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!
Showing posts with label yielding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yielding. Show all posts
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Diamond in the rough
Everyday is a new opportunity when you're training a horse. You have to assess different factors, not the least of which is how your pony is feeling that day. Sometimes it's frustrating--when they're acting like they're complete bozos and have forgotten EVERYTHING. Other times they're perfect and you're convinced they are a diamond in the rough. Today was one of those days. Gobie was SO GOOD.
He and the gang were out eating in one of the back pastures when I first rolled up. I'm super lucky in that whenever Gobie sees me coming he looks up and is interested in me coming out. There are some horses that are hard to catch, but I'm glad that Gobie isn't one of them. He wants to interact and that's half the battle.
We've been working on leading and he was extremely well behaved being walked from one paddock to our working area. He only stopped a couple times, and then started right back up after a little prompting. When we were in the work area we walked around the perimeter and he was brilliant. He walked forward, stopped when I stopped, backed up when I asked and the whole deal. It may seem like a little thing, but in the language of horses having a pony follow you and respect your space is a good achievement.
We tried a little tying to begin with and he was very good. From our last, and first go at it, I new that if he pulled back he wouldn't freak out about it so I was pretty confident about it. So I took the opportunity to pick out his feet. The front ones were fine of course. For his back feet I put a little food in his bucket (a mix of black oil sunflower seeds and powdery supplement, both for hoof, skin and hair conditioning). It worked like a charm! I picked up his back feet with no problem. It was also a mental feat for me. I'm kind of a wuss for no reason about the back feet but today I decided that I would forget that, and get as close and cozy as possible to his hind end and wouldn't you know it worked out well.
I also put some hoof oil on his feet. It's been a bit dry and the freshness of his last trim is starting with wear off so he's getting a little frayed around the edges. He was good about having the stuff slathered on, like an old pro.
I decided I might as well give him a dose of fly spray while I was at it. I untied him for this since I know we're still working on not running away from the spray. The initial squirt he wanted to get away, but I asked him to stand still and he did. Both sides, all up and down his legs, and it was no problem.
While I was spraying I noticed his chestnuts were gone! Chestnuts are rough spots on the inside of a horse's legs kind of like the rough part on your elbow. Except for some horses chestnuts get quite large and knobby. Gobie had these giant ones because they hadn't been picked off or groomed down. They don't serve any purpose, and they don't hurt anything, but they're kind of cosmetically goofy in my opinion. I had been thinking about trimming but, but I'm glad they took care of themselves. I actually kind of wondered if someone hadn't trimmed them off for me, and maybe the extra attention was why he was being extra good but Bonnie assured me no one had. He's just naturally good!
Unfortunately for Gobie it was also time for him to be dewormed this month. A deworming schedule is an important part of making sure that your horse and the pasture where he lives is healthy. Horses can pick up parasites just by eating grass and grain and so on so they have to be dewormed on a regular schedule. Gobie, and most other horses, aren't a big fan of being dewormed probably because the paste used to do it tastes yucky. The last time Gobie was dewormed Ben the Farrier did it. He wanted to get away from the whole thing, but wasn't mean about it.
This time I started by taking his weight using a special measuring tape. The deworming medicine dosage is determined by the weight of your horse so I wanted to get an accurate reading. The measuring take goes around the horse's girth, or measuring around his body behind his front leg. When I first pulled the tape out Gobie was scared, so we did a little desensitization. I waved the white tape in the air and when he looked at me I stopped waving and let him sniff it. In no time he was cool with me wrapping it around his body. According to the tape he was about 800lbs so I set the dial on his dewormer syringe to that.
Gobie's no dummy so when he saw the syringe he threw his head up in the air. It took several minutes, but eventually I could put the syringe by his mouth without him trying to avoid it. Speedily I stuck that stuff in the corner of his mouth and squeezed the paste in and it was all over. Whew! He got plenty of treats afterward and (hopefully!) forgot all about it.
In the paddock we did a little more work walking around, backing up, and doing some general yielding exercises. We also tried a little lunging where we're both getting better. But Gobie's favorite part was working on taking treats politely throughout. Since he was being so amazing I was heartened and clipped the lead rope on the side of the halter and tied the rope end to the other side. With this makeshift bridle, I tested his "give" by standing at his shoulder and then pulling on the left rein to turn his nose in to touch his shoulder, and then on the other side the right rein to do the same. He offered no resistance at all! For a moment I thought: "I bet I could jump on his back right now and everything would be fine." But I resisted the urge :)
Ending on a great note, I turned him back out with his friends. Even though I'm pretty sure Gobie enjoys our interaction, he still runs to great his friends.
I went out to relax with the horses in the field. Since it was hot I went down to the tree line and sat under a pine tree. The other horses pretty much ignore me, but Gobie always comes over to say hi. It's pretty cute sitting on the ground and having Gobie curiously amble over and sniff my face and knees and feet. As if to say, "what are you doing out here with us, silly human?"
Before I left I joined the horses in the sun out in the field and itched Gobie on the shoulder a little. He treated me to a little mutual grooming by using his upper lip to itch behind my ear. His muzzle was right in my face, so I breathed gently into his nostril. I had been drinking orange juice earlier, which must have smelled funny, because he flipped his upper link into the air making that silly face horses do when they smell something they have a strong opinion about. It must not have been too offensive, because he went right back to messing with my hair as I itched his shoulder.
