Oh, it has been so long since I posted to this blog. Many things have been happening since then. My 5 Icys have been progressing well over the past year(almost). They are all in the barn and that lets me work with them very consistently daily when I feed, clean stalls or just put them out. They are out each day and come in every night so that means they are handled in some way everyday.
No one is actually under saddle or pulling a cart yet, but they are all able to be led in groups of 2 or 3 together and they will let me(or the farrier) trim and pick up their feet. Shilo still is reluctant to let Zane do it, but I have been able to trim him. I can walk up and catch any one of them when they are turned out. Well, actually they will let me catch them most of the time. Sometimes they just want to play and then it is a test of wills as to who wins, me or them. If they give me too much guff, they get to be in solitary confinement and that usually makes them more contrite and easier to convince who is boss.
Sam and Trick have become exceptionally lovey and want to be petted and loved every time I am near them. Treat is becoming that way as well. They seem to have to get to a certain point of familiarity before they will finally give over to me without question. This is a big step for each of them. Bleu falls in and out of this state and will be very amenable for a while and then something will set him off and he will act like I am going to eat him alive. I readjusted my estimate of his age this year. I think he must only have been about 3 when I got him. He has filled out a lot and has matured mentally this past year. He used to be the smallest, but now he is every bit as big as Shilo and to tell you the truth, it is getting harder to tell them apart. My poor hired hand can't tell them apart and when I tried to put different colored ribbons in their manes so he could color code on their stall, they just thought that was a great game of 'take the ribbon out'. Needless to say, they didn't last. He is the only person who puts them in and gets every one in a wrong stall. The odds against that are pretty high, but he seemed to do it. Last time he put them in he got one right. The boys take delight in going in the wrong stalls for him. For me they go in without trouble. With no markings on any of them, I'm afraid he may never get them straight.
My entire Icy Hoard has been fitted with their own bridles and are getting used to having a bit in their mouths. None of them have been particularly worried about the bit or bridles. I put them on in their stalls when I work other horses and then take them off when I'm done. They each chewed for a little while and then just stood around waiting. Some just started eating with them. No problem.
My New Year's Resolution is to have at least 2 of the boys doing something this year. Sam is my first project because I had already started with him last year and he is the one who seems to be wanting to do something with me. He has learned to lunge and has had a harness and a training surcingle on and he is quite responsive to the voice commands. He still once in a while kicks out at the breaching, but mostly he ignores it. I will start to long line him in the next week or so. The weather here has been nasty the past couple of weeks and I find it hard to work when my hands are frozen in claws. I have also started to teach Trick to lunge. Like all of the Icys, he is a smart critter and got the hang of it very quickly. I think he will be my second pick to work this year. I have found that I simply don't have time to bring them all along at the same level together. Just not enough hours or enough me to go around. By picking 2, I feel I can bring them along to a point that perhaps I can have someone help me work them and then get 2 more started. That is the plan, anyway. When I get them to a point that I can work them as pairs, the work will be easier, but that is a ways down the road.
All in all, I have been enjoying my Icy Boys. They are friendly, curious, hardy and a real kick to watch. I don't have them all turned out together when they go outside because they beat the heck out of each other when they play. They are all turned together in the area when the weather is bad and they nick themselves up all the time. I will undoubtedly have to clip Sam and Trick when the weather turns warm, because they only loose their hair for about one month out of the year and then start to put the next winter coat on. I did clip them at assorted times last year whenever they pissed me off. If they didn't let me catch them they not only went into solitary, they also received a trace clip of some kind. It actually helped keep a couple of them cool in the late summer months.
Well, this is the update for now. I will try to be better at putting info on here as they progress.
