried off pretty quickly and rejoined his friends.

The aftermath of the bath:

Halter and lead rope drying in the sun.

Now I need a bath...!

My other motive for giving Gobie a bath was to help manage all the beastly little flies harassing him.

The crazy jerks have been awful this year, biting his poor little legs and ears. After his booster and vaccinations he was feeling out of sorts--so we called the called the vet and the recommended we give him some bute. I also suspected the flies were bringing him down, too, so the bath was part one in trying to manage them. After he was clean I slathered a bunch of SWAT on his legs and in his ears to help sooth the bites and to kill and repel the flies. The stuff works magic and highly recommend it. The next day he got some fly spray over the rest, and I tested out some equispot on him. Not sure how much staying power either of those will have, but we will see.

Bonnie suggested I try a fly mask on him, too, so that may be the next step. Meanwhile the horses are all trying to beat the heat by staying out of the sun and in the shade.

Vet Visit

Gobie had his first visit from the vet--with me at least--on Wednesday. He had been vetted before I adopted him almost a year ago so he (and the rest of the horses at Bonnie's) was ready for his annual shots.

It was not a great day for it, to be frank. It had been raining all day and it was still pouring when I arrived at the barn. All the horses were in the far paddock getting soaked despite the fact that there were trees and shelter available.

The only horse with any sense was Honey, who stayed pretty try under a pine.

I thought for a moment that the vet had cancelled on account of the weather, but she was just stuck in traffic and soon everyone was ready for their turn.

As far I know Gobie was always sedated for vetting (and for hoof trimming for that matter) so I wasn't quite sure how it was going go. But the veterinarian was exceptional--understanding, calm, very patient and above all quick!

She started with a physical exam that all went rather well: checking the mouth, the teeth, and taking temperature. That part was fairly easy since Gobie is just a curious character to being with.

Then it was on to the Coggins test. Even though I have no solid plans to move him, or foresee him interacting with any new or strange horses I figured it was just best to keep on it. It was a pretty quick draw of blood--he didn't try to run off or anything after he was stuck.

The final bit were a few shots. These didn't go quite so uneventfully! After he was stuck he would want to run off--which is better than wanting to fight by kicking or rearing--but not particularly helpful. But the vet was very efficient and as soon as she stuck him she was able to push in the vaccinations and that was that. Three shots, three sticks!

I was really grateful for Dr. Hendrickson's expertise and bedside manner. We chatted a little bit and she made a comment about how focused Gobie was on me even as he was a bit fearful of what was going on. She also commented on how food motivated he was--and that he'd probably respond well to clicker training. Add that to the list!

Hooray! Our first backing!

It was a big day, everyone! I've been feeling pretty good about all the progress Gobie and I have made together, and was feeling pretty good and motivated generally. I thought today would be the perfect time to try sitting on Gobie for the first time--and an excellent way to say goodbye to 2011 and look forward to 2012.

Sam came along for this visit to make sure I didn't die, even though I assured him I wouldn't. As soon as Gobie saw me he came up to the fence, ready to work. We started things off low key with some grooming.

 Feels pretty good, right?

He was rather muddy, but it was at least dry muddy. I had a leadrope on him, and some rope reins. The sky was looking kinda cloudy and ominous, but it was rather warm for almost January.

 Hamming it up for Sam.

We first did a couple of exercises: lounging so I could gauge whether or not he was feeling particularly energetic, and then some yielding exercises to see how well he was willing to listen. He was a pro at everything, so I was encouraged.

I'm really glad we have such a great rapport, this pony and I. With all the paling around we do, I think we're both able to get a really good read on each other. That's important, especially when it comes to trust. When it comes to doing new things having a history of being well-meaning buddies buys you a lot of leeway.

All the same, I was pretty cautious about this next step. I've been a little worried that I would be too big for the pony--height and weight wise--and I didn't want to jump on and injure him. I realize this is kind of silly--smaller, stocky horses have carried full grown men around, after all. But I didn't want to lose some of the goodwill between us by doing this part wrong. So, as we were by the fence for grooming I started messing around a little bit: standing on cinder blocks, leaning over his back, giving his topline a good rub, and stretching my leg over his back.

 We're both like, "I don't think this is how it's supposed to work."

Gobie of course took all of this weird stuff in stride, so it was time to make an actual effort to sit on him. I think he was starting to get a good idea of what was going on.

Sticking his tongue out, his opinion on the matter?

There's a mounting block in the work area, so I dragged it on over. I had planned to get Sam to hold the lead rope while I had the rope reins, but I ended up using both. Gobie was little worried about the mounting block, but after he let out a sigh and got a treat all was well.

 Approaching the mounting block.

 Getting him into position...

For a horse it's weird to have a person towering over you, so even Gobie being relaxed about that was great. It's a sort of survival mechanism for horses to be leery of having something over you--think of a cougar jumping down on you from a ledge, or a lion jumping on the back of a wildebeest. It's pretty amazing that horses learned to carry humans at all!

It's not uncommon for a horse to want to move away after you've lined them up to the mounting block for this reason. You don't want them to do that, of course, because having one foot in the stirrup while the horse is moving is a good way to twist (or break!) an ankle. But Gobie didn't do any of that here. Back at the fence line he did try moving away when I was leaning and patting on him, but I turn him around at attention, and that got the message across that he shouldn't be moving away.

Back at the mounting block, standing nicely, I gave him a treat and...

 Getting ready...

 First leg over...

 Easing on to his back...

 Finally on!

What an attractive pair, right? He stood so patiently and attentively--his ears pricked in my direction waiting to hear what I wanted him to do. To be fair, I only had my full weight on his back for a moment but keeping it short and positive was important to me. I hopped off (beaming!)

 We did it!

Looking at the pictures afterward I'm happy that we don't look too mismatched for each other. That is to say, I don't look too big on him or anything. My feet aren't comically dragging on the ground and his back doesn't look swayed and over burdened. We look like we could go for a brisk trot in the woods, or over some misty highlands.

We didn't do that, though. Instead I got Gobie a treat from the feed room.

 Being nosy.

After a job well done, a little bit of black oil sunflower seeds, and multivitamin was well deserved.

om nom nom!

I let him back with this pals in the paddock, but he was still hanging around the fence line for us as we were getting ready to go. So I gave him one more treat.

Such a great way to ring in the New Year! I don't expect us to be riding off into the sunset any time soon, but I am looking forward to what lies a head of us. Like getting my hands on a saddle! 

Regardless of what the future holds, I'm really pleased and proud to have such a great horse.

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!

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.

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.