Monday, November 28, 2011

A Trim Horse


Chief has been shod for most of his life, his teacup feet were  thrushy and he had severely compressed frogs.  A farrier, who had already been paid to care for his feet prior to his adoption, was instead tasked with removing his shoes.  The farrier put out by the suggestion that shoes weren’t the best option for a horse informed Chris’s that her other horses were living in pain.  Rather than asking about horses in the wild Chris declined to get into a debate.

Shoes for humans evolved out of necessity, whether it was to simply keep them warm, to make them faster or to protect their feet from uneven terrain.  While barefoot running movement may be taking hold in the western world we forget is that there are people in the world who still live their lives shoeless, from the plains of Africa to loamy jungles of South America.  Just like there are horses that have never had metal against their feet.

Chief received his first pasture trim last week, probably the first time nothing was nailed into his foot he didn’t seem nervous about the prospect of being barefoot.   When I lifted his feet this Sunday there was already improvement, I could actually find his frog.

After a standard grooming we entered the large arena for some ground work. I didn’t have plan for what I was going to do on the ground other than matching feet.  We started out walking with me on both sides.  His right is still iffy, if he loses momentum he questions if it’s ok or not for me to be there.  Not wanting to have him actually think too hard about it I keep him moving for several feet then switch sides so it doesn’t become negative.

On his back, I decided I wanted to practice turning, doing diagonals and making circles.  Chief can easy walk a five meter circle without feeling unbalanced. He can change direction easily and hug the rail without much effort on my part.  

He did however return to the gate several times and I had to insist that it was not ok to attempt to walk through it.  He told me several times that he was done but I made him do just a little bit more each time and he would forget that he was ready to stop and he is starting to relax more, his lips are still a bit tight but he is actually expecting stable mix as a treat instead of the coveted apples and sugar.  

Next week we will work on some dressage patterns and I want to work on getting him to cross his legs on the ground.  

For information about the painting go here: Some Like it Hot

Monday, November 21, 2011

Apples and Carrots




Chief is a willing horse, he is willing to stand while I groom him without the aid of being tied, he is willing to lift his feet for me and balance while I clean and inspect his feet. He is willing to walk with me—as long as I stay on his left.

For the past two weeks I had brushed off the fact that every time I attempted to switch sides Chief would become disorientated, I was suddenly an unfamiliar person.   He would try spinning, backing and even physically lifting his head over mine so I could once again become familiar to him.

I tried to warn the right by telling the left that I was coming—perhaps I thought the left would give the right the heads up?  The only time I could get Chief to move forward when standing on his right was when he spotted his friend Jack.  He would become distracted and want to go the safety of his friend as quickly as possible so if that meant he would have to let me walk on his right, so be it.

Scratching my head I was at a loss at how such an elder horse couldn’t comprehend that I was the same person on the right as the left.  I tried standing in front of him and let him see me on each side without physically moving to that side of his body.  I used my voice “hey there right side, here I am”.   After stops and starts I would go back to his comfort zone and continue walking and trotting my uneven horse from the left.

After climbing in the saddle my mind wandered a bit—no one had done any real groundwork with Chief.  Working with a human to him meant they were on his back and only walked next to him to be lead from place to place.  He didn’t have to think.
Chief was in a mood to trot, a gait that had improved in short amount of time.  I no long felt the uneven bump when changing directions.  Next week we will work on making the corners and trotting or diagonals.

When I dismounted, Chris tried to walk with Chief and had an immediate idea.  We would both lead Chief, me on the left, while she stood on the right.  At first Chief inclined his head to Chris, as if she was safer to look at then me. Gradually and with some gentle pressure on the lead rope he started to look where he was going.  Chris faded back so she would be so prominent in his vision then unhooked while I continue to walk him.

While I don’t expect to Chief to fully accept me on his right the next time we work together, I am sure that he had something to think about when we were done.

Monday, November 14, 2011

The First Lessons


Humble Beginnings

Chief like many horses his age had come to the end of the road.  Rescued by a well-meaning neighbor and subsequently adopted out it wasn’t long before he was he was returned underweight and more broken than ever.   He was described to me as a good horse who listened well, but what I saw was a horse who had been bullied into submission and who obeyed so he wouldn’t be punished.  There was simply no spark there; no fire and his lack of energy had nothing to do with age.

A 22 year-old Quarter Horse Chief still had a solid frame but his Chestnut coat was ill fitting and pocked with abuse from horses higher in the pecking order.  He looked like an expensive lawn ornament to me with dull eyes. I was assured that he was indeed a “good horse” but I was skeptical as my stomach began to ache.   

The neighbor planned to send him to another horse rescue who inevitably euthanized older, harder to adopt horses.  Chief didn’t stand a chance; I couldn’t even get him to lift his head so I could look him in the eyes.

Chief Comes Home

A week later, Chief made the move to the other side of the fence. I wouldn’t see him again until that Sunday.  He had already been successful at putting weight on his narrow frame but his head was still hung like Eeyore, his ears falling lax at both sides—he didn’t care who or what was around him. He simply walked around his enclosure because he didn’t know what else to do.

So we began, with groundwork, matching feet, and targeting (see Equine Behavioral Health Resorce Center for more information). Chief was not interested in the games, he followed along obediently and didn’t object—what was telling is that he rejected his rewards.  Sugar cubes, pellets and oats mixed with brown sugar and salt all uninteresting to his tightly pursed lips.
It’s always nice to have a horse that listens, but a horse that listens and doesn’t care to understand or to think is entirely different. Chief was not a thinker—yet.

As the weeks went by Chief amassed more weight, his eyes showed a hint of sparkle and he stopped visiting his friends across the fence and began to follow Jack, the eldest horse around. Like any elderly couple, sometimes they got along, sometimes they didn’t.  Felix and Oscar brought together by age and disposition.

Time to ride

Not swayed by the normal goodies, the next attempt was apples chopped into to human bite sized pieces.  Chiefs’ lips quivered his ears pricked forward and he asked for more and finally decided to take things into his own hands.  He turned his head toward the bag I wore at my waist—searching.   Gently I pushed his head away and corrected him and silently noted that was the first time he acknowledged my existence and that I owned the hand that was feeding him and guiding him.


My first experience on Chiefs back was interesting,  I didn’t think of many things before mounting—like he had probably never had an English Saddle on, and he probably had never been ridden without a bit.  I think it was good I didn’t think of these things because I was confident that we would be ok together and that I could ask Chief to do things without him reacting badly.

With Jack (Horse) and Chris (Human) we played “follow he leader” which was easy for Chief, Jack was his friend.  Now I had to teach him how to not get too close.  The solution, instead of simply saying “ho” when we got too close was to make a small circle before continuing to follow Jack.  Instead of the five meter circle I was attempting I got my first taste of a former reigning horse quickly spinning and continuing after his friend. 

After a brief ride, I let Chief have some time to process what we learned while I sat down to make a few notes.
1.    Remember to use my words-Chief still needed to learn English
2.    Make the reward big—even if he doesn’t take the treat by giving him a lot of praise.
3.    As always, be patient.

After drawing up the next weeks lesson plan I ended the day with the photo you see on the blog. 

I have met people over the years who claim to be experts on horses, experts because of time and experts because of how much money they made from their books and videos and perfect horse package deals.   What I have learned after ten years is that most of those people couldn’t tell you what their horse is thinking, if he is upset or if he is content.  I think they have a clear picture of what they want their horse to do—but not what the horse actually wants to do with them.