Day 79





On Christmas Eve, I planned to try my hand at ponying again, but time sure can get away from you during the holidays.  It takes a lot of time to load Cohasset in the trailer, drive up the road, then tack up and get two horses ready to go.  Instead, I put the halter on Doc and we went for a nice long walking adventure into the woods behind Alicia's house.  We tromped up and down some very steep hills, and he was so brave about going wherever I led him.  The only hesitation he had was some steep creek crossings that we had to jump over.  But after some coaxing, he took a big leap of faith and came on over to me.  We sure have come a long way since trailer loading lessons!

Jumping the creek

(Sorry, it's not easy to take jumping pictures when you are holding the lead rope!)



It was so much fun to go exploring with him, and we gained a new level of trust between us. 

I am constantly amazed at the bond that develops between us humans and these amazing creatures.  Every day is a new lesson, and a new depth to be discovered.

My 6-month old puppy, Kaia, came along too.  It was her first adventure out into the wild, and what fun she had!  I can see that we have many years of exploring ahead of us. 

Kaia



As for Doc, I hope to make our walks a daily event, but where we go will have to depend on the weather.  Tonight we just strolled on down the road since it was dark and rainy.  We walked through as many puddles as we could find, and worked on leading softly.  He is such a willing partner; our lessons are always a pleasure... and good therapy too.  :)



Happy Trails to all!


~Jackie

Day 70

My wish came true, and the rain held off just enough for me to ride Cohasset up the hill to visit Doc again.  It sprinkled off and on, but the rain waited until daylight was fading to start really coming down.  I decided to take as much advantage of the weather as I could, and bring my mare, Dixie, along for the ride.  She needed exercise very badly since she is also neglected lately due to Doc.

This turned out to not be the brightest idea I have ever had.  Dixie decided to spontaneously come into season as soon as she got a look at our handsome man, Doc.  Of course, I didn't let them anywhere near each other, but I did have to pass behind her at a distance.  This was close enough for Dixie's liking, so she would swing her backside around and give Doc a good look at her business.  She even squirted at him a few times!  (Gross!)  The good news is that Doc didn't give her a second glance.

As for our ponying lesson for the day, it ended up being short and semi-sweet.  Like some of our lessons in the past, it was time to hit the brakes and go all the way back to the beginning.  There were plenty of other distractions in this environment, so Doc was a little more anxious than he was yesterday.  We started off well enough going down the driveway, but both Doc and Cohasset resisted leaving home and Dixie behind.  I decided that it wasn't worth fighting two horses to leave home, so we settled for making circles around the house.  Since it was obvious that we weren't in the best situation to try and make a productive lesson out of it, I decided to be happy with a good straight line with both horses in perfect position with no resistance.  We stopped at that.  Now lets all just hope for a break in the rain, and I will do it all again without one ingredient: Dixie.   :)

Stay dry and safe out there...

~Jackie

Day 69 - Ponying Lesson Day

Today was a beautiful, sunny day, and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be spending it with Gail, Amy, and some of my favorite horses ever! 

Amy and I started taking lessons from Gail in the same ground class almost 2 years ago, and have been together in just about every class since.  Today felt like a new beginning with both of us having a young horse to start off fresh with.  When I think back to our first lessons and see all of our progress, I can't wait to see what happens with Doc, and Amy's colt,  Archie.

The lesson started out with some groundwork, just to let Gail see how far along we were.  It felt a little bit like a test, which I liked because I was excited to hear Gail's opinion of how we were progressing.  I got a giant thrill when she told me that we were doing very well.  Thanks Gail!  :)

Once she had a good idea of what she was dealing with, Gail took the lead rope and started Doc's first ponying lesson.  She was very clear about the rules: 

1.  You stay behind my knee at all times.
2.  No socializing or butt sniffing while ponying (you can do this in the pasture later).
3.  Follow me.

If any of these rules were broken, the correction was immediate and fair. 

It didn't take long for Doc to understand what she was asking of him.  She had a bit of resistance when trying to move into a faster pace, but by turning Win into Doc and making a few circles, she had things under control.  When I think back to the groundwork test, I see that our biggest problems were in moving from a walk to a trot.  It is interesting how this translates directly into ponying.  I can also see how it could follow right through to the saddle unless we get it under control now.  Who ever said lessons didn't pay off?!




A little resistance




Follow me!



In short order, Gail turned Doc over to Cohasset and I with an explanation of the rules...



A little resistance of my own



Off we go!



It was hard work for me to manage both horses, and not forget my own focus and technique!



Lock-step feels good

...but we figured it out in the end.

Amy's little guy did a great job too.  Her horses are always so willing to try anything.

Gail and Win with Archie



 When Gail felt that we were competent enough to venture out into the world, we went for a little ride around the property.

Amy and Bozo with Archie

Aren't they cute??!

 

Check out the mirror images!

 

Learning about puddles

Wet feet!

"Hassie will protect you.."

All in all, we had a very successful day.  I am hoping that the rain will hold off for one more day so I can practice our new skills here at home tomorrow.

Doc was mentally and physically exhausted today, but he was also very content to just be with me.  That is the best part of all.  :)

Goodnight everyone!
~Jackie

Day 67

Did I tell you that Doc has his very first lesson at Cottonwood Creek Equestrian Center coming up on Thursday?!!!

