Free jumping and other lessons

Rory is a little bored these days.  Now that he gets fed twice a day with Totyo I'm not giving him mini lessons every day.  I do tend to go through his paddock at some point during the day and if I have some carrots I'll run him through a few yielding exercises, but it's not the same.  I took my other horse for a hack around the back fields today and Rory watched us go as if he wanted to come along.

After my ride I brought Rory in for a quick grooming, put his bridle on and took him out to the arena.  I let him go and he did his usual run around for a while.  Totyo was screaming nearly non-stop but Rory only whinnied back once.  Eventually he came back to me when he'd finished running.  I decided to see if he'd free jump a cavaletti today and set up a cavaletti with a couple of guide poles/standards.  I lamented my failure to recharge the camera batteries and considered waiting for another day, but decided we might as well give it a go.  Rory followed me back and forth as I took the various pieces out of the corners and set them up.  He kept trying to rub his face on the first standard as I carried it out.  Once everything was set I sent him out around the arena.  This free longeing is not something I've done with him - usually I let him run as he will with just the odd bit of encouragement to keep going if he gets stuck in a corner.  The first time he galloped over the cavaletti, not really noticing it was there.  The second time he didn't get far enough out to the track, missed the chute, change directions and trotted over the cavaletti from the other direction (no chute on that side).  I laughed.  Rory was very relaxed about the cavaletti and banged his toes the next time through lack of effort in his trot.  I did manage to get him to canter it a couple of times and he got a awkward distance once which didn't upset him.  I'm happy to see that he doesn't feel it's a big deal to trot over a cavaletti.  We've done it before with me leading him so it wasn't a totally new experience.

After I put all the jump pieces away I clipped on the lead rope and stood him up as if for a conformation class.  He stood well and then I turned him and walked halfway down the arena, came back and then trotted all the way around the outside of the arena.  Rory was very good, giving me a nice, long strided, relaxed walk and then staying with me at the trot even around the turns at the far end (I was on the outside).  He did get a little fast as we came back towards the door, but I slowed him sharply when he didn't listen to the light reminders to wait for me and then continued in the trot past the door.

We had a little walk around outside before going back to the barn for a quick brush and his rainsheet.  I want to leave it off to relieve his shoulder rubs, but it's supposed to start raining tonight or tomorrow.  The new darts in the blanket neck line are holding, and they seem to be lifting the buckles up high enough to take the pressure off his shoulders.  I can't tell yet if the rubs are getting worse or staying the same.  I think they're not getting any worse.  The heavier blanket is ready for the colder weather with shoulder darts added and seams sprayed with water proofing.  If we get the colder weather...

December 23, 2010 Distraction can be a good thing

The arena at the new farm is a CoverAll with wood walls up to the base of the canvas roof.  In the wood walls are vents to allow for air flow.  Those vents are pretty much at eye level when I'm riding and I find myself peeking out to see where Rory is as I ride along that side of the arena.  The vents are small, but Rory's bright blue blanket stands out.  On Thursday I was riding in the arena and peeking out as usual when I caught a glimpse of blue and thought "That looks like Rory's outside his paddock!"  I stopped a couple of vents down and took a better look.  Rory had escaped.  I could see the gate hanging open and Totyo inside the fence in the corner wondering how Rory managed to get to the other side of the fence.  Fortunately my other horse is a very good boy and could be left for a few minutes on his own in the arena as I ran out and returned Rory to his paddock.  Rory hadn't gotten very far, just to the pile of not-so-good hay that had been removed from one of the other fields.  He was picking through looking for anything decent when I got out there.  He briefly considered running away from me, but then stopped and I put him back into his paddock.  I'm not sure how the gate could have gotten opened.  I go through it fairly regularly, but apart from round bale delivery no one else does and the latch is awkward enough to do up that I have to pay full attention to it.  Anyway, no harm done, and no two year old hooligans tearing around the property at high speeds...  Good thing I was a little distracted from my riding.

I took Rory's blanket off on the 18th.  The lining I'd sewn in had come unstitched, leaving the mesh to crawl back over Rory's tail again.  Since the weekend forecast was nice enough I took the blanket off and took it home to redo the extra lining.  Rory was happy to be naked and went off to play with Totyo.  It seems that he forgot all about blankets because when I brought it back Sunday evening Rory acted as if it were going to eat him when I put it back on.  We've had a couple of blanket desensitizing sessions since and he stood still while I threw it over him last night after his "stand politely on the cross ties" lesson.

Free Running

 This week I took Rory out to the arena for a little playtime and longeing practice.  I put his bridle on and found I had to let the cheeks down to the next hole on both sides as the bit was too tight.  I expect some of it is the winter fuzz that he's growing, but some is probably growth.  His coat is getting very dense and longer as he prepares for the colder weather.  Those "in the know" are predicting a normal temperatures with more snow than normal winter for this area.  The normal temperatures are colder than the last few winters have been and my other horse has grown more coat this year than in the past few, which leads me to believe we will have a colder winter.  Rory is still too young to be growing the "just right" amount of winter coat yet - I find the young horses just grow yak coats indiscriminately for the first few years.

I also had to loosen the nose on his nylon halter.  It was fine without the bridle underneath, but needed a little extra room once I had his bridle on.

When we got out to the arena I let Rory off the lead and he had fun tearing around, and up and down with very little encouragement from me.  I stood and took pictures and enjoyed the show.  I did ask him to change directions once and after that he changed several times on his own.

After he'd had his rip around Rory was content to come back to me and I did a little liberty leading, halting, backing up, and swinging his haunches away.  With the carrot rewards Rory was happy to comply, though he did walk away briefly the first time I tried the swing the haunches exercise. 

Walking back to me after the run

Longeing was next and Rory readily went out on the circle and stayed out.  I let him go a little bit further out on a slightly larger circle today and he was willing to stay out that far.  Without my asking he did break into a trot going left once, but came back to walk when I asked him for walk.  He had that little bounce in the trot step right at the beginning that told me he was thinking about cantering, but settled when I said "eeeasyyy".  I was quite pleased and he got pats and carrots and "good boy"s for his efforts.  We also worked a bit on the right hand circle and he was equally willing to stay out.  I asked for a few transitions and then we finished up with some trot in hand.  I thought he might be a little up from his gallop earlier, but he stayed at the trot and with me.

