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.

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!

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!

January 15, 2010 – An old pro

Today Rory came into the barn and stood on the crossties like an old pro - yes, really cross tied. He politely picked up his feet and let me pick them out. He moved over so I could brush each side. He stood by himself while I went to the tack room to retrieve his grooming kit. He was very good.

Time to dig out the baby bridle!

November 8, 2009 – More cross ties

I've had Rory in twice in the last week for more crosstie training. Today he actually genuinely was on the crossties AND I even left him for a few seconds three times to retrieve brushes, shovel and then dump his pile off the shovel into the wheelbarrow. He was very good. He did try to follow me when I went for the shovel, but I was close when he hit the limit of the ties and I went back to reassure him, push him back and have him stand while I moved away. He was a good bit cleaner when I took him back out and we went around doing some in-hand trot practice. He was good for that too.

When we went back to his field the siblings were lined up and hanging over the gate. The siblings being Toy, his two year old and five year old sisters. The sisters are large horses. The two year old is 16h+ already, and the five year old over 17h. Toy is not that much smaller than they are! Okay, I grant that his mane was fuzzing up over his withers, and the two year old was standing in the low spot, but still! I hope Rory doesn't feel the need to keep up with Toy or he'll end up too big for me!

September 28, 2009 – Introducing cross ties

Toy's two year old sister and Rory nibbling together

Rory has the "check hand first" thing down pat now. He sometimes lips hopefully after sniffing, but mostly he noses and then moves his nose away if there is no treat present. I make sure he gets a little reminder not to lip when he does it.

Today we practiced cross ties. I use one cross tie (the one on the far side of the horse, and then loop my long lead through the other tie ring to make the second cross tie and hold the end so I can control the amount of pressure on that side. It's kind of a pain to swap when I change sides, but after being squashed by a horse pulling back who swung to the solid cross tie side (vs the bungee tie side) I want the solid tie on the other side. Rory was a little edgy because he was the only horse in the barn, but he was very good. He didn't pull or wiggle while I groomed. The grooming was secondary to the cross tie training, but he was good about that too.

I have decided to leave his mane wild and woolly for the winter. It will help keep his neck warm and dry and I can trim it up in the spring. It's not as if we were going to a show or anything.