This blog is about my attempts at training my horses, specifically Ivan. The first horse I ever trained by myself was my Arabian mare, Kazi, now 16 years old. She has been having problems with founder and has been lame off and on for almost a year, so when Ivan became available, I took him on for a period of time to see if there was any hope of my training a fairly wild young horse. He is doing pretty well, so we bought him. Our horses here are Kazi, my mare, Daisy: Donnie, my husband's 5 year old TWH mare, Ivan: a three year old Arabian gelding, Zippy: our 17 year old mini-horse parade pony, Trinket: a 7 year old mini-mare, and Cactus Jack: a mini-donkey who lives with the ponies. We live in SW Virginia on a 15 acre farm.
Ivan at first glanceDecember 30, 2007:
Ivan has arrived! And of course, it rained harder than it has all day right after they got here. Debbie led him down the hill and he really acted pretty good. He followed Micah, his mama, who I led down the hill. Since Debbie had forgotten her leadrope, I led Mica only by her halter and she never pulled or tried to do anything, which considering how slick it is, would have been very easy. They both ran around inside the arena with our 5 equines watching the show, but settled down fairly quickly. Debbie jumped on Micah's back and rode her back up the hill bareback. (Wish I could jump on a horse like that )....Ivan yelled for his mama for a little while as they left, but was soon busy eating hay near his new shelter. I think he will be fine. He really is pretty mellow guy. I am looking forward to training him! Kazi and Daisy were VERY interested...
Ivan and his mother, MicahDecember 31, 2007:
Ivan is way calmer than I expected him to be. He led down the hill for Debbie easily and is not halter broke, at times on a loose line. He is brave in a strange situation and hasn't offered an unkind word to any of the horses sticking their noses thru the fence. Attitude-wise, I think he is great so far! While we were working on his little shelter this
afternoon, we were swinging wood planks around and plywood, and he stood fairly close by and watched everything calmly. He doesn't want to be caught or touched much, but both of us did touch his nose a couple of times today. We aren't trying to catch him yet.
He does have a kind eye, and that little swirl on the forehead is right between his eyes, which I have heard means a calmer disposition. And I watched him trotting and cantering for the first time today and he has that nice floaty Arab trot! He moves pretty nicely. His feet are in desperate need of a trim, but look pretty sound. The trim will have to wait until I can get a little round pen time with him, though.
So the good news of the day is that Ivan is doing pretty good!
The bad news of the day is that Kazi has had an accident in her stall late this afternoon. We were putting on new foam pads on her feet, everything was quiet and just fine. I left the stall to get something while Donnie was taping her feet and just got back to the stall door when Kazi suddenly started backing up, shaking, backed into the far side of the stall onto her rump, flipped, and whacked her head and split her knee wide open, probably with her shoe on the opposite leg. She had a hard time for a few seconds getting her balance and getting back upright. She seems to have had a seizure of some sort that didn't last long, but may be sign of bad things coming....or not. The vet, a different one from her foot vet, but from the same office, said that her pituitary could have a benign tumor that is pressing for space in her brain. That is his thought, anyway. Her knee is stitched back in place and has a drain from it with a huge bandage. It isn't as severe an injury as Daisy's, but will keep her stall bound for some time. The knee injury is bad enough. The thought of more seizures is scary beyond belief. I have never seen anything like this and hope that this is the only one she will have.
So that is the bad news of the day....sigh...What a way to end the year. For us it is the Year of Knee Problems, if we were going to name 2007 here on our farm.
January 1, 2008:
Kazi: She is herself today, demanding and wondering why Daisy gets to leave the barn enclosure and she can't. She is to be left in her stall until her knee heals up. The vet will be here tomorrow and I will be in a better frame of mind to pump him for more information about Cushings, seizures, epilepsy, etc.
I wish I could agree that this was a spook, but I saw the entire thing and after 5 years of Kazi spooks, know that this wasn't one of them. Kazi wasn't tied, didn't even have a halter on, she was being so calm about having her feet worked on while she munched on hay. Then it occurred in an instant, her head was tilted to the left side as she backed up all crouched down and her left ear was flat to her skull while her right ear was not. When her rump hit the far wall, she flipped onto it and flailed around trying to get her feet and when she did, her left legs were having a hard time with standing. She couldn't get her balance for a few seconds. I thought she was having a stroke. She staggered back towards us at the stall door and could stand by the time she got back us. She stood calmly as we stood in disbelief looking at her knee's skin torn off in a half circle where we think her backwards shoe caught it while she struggled, both her eyelids abraded, a gouge in her side, and a few other scrapes. She stood there calmly bleeding while I shook.
As horse people, you know how hard it is to watch your favorite horse have problems you can't seem to get a handle on. It stinks on wheels. Hopefully the vet is wrong that this is a tumor, but Kazi is going on 16 years old, is an Arabian who seem to be more prone to such things, and has had some rather inexplicable problems with her laminitis despite all the measures we take. All signs of a tumor....
But she is doing okay today.
Ivan is also doing well. We cleaned up the arena, trying to stay ahead of what he is 'doing' in there and he stood just a couple of feet away from us wielding the rakes and muck bucket. He is getting more casual around us. He was wormed with Ivomec when he arrived and some kind of parasite is passing with his manure. It is red, about a half inch long, and might be a bot larvae, but I don't really know. Really yucky. Zippy and Cactus Jack are very interested in Ivan, but all the girls are skeptical of the new guy.
You should see Ivan's shelter! It is mostly a roof made of round pen
panels and a tarp held down with a couple of pieces of wood, all balanced on the arena fence and a couple of posts with a cross bar. There is plywood on the sides and it is open to the south. It sort of looks like a ramshackle Nativity manger scene shelter. So far Ivan is fairly leery of it, but when it starts snowing, he may fall in love with it.
January 2:
The vet came out and changed Kazi's knee bandage and said her knee was
looking very good, better than he expected. He is coming back on Saturday morning to change it again and probably will take out the drain he has in place. There wasn't much in the way of drainage and her knee was very flexible. Luckily her injury isn't nearly as bad as Daisy's
was. She will be confined to her stall for at least 2 weeks, so this weekend we are taking the round pen panels being used as the barn
enclosure to keep her out of grass down and will put it up in the arena to train Ivan.
Kazi hasn't had another seizure-like episode, and we really hope that it was a one time event. She is very much herself and demanding that Daisy stay close by or she bangs on the stall door, so Daisy has been a bit confined lately, too, so she won't hurt that knee more on the door. Kazi is on antibiotics twice a day, along with daily Pergolide, reducing amounts of Thyro-L, bute, MSM, cinnamon and salt on her grain. She is happy about getting her low carb grain twice a day to take the antibiotics with, and luckily doesn't seem to taste those 11 pills in her grain.
Sooo, so far, so good. She will probably have a blood test done on Saturday to compare to last spring's test.
Our weather is awful! It never got above 19 degrees today and the wind howled all day long. I was outside in it for hours today and am frozen to the bone, despite the seal suit. The good news is, the temps should be up by the weekend.
Donnie is going back to work tomorrow. He feels a lot better after 12 days off. He basically collapsed for the first several days, he really needed the rest.
Ivan is getting more personable towards us. He is coming around more easily and letting us pet him. Cactus Jack had the best time today playing with him thru the fence, they kept running back and forth together. I may put Cactus in with Ivan this weekend and see if they get along, it would give them both a pal and Cactus some needed exercise.