Totyo whinnied regularly while Rory was out of the paddock, but Rory didn't answer him today.  After our arena work I gave him a quick brush before putting his rainsheet back on and returning him to his paddock.  Both of the darts I'd put in the blanket's neck had come out - I'll need heavier thread to redo them.

Rory has settled into his new home quite well.  He's getting fed with Totyo morning and night and is nicely respectful when the person comes with the grain buckets.  The boys play quite a lot, and all three horses share their shelter and hay bale without arguements.  Rory does always whinny when he sees me taking my other horse to or from his paddock, but only when it's the brat, never when I have another horse.  The brat just ignores Rory.

Running water

Rory with one foot in the stream

 The new barn has a stream running across the property.  It's not a real stream, but rather a drainage stream for the lake in the neighbour's field.  The BOs did a lot of work this summer to prepare for the wet seasons and there is now a neat swale running across the property out to the ditch by the road.  All but one paddock has a culvert to allow dry passage to the paddock gates, the other has a gravel base.  When I saw the water rushing along on Thursday I thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce Rory to walking through moving water.  He was very good about it and followed me across easily.  At first he tried to step clear across without getting into the water, but after a few trips back and forth he didn't worry about plopping a foot in.  We went and took a look at the neighbour's lake but didn't go wading as I didn't have suitable footwear.

The next day it snowed and the water was a black strip against the white.  I took Rory out to see that it was the same deal, and this time persuaded him to stop with his front feet in the water.  He was completely unconcerned about the water even against the snow.  Good boy!

Big boy on the cross ties.

We had a bit of longeing practice in the arena on Friday as well.  Totyo hollered for Rory while we were gone, but Rory didn't get upset about being away from his buddy.  Rory's getting pretty good about going around to the left so we did a bit of work to the right as well.  He was a little iffy about "Out" when we started, but improved with a little practice.  I asked him to go for longer without a carrot today, probably too long a couple of times.  I broke up the longeing practice with some leading and yielding, and a bit of trot in hand round the arena.  He was very good and stayed with me even when it was plain he would have liked to kick up his heels.

I borrowed the barn's measuring stick to see how tall Rory has gotten.  He's 15.1 1/2 right now.  I let him sniff the stick before measuring and he didn't mind it at all.

The new rainsheet is rubbing Rory's shoulders a bit - just roughing up the hair for now.  I had thought that might happen since the chest buckles are lower than they should be on him.  I had my needle and thread handy so I sewed a couple of darts into the neckline to raise the front.  Hopefully it will be enough.  It's tough to find blankets for the young horses.  They're neither pony nor horse proportions, and they're still growing. 

Returning to the basics

Rory had the weekend off to play with Totyo and settle into the new paddock.  On Monday I brought my other horse over to the new barn.  Rory recognized him and whinned a few times, but Brat ignored him.  They're in different paddocks, but in sight of each other.

Last night I trailed Rory around while I taught a short lesson.  He was pretty good, but a little pushy because he didn't want to stand still.  I paid just enough attention to him to get him to stand, or back up, or turn, or yield away from me as I concentrated on what my student's horse was doing in response to her aids.  Rory improved as time passed and after the lesson was done I took him for a trot in-hand around the arena.  He was very good and stayed with me quite nicely.  I had expected a break to the canter, but he was good.  Until their older buddy went into the barn for the night and Totyo was alone.  He started calling for Rory, which got Rory a little excited.  Rory called back a couple of times, but a few quick yields and turns got his focus back on me and he was well behaved as we returned to the paddock.

Today's lesson was to come into the barn, get the blanket off and stand politely on the cross ties for grooming.  He shifted a bit in the beginning, but then stood very well while I groomed.  The aisle is much narrower in the new barn so it is a different experience for him.  I was quite pleased with him.  The new rainsheet was wet on the inside along all of the stitching lines.  Fortunately most of the stitching is low so he only had a couple of small wet patches.  I'll have to clean the blanket and spray the seams with a waterproofer once he gets into the winter blanket.  I'd better spray the seams on that one too.

Nov 25, 2010 - A tour of the facilities

Nov 24 - Rory checking to make sure I'm still there.

When I went to see Rory this afternoon he was munching at the haybale along with both the other two year old, and the older horse.  I called him and he looked up and then came right over.  Totyo (the other two year old) looked like he was considering coming over as well, but decided the hay was more interesting.

I didn't want to do too much today, so we went for a little tour of the property.  Totyo started calling for Rory shortly after we left the paddock, but Rory didn't really pay much attention.  He was busy looking at all the new stuff.  I took him up to anything that really made him suspicious and he touched most of it.  Rory didn't know what to make of the mini horse, and decided not to think about her too much.  We went into the sand ring and around the paths to the various other paddocks, stopping once to say hello to the barn owner's horse.  When we turned back towards his own paddock Rory picked up speed and I had to remind him several times to stay with me.

In the arena Rory whinnied a couple of times, but then settled and we did a little bit of yielding before going back out.  I took him through the barn before going back to his paddock.  In the barn I let him have a good look around and nose blankets and stalls and whatnot.  I drew the line at chewing on halters, and had to drag him away from the one with sheepskin on the nose - that one was attractive.  After I took his halter off Rory had a good drink of water before Totyo arrived.

New digs and an old friend

Rory and the other two year old

 Today was sunny, cold and rather windy.  Looking at the forecast for the week I had decided that Wednesday or Thursday would be my best bets for taking Rory over to the new barn. It's close enough that we can go for a walk down the road, but I was a little worried about the wind, and Rory's tendency to just decide he's leaving.  He's been really good at home, but the escape at the vet clinic put me on edge again for any abnormal situation.  Walking down the road definitely counts as that.  The wind had me considering waiting until tomorrow, until I remembered that Thursday is garbage day around the barns, and if the wind didn't drop we'd have a lot more things to scare Rory.  So today it was.

I stacked the deck in my favour as much as I could.  I still have the first longeline I ever bought - a heavy cotton one.  It's not really very good for actually longeing because of the sheer weight of it, but the thickness and weight lets me get a good grip on it which made it a good choice for taking Rory down the road.  I had the longeline snapped to the rope halter, and a short nylon lead with a chain.  He wore his nylon halter under the rope one and I wrapped the chain over the noseband just in case he blew off the rope halter.  For a little protection for him I put splint boots on all four legs.  It seemed a bit silly, but if he'd jumped and bumped himself with a hoof I would have been really mad with myself for not putting the boots on.  I left his turquoise rainsheet on as well to make us more visible to traffic.

