HAIR EVERYWHERE!

Mar 25

            Jill worked Sam today while I worked another horse at the other end of the arena. He wasn’t too happy having another horse in the arena with him and Jill had her hands full. He didn’t do anything bad, but he wanted to race around the circle and pull on the line. She finally put the line over his poll so he wouldn’t pull the bit through his mouth. By the time she was done, however, he was being a good boy. That is the next step, I think, getting used to other horses around him working. He was good for her to handle.

Mar 28

            I worked Sam today. He wanted to counter bend, especially to the left, so I put the line through the bit and back to the turret on the harness saddle. By doing this, he had to give his head towards the inside of the circle. He wasn’t very happy about it and mouthed the bit a lot, but eventually he gave and relaxed into the circle better. I will continue to do this so he can learn to give to the bit. He needs to accept this pressure on the bit in order to long line him.

Mar 30

            Sam worked very well today. I used the line as described  on the 28th.  He loves to be groomed and stands still while I try to get the mattes of old hair off of him. I had to resort to cutting most of them off. He was very patient and I was very careful not to snip him or pull on the mattes very much. I did some of this on Monday and was trying to get most of it off today. Bleu and Treat also have mattes, but I’m not going to sit under them like I can Sam.

            Treat was a spooky nut today when I was grooming him. You would think that I never had done it before. Once we got into it, he was better, but I think I need to make a point of getting him out into the cross ties everyday so he can get the hang of this. One of my students and a friend were there as well and that kind of set him off. The Icys in general are not very comfortable with strangers. Sam liked the girls. I was able to get a bunch of hair off of Treat, but there is tons more to come off. He and Trick don’t have the same texture of hair as the others do. It is more dog hair like than cat fur soft. Trick doesn’t hardly have any mattes that I can feel. I’ll groom him tomorrow and see what I find.

            I groomed Bleu, who is the worst of the Icys as far as hair coming out. He had the longest coat from the beginning. I was standing in a cloud of hair and I only scratched the surface of this chore. I had to resort to cutting some of his mattes off as well, but his whole belly is covered in them. I’ll be at this for a while. He was good, though, and let me do it without a problem. He is a funny duck. I am not sure what sets him off. It isn’t being around him or putting things on him, but sometimes he flips out if I move too fast. I’ll keep thinking on this and see what I can do to remedy it.

            All in all I did get the three I worked with today looking better. Once they felt me scrubbing on them with a curry and getting down to the skin where I’m sure it itches, they got into it. Even Treat started pushing into the curry. Everyone was good with their feet, front and back. I even put them between my legs(front ones) and on my knee(back ones) like my farrier, so they will be used to that way. 

THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT TO MARKET...

Mar 21

            Everyone had their feed trimmed today. Bleu and Sam were very good. They had been trimmed last time front and hind. Treat was afraid of Zane, my farrier. He has been very good with me, but no one else has worked with him so he was shy of a stranger. He was good with his front, but Zane had to use a soft cotton rope to get Treat to accept his hands on the hind legs. Once he was desensitized, though, he was good. Afraid, but stood still. I will keep working on him.

            Trick was worried, as well, but didn’t put up quite as much fuss. Once Zane got him to pick up his hind legs, Trick was okay with it. He wasn’t as worried about a stranger, but still not comfortable.

            Shiloh was a stinker. Even though I have picked up his hind feet, he just decided to be a brat. At first we tried to ease him into it, but he was just acting out so I got after him with the mannering halter. After a few bumps with the halter, he decided to stand still. Once he gave in he was fine. I think that he is not so much scared as he is just testing if he really has to do it. I may start taking a different approach to his training. He may need to learn to do it just because I am stronger than he is. I’ll have to think on it. 