January 3:
Kazi is feeling her oats this morning...or would if that is what she ate,
which it isn't. She is so put out that she is stuck in that stall and isn't letting Daisy out of sight without pitching a fit. I watched her stand on her rear legs like a Lippizan for several seconds, probably thinking about jumping a 4 foot gate flat footed. . She bangs on the stall door and gets very irate when Daisy just turns a corner out of sight of her. So much for turning Daisy loose for a few days while Kazi is locked up... ...Until that knee is healed up, poor Daisy is going to have to be a babysitter. Zippy and Cactus got grass time, Daisy didn't. Of course the grass is frozen and probably not all that tasty anyway. It was 11 degrees here this morning. We are now UP to 22!
January 4:
Kazi is still acting normal today. She is still fixated on keeping Daisy within reach or she pitches a fit. I led Kazi out into the grass for a few minutes to grab a bite or two, and to relieve herself . It worked! Kazi watered the grass instead of her stall! (She has the best bladder!) Then I led her back inside. Her knee seems to bend pretty good. The vet will be back tomorrow morning to remove the drain and change her bandage again. Then I think we will be in charge of changing it for awhile until the stitches come out.
It was 7 degrees here this morning . It is up to 41 now at 2:30 pm and is
supposed to get progressively warmer for a few days....thankfully. I am already tired of hauling hot water down the hill, but it is nice to see the horses slurp it up. I am working hard to keep the herd hydrated. I sure don't want a colic on top of everything else!
I turned Cactus in with Ivan this morning. Ivan put up with some major donkey sniffing, but wouldn't let him eat hay with him. So I let Cactus out after awhile, who ran to Zippy, his old standby friend.
January 5:
The vet changed Kazi's bandage and said her knee was looking good. (A relative term,btw) Poor Kazi saw him coming and shook like a leaf. I guess she associates him with her knee pain. She stood still and let him change her bandages, but sure was nervous the entire time. What a sweet horse to not just freak out and let him work on her. She got over it after he left and I led her out for a few minutes of grass. We have to change her bandages on Monday and then he will be back next Wednesday or Thursday to take out the drain.
We are going to try to get our round pen up this weekend. We have to devise a temporary fencing for around the barn to keep Daisy within Kazi's sight or Kazi will pitch a fit. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, she could just have her little hissy fit, but I don't want that knee hurt more. It's always something....
Our arena is occupied by Ivan, but at least we have a space to put him
in. After the round pen is back inside of it, we can put him in one space and have Daisy in the other, so we can use the arena for more than just Ivan.
Our little skiff of snow disappeared completely today about the time the temps rose to 52 this afternoon . That's one nice thing about this area, we don't usually have really bad weather too long...with notable
exceptions.
Kazi hates the sight of Ivan. I hope she gets over it, but so far she would love to kill him. If Daisy goes near the arena, Kazi gets irate. Daisy seems to be paying attention to Kazi and mostly staying away. I guess she has felt the sting of Kazi's rear feet often enough to know when to pay attention. I led Kazi out for a bit of grass this afternoon and she really shot some evil mare looks in Ivan's direction. If Kazi were turned loose with Ivan, Ivan wouldn't stand a chance.....
We watched Ivan zooming around the arena today, doing some very pretty fancy trotting, cantering and doing flying lead changes when changing direction. He moves really nice.
Donnie worked on our electric fence this evening in preparation for using it around the barn and putting the round pen panels up in the arena tomorrow.
This morning Donnie was helping me feed and took Ivan his scoop of grain out to the arena. This afternoon when I went to feed Ivan, I found he hadn't touched his morning grain. There are two open bags in the same barrel in the barn that holds Ivan's grain. One of the bags is labeled "Friskies". Guess which one Ivan got for breakfast?
Yep, fish flavored Friskies. Ivan may never forgive Donnie . He has been apologizing to him all afternoon. Kelsie, the dog, has been enjoying the catfood snack every time she passes by where I dumped it out. This is better than the snacks she usually picks up around horses...
January 6:
For whatever reason, Kazi is being sweet and calm today, no fit pitching over Daisy being out in the pasture. We apparently had some rain last night and the mud is slick and gooey, so I don't want to take her out of her stall today. It's nice of her to let Daisy catch a few blades of grass for once.
We worked like slaves all day, but finally got the round pen relocated into the arena and an electric fence put up around the barn to keep Daisy close to the barn...and Kazi. Hopefully she will respect the tape. It will take a couple of nose zaps to make her a believer.
It was dark when we came dragging in. Tomorrow Ivan begins his new job....learning to be a trained horse. He was so cute today, he followed us every time we brought in a new panel, checked it out carefully, and followed us back to the gate to wait for the next one. Several times I would stop while carrying my end of the panel and Ivan's breath would be on my neck .
He is very curious about whatever is going on. He also follows me around while I am pushing the wheelbarrow around the arena to pick up manure. He doesn't want to be touched beyond his forehead, yet, but hopefully we will take care of that. His feet are in atrocious shape, but Donnie can't do much until I teach Ivan not to be afraid of being touched everywhere. I suspect Ivan is going to be a pocket pet once he figures things out.
January 7:
van hasn't had his feet picked out here and I doubt anywhere else since he was a foal. His feet are splayed out in pretty bad, overgrown shape. He got some nipping done on them when he was unconscious being 'fixed' by the vet, but that is all. Since he is in our arena, the footing doesn't seem to stick inside his feet and I can see underneath his hooves when he walks away and they are basically clean under there. Hopefully soon he will get to the point he will let us pick up his feet soon.
News of the day:
Ivan had his first round pen lesson today and did great!! The boy is a genius! ...or I am getting better at this training biz. He may be a horsey genius . Outside turns are easy and we did them very quickly and went on to the next lesson. Inside turns are MUCH harder. It took me 2 weeks to figure out how to get Kazi to do inside turns. Ivan did them within a half hour of our starting the first lesson!! Ivan is very quick to look at me, not outside the pen so much, and when he looks at me with both eyes, I can get an inside turn instantly. We did about 30 inside turns correctly and I stopped the lesson. He never acted afraid or out of control of himself, never freaked, just watched what I wanted and did it when he understood. I need to have him do about a hundred or so more inside turns and then will go on to the next lesson, using both inside and outside turns upon command. I am being more thorough with him than I was Kazi and going strictly by the John Lyons Ground Control Manual for the time being.
62 Degrees, sunshine and PERFECT horse training weather today!
January 8:
Yep, Ivan is a smart cookie! He just had his second lesson. He remembered those inside turns perfectly! So we did a bunch of them and then I confused him totally by asking for an outside turn. He was confused, but took it well and in a little while I had him doing both inside and outside turns, one after the other. He was doing cute little loops around the round pen perimeter on command by doing first and inside, then an outside turn. My body language is still the hardest thing to keep consistent. If I give the correct signals, he does it. If I don't, I throw him off. At this point I can see why poor Kazi had such a hard time learning from me .
Kazi seems to be feeling okay. Donnie and I changed her knee bandage last night and she stood there calmly untied and let us do it. It seems she only associates the pain with the vet. Her knee looked as good as I guess it should. The vet will be back Thursday to take out the drain. While we were in her stall, Daisy came up and untied the rope holding the stall door closed, right in front of us! Those yellow lips just wiggled it loose. We now have proof of who is letting out animals....Smarter than I thought, that Daisy.
I am off to take Kumquat, my kitten, to Va Tech to be spayed. My baby has grown up....sniff, sniff....