I was a little nervous setting out, and Rory was hyped up by the wind and unusual activity, but off we went.  The actual journey went quite well.  Rory stopped and looked around a couple of times, and I stopped him several times so he could turn and look when vehicles came up from behind.  The little bouncing, yapping dog was a little unnerving, but he settled quickly once we were past that house.  The cow in a field on the other side of the road was pretty scary.  The wind was blowing right from the cow field towards us and Rory didn't know what to make of the strange beast.  Again he looked, hesitated, jogged a bit but listened to me and walked safely onwards.  At the corner Rory received enthusiastic whinnies from the ponies and horses who live there.  He whinnied back once, and pushed into my space a little bit as he drifted closer to the horses.  I had no trouble pushing him back out of my space and we proceeded down the road.  The last stretch was the busiest and the narrowest road we travelled.  At one point a furnace oil truck came barrelling along towards us and slowed down before he got too close.  I waved thanks as he passed, and Rory barely looked at the truck.

It was with relief that we turned down the driveway to the new barn and navigated past the icy puddles and out to the barn.  Rory's old friend - the other foal born about a month before Rory lives at this barn and they're going to share turnout space again.  The other two year old spotted Rory and whinnied at the new horse, and Rory whinnied back.  It seemed as if they recognized each other and kept calling for a bit.  I stripped the nylon halter off and took Rory over to the gate to see the two year old and the older horse that will be his new herd.  The three nosed each other over the gate, and Rory moved away when the older horse pushed so I took him into the paddock and let him go.  Rory wanted to stay right beside me as the other two mobbed him and I ducked out through the gate pretty quickly before they could start shoving.

Rory got out of their way.  The two year old pushed a little bit, but it seemed that he was happy to have a horse he could play with.  The older horse told Rory he was boss hoss in this group a few times, and every time Rory said "Yessir!  I'm getting out of your way!" without hesitation.  He came back to me as the other horses backed off a bit and I took the front boots off, then after they'd run a bit more took the back boots off as well.  I did put his halter back on for the hind boot removal.  I took a bunch of pictures and shot a couple of minutes of video as well.

Before I left Rory was starting to play with the other two year old, and going to the hay when the older horse wasn't eating.  He was looking around at everything, and was clearly a little worried about the change, but wasn't being silly about it.  Rory's the easy one - I knew he'd just get out of the way of the other horses, but Brat's past that point and I'll be a little more concerned about how he integrates into his new group when I bring him over in a few days.

November 18, 2010 - Rory's new clothes



Rory looks good in turquoise!

 The Royal is over again for another year.  I went with the barn owner's two horses again this year as braider and groom.  The girls did well in the CSH classes.  I made a point of watching the Governor General's Cup and the Lieutenant Governor General's Cup classes for three year olds.  It gave me a good idea of what I need to prepare for if Rory qualifies for those classes in 2011.  There was one horse that reminded me of Rory - with similar conformation/flaws - who got pulled into the top ten in the GG's Cup and top five in the LG's Cup.  It's encouraging.  I hit the trade show and did some damage to my budget, but everything was a good deal.  I got Rory's winter turnout the first night for 20% off.  They also had rainsheets on sale and I bought one for Rory the morning we left as it is still too warm for the insulated blanket on a furry horse.

These blankets are advertised as being adjustable up or down a full size from the listed size, so I bought one size too large for Rory's current size (he's 72" right now).  He's at the age where he's still growing and could need the larger size before the end of winter.  The ability to go up yet another size also opens up the possibility that he could wear the blankets again next year - assuming his buddies don't rip them apart.  I wasn't willing to spend a lot of money on blankets that he quite probably wouldn't be able to wear another year so I went with a "cheap" brand.  So far I'm quite pleased with the blankets. 

I put the rainsheet on Rory when I got home, snugged it down as small as it would go and it fits him quite nicely.  The top chest strap is a bit lower than I'd like, but that seems to be a common issue with smaller blanket sizes. The rainsheet is one of the ones that has a mesh lining behind the nylon shoulder area, and as I expected the mesh attempted to crawl off over Rory's tail as he ran about his field for a few minutes.  Mesh can't move forwards against the hair so the blanket ends up jammed tight around the horse's shoulders, and the high neck styles have the high neck pulled back and rolled in - which funnels the rain neatly down inside the blanket.  I took the blanket off, and took it home with me so I could spend a couple of hours sewing a nylon lining over the mesh area.  Normally I wouldn't buy a mesh lined blanket, but this one was inexpensive enough that I was willing to do the work to cover it.  We had a torrential rain overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday and Rory was nice and dry under the rainsheet when I brought him in on Wednesday.

Rory's still a little uncertain about the putting on and removal of the blanket, but he doesn't try to escape.  Today I sort of squashed it together over his back and wiggled it around and made it rustle before actually taking it off.  We worked a bit on the longeing concepts again today.  Another horse was being longed at the other end of the arena and we occasionally had to stop and watch for a bit, especially when she started to canter.  Rory was good.  He's getting the "walk on" very well (same command as in hand), "out" is coming, and "whoa" isn't too bad either - depending on how distracted he is.  Tightening the surcingle in the arena was a bit of a wigglefest, but I got it snugged up.  He doesn't have sidereins or anything like that just yet, but I have him wearing boots, surcingle and bridle just so he grows accustomed to doing things with tack on.  Many of the jumps have moved into the arena for the winter so the far corners are full of equipment.  Rory was wary of them at first, but was fine once he had a chance to go and take a look - and stick his nose into the box of flowers.

Earlier this week we went for a walk around outside.  Partway down the road, round the track.  Rory half bolted a couple of times, but turned back to me when he felt the pressure on his halter without a lot of effort on my part.  I was quite pleased with that given his baby tendency to just decide he's leaving.  We're facing a longish walk down the road in the next couple of weeks.  I'll pick a quiet time of day, but we're going to be working on the longeing and yielding to pressure on the halter leading up to the day.

November 11, 2010 - Did I hear that right?