I know not every day will be a productive and warm-n-fuzzy as today, but I'm happy to bask in what a great little pony he is.
He and the gang were out eating in one of the back pastures when I first rolled up. I'm super lucky in that whenever Gobie sees me coming he looks up and is interested in me coming out. There are some horses that are hard to catch, but I'm glad that Gobie isn't one of them. He wants to interact and that's half the battle.
Out in the field with Honey (and the rest).
We've been working on leading and he was extremely well behaved being walked from one paddock to our working area. He only stopped a couple times, and then started right back up after a little prompting. When we were in the work area we walked around the perimeter and he was brilliant. He walked forward, stopped when I stopped, backed up when I asked and the whole deal. It may seem like a little thing, but in the language of horses having a pony follow you and respect your space is a good achievement.
We tried a little tying to begin with and he was very good. From our last, and first go at it, I new that if he pulled back he wouldn't freak out about it so I was pretty confident about it. So I took the opportunity to pick out his feet. The front ones were fine of course. For his back feet I put a little food in his bucket (a mix of black oil sunflower seeds and powdery supplement, both for hoof, skin and hair conditioning). It worked like a charm! I picked up his back feet with no problem. It was also a mental feat for me. I'm kind of a wuss for no reason about the back feet but today I decided that I would forget that, and get as close and cozy as possible to his hind end and wouldn't you know it worked out well.
I also put some hoof oil on his feet. It's been a bit dry and the freshness of his last trim is starting with wear off so he's getting a little frayed around the edges. He was good about having the stuff slathered on, like an old pro.
Lookin' good.
I decided I might as well give him a dose of fly spray while I was at it. I untied him for this since I know we're still working on not running away from the spray. The initial squirt he wanted to get away, but I asked him to stand still and he did. Both sides, all up and down his legs, and it was no problem.
While I was spraying I noticed his chestnuts were gone! Chestnuts are rough spots on the inside of a horse's legs kind of like the rough part on your elbow. Except for some horses chestnuts get quite large and knobby. Gobie had these giant ones because they hadn't been picked off or groomed down. They don't serve any purpose, and they don't hurt anything, but they're kind of cosmetically goofy in my opinion. I had been thinking about trimming but, but I'm glad they took care of themselves. I actually kind of wondered if someone hadn't trimmed them off for me, and maybe the extra attention was why he was being extra good but Bonnie assured me no one had. He's just naturally good!
No chestnuts!
Unfortunately for Gobie it was also time for him to be dewormed this month. A deworming schedule is an important part of making sure that your horse and the pasture where he lives is healthy. Horses can pick up parasites just by eating grass and grain and so on so they have to be dewormed on a regular schedule. Gobie, and most other horses, aren't a big fan of being dewormed probably because the paste used to do it tastes yucky. The last time Gobie was dewormed Ben the Farrier did it. He wanted to get away from the whole thing, but wasn't mean about it.
This time I started by taking his weight using a special measuring tape. The deworming medicine dosage is determined by the weight of your horse so I wanted to get an accurate reading. The measuring take goes around the horse's girth, or measuring around his body behind his front leg. When I first pulled the tape out Gobie was scared, so we did a little desensitization. I waved the white tape in the air and when he looked at me I stopped waving and let him sniff it. In no time he was cool with me wrapping it around his body. According to the tape he was about 800lbs so I set the dial on his dewormer syringe to that.
Gobie's no dummy so when he saw the syringe he threw his head up in the air. It took several minutes, but eventually I could put the syringe by his mouth without him trying to avoid it. Speedily I stuck that stuff in the corner of his mouth and squeezed the paste in and it was all over. Whew! He got plenty of treats afterward and (hopefully!) forgot all about it.
In the paddock we did a little more work walking around, backing up, and doing some general yielding exercises. We also tried a little lunging where we're both getting better. But Gobie's favorite part was working on taking treats politely throughout. Since he was being so amazing I was heartened and clipped the lead rope on the side of the halter and tied the rope end to the other side. With this makeshift bridle, I tested his "give" by standing at his shoulder and then pulling on the left rein to turn his nose in to touch his shoulder, and then on the other side the right rein to do the same. He offered no resistance at all! For a moment I thought: "I bet I could jump on his back right now and everything would be fine." But I resisted the urge :)
Ending on a great note, I turned him back out with his friends. Even though I'm pretty sure Gobie enjoys our interaction, he still runs to great his friends.
I went out to relax with the horses in the field. Since it was hot I went down to the tree line and sat under a pine tree. The other horses pretty much ignore me, but Gobie always comes over to say hi. It's pretty cute sitting on the ground and having Gobie curiously amble over and sniff my face and knees and feet. As if to say, "what are you doing out here with us, silly human?"
Under the pines.
Before I left I joined the horses in the sun out in the field and itched Gobie on the shoulder a little. He treated me to a little mutual grooming by using his upper lip to itch behind my ear. His muzzle was right in my face, so I breathed gently into his nostril. I had been drinking orange juice earlier, which must have smelled funny, because he flipped his upper link into the air making that silly face horses do when they smell something they have a strong opinion about. It must not have been too offensive, because he went right back to messing with my hair as I itched his shoulder.
Here he comes to say hi...
He looks like a giant from down here, right?
teehee! what a wrinkly muzzle.
I know not every day will be a productive and warm-n-fuzzy as today, but I'm happy to bask in what a great little pony he is.
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