Later:
Ivan was cute this evening. He saw his dinner coming and pranced along
beside me to his food dish. He seems to be getting happier, used to the routine, or losing his fear....or something. He still won't let me pet him beyond his nose, but sacking out is coming up in a few lessons, so I hope that is when he discovers how nice a good petting is. I have
discovered that his former owner would catch him when his head was in the feed bucket, so I am having to deal with his distrust of me trying to grab him. So I don't grab him.
I am always amazed at what good memories some horses have, for good or for bad.
Kumquat is in the Va Tech animal hospital. Her little 'procedure' is tomorrow morning. She screamed all the way over there in the cat carrier, then proceeded to turn on the charm once out of the carrier in the examination room. She purred so much the girl couldn't hear her heart beat . She didn't even wave bye when she was carried out of the room, leaving me alone with the carrier.....sniff, sniff....
January 9:
Technology has taken over our power company. They are now sending out a helicopter dragging a long line with some kind of cutting device on the end of it to cut down tree branches around power lines. I kept hearing a hovering helicopter and went out to check it out, found that it was hovering over on the end of our property hacking on trees. I haven't even gone over there to see the damage yet, but they knocked our power out for a couple of hours. I can't believe this is a more cost effective method of tree removal...they had two trucks out there getting the line back up. I have pix of the helicopter....
So while we had no power, Ivan had his third lesson today. He is such a good boy. This one was confusing, but he still tried hard to figure it out. We learned to stop while facing the fence, then stop while parallel to the fence, and then most confusingly, to stop while facing me. We finally got three or four stops while facing me and called it a day. I think he thinks I am crazy, I keep changing the rules on him.
This was Ivan's third lesson using John Lyons ground control methods. He
is not on a line, just loose in a round pen, so is busy learning my body language as his cues. My body language has a few glitches on occasion, so he has every chance to be confused... ...He was learning really three things during one session, all stops at different places. The easiest is stopping with him perpendicular to the fence and his hiney facing me, but the goal is perpendicular with his eyes facing me. We got there, just took some work.
January 10:
It is pouring rain here today and only 41 degrees. Kazi's vet has been here this morning and took out her knee drain. He says her knee looks good. (A relative term ) I am off to pick up Kumquat from her little operation this afternoon. So today is a vet day....
Later:
Ivan didn't get a lesson today, but I did go down and talk to him a couple of times. He let me scratch his neck as long as he was eating the apple I gave him. Hopefully he will learn that being touched isn't so scary soon.
Kumquat is home!!! I think she was giving the vet school folks a hard time. They said she tore up her cage at least 4 times a day. I DID tell them that she would be unhappy in a cage. That is how she ended up sleeping in our bed within 2 days of arriving here. She screamed her head off as long as she was in the cage in the barn and then in the house. They have her in an Elizabethton collar to keep her from pulling out her stitches, the first cat I have had to need that. She has opinions about things and sure lets us know about them.
I have to put Kazi and Daisy under lights 16 hours a day to get them to start ovulating. Kazi is easy, her stall has lights, but Daisy will need some extra arrangements made. This is supposed to get them to start ovulating earlier in the year so we can start the process towards breeding them this year. Va Tech's prices are very reasonable, so we are going ahead with plans for an embryo transfer. Keep your pinkies crossed!
January 11:
In a way I am breeding both mares. Right now I am still planning on breeding Kazi to the Andalusian stallion then a week later transferring the embryo to Daisy. So I have to have them both on the same ovulation schedule, and want as much time as possible for tries, so hope to get them thru the transition period to ovulation this spring a bit earlier than natural light will do. don't plan on selling this foal, it is for me. I wouldn't go to all this trouble to sell it. I am hoping it will be my next riding horse. I originally bought Kazi based on a few things: She is a beautiful registered Arabian who had already had a foal, she was totally untrained because I wanted to train one from scratch, and I wanted to breed her to raise a foal. She is being bred to a drop dead gorgeous Andalusian stallion who has won in both halter and dressage and is being trained in driving, so is fairly versatile.
I doubt the things the horses learn are much different using different
methods, just a different path to the same end. Ivan is learning to turn on the forehand and turn on his haunches, but doing it off line in a round pen using body language and cues. I look at his nose to get him to turn, his hip to get him to move out. It's kind of fun! He really pays attention to my every move and each thing builds upon the last thing learned. Today Ivan and I practiced what he had learned this week and he remembered everything and actually improved on what he learned. He is such a pleasure to work with.
January 12:
Ivan is a pure pleasure to work with so far. We practiced our former
lessons today for a little while and then started on the initial sacking out exercises. This is going to be a hard one since he does not want to be touched. I got him to stand still facing me and let me touch his nose today. Tomorrow: Between the eyes.... The goal of the lesson is to touch him everywhere. It may be a long lesson.
January 14:
We have a skiff of snow. Yucko. It is supposed to be cold all week, so I
guess winter has returned. We got all the horses rubber buckets recently and they are so much easier to deal with than the plastic ones, but have discovered Kazi doesn't like the taste of the rubber. Picky mare. So I am back to using plastic buckets with her and hope I don't break them when they freeze overnight.
Yesterday I led Kazi up the hill to graze a bit. Daisy and Cactus were already up there and were soooo happy to see Kazi show up. You should have seen all the bucking and zooming around! Daisy could be a rodeo
bronc....hopefully without someone on her....We changed Kazi's knee bandage and it looks much the same as last time...which to me is pretty bad, but the vet said it looked good. A relative term.
Donnie is coming down with something. His first class of the semester is this afternoon, then he is coming home to go to bed. I think last
semester's living with no sleep and lots of work on all fronts have taken a toll on his immune system. He just can't seem to get caught up on his rest.
Major mollycoddling is in order for him.
No Ivan work today other than petting between the eyes every chance I got. Donnie is home and sniffly, so I think he may be getting a cold.
Mollycoddling has commenced.
January 15:
Daisy is also on a power trip since Kazi has been confined and can't boss
her around. Today Daisy decided to lord it over the ponies and tried to kick Trinket into next week. Luckily, Trinket is so short and Daisy hit the barn wall instead of her, and I happened to be standing near by with a training stick and string in my hand to chase Daisy away from Trinket. So Trinket wasn't hurt, just partially knocked into the water
trough....sigh....I can't wait for Kazi to be able to restore peace in the barnlot again. Daisy has been a pill lately and Kazi is going nuts in that stall.
January 17:
Kazi was calmer today. Yesterday she spent all day being a nutcase. Either the snow has calmed her down or she just wore herself out. The vet is coming tomorrow to take out her stitches, but I am not sure they are ready to come out. Her knee looked a bit infected last night when we changed her bandage. She may need another round of antibiotics.
January 18:
The vet just left about an hour ago. He said Kazi's knee was actually doing very well, trimmed off the dead edges, put on a light bandage, and said TURN HER LOOSE! Kazi was thrilled. She walked very nicely with me until I turned her loose outside the barn enclosure and then went zooming off. She bucked and ran, she tried to nail Daisy several times by double barreling at her,tried to kill Ivan thru the fence until I chased her off, she trotted and cantered, all on footing that really isn't the best. A more cheerful horse you have never seen. The snow has been melting and it must be slick, but Dr. Adams was here to pick up the pieces and she did fine. She never slipped. Daisy nearly fell on her face, though, when she dodged the happy Kazi. Since the snow is covering the grass, she can stay out a long time this afternoon and make up for 19 days of confinement. She is soooo happy.
Right now, at least, her feet don't seem to be hurting her. Her farrier and her other new vet, who was working on her feet, will be here next Tuesday to evaluate what we should be doing for her feet at this point. Being confined may have helped her feet heal up. I hope!
