Trimming Kachina

Phew!  This trying to keep balance thing is already getting difficult!  We are now in the thick of our semester and our first round of exams and already getting overloaded!  BUT, last weekend, I still managed to keep up with trimming and did 2 more horses (no time to ride or work with Griffin though).  I did Pumpkin first.  She hadn't been done in about a year.  Her feet just don't grow all that fast, although they were definitely in need of a trim.  Pumpkin was an absolutely perfect angel for her trim.  She stood quietly, didn't try to walk off (like the last time I'd trimmed her) and politely accepted her treat rewards for standing after each hoof...no searching for more like she always does in the pasture.  Since I finished her so quickly due to her cooperativeness, I decided to get Kachina out and try her...if nothing else, I could just trim her fronts, since they were in greater need (fronts always seem to grow faster than their hinds).  I really didnt' think I'd be all that successful at trimming Kachina at the hitching post (since I'd never tied her before and she hadn't been outside the pasture very often), but it was so muddy in the pasture that I decided to try it.  I just didn't have any other good place to try to trim her.  She lead right onto the mat in front of the hitching post with no issues and was quite relaxed, so I looped the rope around the post a couple times without tying her tight.  She was actually really good and I trimmed both her front hooves without too much difficulty.  She stood nicely, knew she was "tied", and was overall very relaxed.  So then I decided to try to do her hinds.  I got her left hind done pretty easily, but she gave me quite a bit of trouble on her right hind.  It took me over an hour on just that one hoof, but I did get it done!  When she became nervous about my insistence on handling that hoof, after already having let me start working on it a little bit, her inexperience with tying came through.  She just wasn't cooperative and would take her foot away and step away from me.  When I tried to ask her to step back onto the mat and get back into position, she would feel a little trapped and try to back up out of the situation.   Since she was tied, she pulled back to the end of the rope, but then just stood and would not move over at all, so I had to take her out in the yard and lunge her a bit and re-teach her what I meant when I asked her to step over with her hinds or her fronts.  She decided to "forget" how to do that on one side and was really huffy and tossing her head when I asked her to move her shoulder away from me.  She would toss her head up and over my hands that I was holding up by her face, and go the opposite direction I was asking.  It took a lot of "discussion" but she did not get away with her evasion and did figure out what I was trying to ask her to do.  And she also remembered how to calmly move her feet away from me when asked and not just leap into lunging mindlessly around me.   After our refresher lesson, I tied her back up and tried to work to her right hind again.  The problem with her right hind was she would step over away from me to evade having to pick it up for me.  Since she was tied, that meant she would move over till her hip was next to the hitching rail.  I would stand with her and ask her to stand still and relax and not pick up her back hoof until she was standing with her weight off it, almost offering it to me.  When asked, she'd pick it up, but as soon as I got settled to do something to it, she would take it away and walk forward, since that was the only way she could go to "get away" from me.  As she walked forward, she'd come to the end of the tie rope, it would pull her head toward the hitching post, which caused her to swing her hip out away from the hitching post...and directly into me.  At first, not wanting to cause her to freak out being tied (or kick me which she's never done), I got out of her way, but I quickly got sick of that and realized it wasn't getting the message across to her what I needed her to do.  So I started to step with her as she walked forward and vigorously bump her side to prevent her from swinging her hip into me. She did end up pulling back a few times rather violently when I did this, but she's a small horse and it was like "a fish fighting at the end of a line" to quote a friend. I just stayed out of her way and she did have enough sense to only fight for a couple of tugs and then quit and come forward and stand nice again.   Pulling back unnerved her...she was breathing more quickly and shallowly but was standing okay.   I ended up having to tied her rope rather short to prevent her from walking forward very far when I was picking her hoof up.  That combined with bumping her side vigorously before she even had a chance to step forward seemed to work!  Once she figured out that pulling back didn't work, walking forward didn't work, and she couldnt' avoid me, she suddenly stood very still and let me work on her hoof!  She stood really really well, didn't take the hoof away, let me completely finish and I chose to set her hoof down when I was done.  And at the end of it, she was calm and relaxed!  It was a struggle, but it ended really well!  I really pushed her asking her to stand and be trimmed while tied, but it is time I quit babying her and expect to act like a real horse.