Yesterday I went out to feed Rory and found him and a couple of other horses sleeping flat out in the sun.  I went out into the field to take pictures in part because Rory and the brat were lying nose to nose though about five feet apart.  Rory got up when I got close enough, but the brat couldn't be bothered to do more than tilt his head without lifting it off the ground, before going back to sleep.  I took Rory out of the field and did a bit of walking and body moving exercises before letting him have his feed.  I was watching him eat when he jerked his head slightly and let out a minute squeal, so short that I wasn't convinced I'd heard it or that he was responsible for it.  A moment or two later he opened his mouth and dropped out the half chewed feed.  I wondered if he'd found a foreign object, poked through the gooey bits and did find a chunk of something.  I thought it was a bit of badly processed feed, but as I brushed off the feed it was revealed as a chunk of tooth! 

I think it's about half of a molar cap.  It was really neat to see and I was surprised at how polished the grinding surface was.  The outside perimeter and the central bit that are harder than the rest of the tooth were clearly high spots with the bit in between smoothly falling away.  Very cool!  I never got a tooth or chunk of tooth from the brat.

Today we went for a little walk further down the road than we have gone before.  Rory was looking about and very alert in his cautious way, but he was very good.  We passed a neighbour loading clanging metal things into a metal utility trailer, and the little flapping Canadian flag at the end of the next house's driveway, and watched a car come towards us and go past.  He was very good.  I heard an unusual crunch while Rory was eating today, but there wasn't anything to be found in the food he spit out afterwards.

November 5, 2010 - Patience grasshopper

It snowed on the weekend.  Not even the end of October and we had a significant amount of wet snow fall on Saturday night.  Rory was a little chilly when I brought him in to eat his dinner, but by the time he'd finished he was comfortable.  I sent him back out into the snow with the admonishment to go into the shelter with another horse for warmth.  He's not really furry yet, but I know he does go into the shelter - alone if he decides he needs to go in, so I wasn't concerned about him.  I checked on him again on Sunday morning and he was fine.  He will be getting a winter blanket shortly, but it's going to have some insulation and would be a bit warm for him yet.  According to "those in the know" we are supposed to get a winter with normal temperatures and more snow this year.  Normal temperatures being colder than the last few warm winters we've had.

Yesterday I took Rory with me into the arena while I was teaching a lesson.  He had to follow me around, get out of my way and stand politely as I moved or stopped to follow or watch a student.  It was a bit boring for him, but I did ask him to do something specific fairly regularly and rewarded a good response with a tiny chunk of carrot.  If I ignored him for too long Rory started to get a little mouthy, but his only reward for that was a bop on the nose and being sent back out of my space.  It was a good lesson in patience for him. After the lesson was over I spent a few minutes with him getting him to move his body in various directions, and trotting over the three poles I'd set up for my students.  He was happy to move and cantered neatly over the trot poles several times before actually consenting to maintain the trot.  He was very good and got more carrot chunks and lots of rubs for being good.  I fed him and let him back out.

October 29, 2010 - Right place, right time, with camera in hand

I so often see the horses out in their fields doing something, or just standing in a really nice group that would make a good picture.  Half the time I don't have my camera handy, the other half the horses move before it's turned on and ready to take a pic.  Then there are those occasions when everything comes together.  Yesterday morning I was out at sunrise, grabbed my camera and wandered out to take some pics.  When I got down to where I could see my boys Rory was standing in a good position and he helpfully watched me as I crouched down, fired up the camera and took several pictures.

I haven't done a whole lot with him this week.  More cold hosing and leg wrapping which are old hat to him now.  He stood at the washrack today and whinnied to his sister a few times, but didn't move while I hosed his leg.  There wasn't any food involved either.  He's quite good at picking up the desired behaviour with food reinforcement, and he keeps it as I reduce the amount of food involved - sometimes right back to a little carrot slice as I put him back out.  The leg is pretty much back to normal size now, and had only a slightly warm spot inside the pastern today.  I hosed it anyway as cold never hurts.

October 26, 2010 - It is said "Pride goeth before a fall"

Rory looked big when he was standing next to me today!

Rory went to the vet clinic today. His leg was even fatter and hotter on Monday morning after a night in with bute and Back on Track wrap.  The hot spots were in different places yet again.  I walked him for a good bit, briskly with some pauses to remind him of his manners.  Having spent the night inside he had more energy and a greater desire to return to the herd making him more distracted than usual.  He was pretty good once I realized why he wasn't quite as well behaved and got a little quicker at catching the warning signs of trouble.  After the walk I cold hosed his leg and put another poultice wrap on for the day.  I went back in the evening to remove the wrap and hose the leg again.  The swelling was greatly down, but the pastern was still swollen and had a hot spot on the inside towards the back.  I wrapped with the Back on Track no-bow again and turned him back out.

Another horse was going to the vet clinic on Tuesday (today) and I arranged to take Rory as well to save having the vet come out to the farm on Wednesday.  It was Rory's first time on a trailer in over two years (the last time was the breeder's show when he was two months old).  He walked up without any problem. Backed off a little crooked, but nice and easy.  Very well done considering it was the first time he'd backed off a trailer.

Rory was a little wiggly inside the examination area, but when we came out to do flexions and jog he was awesome. He trotted when I said trot, stayed with me, whoa'd when asked, allowed the vet to squinch his legs a couple of times... He was a STAR and I was bursting with pride in him!

Remember where I started - "Pride goeth..."

So then we had to wait while the other horse got looked at. The vet sent us off to graze while we waited. Rory didn't want to graze, so we walked, stood, walked some more, tried to graze again without any more luck. Anyway, the last time I tried to get him to graze he put his head down and grabbed a bit of grass, then squealed, kicked up his heels and bolted and I couldn't hold him. He ran. And ran. And ran some more. Off to the furthest paddocks, across a ditch. Down the side of the far paddocks, back (past me) and down the other side, vanishing into the woods... I set off after him. Before I got to the trees I spotted him running across behind the fields and turned around to run back and try to stop him in the narrower alley between fence and tree lines. This time I didn't bother with soothing words, but stood big and waved my arms at him. He broke to trot. Then came to a halt and waited for me to collect him. He's fine. And he was quite well behaved for the rest of our wait, most of which we spent walking back and forth to cool him out with the occasional halt, back up, do not get ahead of me reminder.

Ah well, pride goeth before a fall and all that He's been doing really well at home, but now I know not to trust him an inch away from home. At least not until he gets used to it.

And the fat leg? A minor sprain.  Not lymphangitis, not suspensory or tendon tears.