Kazi survived her turn out time. She seemed so much happier this evening than I have seen her in a long time. I think she wore herself out this afternoon trying to kill Daisy and Ivan. She has a smug look on her horsey face.
January 20
I am going to have to find some more hay. With the horses confined so much because of Daisy and Kazi's knee problems, and now the new guy here, we are consuming more than I'd hoped. I think I have about 5 weeks or so left before running out. If the snow and ice go away, Daisy and Ivan are going to have to go out to pasture despite Kazi's feelings on the matter. Hay is scarce around here, so getting it for a reasonable price will be a challenge.
January 21:
It's up to 26 degrees here now! Feels almost decent. I had fun with the
ice down at the barn. My outside thermometer at the barn says it is 55 degrees. I think it needs to be moved out of the sun.
My barn and barnlot are filthy and I can't do much about it until the ice melts off a bit. The trailer is full and the ice is keeping the farmer guy from coming to empty it...even if it wasn't frozen solid. Of course I have a vet and farrier coming tomorrow to look at Kazi's feet . Kazi's knee bandage is now completely removed! I have to spray furazone (sp?) on it for a few days and hopefully it will finish healing up in the air. Now if we can just get the taped on foam pads off her feet, she will be
tape-free. Hopefully the farrier will put more permanent pads under her shoes.
January 22:
I just had lunch at 3 pm. I have been outside all day trying to get the barn in shape for the vet and farrier. Then when they arrived at noon, we decided to work on Kazi up at the house since it is still so slick and their trucks would get stuck in the pasture going down to the barn. Both agree that Kazi's feet look like they have made positive progress!! The vet took x-rays and said there is no sign of ringbone or navicular disease, so at least we don't have that to worry about. Kazi is still a bit sensitive in her toes, so is still wearing her bankrobber shoes and pads until at least the next 6 weeks. Generally, though, Kazi's feet are doing better. Hurray!!
Now I just need to thaw out awhile.....Was I wearing my sealsuit?
nooooo....
January 23:
I spent the sunshine hours trying to clean up a lot of the crapola built up from a week of snow and ice coverage. The bad news is, they keep adding to the pile while I am still cleaning up the old stuff. The barn is pretty clean, but the ground is either icy or muddy and picking up in that mess is taking some time and lots of my energy.
I did spend about an hour working/playing with Ivan. He remembers his former lessons, but still doesn't want to be touched. So I got a cup of oats and he decided a few grains of oats was worth being petted over. We took a long time to get thru that cup of oats and he seems to be getting better about being touched on the head and neck. Hopefully petting will become a good thing to him soon.
Kazi was feeling really good today! Her new shoe set seems to have made her feet feel better. She did a lot of trotting and cantering around the field and only threatened Ivan with death over the fence once. She is so much happier when she can get some free time out of the barnlot. And I know I am prejudiced about her, but there is nothing prettier to watch than Kazi trotting and cantering and feeling good!
Daisy scared me yesterday. She grabbed the syringe I had just used to
give Kazi some medication that was mint flavored. She had the entire syringe in her mouth and I was afraid she would swallow it. I tried to grab it out of her mouth, but she took off running, chomping away on it, with me right behind her. She can run faster than I can. She spit out the poor demolished syringe about the time I caught up with her, thank goodness. Silly mare. I'll be more careful with those syringes from now on!
January 24:
I just came up from the barn. Kazi seems to be calming down about Ivan. She threatens him, but isn't quite as energetic about it and seems to be accepting his presence in the arena better. She is sure bigger than Ivan. Ivan would be very smart to just let both mares push him around and get it out of their systems, they both outweigh him by a couple of hundred pounds. Daisy was making faces at him today .
Ivan is getting better about being petted, at least while I am slowly giving him his grain. I rubbed and scratched him from his nose to his withers today. He seems to be the type that has to have something in it for him before he is convinced it is worth doing. Luckily he doesn't seem to have a mean bone in him. He could easily strike at me if he was so inclined, but hasn't offered. Thank goodness...
January 26:
I am about to go turn Ivan loose and put Kazi and Daisy in the arena for a few hours. Kazi is getting irate about being in a stall at night, so may get herself confined to the arena for awhile. She keeps banging her knee on the stall door and tearing it open. She can use Ivan's shelter and he can be loose for awhile. It will help the hay/grass situation, too.
I can now touch Ivan from his nose to his withers down to his knees without him freaking out. He is like Kazi and will do almost anything to earn a few grains of oats.
January 27:
Today we turned all the horses out together. So far, no blood. Kazi made Ivan move around a bit, but has mostly stayed away from him after doing her squealing, stomping, "I am mare, hear me roar" act. At least everyone is getting exercise today. And the snow is melting!!!
January 28:
. The herd is out together again today and seem to be doing well, the distances from each other is getting less. It saved me a bale of hay yesterday when they were out all day, so as long as the grass isn't growing, I hope to keep them out at least during the day for awhile.
Kazi has changed her tune. The song she is now singing to Ivan isn't "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" any longer. It is "Come on Baby, Light My Fire".... ...She has gone into blazing heat, is batting her eyes (and other things), and making 'come here' noises...sigh...It's always something with her. Daisy can't believe her eyes. I had to put Ivan back into the arena because Kazi was chasing Ivan around with a different ulterior motive and Ivan may have one last live sperm cell to donate to her cause. It has been 2 months since Ivan got the big snip, but stranger things have happened. Ivan himself is the unintended result of his sire's last live sperm cell after he had his attitude adjustment. So now Ivan and Kazi are back on opposite sides of a strong fence.
January 29:
Ivan is not happy. After Ivan and Kazi spent hours gazing across two fences like star crossed lovers (or two sets of hormones calling to one another), Kazi instantly raced up the hill to eat when I opened her gate without a backwards glance at Ivan. He is stuck in the arena, pacing the fence line....lusting after grass...or something...
January 30:
I am sure Ivan's operation was a success and there are no manufacturing facilities for future generations left. I saw them hit the ground . I am more concerned for what's left in the the pipes. I talked to three different vets about how long does sperm live after the big snip. One said 2 weeks, one said 2 months and the last said up to 4 months. So we have to assume that Ivan's sperm can make one last stand....and a possible unwanted foal. Ivan is a bit immature for his age according to the vet who did the operation, and isn't really as interested in Kazi as she is in him....luckily. But he did do some squealing and stomping with her yesterday before I separated them. Today they were both more sedate with Kazi following Ivan around, but not so actively seeking his attention. Both were more interested in grass, but Kazi did keep Daisy away from Ivan, so there is still some interest there. I watched them all day while they were out and it was much more peaceful today. This will end, of course, if Daisy comes into heat soon...
February 1:
We are covered in about an eighth of an inch of ice here. Walking on the grass sounds like walking thru your bowl of Rice Krispies. The horses are all out enjoying frozen hay on a stick out in the pasture. Kazi is still hanging out with Ivan, keeping Daisy away from him. I think Daisy is a tad jealous of the attention he is getting. I am not sure if Kazi has decided she likes having another Arabian here, or just trying to drive Daisy a little nuts.
Kazi is getting weird. She now prefers the company of Ivan to all others and actively chases off Daisy to protect Ivan from her. They are running around together like best buds. She didn't even want to come in for her bit of grain for dinner, I had to go out and make her come down to the barn. Daisy had her napkin tucked under her chin and was ready and waiting for her dinner...and Kazi's,...and anyone else's she could wrangle.
