Barefoot Chev & tiny horse update

I have been working with tiny horse once or twice a day for the last few days.

When we started, she really didn't want anything to do with me.  She didn't understand having a relationship with a person, she felt lonely without her other baby pasture mates, and was just really confused by the whole change.

Since being able to catch her is a priority considering I'd like to get her out on pasture as soon as possible with Chev, I focused on that.  I also really wanted to work on her feet, so picking up her hooves was also high on the list.

I knew that she was "halter broke", which in this case, meant she could be haltered and led reasonably well.  Most of this is due to her personality rather than a lot of training.  That's how I wanted it!

She could not trot next to her handler, was not easy to catch, and could not pick up her feet.  She just didn't get it.  That's okay.  We'll start at the beginning.

I started by making uncomfortable for her to be away from me.  This encouraged her to come up closer.

She's in a sandy pen which makes groundwork pretty easy to do.  It's big enough that she can "get away" without getting far.  I began by chasing her away every time she decided to leave.

I'd run her around a couple of small laps, ask for a few turns (and correct her if she tried to change direction on her own), and when I had her attention (an ear on me, licking/chewing, starting to circle closer--or when I got the feeling she was interested) I'd immediately "take the pressure off" by backing away. 

Then I'd stand quietly and see what she did.

If she turned towards me and kept her attention on me, then we just stood there.  All the pressure is off.  It's a comfortable place to be.  Everything is good.

If she went to move off, I immediately chased her away and repeated the above steps.

I wanted her to understand that she could leave any time, but there would be consequences.

She was free to go, but if she was leaving, I wanted to be the one moving her feet and deciding when she could stop.

The first couple days of this we didn't make a ton of progress.  After the first day I could walk up to her and pet her, but that was about it.  If she started to move away, I'd chase her off until she had a chance to think about it some more.

It didn't take long for her to understand that if she stayed still, she didn't have to move.

She was raised in a large paddock with 2-3 other young horses.  Unfortunately there wasn't an older boss mare, so she was mostly unaccustomed to social interaction that wasn't playing. 

I am the boss mare.  She's catching on.  Sortof.

When I got to the barn yesterday, I was feeling a little down about it.

Sure, she was getting it--but I felt like she was just tolerating me.

Tolerating me coming up, tolerating me touching her, and tolerating standing there.  But without any real respect for me.

I thought it over and decided I wasn't pushing quite hard enough.

It's a fine line:  she is reactive, sensitive, and true to her cowhorse breeding.  Too much would be too much, and would set us back.  She's also very fit.  But this kind of ground work is never about tiring out the horse.  It's about asking them to think, giving them options and encouraging the right response.

I believe that horses respond to the release of pressure, not to pressure itself.  There needed to be a bigger difference between what I was doing when she made the wrong decision, and what I was doing when she make the right one.

I decided that consequences would have to be more immediate and clear--and more immediately over.

If she went to move off, I would really go after her, make her jump into action, swing a rope at her--and then that was it.  Just until she moved NOW to the other side of the pen, or however far she felt like going.  Then I would stop, and wait.

And darned if that didn't change her attitude really quickly.

I had resolved not to put a halter on her until I saw this change.  After the breakthrough, I haltered her a few times yesterday, started the task of getting a good response for picking up her feet, and called it a day while I was far ahead.

Today she is dynamite.

I only had to chase her off once before she came right back, and wanted to stick around.

She let me halter her easily, so she got a big reward.  I led her out to the grass.  I don't think she's seen much grass in her life, and she was just ecstatic about it. 

Led her back to her pen, took halter off, messed with Chev for a while, Chev got lots of carrots while tiny horse touched her nose to me and watched because she doesn't get what a carrot is, came back, haltering her was easy, and led her out for some more grass.  Her whole attitude changed.  She became friendly, happy, and willing.

While she was eating I practiced more hoof pick-ups, making sure to ask her at a time she could "succeed", when the other three legs could support her.

Brought her back in the pen, gave her (and Chev) a little hay, and worked on picking up her feet without any sort of restraints--no halter, free to leave at any time.

Not only could I get her front feet in my hands without a struggle, I could even pick them out!  For the first time!  Possibly ever!

She needs some farrier work done so the sooner I can get her ready for that, the better.

The way she's progressing now she should be good to go in about a week.

(I do want to mention that she is a real trooper about being poked here and there, and whether it was handling early on or just her personality, she can be touched anywhere without flinching, raising a leg, pinning an ear, or doing anything naughty.  She is just really polite about everything.  Thank goodness.)

In other hoof news, I lunged Chev today and she looks FANTASTIC.

She is floaty-trotting, cantering well, and no longer choppy.  Her stride has lengthened out.  There's still room for improvement, and I'm sure she'll look even better after this next trim.  She shed a big piece of impacted bar off her left front yesterday.  Her heels and frogs are descended and cushy, her feet are round again, and despite missing quite a bit of side wall from chips and dings here and there (mostly because we had to leave her toe a little long--I think that'll all clean up really well next trim), she is moving great.  Her hoof quality is also really good.  I'll try to take a video one of these days.  I took one a week after her trim so we'll have something to compare it to.

Hooray for bare feet!  I think she looked even more sound today than she's looked in shoes for a long time now.

The girls enjoy lunch yesterday

P.S. I got to talk with my Ma today,  and I really do have the best parents ever.  Love you, Mom & Dad.

Hi Grandma & Grandpa! I have news.

It has been a joke in my family for many years that I would never have children.  I remember I decided this shortly after the birth of my little brother, which happened when I was 3.  Now that we're grown ups, I love him dearly.  Apparently I didn't feel that way when he first arrived.  My parents haven't given up all hope on me--yet.