The funny, and kind of embarassing part is that while he was trotting and cantering about I was thinking "Geez he looks amazing!  I want to take a picture of that!"  and then had to keep saying very sternly "No, catch him before he does hurt himself!"  But boy, does he ever move nicely!

October 24, 2010 - A bleak day

It's getting colder, and it was threatening rain this morning when I went out to see how Rory was doing.  Apart from being a bit muddy at the bottom the wrap was as I left it yesterday.  I was very happy to see that the swelling was well down with just a bit left where horses get wind puffs.  I cleaned off the dry poultice, cold hosed and put another poultice wrap on for the day as there were still slightly warm spots.  While I was working on him a name on the radio news report popped into my awareness.  I knew that name, and I knew she was on a trip with her husband and son - how many people could fit that combination of facts who would appear in a local news broadcast after getting into an accident on the other side of the continent...  Sadly it was my friend who died on Friday when an oncoming car crossed the line and crashed into hers.  Her baby son survived by some miracle, but her death left a void in the lives of many people.  My brother called me a bit later after I got home to let my know our great-uncle had passed away (not unexpected) on Thursday.  It becomes difficult to be optimistic about injuries when so much weighs heavily on one's spirit.

I went back out to see Rory this evening and found his leg swollen again.  Not as badly as yesterday, and the mud from today's rain may have just strained the injury again (if it is simply a sprain), but it was not encouraging.  I cleaned off the poultice, cold hosed his leg again, and decided to give him some bute and leave him in overnight.  He didn't get to eat his grain while I hosed him this time and he was very good about standing still without it.  I didn't do another poultice, but wrapped with a Back on Track no-bow instead.  He mostly cooperated, only lifting his leg once when another horse was brought into the barn.  We were blocking the stall door and Rory wanted to go and say hello.  I left him happily munching his dinner, after I'd gotten him some water, hay and shavings.  Hopefully he'll be better in the morning.

October 23, 2010 - First poultice wrap

Rory waiting while Brat drinks

                Rory came in with a swollen left hind fetlock today.  His pastern was also a little swollen, and there was some heat.  I curried and brushed the mud off his leg as I looked for cuts or wounds.  Apart from a couple of tiny scabs I didn’t find anything.  Another horse on the farm has lymphangitis right now which made me wonder if that’s Rory’s issue.  I’m hoping not.  I decided to start with cold hosing and set up his dinner bucket at the outdoor wash rack before taking him out.  He didn’t like me moving the hose, but quickly accepted it as the food was more interesting.  When I turned on the water Rory jumped forward.  After I’d pushed him back he didn’t jump forward again, but he wanted too and his hind feet came up very close to his front feet.  I let the water run and after a couple of minutes Rory finished chewing the mouthful of grain he had and went back for more.  By the end of the hosing session he was totally unconcerned, even when I did drag the hose around.

               

We went back into the barn and I checked his leg again.  The hot spots were still there, and specific around his fetlock.  I think he probably just twisted it, or slipped a bit in the mud when trying to get out of another horse’s way.  I decided to put a poultice wrap on and asked another boarder to keep him still and bearing weight on that leg while I wrapped it.  Rory stood still as I put the poultice on, and the wet newspaper, then shifted his weight off the leg as I started wrapping the no-bow.  With a little encouragement he stood pretty well for most of the wrap, lifting his foot once, but not pulling or kicking, and he did put it down with a little push on his chest.  I thought he might wave the leg about a bit when he first took a step with the wrap in place, but he seemed indifferent and wanted to check out the pile of newspaper and poultice bucket instead.

               

On the way back out to the field we came past the corner of the standing stall barn and Rory leaped away when he spotted the two dog crates sitting beside the barn.  Every bit of his 3/32nds arabian blood was showing as he huffed and snorted and arched his neck.  I just kept asking him to come over and he did touch the closer crate and then settle down.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of him in arab pose.  He looked a lot like his arabian great granddaddy (also a chestnut with white).

               

After I put him out he hung around and licked my palm when no more carrots appeared.  Brat decided he wanted a drink and walked over to me (as I was on the way).  He snapped at Rory before going on to the waterer.  Rory came back to me for one last carrot check before following brat.  At first he stood at a polite distance, but then he sneaked a bit closer.  We have automatic waterers with a bowl that only one horse can drink out of at a time.  Rory’s trick is to stand very close to the drinking horse and stick his nose in the bowl when the other horse lifts it’s head and looks around.   I was quite surprised that brat allowed that familiarity with nothing more than a nose gesture to move Rory out of the bowl when he wanted more water.

October 20, 2010 – A windy walk

It was very windy today, but the sun was shining and I decided to take Rory for an afternoon walk.  We did a little tour around the property and I took some pictures of him, other horses, the new shelters.  Rory had to stand and behave himself while I messed with the camera.  One of his herdmates was being ridden and Rory spotted him across the field.  He whinnied and looked, but didn’t try to leave.

We visited some older horses who are on single turnout, and we went to see his mum and yearling sister.  Mum wasn’t impressed and squealed at him.  Little sister was very interested in him, but he didn’t like her constant baby mouthing and lost interest very quickly.  He was a very good boy today.

October 15, 2010 - Chasing monsters

Rory came in as usual and had his breakfast.  Afterwards we went for a little tour around the farm and along the road.  As we went along the road a truck hauling a trailer came rattling along towards us.  I got Rory to jog towards it until we could drop off the road into the jump field.  We had time to get well away from the road, but despite the distance Rory jumped forward when the trailer rattled past.  He’s not trying to bolt as much any more.  When he jumps he’ll hit the end of the lead rope and turn back to me.  We went round the jump field and walked over some poles and cavaletti before going back towards the barn.

It happened that the truck and trailer were making a delivery to our barn and they were just pulling out of the yard as we got back.  I jogged Rory partway down the driveway “chasing” the trailer.  At first he was worried, but as the trailer kept going he relaxed and stopped thinking about it.

October 2, 2010 - Introducing longeing

Rory learns to walk in a circle around me without coming
closer to me as he goes around

Today I brought Rory in, put him on the crossties and treated him like I would the brat.  I went to get his grooming kit, then later to get his bridle, the saddle blanket and surcingle, and then again  to get his boots.  I groomed him, picked out his feet and pulled the crossties out of his mouth.  He was a little suspicious of the saddle blanket (it’s been a while since I put it on him) so I did the rub all over with folded up blanket, repeating with less folded blanket until he was okay with it.  After that the surcingle was no big deal.  He didn’t mind me doing up the surcingle’s girth around his belly either.  I put his boots on, then his bridle and nylon halter over top.  The halter seemed tight and I had to let the crown out a hole.