Griffin's big day

Every morning that I have arranged to have my mom come and watch Wren, as I'm getting Wren to nap, I am usually daydreaming about what I'm going to do with my horses, which horse I'll bring out....today I daydreamed about working with Griffin and potentially getting Cody out and teaching him to pony in the round pen.  Well, often my daydreams are not what I end up doing, either because something with the horses dictates differently, or I just come up with other ideas as I go.  What I ended up doing was getting Griffin up in the round pen.  On the way there, he was a little leary about things in the yard, but he just looked at them and continued on with me.  I let him sniff around and become familiar with this new place before I did anything with him.

He was pretty calm about the whole thing, slowly exploring.  Then I got my stick out and "round penned" him loose, asking him to stay a constant direction until asked and when asked turn to the inside to change direction.  He was a little snorty at first with me asking him to move, but he was hooked onto me immediately.  I made him keep it up until he wasn't snorty anymore, then I asked him to face up and keep facing me as I walked back and forth in front of him.  He was really good, remembering pretty much everything we'd done with our "mini-roundpenning" in the tiny mustang pen.  We didn't spend much time in the round pen because it is so boggy (I'm deciding I don't like the sand - we may need to find something to add to it to firm it up).  Since he settled down so quickly and became very comfortable with me, and is respecting the leadrope so well, I took him back down to the barn and tied him to the hitching post for the first time.  I don't like to tie horses to this post if I think they may pull back because it is not set in the ground very deep (Cody has already pulled it crooked when she pulled back once and Sassy, the mare we had over the winter, pulled it even more crooked).  So me tying him to the hitching post shows my confidence in him!  I spraying him with fly spray, then decided to take him for a walk in the woods on the trails! 

My dogs came along with me and were crashing around in the brush, but Griffin paid them no mind.  After the round penning, he was very comfortable with me and was not leary hardly at all.  He was interested, but it was a mild interest in the new places we went.  He put complete confidence in me!  I love that feeling.  The only thing that really worked him up was the noise of my dogs splashing into the pond.  The picture below shows him watching them run down to the pond from pretty far away still.

He got over being worried about that noise pretty quick though.  We just went down and stood at the waters edge and watched the dogs go in and out.  I led him back and forth and around and just asked him to check out the water, which he did.  As we watched the dogs, I took a picture of his injured eye.  You can see the cloudiness is receding, but the spot where the lesion was has become very opaque and white.  But it is so low, that even if it doesn't go away, it's not going to be a hindrance to him.

Griffin shows off how over this he is.  By the time we left the pond, the dogs were running into the water right at his feet and it didn't phase him.  He did not volunteer stepping into the pond though, and I didn't want to make him go in right now because that was not the goal of this walk.  Plus I was wearing my boots and didn't want to get them wet!

After the pond, we walked through my parent's yard, past the chickens and the orange tractor (walking through a narrow area with chickens underfoot without a  moment's hesitation), then we came back through the wooded trails and ventured onto my neighbor's trails.  We walked past their barn filled with horses, came out by their house, went down the driveway and past my husband's cattle farm.  Griffin had a bit of difficulty with crossing a narrow washout, but with persistance and picking an easier spot, he crossed.  He watched my husband's herd of 30 heifers running away with a bit of alarm (but who wouldn't be alarmed watching a mass of dark cattle kick up dust as they foolishly stampeded from the sight of a wild horse).  His alarm was just watching them with a high head and side-stepping a bit. Then we walked down along the road and through the yard of my husband's business, complete with large scary machinery and racks of pipe.

Griffin is curious, but not alarmed by any of this.

We even went along the road, and watched 3 cars pass by, including a big silver tanker type-truck.  Griffin was totally unconcerned by any of it (it helps to have your pasture border a road that semi's drive on regularily).  When we got back, we stood tied for another couple minutes for a thorough grooming session before being turned back into the pasture.

Griffin was absolutely awesome on our walk.  I couldn't have daydreamed a better outcome for my horsey-time!  I was so proud of him and so pleased with his temperament.  This horse has so much potential.  I hope I have the time to bring it out in him!  I don't think it is going to take much work.

