January 1, 2012 - Happy New Year

Rory's leg is about back to normal and I took him out yesterday to get him thinking about working again.  I worked him in hand looking for him to focus on me and show good manners.  We trotted in-hand, then trotted over poles in-hand, and got him backing up, and moving his body as directed.

I set up my rein hold for an in hand leg yield.  Rory got distracted by noises from outside at first, got quite snorty and even did a bit of trot leg yield along the wall because he was worried.  I turned on the radio to cover the outside noises and he heard something that set him off and he broke away.  He trotted around the far end once then came back to me when I walked out into the middle of the arena.

We went back to walk, halt, turn, and back on the lead.  After some quiet walking with lots of turns and direction changes, Rory started to settle a bit.  We went over the poles again.  I finished with a little leg yield in hand, but he wasn't really focused enough to work in hand on the reins.

Today we did some more in hand work before I let him loose for some free play.

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.

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.