I had in mind to teach him about turning with “rein” pressure (on the halter, not bit) today, but when we went out to the arena it had stuff for tonight’s barn party in a couple of corners.  The big back door and one side door were open too which was a little distracting.  I started just with “touch” going up to the piles of picnic tables, then to the flatbed trailer that does duty as a band stand.  He was quick to touch the tables, and a little slower to touch the trailer, but he did it and got his carrot chunk.

We did some review of walking and halting, backing, turning and such before I went and got a short longe whip out of the corner.  I’d wanted a dressage whip, but there wasn’t one there, and I thought the longe whip would suffice if I wrapped the lash around the stick.  Then we started to introduce the idea of longeing.  He only got about 3-4’ of lead rope away from me, and I walked a smaller circle inside his.  He got the idea of going forward without being led, and going out on the circle rather than cutting in towards me.  Carrot chunks helped him figure out when he was doing the right thing.  We did a little bit both ways, then I put the whip back and picked up his piles after the BO came in with the tractor.   A friend popped in and I got her to take some photos while Rory showed off his longe lesson and some trotting in hand. 



Trotting in hand



We did a bit of walking around, visiting people, and finished with a walk round the track before going back to the barn.  Rory was pretty good going around the track except for one attempt at breaking away back for the barn.  He kicked out in my direction again when he spun away, but fortunately was far enough away that it wasn’t even close to hitting me.  I was focused on stopping him and not in any position to reprimand it specifically.  He did stop, and got a little back up, turn, move your bum away work before we continued on.  We stopped for a minute to see three horses that came up to the fence, and after that he stopped trying to trot and was more willing to just walk actively.

September 11, 2010 - The key to the mint

I have discovered the key to Rory's mind. Food. He is incredibly food oriented and can be motivated with food. My QH loved his carrots, but couldn't put behaviour and carrot reward together (except for carrot stretches, but of course he had his lips on the carrot). Brat is totally not food oriented, but did figure out clicker training (however at first he would give up on stretching for carrots if he didn't get it on the third try - he's not too bad now). Rory on the other hand figured out that he needed to stand still and keep his nose to himself on the crossties yesterday in order to earn a mouthful of grain. He realized that following the bucket when I set it down gets him nothing but put back in position, nosing me earned a light bop, and fidgeting made the bucket stay away even longer. I was actually quite impressed because I wasn't even using a bridge like a clicker (though I think we will get to that for later training).

Today he had to stand outside his field and wait while I stepped away, or turned my back, or messed with the grain bucket in order to earn a mouthful from that bucket. He was again quite quick to figure it out, although being just two and not on cross ties there were other interesting things around to be distracted by.

Now I must get creative and see how I can harness this awesome power of food!

September 3, 2010 – A month later



Rory spotted me sitting in the field and was a little concerned.



Rory's been busy growing and eating. In the last week or so I've been adding some in hand work to his trips into the barn (for breakfast) and back to the field. Mostly strengthening stuff rather than manners stuff, though we're quick to get little manners lessons should he step over the line in any way. Already he'll walk with more energy so I'm not constantly asking him to walk on - I'm enjoying that. We spent a couple of weeks trotting the alley between paddocks that we must travel to get from his field to the barn. I started by trotting the full length and stopping at the end, then I would say "whoa" and slam on the brakes without giving any cue with the lead - Rory was expected to stop with me, and after a few false starts (stops?) he got the idea. Then I started slamming on the brakes randomly along the alley. At first he missed every time because he wasn't expecting to stop partway, but then he figured out that he needed to stop whenever and wherever I did. We now trot down the driveway and back up every morning - twice today, once before and once after breakfast. He's getting really good at getting into the trot when I bounce a step before actually starting to run. The driveway has a bit of a slope - uphill on the way back, naturally. So I'm getting tired, and slowing down anyway when we hit the steepest bit, but Rory is pretty good about slowing his trot and staying with me if I can puff out an "easy" or tug a bit on the rope.

Rory still seems little to me. I was looking at him in the field the other day as he was standing by the big monster horse, and he looked small but not tiny any more. I think it's because I'm still looking down on the top of his bum rather than across the top.

He's quite a character sometimes - not as bold as brat was/is. I decided not to ride last week and went out into the field with my stool and sketchbook and sat down near brat who was off on his own. The others looked up as I walked across the top part of the field, but they forgot about me. Brat eyed me, grazed away, grazed across in front of me and eventually (by happenstance of course) found himself nibbling the grass at my feet. He got a bit of carrot and then grazed away once that was gone. Brat and the others ended up at the top end of the field as they went for water. Afterwards Rory noticed me sitting in the field. He didn't recognize me and did the giraffe "what's that?" and "do you guys see that?" as the others all nibbled on the grass ignoring me. Eventually he cautiously came down the slope, but far away by the fence, stopped and looked, went back up the slope on an angle, working a bit closer. Before he could muster the courage to come over by himself his sister saw me and came to see if I had anything for her and Rory fell in behind. I think he would have reached me eventually, but it's definitely not in his character to poke his nose carelessly into new things.

I must measure him soon, and see just how big he is.

Oh yes, my shoulder is almost completely healed. I avoided doing certain things with that arm for a good bit, and still don't do certain things (like sleep on that side - which is HARD! ) but at least I can brush my horse with that hand again.

July 30, 2010 – A number of updates

Splint boots on the back legs for the first time - no worries!

Well it's been a while since I posted an update.

His best buddy (the other two year old) left about two weeks ago, along with two other mares in his field. For the first week Rory would stand at the gate and whinny whenever anyone took a horse out. He's gotten past that now.

I tried the flymask again, now that he doesn't have his buddy to pull it off for him and he's left it on for several days now. I did take the ears off to make it harder for another horse to pull it off.

Rory has had one pair of splint boots on. We started with them on the front legs and he didn't mind me putting them on, but didn't know how to walk when I led him out and lurched sideways for a few steps first. Once he got used to them he was fine, and didn't do anything when I moved them to his back legs. (Brat STILL waves his hind legs in the air when I put boots or polos on his hind legs.)