February 2:
Kazi has moved out of the barn and into the arena with Ivan...at least for one night. They have been hanging out together all day and she went into the arena this afternoon when we put Ivan up for the night. She doesn't seem to miss Daisy a bit. So tonight Daisy has the barn to herself and gets dry hay and poor Ivan gets soaked hay with Kazi and has to share the little lean-to shelter. Hope he lives....
February 3:
Ivan and Kazi are really bonding. Not only did he live thru his night with her in the arena, they were standing side by side this morning and went up the hill together. This really surprises me, Kazi has never acted like she liked ANY horses, much less a male one. Daisy is the odd horse out in this little relationship.
February 5:
I think we have everyone's good weather today. It is 69 degrees!!! It
will only be warm for another day and then back to winter for the rest of the week. So today I have been outside in my t-shirt picking up horsey debris and actually enjoying it!
Kazi must be out of heat, she is back to being nice to me and hateful to all horses. Her feet and knee don't seem to be hurting her at all, she was running and bucking with Ivan and Daisy this morning when I let them out to pasture. Ivan and Kazi look great running together with tails in the air.
Daisy apparently let the ponies out again, they were already out when I got down there.
I worked with Ivan a couple of times today. He did better than yesterday about keeping his feet still while I ran my hands down to his hooves. If he stayed still, he got a treat, if not, he didn't. Treats won. Then later I started picking up his front feet and he figured that out fairly well, at least well on one side. I bet tomorrow he will let me pick up both sides better than he did today. He also let me brush him from his nose to his hips without moving (no halter on him). This is the first time I have brushed him, although he wasn't nearly as muddy as Kazi and Daisy, who I also brushed. Ivan seems to be fitting into the herd pretty good these days. He moves out of Daisy and Kazi's way, tolerates Cactus's shenanigans and seems to mostly ignore the ponies. I took the halter he came in off the other day, a web halter that was starting to rub a mark on his cheek, but am about to try getting a rope halter on him to see if I can lead him anywhere. So far, so good! He's a pretty nice boy, just not handled much. I can't wait to get his feet trimmed and we are getting closer to being able to do that.
February 6:
Ivan did better today with his feet! I tugged a little on his fetlock
hair, said "Pick it up", and he is now picking up both front feet and letting me hold them for several seconds. Next comes a hoofpick... ....I also got him to stand still while I petted him with a washcloth all the way down his back, hips, down his back legs to his hocks today! He seems to get better the next day after learning something new and does it better. Such a nice little guy! I also rubbed his face with a rope halter today, getting ready to put it on soon. If I inch-by-inch him with tiny steps, he seems to learn pretty fast....for a treat. I am pretty pleased with how he is getting used to being touched considering when he arrived he would barely let you touch his nose!
February 7:
I can now get Ivan's nose in the rope halter without any freaking out. He
has issues with being caught and held that we are working around. He also will hold his feet up longer today and I touched him down to his back hooves today. He's a sweetie, I just wish he was a few inches bigger. He has put on some needed weight since being here, but could use a few inches in height to make me a good riding size.
I watched Daisy chase off a couple of deer the other day. That horse is too funny . She licks the long-haired black barncat and chases dogs and deer. The poor cat has horse slobber all over him about half the time.
February 8:
Ivan no longer has Kazi's protection. Daisy is after his hide. She had him moving all over the pasture today. He is definitely Number 3 on the pecking order list and Daisy intends to keep him there. Her evil mare looks aren't nearly as evil looking as Kazi's, but still get the job done.
February 9:
Today we have to work on Trinket's feet. We think the white line disease
is working on her front feet, making her sore. She may have to have a considerable amount of hoof removed again. She has a hard time getting rid of that, and we have tried a bunch of stuff on her. I wonder if there is an immune system connection to it? The other horses don't seem to get or keep it like she does. Cactus Jack is hanging out with her today in the little paddock behind the barn where they can graze a bit.
Ivan was pretty good this evening! He picked his feet up while Donnie was watching and let me hold them for several seconds. This is the first time Donnie has watched what Ivan can do in recent times. Tonight we mostly worked on making the rope halter his friend. He is willing to let me put it over his nose again and rub him all over with it. I could have flipped it on him, but didn't. He is having a hard enough time trusting someone.
I suspect it will be a little while before I will be riding Ivan. I still
don't have his halter on . He has been here for 5 1/2 weeks and is sure doing better, though. We are developing a language. He may have to stay here just because no one else will be able to speak it
February 10:
We have high winds today, but no precipitation. The wind will blow your hair off, though. Our horses are all running around cheerfully, the wind seems to turn them on. I got a photo of all of them in the arena at once. They went in themselves, probably to check out why Ivan is in there all the time. Lots of bucking and kicking and general mayhem going on.
Kazi is really good at running backwards to get in a double barrel shot at whoever she is aggravated with (could be anyone, usually Daisy). Daisy has been trying to do that with Ivan and just doesn't seem to be coordinated enough to do it gracefully. By the time she is lined up and backing, her victim is long gone.
February 11:
WooHoo! I picked up Ivan's rear feet today and didn't die! I also got his rope halter onto him without any freaking out! I didn't get to work with him yesterday, it was way too windy and cold, so he had two days to figure out that the halter I had been putting on his nose and petting him with was not going to eat him when it got tied onto him today. He was so good! Today he seemed to really be thinking about things, not all days go quite so well. I picked his rear feet up several times each, then stopped that, and then put the halter on. He let me pet him all over without flinching. The only thing I haven't touched are his tail and personal areas...He has a burr in his tail that I would love to get out, but will try not to rush to do it. Rushing doesn't work with this boy and I would prefer to not get kicked. So far he hasn't offered to kick, though. I took off the halter and gave him the rest of his dinner. Now if he will just remember it didn't bite him tomorrow.
February 12:
I laugh at the thought of riding Ivan soon, too... ...
Actually, he did pretty good today. No problems with getting the halter on and we started learning to turn his head by gently tugging on the rope knot below his chin. No lead line yet. He is catching on. He did very well with letting me lift and hold his right rear foot, but didn't do the left one as well. So we took a step backwards on that side and I started rewarding for him standing still and not moving his hiney away when I reached down to pick up his foot. He is doing that part better anyway. It is strange how different a horse is on either side. I originally thought he was going to do best on his left side, but now I think he is better on his right in general. He is getting very quick to lower his head (ever lower) by only a light touch on his poll, but doesn't keep it down there very long. Hopefully we will get longer pauses as we go along.
He does pretty well in the arena. However, when he is loose in the pasture he is very unsure of having me close. Today I was walking down the hill and he actually came up to me. I had an apple in my pocket and when he saw it, he wanted it, but couldn't figure out how to take out a bite while I held it. So he got the entire apple, which freaked him out a bit, so he ran off with it in his mouth, then dropped it and wouldn't come back near me to get the rest when I picked it up. Oh, well, at least he did come up to me briefly in the field, that was a first.
February 14:
Ivan is getting good about letting me put his halter on! Today's lesson was on leading. He was pretty good on one side, and terrible on the off side. So we walked, whoa-ed, walked, and whoa-ed on the off side all over the arena for most of our lesson time. He is getting better! At first he nearly fell over me, he just couldn't understand why I wasn't on the correct side . Then he tried putting me on the correct side by flipping his head over me, but that didn't work too well. Finally he caught on to what I wanted him to do. He is such a pleasure when he is trying! Oh, and he came up to me in the open pasture today, probably expecting an apple that I didn't have on me, and let me pet him anyway!