Taking a young horse for a walk alone in the woods is the best thing for them.  They have to rely on your leadership.  If I were to pony Griffin, he would have assigned that leadership to the horse I was riding and not me.  Now I know he trusts me pretty completely, and my trust in him has been pretty firmly established.

Some firsts for the wild ones

Today was a day of firsts for Griffin and Kachina. I didn't have a babysitter this morning, but my mom was willing to bring Wren over to the farm and sit with her while I did stuff with the horses in the afternoon. I trimmed Chico first. Then I caught Kachina. It was easy to catch her since I've been getting all my horses accustomed to treats lately. This comes after a frustrating day when it took me a while to catch Kachina even though she was closed into the smaller paddock area. I finally had to shut her into the 24 ft by 24 ft mustang pen in the back of the barn and "mini-roundpen" her until she started to face up instead of avoid me. She was terrible. And all I wanted to do that day was put fly spray on her! And she's not afraid of the fly spray...once I start I think she is happy about it having figured out it gets rid of flies. So today, I caught her easily as she was already following me looking for a treat.

Then....

I led her out of the pasture gate!!!! I've never taken either of the wild ones out of the gate before! They weren't ready before, and then, as you know, I was pregnant so not about to handle wild mustangs who were sure to spook at things once they were out of the familiarity of their pen. But an amazing thing happened while I left them alone these last couple years. They've both grown up (mentally and physically) and relaxed into their stable herd environment. In the little interactions I have with them every day, they've learned to trust me...and I hardly did a thing! And now that the round pen is up, I am so itching to work with them. To get them to that round pen right now I have to lead them up to it outside the pasture. So, I led Kachina out the gate. She hesitated at the gate, having stood at it, but never crossed through it, but then, she stepped right though. She was alert, but really, she was a lot better than I expected. I even convinced her to step her front feet onto the rubber pad I have down in front of the hitching post for trimming hooves. She did just about jump out of her skin when Griffin suddenly impatiently pawed the panels though. Then I led her up to the round pen. She was looking all over, but she followed me and went right through the round pen gate with no problem. I left her there to get used to it. My mom reported that she rolled in the sand, then followed my mom around as she walked around the outside of the pen.

I went back down to the barn area and this time caught Griffin. Griffin so wants to be messed with now that he's more used to it with his twice a day handling with the treat reward. He pretty much met me at the gate, and earlier in the day, I actually caught him way out in the pasture for the first time and led him down to the barn. Previously, I'd been able to approach him and rub him out in the pasture, but not always, and definitely not if I was holding a halter and leadrope! So this is a big difference! After I caught him, I took his fly mask off. Griffin really is a non-spooky secure horse. The loud obnoxious velcro ripping apart has never worried him (it drives Kachina crazy).

Then....

I tied him up to a sturdy post dug deep in the ground. I've never tied him before. I've never had a need to. Today, I decided he needed to learn to tie because I foresee taking him out and I want him to know to really give to the rope, and I also would like to perhaps start trimming him outside the mustang pen area. I always trim Kachina and Griffin in the mustang pen because they are comfortable there, but all the others get trimmed tied to the hitching post. So, there Griffin stood tied, and I walked away and left the pen so he could figure it out. I knew he would try to pull back to test it, and he did. He pulled back HARD, and then just stood there hanging on the halter for about 20 seconds. Then, he slowly leaned forward and took his weight off the halter and stood upright. He thought for a little bit, then started walking back and forth, then he set back again HARD! But everything held. I didn't have any metal hardware on the rope to break. Then he stood back up and stood quietly at the post...no more weaving and no more pulling!
My mom took all these pictures, and they are a little fuzzy because I think Wren put some fingerprints on the lens.

Of course, Griffin has been prepared for this. He knows how to give to the leadrope with flexing, leading and dropping his head to pressure on it. I've also been loosely wrapping the rope around a post when I trim him, but I'd not tied him tight. So, I think after another lesson or two with tying, he'll get that there is no point in pulling back. Kachina is not at all ready to be tied. She is a flighty spooky horse and I don't think she is comfortable enough yet to be restricted like that...she'd blow and I worry she'd hurt herself.