One day a couple of weeks ago it was stinking hot and my morning routine was disrupted so I didn't bring Rory in for his breakfast. I decided not to bother that day, but went out into the field to give the boys a pat and a carrot as I do on days I don't ride. Rory looked up when I came into the field and went back to eating hay. He looked at me a couple of times before going deliberatly back to munching. Rory ALWAYS comes to me when he sees me, whether I call him or not. I talked to him and asked him if he was going to come and see me, then told him if he didn't want to that was fine - I had other horses to talk to. I went and gave the brat his carrots, pat and check over, then gave Rory's carrot to his sister. Rory was still munching. I thought it was funny that he was so obviously ignoring me, and left the field without going over to him. The next morning I went out and called him for breakfast and he whinnied and came over faster than normal. So who taught who a lesson?

We've done more in hand work and he's mostly very good about trotting with me and adjusting speed in response to light tugs on the lead rope. He'll stop with me too. Last week he had a turd day and keep running faster and refusing to slow down even after several stop/back/try again corrections. I was doing some body moving work with him to get him listening to me and he suddenly leaped away, spun and kicked at me - TWICE! In the leap/spin away he wrenched my shoulder (hoping it's just sprained and not a torn rotator cuff). He was far enough away that when he kicked he didn't come close to hitting me, and I was being determined that he wasn't going to get away from me again so I couldn't reprimand that behaviour. I actually had time to realize my shoulder hurt and wonder if I'd have to let go before making the decision that the little turd was NOT going to get away. We did some more body moving exercises after he'd stopped and he relaxed a bit and behaved himself. Ah well - stuff happens and he's been very good ever since.

July 9, 2010 - Happy Birthday little man!

Two years ago today a tiny long-legged chestnut foal was born. He got to his feet more quickly than any foal his breeder had seen, and was in short order cavorting about the stall, even trying to jump over his mum before she got up (he got stuck).

Three days later I started falling for him. Two weeks after he was born I started this thread and all my EMG friends encouraged me to buy him.

He's had the bridle on three times now, and is working in hand over raised poles to encourage him to lift his feet a little more. The chiropractor adjusted him again today and his SI had stayed put. Before she came I pulled some of his mane again and discovered afterwards that he has quite a nice neck when it's not covered by a scruffy flyaway mane.

Happy Birthday my little man! Rory is officially TWO years old today!

June 4, 2010 – First bridle

Red letter day for my little man! Rory wore a bridle for the very first time. He opened his mouth easily when I stuck my thumb in and took the bit like a pro! Then he mouthed and wiggled his tongue for a moment to try and spit it out, but after that it was really no big deal for him.

He keeps demonstrating an essentially cool nature. Earlier this week he was eating his breakfast in a stall with one of those metal gates (with the V for them to put their heads out) and he got a little agitated about a dog barking a little way off outside the barn. Now I say agitated, but there was no screaming or pulling or pooping type activity. He wanted out and considered going over the stall gate. Rory stuck his head over first, tucked his bum under and gently lifted his front feet off the ground as he pushed his head forward. I tie him because he's more comfortable that way, so he couldn't get his head very far over the gate. He tried twice, but never thrashed or banged the gate or anything more forceful than the push forward against the halter. I was watching him to see how he'd take it since his momma tended to have meltdowns if she was taken into the barn alone (she improved with work, but I was worried Rory might have inherited that tendency). He swung his bum round a couple of times as he tried to turn around in the stall I think to find the source of the noise, but he stopped and stood still (on alert, but still) for a minute. That's when I went in and took him back out to his field. A couple of days later the dog was at it again when Rory was eating and this time he just kept eating.

Rory always comes over when he sees me in the field, and is mostly coming when I call - he'll look around and comes when he sees me.

I ordered red & black splint boots for him but haven't tried putting them on yet. I think I want the video running for that one, though he may not be any more concerned about them than he was about the bit.
And I pulled some of his mane the other day. Much to my surprise he didn't mind it at all (good thing with the thickness he's got).

It's been nasty hot here for a bit so I haven't done too much in the way of walking Rory around. The horseflies are likely to carry us away! We did have a trot down and up the driveway the other night. He's getting really good about stopping when I do, and slowing his trot when I give a little tug on the lead, and going faster when I run faster.

May 22, 2010 - An eventful week

Well, Rory had an eventful week. The flymask lasted about three days before it came off. Two more on/off days and I gave up when he had it off in under two hours on the last day. So he gets sunblock instead - which he considers nasty. He doesn't like it, but doesn't give me any trouble about putting it on either. He knows better.

Last Friday (a week ago) Rory had an inspection and adjustment from the chiropractor. I'd noticed some newly prominent vertebral bumps along his spine, and that he was lying down outside a lot more than normal so I figured if the bumps were still there he could be inspected when the chiropractor came to do the brat. Rory was a good boy, but he was a little weirded out when she bent his head round to check his neck. The stepstool was a little daunting, but after the first adjustments in his neck he felt much better and was relaxed enough to stand quietly and trust that nothing bad would happen when she stood over him. There was a fair bit to adjust in his body, but it's likely that most of it came from some scramble or slip or some such. By catching it now I won't have to worry about him developing to support the misalignment. I am convinced that the brat's SI issues comes from when he was badly cast as a weanling. We were very happy to find that brat needed no SI adjustments this time!

The next excitement came early this week when Rory started staying out at night. He's now on 24 hour turnout. I've wanted to to this for a while now, but felt he was ribby enough that he needed his two grain meals a day. I am still feeding him his grain, but I will not be able to feed him twice seven days a week. He's gotten to the point where the ribs are easily felt, but just seen when he bends away and sticks his barrel out to one side. I brought him into the barn and put him in a box stall one day and he didn't know what to do with himself. He ate a few mouthfuls, turned around, looked through the windows and bars, checked the shavings, and so on. I ended up tying him because I didn't want him in forever, and he instantly relaxed and put his nose back in the feeder. Silly boy. He didn't mind being alone - no screaming or pacing or anything like that. Other times I have tied him outside the gate to his field with the bucket also tied to the fence. That is a non-event for him and he'll happily stand and munch.

