Trailer Practice and a trail walk
Had a fabulous afternoon at the barn yesterday. Spent some time just hanging out in the pasture and watching the horses. I still can’t figure out exactly where Lola is in the pasture hierarchy. I’m pretty sure Gracie (thoroughbred) is the top, and little Simon (mini) is at the bottom, but I’m not sure about Lola and Holly (Belgian draft). I’ve seen them both bossing each other around.
Lola got a really good grooming. She is still shedding like crazy. I have been coming home from the barn just covered in white hair. She’s starting to really relax and enjoy being groomed I think. She’s great with her feet now. I don’t even have to think about picking them up. Yesterday I actually started not only picking them up, but also stretching her legs out in front of her like the farrier does when he trims her. I figure the more I do with her legs and feet, the easier time the farrier will have.
A woman at the barn yesterday was telling me how she had to give her 10 year old horse tranquilizers to have her feet trimmed. Apparently the horse had been abused in the past and she just couldn’t stand having her feet handled. Very sad. I hope she is able to work through it. I’d love to teach her Parelli’s friendly game, but I don’t think she is interested.
Lola and I played the friendly game yesterday with my hands, the carrot stick, the lead rope, and the savvy string. I’ve also been playing it with whatever kids toys I find around the barn including a plastic cone, shovels, buckets, plastic bats, etc. She is getting used to all of it.
There were three horses getting ready to go out on a trail ride yesterday, including one that trailered in, so there was a bit of excitement. Lola greeted the new horses with a whinny, and stopped to watch them, but that was about it. She wasn’t overly nervous or upset about the new horses. She was a little concerned when they all walked down the street, but I patted her for a minute and let her watch them go and she calmed right down.
I had an opportunity to load into Sarah’s trailer yesterday, so of course I took advantage of it. She has a walk through trailer, so I started slowly, asked Lola to put her head in, patted her and backed her out. Asked her to put her front feet in, patted her and backed her out. Asked her to come all the way in, patted her, then walked her out the front door. Walked her all the way through about 5 times. No problems at all. I wasn’t able to ask her to step in to the trailer without me going in first, but I’m sure that will come. She needs more work on the ground to learn the cues for me telling her to go forward. I finished by asking her to put her front feet only in a couple of more times and backing her out. I figured that was a good thing to practice with a step-up trailer.
After all that, I hand grazed her for a while, I got to spend some time scratching her all over and she got to eat some grass, then we went for a little trail walk behind Sarah’s. Lola was a little nervous at first with all the wind noise and the dry leaves crunching, but she settled down pretty quickly. She got a bit ahead of me going down a steep hill, so I asked her to stop, yielded her hindquarters away from me in a half circle and then calmly walked her the rest of the way down.
A little more grazing, a quick brush off and fly spray and off I went. She’s not enjoying the fly spray, but she is getting better about it. I can spray her tail a little before she gets nervous, so I’ve been spraying a brush and brushing her with it. That way she is getting used to the noise and slowly I’ll start spraying her directly when she is ready. Of course she had some carrots and bread slices before I left, and I have been greeting her with one horse cookie when I first get to the barn. What’s wrong with a little bribery?
Lola got a really good grooming. She is still shedding like crazy. I have been coming home from the barn just covered in white hair. She’s starting to really relax and enjoy being groomed I think. She’s great with her feet now. I don’t even have to think about picking them up. Yesterday I actually started not only picking them up, but also stretching her legs out in front of her like the farrier does when he trims her. I figure the more I do with her legs and feet, the easier time the farrier will have.
A woman at the barn yesterday was telling me how she had to give her 10 year old horse tranquilizers to have her feet trimmed. Apparently the horse had been abused in the past and she just couldn’t stand having her feet handled. Very sad. I hope she is able to work through it. I’d love to teach her Parelli’s friendly game, but I don’t think she is interested.
Lola and I played the friendly game yesterday with my hands, the carrot stick, the lead rope, and the savvy string. I’ve also been playing it with whatever kids toys I find around the barn including a plastic cone, shovels, buckets, plastic bats, etc. She is getting used to all of it.
There were three horses getting ready to go out on a trail ride yesterday, including one that trailered in, so there was a bit of excitement. Lola greeted the new horses with a whinny, and stopped to watch them, but that was about it. She wasn’t overly nervous or upset about the new horses. She was a little concerned when they all walked down the street, but I patted her for a minute and let her watch them go and she calmed right down.
I had an opportunity to load into Sarah’s trailer yesterday, so of course I took advantage of it. She has a walk through trailer, so I started slowly, asked Lola to put her head in, patted her and backed her out. Asked her to put her front feet in, patted her and backed her out. Asked her to come all the way in, patted her, then walked her out the front door. Walked her all the way through about 5 times. No problems at all. I wasn’t able to ask her to step in to the trailer without me going in first, but I’m sure that will come. She needs more work on the ground to learn the cues for me telling her to go forward. I finished by asking her to put her front feet only in a couple of more times and backing her out. I figured that was a good thing to practice with a step-up trailer.
After all that, I hand grazed her for a while, I got to spend some time scratching her all over and she got to eat some grass, then we went for a little trail walk behind Sarah’s. Lola was a little nervous at first with all the wind noise and the dry leaves crunching, but she settled down pretty quickly. She got a bit ahead of me going down a steep hill, so I asked her to stop, yielded her hindquarters away from me in a half circle and then calmly walked her the rest of the way down.
A little more grazing, a quick brush off and fly spray and off I went. She’s not enjoying the fly spray, but she is getting better about it. I can spray her tail a little before she gets nervous, so I’ve been spraying a brush and brushing her with it. That way she is getting used to the noise and slowly I’ll start spraying her directly when she is ready. Of course she had some carrots and bread slices before I left, and I have been greeting her with one horse cookie when I first get to the barn. What’s wrong with a little bribery?
posted by Lisa @ 8:46 AM
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