PERSEVERANCE

Mar 15

            The weather and other pressing matters have cut into my time with the Icys. I still work with them each time I water and they are good to catch now because they are put in and out every day, but I haven’t had a chance to really work anyone until today and it shows. Sam was good to groom, but a little jumpy. He wants to come out and be with me. He wants to have me touch and pet him, but I just haven’t had the time to actually get him out and work with any of them individually. Besides, the barometer had dropped and I find that sometimes makes horses edgy. No excuse for a trained horse, but for an untrained or wild one they are just reacting the way horses do.

            He bucked for a while on the lunge. I don’t think he is that opposed to the breaching. It seems to have become a game for him so next time I will nip it when he tries it again. Otherwise, he was good. Pulled a little bit on the bridle, but not enough to worry. Just working it out, I think.

            I also worked Treat again. Today he was a stinker! He went to the left pretty well, but when I tried to go to the right he went for a while and then decided he had enough and pulled away, mannering halter or not. He is too strong for me to stop if he really wants to go, so I had to let him go and catch him at the end of the arena. He did this three times and I could see in his eye that he had it figured out. Time to do something that stopped this before it got out of hand. Most of the Icys have a healthy respect for the halter, but if they learn they can run through it, I am up you know what’s creek, so I got another lunge line to make it longer and then tied it to one of the arena posts. It didn’t take long for him to try it again and I just let go of it so he hit the end when he reached the length of the line. Surprise, surprise. He was a stubborn little boob, though, and he had to do that a number of times before he realized the jig was up. You have to be very careful when you have them on a long line to a post. I was knocked down once because I got caught in the bite of the line. I had it tied up too high, I think, and will put it down so it is easier to step over next time. He finally gave in and we called it good, but he was in a sweat by then, for sure, which meant that he had to then let me rub him down with a towel. That’s what he gets for being a pill.

Mar 19

            Finally got a chance to get back to Sam and Treat. This time on the lunge line I got after Sam if he tried to buck. Only took a couple of times and he figured out that was a No, No. I was working on stopping and going and standing while I come up to him and then go away from him. He was pretty good and I think we will be doing this until he does it without a problem. He is good with his feet and hopefully will be good for my ferrier on Monday.

            Treat tried his twirl and dash thing one time and I tied him to the post again. He did it one more time and hit the end of the line and then didn’t do it again, although I know he was thinking about it. I made him go to the right, because I knew that was the way he didn't want to go. To the left he seems to be quite comfortable. I have found that these guys are very one sided, so that is what I am trying to work on, even in their stalls. They always seem to present one side. Treat was good with his feet and I have been able to clean front and back without too much trouble. As long as I take it easy he isn’t worried.  I was pleased with him today. I am finding that these guys are very smart and that you can’t let them get away with something very long until they use it against you. Good in some ways, but means I have to stay on my toes.

BIT BY BIT

Mar 3

            I worked with Sam and Treat today. Sam hadn’t been worked with for about two weeks and it showed when he decided he didn’t like the breaching anymore. However, he settled down pretty quickly and was good. I just need to get him done more often. I will blame Mother Nature for the interruption. Today I put the bridle on Sam to lunge him. He was very good and didn’t try to pull away. He did kind of lean on it, but figured it out pretty well. I will always lunge him in the bridle from now on.

            I decided to get Treat out and do something with him since he is the other Icy in the barn. He has been kind of skittish and he needs to have more attention. I groomed him and picked his feet and he actually let me pick his hind feet. This is the result of asking him to give them over the past couple of months when I would water horses. They are all coming due for a trim, so this is great progress for him. I lunged him for the first time and he acted like all the wild horses do. They face the threat(which is me) and it is sometimes hard to get them to move forward around you. It didn’t take too long, though because within about 15 minutes he was going around me to the left. I did have the mannering halter on, because he did try to pull away and take off at first. It works very well getting them to give in. He only went to the left today. I will start him to the left next time an see how long it takes him to figure it out. If he does well, I will turn him around and make him go to the right.

            Treat has a sliced up ear(that he wouldn’t  let me touch) from fighting so much. He is one hard luck horse. Hopefully they won’t maim each other before I can work out a way to separate them for their own protection.