So Mom and Dad, this post is for you.

I want to preface this with an acknowledgement of just how much trouble I am going to be in when you read this.  I want to also mention that I have been literally dreading phoning you for days and having this conversation.

It's not an attempt to suck up (it's probably a little late for that), but I truly, truly have the best parents in the world.  They are so kind, loving, and supportive, and though they don't really understand my equine or artistic endeavors they understand that both are really important to me.  It's not the life they would have chosen--and probably not the life they would have chosen for me--but they understand that it is my life, and they love me anyway.

Or...they did before this post, anyway.  Mom and Dad--call me as soon as you're done reading this, okay?  I'll be right by the phone.

Are you sitting down?  Presumably you are, since you're reading this on a computer...

Then let me introduce you to your second equine grandchild...

She doesn't have a name yet.  Will you help me name her?

This is the filly I fell head over heels for 3 months ago down in La Salle, CO.  Her registered name is Hollywoods Lil Sugar.  I went down to see her--twice--absolutely tried to talk myself out of it, tried to out-do her by looking at approximately 100,000 horse ads online...and nothing even came close.

Horses like this don't just pop up everywhere.  She is exactly what I've been looking for over the last year.  Except maybe the color...but I'll admit, the palomino look is growing on me.

It's been 2 years since I lost my old guy to cancer...and I am finally ready to have two horses again.

For a while there I even had 3, remember, Mom and Dad?  

Who am I kidding.  There is no way to really justify this to a non-horse person (read: a SANE person or persons, i.e. your parents, who already think you're nuts for moving one horse across the country).

Now I have 2 to move back home.  But I will do it, even if I have to stay here through another winter to raise the funds to make it happen.

But there are certain advantages to having 2 equines...

The major one being they can be kept in a pasture together with minimal worry that fences will be crashed through as lone horse tries desperately to get in with the herd down the road.

They have each other for companionship.

I've had 1 horse for 3 years, 2 horses for 4 years (3 for close to a year while I rehabbed a little black mare--more on her another time).  I know how much work, time and money they are already.

And if she wasn't just what I was looking for, I would have passed.  Believe me.  The 100,000 horse ads is probably not that much of an exaggeration.  I am very picky.

See, the deal is:  this is the first time I've had enough experience with ownership to know exactly what I'm looking for in a horse.

Ben was my first.  And bless his heart, he was the best first horse I could have asked for.  He was just what I needed and I still miss him like crazy.

Keelan bought Chevelle at auction as a 2 1/2 year old.  She had been handled, saddled, and could be sat on--she taught me a lot, especially that I could bring a horse up from not much training (especially since she was thrown out to pasture for 6 months before I did much with her), when to ask for help, and how to have the confidence to figure things out myself.  She has been very forgiving of the many training mistakes I've made over the years.  I love her dearly, but she is unregistered, very tall, and not built correctly for a lot of the horse sports I'm interested in.

Little black mare was a horse in desperate need.  I found her while horse shopping for a friend of mine.  She was a great little mare, auction-bound, owned by a clueless family, exceedingly overweight, very reactive, had probably been gamed & cowboy'd all over the place--I took her on the spot--and with proper exercise and consistent, calm training, she was a dynamite little horse with a killer stop.  She went to a lady who wanted to use her for trail riding, and it was a perfect fit.

So this horse is the first horse after Ben that I really get to choose for ME.  I wanted something small, reining-bred with the best bloodlines I could find, REGISTERED, show quality, highly trainable, kind, young, and not overly handled--and I knew I wanted a filly.  I wanted something with a big, kind eye.  I wanted plenty of time to work with the youngun before it was time to start saddle training, so I knew I wanted a 2 year old.  Of course looks up the wazoo didn't hurt anything.  She really fit the bill.

Not to mention, Chev is absolutely thrilled to not be alone in her pasture anymore--especially since the neighbors she did have moved up the road and out of sight--although for now, little filly is still in a pen while she learns easy catching, haltering, leading well, and picking up one's feet for the farrier.

The complication to this story is--after I had bought the filly (but before I had her hauled up here), the SO informed me that he intends to take an interview offered to him for a foreman position in Vancouver, WA.  They fly him out on June 11th.  I thought I had several months to save up the funds for horse transport, but if they want him (and I would just about KILL to live near Portland, my family, and my friends again, so that would be fine by me!) then we could be moving fast, fast, fast.  I'm looking into horse contacts coming out this way in the summer for the breed & World shows, and with a little luck should be able to hitch them a ride back with someone.  Anyone with barn recommendations in the Vancouver area (especially pasture board!), let me know!  I will be forever grateful to you.  (I'm lookin' at you, Mona!)

So...pictures.  Lots more pictures.

Big doe eyes and the tiniest, cutest snip I have ever seen.

Tiny horse

Tiny horse is ravenous

Tiny horse is tiny compared to monster horse

"Oh, hello.  Your hair is really messed up."

 "Who are you?  We are friends?"

 Ladies on alert

So that's my update--talk to you soon, Mom and Dad.

(Footnote:  SCENE: Kitchen of lovingly remodeled ranch-style 1970s home.  It is mid-morning.  The is an orange cat meandering around yowling even though he's already been fed.  Megan's father is reading the newspaper at the kitchen table next to his coffee cup which is half full.  Her mother is seated at the computer.  She is browsing a horse blog.  Suddenly she gasps, and exclaims

Megan's Mom:  "Oh my God--Alan!  Megan HAS ANOTHER HORSE!"

Megan's Dad:  "You're kidding!"

                                                                            ~FIN~                                                                          )