February 15:
It was pretty nice today, up to 59 degrees and sunny. It is the sunny that really makes my day lately. I am soooo tired of winter!
Well, it had to happen. Ivan got in a quick kick to my thigh today when I tried to pick up his rear foot. Not too hard, thankfully, and I am not sure it was entirely intentional. So I just put him to work and he got to change directions in the round pen until he decided to let me put on his halter, then I had him trot over two poles, which he figured out pretty quick. After he crossed the poles successfully, he got to turn and come to me, which he did. Then we had some leading lessons and turning his head to each side. I suspect he liked the life of pasture ornament better, but such is his lot in life right now.
Donnie may have the flu. He is a sick puppy this evening, burning up and really dreadful looking. Poor guy. Just in time for the weekend.
February 16:
Ivan got a workout this evening. Today we worked mostly on getting used to a rope being swung around various body parts. He was not a happy camper at first, especially when the rope touched his rear feet. So after several minutes of the rope wrapping around his back legs, him kicking, rope wrapping around legs again, over and over, he finally stood still without kicking! That was just the left side. Next we will do the right side. I was fairly worn out by the time he stopped kicking and moving with the left rear leg. I am going to ask Kazi's farrier, Dave, to do Ivan's feet soon, so Ivan has to be used to being handled. Donnie's knee will not tolerate wrestling with a horse right now.
February 20:
I have had the flu for the past several days, but was thinking about youthful escapades. It made me think back to some of the dumber things I did as a kid with a horse. Since I didn't get a horse until I was 17, my only chance at riding was usually at some cousin's place. (I had a gazillion cousins.) Once when I was 12 or so we were visiting some relatives who had gotten their little kids a pony. A totally wild, untrained pony. Since everyone knew of my interest in horses, they decided I should ride it. (Even my father, for goodness sake!) So I went over to this poor little pony and jumped right on. He took off like a cannonball out of a cannon, straight across the backyard he was being kept in, and right for a low hanging clothesline. A neck high clothesline. I hung onto the pony (who probably thought he was going to be eaten any second) with one hand and flipped that clothesline over my head with the other. THEN I got off. I was sore for a week, but every ache reminded me of how I got it.
February 21:
Kazi and Daisy have both come into heat on the same day. They are "looking for love in all the wrong places" . Poor Ivan is surrounded. Someone (probably large and yellow) broke down the electric fence to get out to be closer to Ivan this morning. Both mares have been making eyes, and other things, at Ivan all day. Everyone is certainly getting their exercise in today.
Here is Cactus Jack's opinion of the barnyard antics :
Cactus's opinionFebruary 22:
Being outside so much yesterday was not a good idea for my lungs. I had a little set back. I took a different cough medicine last night that said "non-drowsy", which I didn't realize meant NO SLEEPING. I couldn't sleep half the night until it wore off, then conked out until 10 a.m. this morning. I looked out the window just in time to see the horses checking out the damage they had done. The mares broke out of the electric fence (again) around the barn, then to add something new, one of them kicked the rails off the arena fence and let Ivan out, too. They were all quite proud of themselves. Having mares is an adventure. Having mares in heat with a gelding nearby is an adventure in fence building.
February 23:
After fixing the electric fence three times in 2 days, I am ready to watch for the zap on the big yellow nose! This morning when I went to let the ponies out, the mares had let themselves out, the little gate was still up because they had taken down the fence elsewhere. So Daisy decides to come into the barn enclosure, goes up to the 'gate' and flips it off the post and walks in. Boy is she in for a surprise....heh heh heh (WEG )
At least this morning the mares didn't knock down the wooden arena fence to let Ivan out. Mares are funny creatures, that is for sure. Good thing I like them!
Ivan, Kazi, and Daisy:...The Mod Squad: 1 Black, 1 White, 1 Blond....February 24:
My birthday! I had a calorie-free day of ice cream and Mexican food. yum! I had my picture (and Kazi's) on Channel 7 news this morning in their birthday segment. If you looked fast and squinted hard, you might have recognized me! Luckily, Kazi can make anyone look good!
I rode Kazi bareback around in front of the barn this evening and she seemed to move well and didn't object. That was so great, it has been a long time since I rode her, although I only did it for a few minutes today. Then I sat on Daisy's back and tried to ride her. We got our signals crossed and she went backwards, then turned her head and nipped my ankle with her teeth.....sigh....Oh, well. Reality check time. She is definitely not my horse, says Daisy.
February 25:
The mares seem to have calmed down or gone out of heat or something. It was relatively peaceful here today. No one broke down the electric fence (new batteries ), so I didn't have to repair anything today.
February 26:
I just arranged for Ivan's feet to be worked on by Kazi's farrier with his wife, a vet, giving Ivan a sedative to make it safer for everyone. Hopefully it will be soon. Ivan looks like he has pancake feet. He moves really well to have such big flat feet, but will surely move better with well shaped hooves.
They are predicting snow for us tonight and tomorrow, and some wicked windchills down to about 6 degrees above zero. I would rather they be wrong about the wind....
February 27:
It is actually snowing here today, and the wind is HOWLING, which is worse to me. It won't accumulate much, though, and will be back to 50 degrees by Sunday.
My horses are having the best time running around and acting like wild things. The cold wind turns them on. Kazi can't decide who she wants to kick into next week worse, so keeps running between Daisy and Ivan and threatening them with death. If she can run this well without limping this evening, she may be able to carry me around!
February 29:
So how did we use the extra day we have this year? We went to a feedstore about 35 miles away to buy a giant square bale of hay. It was an adventure getting it off our truck since we don't have a tractor, but it is now residing in the back of the pony stall behind a pair of gates to keep munchers away from it. It was put up in Kansas and they must have had some pretty dry weather because the hay is a bit dryer than ours is. I hope they horses like it since we have 1100 pounds of it for them to eat.
March 2
I finally did tack up my mare, Kazi, and ride her in the arena
this evening. She didn't limp a bit, but wasn't thrilled to be back to
work. She needs some exercise!(Speaking of crabby...) She decided there
was a monster in the corner of the arena, so we did some nice spins
until she decided maybe there wasn't one there after all. One rein
stops work at the trot, it seems.
Anyway, I rode awhile longer, but decided to not push my luck with
those spins. I will work her in the round pen and get her used to the
idea of working for her living again.
Then Ivan got some work
done with picking up his rear feet with a rope. He did pretty good! He
doesn't seem to get skitzo in the evening like Kazi does. I used a
heavier rope and halter that had a bit more bite to it (Clinton
Anderson's) for the first time on him. He is doing pretty good having
that rope thrown all over him. I would like to get his feet trimmed
next weekend, so hope I can get him good at picking them up this week.
March 4
We are having off and on heavy rains this evening, and
this afternoon. The horses had a great time running around, slicing up
the poor pasture sod with their hooves as they skidded and careened
around one another. They seemed to like the weather and every one of
them were bucking and racing around. Silly horses. Even Trinket was
bucking
. I suspect she is in heat since she has been throwing herself backwards at Ivan... I
spent the day mostly snoozing and trying to keep my stomach from
lurching around. Donnie got me some fresh fruit, which I seem to be
able to keep down. I did work a few minutes with Ivan after feeding the
horses, he seems to expect to work for a little extra grain after
dinner. I have him picking up his rear feet with a rope around his
fetlocks easily and today we worked a little on backing up. He really
can be a sweet fellow.
March 6
Well today I had lunch with my friend Debbie who owned Ivan. Yep, owned.