After Griffin's tying lesson, I led him out through the gate. He too stopped at the gate and was like, really? I get to go out? They always follow whatever horse I'm leading out the gate right to it, then stop when I shut the gate in their face...so this was new and he came out readily once he realized I meant it. Griffin stepped on the rubber trimming pad with no problem. He startled a bit whenever my mom stood up from her seat over at the picnic table (he is still very leary of other people) but I lead him around the yard and he did very well. He even dropped his head to eat some grass. I didn't do any more with him than that. I lead him back into the pasture and turned him loose without his fly mask for overnight. I am still concerned about working him with that cloudy eye. The lesion part is definitely getting smaller, but I feel like the cloudiness is becoming more opaque right under the lesion. Once he's healed, even if he does have scar tissue where the lesion was, I don't think it will affect his vision that much because it is in the lower rear portion of his eye. It will cause a minor fuzzy spot to his rear, but that's it.

Then I went up to where Kachina was patiently waiting in the round pen and began working with her. My little desert mustang moved easily through the boggy sand, although she definitely worked up a sweat. I round penned her loose and she came in nicely turning to the inside even with the increased space (compared to "mini-roundpenning" in her 24ft square pen. She got a bit hyped up at first with my "chasing" her, but quickly, she decided to come in and be haltered. I didn't halter her right away though. I spent some time swinging the halter around her since that seems to be one of her excuses to not let me catch her in the pasture. At first she ran but soon she stood and let me rub her all over with the leadrope. Then we did some desensitizing with tossing the rope all over her body and slapping the ground. She was flawless. Now, don't make fun of my outfit in these pictures. We had to buy these green overalls to wear when we are working with large animals at the vet school. I've discovered how easy they are to pull on over my shorts and tank top so that I stay protected when I am trimming hooves...so this summer they have been my hoof trimming outfit.

She learned these lessons well from the first summer she was with me. Then I lunged her attached to the lead line. She didn't quite understand and I had a hard time convincing her to leave at first, but she quickly realized what I was doing and was agreeable.

She remembered things well, so I decided to bring out a new thing to introduce her to. I started tossing a thin light-weight saddle blanket over her back. She was tense and flinching at first, but with repetition, she relaxed a bit and accepted it. When I moved to the other side, she just flipped out. Eventually she stopped moving and freaking out and I was able to toss it over her back repetitively on the other side. Then I went back to the first side. She stood accepting it for a bit, even appearing to no longer care about it, then suddenly she exploded and freaked out about that side...wierd horse. But I calmly kept at it and she stood still again finally, and then was good again for moving back to the other side. I left her lesson at that. She was glad to follow me back down to the pasture.

I had fun with them, and I'm so excited to do things with them. I want to start leading them out on the trails, and maybe I can pony them along soon. But school starts up in a week and a half. I wish we'd gotten the round pen up at the beginning of the summer. But really, I just started riding a lot this last month. The timing is what it is.

Griffin made it through the first night free

Later on the same day that I released him, I went back to check on Griffin, only to find that he had his first tying lession without me! I worried about that, since he was in the trees so much chewing on them. It looks like his rope got caught, he must have fought a bit to free himself because the rope was wrapped around the bunch of short stems a few times, and he had mud down one side as though he had fallen. When I got there, he was standing still, just hanging out, waiting. I walked right up to him, untangled his rope from the stems, and then took his rope off. Looks like he had himself a good lesson though and learned something about tying.



The next morning after the release, he was doing so well with the mares (they were tolerating him really well) so I decided to turn Chico loose, with a drag rope to slow him down a bit if he got too aggressive with Griffin. The previous picture is their first sniffing.



I shouldn't have worried. Chico is the least aggressive to him so far out of all the horses! He still herded him with his ears back, but no trying to chase him out of the country. Someone in my past had me convinced that Chico was just plain mean to other horses, but it certainly is not true. I should have more faith in him.



But of course, the second that one starts moving Griffin, they'll all perk up and follow along to help. Horses are funny. In the following picture, I caught the action just a couple seconds too late. Chico was going to herd Griffin away, but then lost interest and was turning around to go eat hay. You can see that Cody and Catlow are right behind him to help though.



I'm still going to keep Kachina in for a week. Her and Griffin are so buddy-buddy. I want him to get a chance to build a relationship with the herd, and me, before I turn his best friend out with him. He's been great today about letting me approach and catch him in the pasture too.