COMING TO AN UNDERSTANDING

Dec 14

            I sacked out the Icys again today and they were all a great deal better(except for Sam who was good yesterday) . Everyone was better with their feet. Shiloh is still the most reluctant to give over to me. He was better today, though not willing. Bleu was still a bit worried, but he stood still and didn’t tremble today. Treat was great. Sam as well. Treat was being brave even though he was a little worried. He is one who faces his challenge. He reared a few times and then just quit and accepted what I did to him. That is what I am looking for. When they give resistance and then give it up, they will listen and start to trust me to make the decisions. The temperature dropped into the 40s today and they stopped sweating. They are fun to watch interact as a group. Shared grooming is a popular pass time for them as well as mock fighting. I am not really catching them when it is time for them to go back into their stalls at feeding time. They are figuring out how to come in when I put their mash in the feeders. They get a bit confused when a more dominate pony gets in the way, but eventually we work it out. I will need to work on catching them as well, but they are not afraid of me, just not eager to have me catch

Dec 16

            Oh my Gosh! I just had a two hours session with Shiloh on picking up his front feet. He has not been the most co-operative of the Icys to pick up his feet, but this was not fear or not knowing what I wanted. This was resistance plain and simple. When I would start to run my hand down his leg he would move back. When I wouldn’t let him do that he would try to push towards me. When I finally got him to stop moving, he would lean all of his weight onto the leg I was asking him to give to me. He would actually pick up the other leg in order to get all of his weight onto the one I wanted. He tried to bite me once(that is an act of war and I got after him with the towel big time for it). If I did happen to get the leg off the ground he would yank it away and stomp it down.

            My correction for this was to use the sacking out towel and flip it at him. If he backed up it was at his rump, if he went forward, then at his chest. He wasn’t getting hurt, but he didn’t like it and it was a way to show him I wouldn’t tolerate his behavior. He would finally grudgingly give me the hoof, but if I asked him to do it again we were back into fight mode. I think that Shiloh is an alpha personality and even though he isn’t the most dominant of the group, he is very opinionated on what he wants to do. He is actually one of the original leaders when we picked them up. However, he has not learned as much as the others, like Trick and Treat, in the time I have been working at the barn with them. He is still flinchy in the stall when I pet him, but not as much as before this session.

            The other guys have been great. I’m very impressed with Treat. He has come a long way. When he looks at me with those big brown eyes and his ears pricked forward, I can see the wheels turning in his head.

            I’m starting to get them to let me touch around their tails. As driving horses they have to wear a crupper to help hold the harness in place. Besides, all horses in my barn must let me touch them anyplace on their body without reacting. Takes a bit of time, but well worth it later.