I bought him from her with the agreement that if I ever want to move
him on, she gets first refusal. Since she is about 31 years old, Ivan's
future is probably assured a home for life. So Ivan has just officially
joined the herd! He seemed rather agreeable to the arrangement, he was
even brave enough to try drinking water with Kazi to seal the
agreement, but she wasn't having guests at her water trough without a
protest.
Donnie
came home early and worked on Zippy's long toes, which now look really
good. Ivan's job this evening was to watch Zippy being trimmed close by
while being held and having his feet handled and picked out with a
hoofpick. He did the fronts really easy, and I picked his back feet up
with the rope. Donnie hadn't seen that trick and was impressed at how
calm Ivan is with his new skills.
| March 7 Today I watched all the horses and donkey, except for Trinket, running and bucking and playing 'king of the mountain' on a bank that runs along the top of the pasture. They were so happy and frisky! I saw three of them bucking at the same time, one of them was Zippy! Apparently his feet trimming yesterday has helped him feel pretty darn great, he was a happy pony today. They were a blast to watch having fun. I think Ivan has added a bit of energy to the herd, everyone seems to be more active since he has been here. While I was watching them, I saw Daisy slip and fall on her side, then a minute later, Ivan slipped in the same place and landed on his rump. Both are covered in mud, but are okay. Must have been an extra slick spot. It rained all day, so our mud is very gooey now. | ||
March 8
Well the day went pretty good here. Dave, the farrier, came to do Kazi
and Ivan's feet, despite the HOWLING 50+mph winds, and snow flurries.
Ivan was in the arena and Dave was anxious to do him, so he did Ivan's
feet first and really did a good job with a nervous young horse. He did
all 4 feet with no sedative and no nervous breakdowns, although Ivan
did have a few heart flutters now and then. I think Dave could be
riding Ivan in a week if he wanted to. So now Ivan is sporting 4 feet
that look much better, but will need more work to get them perfectly
shaped after 3 years of nothing being done to them. His feet were sound
with no problems, thankfully. By the time we were done with Ivan, I was
shaking from the cold, even with my SealSuit on. The wind was
unbelievable. I was ready to plead with Dave to not do Kazi, but when
we went into the barn where there was no wind, it felt like the temps
went up 30 degrees. He just did Kazi's rear feet and will return in a
couple days at lunch time to do her front ones.
March 11
Ivan is the new 3 year old grey Arabian gelding who now
belongs to us. He is totally untrained and half wild, but coming along
nicely. He came here on Jan.1, but just became officially ours last
week. It took me that long to decide I really liked him well enough to
support him for the rest of his life
.He is a sweet fellow, just has trust issues that we are slowly
overcoming. Today I got him to put both front feet up on the wooden
bridge we have in the arena. This is a first step in training him to
load on a trailer, believe it or not. Like Kazi, he will do almost
anything for a treat. I got him because Kazi's feet are so iffy and
until the past couple of weeks, she had been lame since the end of last
May. She is doing much better now. So with any luck, I will have 2
horses I can ride soon.
Dave the farrier has re-set Kazi's shoes and her feet are looking soooo
much better! He put on aluminum shoes facing in the correct direction,
so she is no longer wearing those bankrobber shoes. She is moving
really well with no sign of any pain, so Dave suggested we stop the
last gram of bute she has been getting and see if she stays the same.
Kazi
is also in riproaring, blazing, embarrassingly obvious heat with the
object of her love being Ivan. Ivan doesn't quite know what to do for
her or about her, so spends his time trying to figure out which armpit
he should be interested in. Kazi keeps encouraging him, then whips
around and tries to cream him with both back feet, so Ivan's job is not
an easy one. Daisy is not in the least bit interested, unfortunately.
Daisy had all but one of her shots on Monday, so I wonder if she is
feeling a bit draggy today, she just isn't quite as energetic as she
normally is.
March14
Ivan was born during Hurricane Ivan. I thought about
changing his name because of "Ivan the Terrible", but found that there
was also an "Ivan the Great" and decided that our Ivan would be great,
too.
Ivan is about 13.2hh, a short little guy. I hope hegrows a bit more, but doubt he will much. It encourages me to lose more
weight
.The
Va Tech vet called and told me Kazi's tests came back negative, she is
just fine and ready to breed. BUT, Daisy isn't cycling regularly yet
and we have to wait for her to catch up...hopefully soon. Daisy has
always been a bit slow, but when she does something, she does it with
style!
....YesterdayDonnie was playing with her and you could just see how much she was
enjoying it. She has learned to sidepass both away from Donnie and
towards Donnie, even off a leadline. They looked like they were
ballroom dancing
. If she learns to be ridden by Donnie as well as she does on the ground for him, she is going to be a great ride for Donnie.
March 17 I worked with Ivan this afternoon. Sometimes he seems like he is so timid, then he surprises me with how quickly he becomes brave over some things...like the bridge last week. Today I put a blue tarp down in the arena while he was out eating. When he came in for his dinner, he did the whole snorting-monster-in-there act for a couple of minutes. Then when I was ready to see if I could get him near it, I had him ON it within 5 minutes! He will cross over it in all directions and back onto it. Unbelievable. I was ready to work for a few days to get him on it. So then I decided to see if I could get him to start a side-pass move and got him to take two steps crossing his left foot over his right after a few minutes. I bet he remembers and does it better tomorrow. I am starting his lessons on moving away from pressure. While I was letting him rest and chew his treat after successfully doing a couple of sidepass steps, Donnie's cat, Mira, walked up on us on the arena railing. Ivan was concerned, so I petted the cat and let Ivan smell my hand. Then I did it again and my hand touched Ivan's nose....and shocked us both with a static charge zap off the cat. I had to rub the shock away and give Ivan several treats to get him over the surprise of that! | ||||
March 18
I am hoping Ivan will be my trail horse. He really needs some socializing around other people. I can feel him tense up
when Donnie walks up to the gate. He has gotten pretty calm around me,
but Donnie and other folks scare him.
I arranged for Kazi to be
bred last year to an Andalusian stallion, just before she started
having feet problems again. He is a very nice stallion who has done
well in halter, dressage and now driving, so is versatile and
beautiful. If Kazi had started having her problems a month earlier, I
wouldn't have paid for the breeding fee, but we now own half a foal so
are going to breed Kazi and a week later attempt to transfer it to
Daisy. IF Daisy gets with the program and starts cycling regularly.
Here is Kazi/Daisy's intended:
Andalusian stallion in Ocala, FL March 20
This evening Ivan and I worked on lowering his head
and turning it to the side, opening his mouth, and letting me put on a
pretend bridle made of thick rope. This is the same set of lessons I
did on Kazi who does great with putting on a real bridle. I hope Ivan
takes to it as well. So far he isn't thrilled with that rope in his
mouth.
March22
We have had the prettiest day here today, except for the
wind it much warmer than they predicted, it got up to 68 degrees! It
was supposed to be lower 50s. I rode Kazi bareback for a few minutes
with just a halter, she did pretty good for an out of practice horse in
a wind storm.
Then we took Ivan and Daisy into the arena and
spent about an hour working with both of them. Ivan's lesson of the day
was letting me stand on the mounting steps, hovering over his back. He
didn't like me taller than him at first, but got used to that. He had
to stand still while I petted his entire back while standing on the
steps. He did great on his left side, not as good on his right. I
leaned all over him pretty hard, threw the rope all over him while
still on the steps, and basically tried to de-spook him. Then he had to
let me put a saddle pad on his back. He thought that was a monster for
a few minutes.