One day we went for a walk around the track after he ate. Rory was good until we got about halfway round and spotted the other horse coming the other way. Rory got a little up and so I turned him around quickly and got him to settle then turned around to continue. The other rider had turned around too and the horse was going away from us, so Rory got a little up as he wanted to go faster and follow. We had a very little discussion about walking properly, and he was good until we reached the end of the backstretch and some of the horses in the fields whinnied at him. The group in the infield paddock actually galloped around a little bit, which naturally set Rory off more. We had a larger discussion and he reared and tried to pull away from me, neither of which got him anywhere. I did some very sharp turns with him and made him back up and move his bum sideways for a minute, and got his attention back on me. There were a few more times when his attention wandered and once he considered rearing when I wouldn't allow him to run off with the galloping horses, but I saw it coming and checked it before he got anywhere near doing it. Not the most pleasant of walks, but a good training session - I was quite pleased.

Another day he was very well behaved while getting his feet trimmed despite having to stand by himself for about half an hour partway through the process.

Today he had to stand and move with me out in the dressage ring as I helped a fellow boarder with her dressage tests. He had one little fit when the horse that had been working in the grass ring went back to the barn, but again I provided discipline, work and praise. He was actually very good overall. I showed him the paper tests right when we went out so I wouldn't have to worry about shuffling them later and Rory was so distracted by the noises from across the street that he didn't even notice the paper until I rustled it on his shoulder. He jumped because he hadn't been paying attention, but that was the reaction I was trying to get so that I could show him they were harmless. It only took about a minute for him to realize it was nothing to worry about and stand while I rubbed the paper over his neck, shoulders and back from both sides. Another good training session for him.

When I go out into the field Rory tends to be quick to come over now, hoping I'm there to take him out for his grain. I'm hoping he'll come when I call soon.

I've been admiring him while he's eating outside his field. Right now his body proportions are quite nice and he looks good. I'm just waiting for the next growth spurt.

May 12, 2010 – Another flymask

Keeping his distance from the older mare who didn't
recognize that it was just Rory

I went to Greenhawk's sale last week and picked up a few items (I made a list, stuck to it, and even didn't buy something that was on the list after deciding I really didn't need it). One of the items was a Greenhawk cheapie long nose flymask for Rory. The weather promptly got cold and miserable so I didn't see any point in putting the mask on him (especially since I don't think TOY is going to let Rory wear it for very long.

I put it on today. I brought Rory out of the field after letting the brat go. Rory jumped a bit when I ripped the velcro open, but settled right away and didn't mind me putting the mask on over his ears and stuffing the sides and nose under the halter. It fit quite well (arab size). The long nose doesn't come down as far as I expected, but it should help provide some sun protection. Once the mask was on and I'd taken a couple of pics we went back to the field and I turned him loose.

The other horses decided that they didn't recognize this new horse in the field and Rory was very shortly mobbed, and shortly after that involved in a tear about the field. A couple of the mares were obnoxious, one going so far as to push between Rory and Toy and then turn and kick at Rory when she realized he was just the same little poop yearling. Rory had enough sense to dodge, but got stuck between her bum and the three year old's bum, bouncing back and forth a couple of times before squeaking between the three year old and the fence to get free. The three year old didn't threaten him at all, he was just feeling a little picked on by then. Toy was at first scared of the masked Rory, and then fascinated, becoming obnoxious as he tried to get a close look (and taste?) of the flymask. I kept checking through the day, but Rory was still wearing the mask when I left early this evening.

I took a bunch of pictures, but of course they are not great because he's wearing a flymask.

Toy was fascinated by the new mask

May 1, 2010 – What happened to my little foal?

Brat on the left, Rory on the right

I went out to get Rory yesterday and found him standing next to the brat at the fence as the herd watched the new horses in the next field. I took a bum shot of the two of them just to record how close Rory is to the brat's height already. I was looking at the photo again today and Rory's knees and hocks are larger than the brat's. So obviously I realize that he's grown up a lot, and is no longer my little boy, but when I saw the photo of me standing next to him I was shocked. He doesn't look that big from my point of view when I'm standing next to him! Three of the horses in his field are very big too (16.3 and up) and so I'm most often seeing him as the little boy next to the big horse.

After the photos I took him for a walk around the track. We had to start with some more involved in hand work in the sand ring and around the jumps because he decided that he couldn't walk. We walked around the jumps, halted backed up, moved his bum over, and so on. Rory eyed the horses in the paddocks, and settled down. We walked around and over the cavaletti and he did his figure eight around/over one cavaletti (while I stand in the middle) exercise. He didn't do it as well as he does inside, but there were a lot of distractions around. At one point he managed to step on a tire and it didn't fizz him at all. He stood there sniffing another tire for a minute before stepping over them. Once he'd settled down we did go for the planned tour around the track and he was good. We had to halt and back up a few times when he got a little ahead of me, but not too many. When we came onto the stretch towards home the horses on either side of the track ran over to the fence to see Rory, and then ran up and down in their paddocks. This was rather a lot of excitement for Rory and we had to turn around several times before he and they settled down enough for us to walk politely back to the barn and out to his field.

April 24, 2010 – Another milestone!

Rory's sister with Rory out in the field

Rory passed another milestone this week. I brought him in for the night and put him in his stall. He was all by himself in the barn, and his grain wasn't even in the feeder yet. Apart from wanting to know where his dinner was he was fine. He didn't fuss but started eating his hay. He's in a separate small barn that only houses three horses at the moment and they usually bring Rory in last. I stayed for a few minutes and filled the three water buckets. No whinnying, no pawing or other fussing, just calm hay munching. Even when I left him and went to get his dinner he just kept munching. I fed him and put the other horses feeds in their stalls and then headed for home.

I was so happy with him because his mum was the worst for being fussy and screaming and fidgety when she was brought in alone for any reason. She was a real PITA on the cross ties. Rory is very alert, but stands very well on cross ties now. I won't even qualify that with a "for his age" because he's better than half the horses in the barn already!

Rory's ribs are disappearing again. He must be getting ready for a new growth spurt.

April 15, 2010 – Standing alone

Today Rory had to stand by himself on the crossties while I brought in another horse for the farrier. He was a very good boy for the most part. He did get one crosstie into his mouth and goobered it up - which I found when I put my hand on it. I did get a decent grooming session in and a fair bit of hair off.

Rory's obviously still having fun playing with the other horses as he's got a collection of bumps and scrapes and bites that he keeps adding to. The brat is expressing some jealousy and doesn't want the little poop anywhere near him when I'm nearby. Rory got nipped on his ribs when he stood too close this evening. I have hope that Rory will figure out that he'd better move when the brat shoots him a "git!" look. Every other horse in the field can be charmed by the little boy, but not the brat!