He got over that and was pretty calm....until the wind blew the pad off his back. Heart attack time again. But he got over it pretty quick. Ivan is pretty fun to work with so far. He will try very
hard for those few grains I give him when he gets it right. One thing I
do like about him is that when he spooks, he tends to recover pretty
quickly. Gives me hope that I might stay on when the BIG SPOOK comes
along while I am riding him.
I think the day is coming soon that I will be getting on him. (Staying on remains to be seen. )| March 23 This evening I was working with Ivan and he was doing very well. I had reins attached to his halter and was having him turn his head in both directions while wearing his saddle pad, just laying on his back. I pounded on the saddle pad and made lots of noises and moved it all over him...no problem. Then I decided to rearrange the loop on the saddle pad and the velcro made it's zipper noise. Ivan had a heart attack.... ...So the rest of the lesson was on the wonderful sound of velcro ripping about a thousand times. He is still not happy with it, but is now only 6 or 7 feet away instead of at the end of the 14 foot leadline with saucer eyes. . While I was ripping the velcro, ripping the velcro, ripping the velcro, the neighbor across the hill shot off a large sounding gun. I jumped out of my socks, checked myself for bullet holes, and noticed that Ivannever flinched an inch. The guy shot again, I jumped again (I was wondering if he was aiming at me, but he missed if he was), and Ivan never flinched. Velcro terrifies him, gun shots don't. Ivan's former owners own a gunshop....but apparently don't do much with velcro.... | ||
March 24
Donnie finally got outdoors with a camera while I was
working with Ivan and took pix of the things we have been doing. So of
course I am going to post them here...
Training Ivan to be GREAT!
Diane and Ivan....Wearing a saddlepad.........Crossing a tarp
Turning head...........Learning to sidepass............Crossing the bridge
March 25
I think Ivan thinks I am going to zap him with static
electricity. I was wearing my nylon jacket yesterday and when I pulled
off his saddle pad, I zapped us both. (This after zapping him last week
while petting a cat.) I apologized profusely, but today he was
convinced the weight tape I was carrying was going to zap him, too. I
never did get it near him and didn't want to spend all night getting
him used to it, so I measured him with a string to see how tall he is.
To the top of his withers, he measures 14hh. He has pretty prominent
withers, though, and I think his back is probably not as tall as most
14 hand horses are, so he looks shorter to me than my first Arab mare, Arkady, was and she
was 14 hands tall.
| March 26 Ivan is convinced I am out to electrocute him for sure. He wouldn't let me touch him, much less put his halter on today. An hour and a half later, we finally came to an agreement about putting that darn thing on. Do you know how long an Arabian can run? More than an hour and a half.... I think he took pity on me. Kazi would have given up an hour and 15 minutes sooner. I am really beginning to appreciate her. After we finally got the halter on, he was just fine. I am exhausted... | ||
March 27
This morning I decided Ivan wasn't going out of that arena
gate to pasture until he let me put on his halter without running off from me. So
of course, he let me put it on 6 times in a row...
...Hopefullyyesterday's little exercise in the round pen will be remembered and he
won't make me do it again. He was sweaty, I was sweatier.
I alpha mared Ivan this evening. He let me put his
halter on, but then tried to dodge away from me. He and I had a few
rounds of Clinton Anderson respect techniques where if he turned away
from me or tried to bolt away, I yanked him back facing me. He was not
a happy camper. I have been able to get him to turn in any direction
loose in the round pen, but today we did in on the lead line, and when
he wouldn't turn and face me and then come to me when asked, got yanked
back facing me. I had him going to one side, then changing directions,
then stopping and facing me. After awhile, he would stop when asked,
turn and face me, and come to me without trying to dodge away. I
suspect we will be doing this for awhile. I am not sure if the static
zaps got him going down the obstinate path, but if he won't play nice,
he gets more drastic measures taken to assure he will. I suspect he is
smart enough to learn this quickly. One nice thing about Kazi, she
never had a major respect issue going on. But Ivan is young and has to
try everything at least once.
March 28:
This morning I decided Ivan wasn't going out of the arena
without letting me put his halter on, just like yesterday's exercise.
Well, he would have none of that, so I let all the other horses out and
watched Ivan race up and down the arena fence for about a half hour to
tire himself out a bit. Then I got him in the round pen and let him
exercise in the directions I wanted him to go. Five minutes later he
walked up to me and let me put his halter on. Then I let him out to
pasture with the girls and ponies. Until he stops trying to dodge me,
this is going to be our morning routine. Arabians have attitude, but
aren't stupid. He'll learn soon enough.
I had a nice pleasant time with Ivan this evening. He
already had his halter on from this morning, so I didn't have to argue
over it this evening. I didn't want him to keep having unpleasant
experiences every time we worked together, so this evening we practiced
things he already knew. One thing he did do well for the first time was
coming to me at the signal instead of having me drag him towards me.
Lots of praise for that, now if he would just do it outside the round
pen and off his lead line.
I took his halter off, so we shall see how he does tomorrow with it.| March 29: This morning I went down to let the horses loose with the same plan as yesterday. Ivan had to let me put his halter on before he could leave. The boy must have decided that yesterday's ploy of running the arena fence line didn't do so great. He came up to me immediately and let me put his halter on. So then I took it right back off and turned him loose. I sure hope this lesson sticks, he has been a pain to deal with for the past few days. Ivan has redeemed himself! He let me put his halter on easily this evening and then acted like a perfect gentleman the entire time we were working together!! I really hope he is over his little snit he has been having this week. Today we worked on moving over on the forehand and his rear quarters and he is getting pretty good at understanding he has to move over when I put a little pressure on his sides. He acted like he was enjoying himself again. (Could be he was relieved I didn't run his hiney off again )All three of our mares are in heat. Ivan sure has changed the atmosphere around here. The Va Tech vet is coming out on Monday afternoon to do check ups. Hopefully he will make some progress with Daisy's schedule meshing with Kazi's. I would sure like to get the breeding biz successfully started! I hope to have a foal coming this time next year..... | ||
March 31
I think Ivan was just trying to
take over. It didn't work for him with Kazi or Daisy, so he had to give
me his best shot
.It didn't work either, apparently. Today I put his halter on outside of
the arena where he could have dashed away! He didn't. I hope he keeps
this new and improved attitude, I really like it!
This evening Ivan and I worked more on having him stand still next to the mounting steps while leaned over him and patted and petted his back, then flopped the rope all over his back. He didn't like the rope much at first, but got pretty good at standing still while I flipped it around. Strangely he does this exercise better on his off side than his near side. He does most things better on his left side, but this time it is different. He is getting used to the idea of standing still while I am over his back standing on the steps, so hopefully when mounting time comes, it won't bother him. We also worked on him moving his hindquarters over when I tapped his hiney with the training stick. He is very sensitive, so that lesson didn't take long for him to catch on. His attitude has been so great all day!
Good news on the breeding project! Kazi and Daisy start
their Regumate treatments on Wednesday morning, then get a shot of
something or other (progesterone?) on the 16th, and then should be
ready for breeding a few days later. The vet will be back on Sunday the
20th to check them out and they should be ready for the stallion's
donation shortly thereafter. They are on the same page right now and
the Regumate will keep them there (hopefully). They (and Trinket) are
in BLAZING heat right now. Ivan is in horsey heaven, he thinks they all
love him
.In a couple of days, he will be the target for horse hoof target
practice again.... I am keeping all appendages crossed that this
breeding works on the first attempt!
March came in like a lion, but seems to going out like a lamb...both weather-wise and Ivan-wise....
No comments:
Post a Comment