I am so excited, I can't contain myself!!  We are going to have a ponying lesson with Gail at 1:00.  I am bringing my horse, Cohasset to learn how to pony a green horse in a safe environment.  Gail is going to saddle up her horse and get him started, and once Doc gets the hang of it with Gail, she will turn him over to Cohasset and I.  I am really looking forward to this lesson because it will be a big milestone for Doc.  Once he gets the hang of following behind another horse on a ride, the options are limitless.  We will be able to go on some great adventures, and he will get a lot more exercise this way.  The added benefit is that I will be able to spend more time riding and exercising my own horses who have been neglected severely since Doc arrived on the scene.  Double bonus!  :)


Cohasset and I


Of course, I will post pictures and details as soon as possible...

Until then, wish us luck!

~Jackie

Day 65?!

It is impossible for me to believe that we have only had Doc for 2 months now.  How can this be?  The time has flown by, but it seems like so much longer when you look back at the horse we started with.  Alicia and I were talking again this evening about how Doc is just like one of the guys now.  Handling him is just as natural and comfortable as any other friendly, domesticated horse.  This is amazing since we couldn't even get near him, much less put a hand on him, two months ago.  He is such a smart guy; at this rate, I can't wait to see him a year from now!

Winter is a difficult and frustrating time for me in regards to horses.  I leave for work in the dark every morning, and get home just as the sun is setting in the evening.  This gives me a short twilight hour to work with horses.  Not to mention the feeding rituals that take about 2 hours every evening.  Needless to say, most of Doc's treatments and exercise are getting done in the dark.  Every evening I tend to his wounds and take him for a walk as time allows.  On Friday we walked quite a distance down the road.  He had never been that far away from home, but as long as I remained confident ((I can fake it pretty well!)), he followed willingly.  He is getting much more confident about changing terrains.  We played "follow the leader" over and around several obstacles, including splashing through the mud puddles in the road.  I felt like I was 5 years old again skipping down the road in my muck boots splashing in the mud puddles!  Let me tell you, it is so much more fun as an adult with a pony in tow!  I am just glad nobody was looking   :)

This is how his wounds look now:

Left

There was a little more blood on the left side because SOMEBODY managed to get himself into the next pen over where Rudy, Mac, and the girls live.  Thankfully, the girls would have nothing to do with him, and he wasn't interested anyway.  All he wanted was to stand close to Rudy and make baby faces at him. 

Right

He managed to scrape some of the scabs off of the left leg, but no other harm was done.  Now we have a pretty good idea of how those injuries happened in the first place! 

Remember what they looked like way back when the meat bees and flies were eating them?

Day 2 at Alicia's house

 Goodnight for now everybody,
~Jackie

Day 58

Doc is doing great in his new paddock with Rolex.  The two of them have been inseparable, and Rolex is the ultimate "father figure" to Doc.  It is really fun to watch them eating and playing together.

I have been continuing to treat his wounds every day, and mix in a little training with each session.  His wounds still look like they are shrinking to me.  I will take some recent photos and see if you can tell a difference.  It is hard for me to tell when I look at them every day.  His castration wounds look almost completely healed now.  Nice job Dr. Jen!

Doc is now better than most adult horses when it comes to standing tied.  We have been working constantly and consistently on holding still for wound treatments, so, as with anything that you focus on every day, it has gotten drastically better.  I am always amazed at how quickly horses can grasp a concept that we are trying to teach them.  It is almost as if it comes to a point when they say, "OK, I get what you want, just give me a minute to process it".  And if we give them enough patience and support for positive moves, they really start doing it!  I love it!!   :)

I think it is time for me to answer the question that is in every one's mind, but only a few close friends have asked.  That question is:  "So...(long pause)... is Doc YOUR horse, or Alicia's?"  Ha ha!  The answer is, Doc belongs to Alicia, or should I say, he belongs to the world right now.  Alicia saw a helpless animal that needed help ASAP.  She immediately offered to take the horse off of it's previous owner's hands... without even having a plan as to how she was going to accomplish this!  She told me about it, and instantly had my support.  I told her I would help out in any way possible.  The plan was formed, and we got him to her house (with a lot of help from others, thank you!).  We had no idea what we were getting in to, but just wanted to get this animal out of pain.  We weren't even sure if he would be able to survive with the wounds he had.  If that meant that we would have to euthanize him, well, we figured that it was better than living with those wounds all of the time.  He had flies and meat bees constantly chewing at his exposed flesh.  Can you imagine?  It just couldn't go on.  That is all we knew.  Once he was safely at her home, the training began, and the rest is history.  As you know, life happens at the most difficult times, and Alicia has been very busy with her daily life lately.  It has just worked out that I have had more free time to devote to Doc's training than she has had.  She still gets to do all of his feeding, etc., and now that he is halter trained, we have both been able to do a lot more with him.

The following photo has nothing to do with Doc, but I just wanted to send you all a holiday smile.  This is Alicia with Rolex (on the left), and our good friend Jen riding my boy Cohasset.  That is me on the ground beside him.  Happy holidays! 
:)

~Jackie

Day 55

Despite the mud and drizzle today, we decided it was a good day to let Doc out with the big boys:  Rolex and Rudy.  We prepared for it by blocking off any tight corners where he could possibly get trapped, then placed ourselves strategically with our carrot sticks at the ready in case we needed to direct traffic at all.  After all of the preparation, we opened the gate to his round pen and out he came... 



"Hi Guys!"

  ... and it was extremely uneventful!  He came out and mingled right in with the boys, but nobody really thought twice about it.  It was so natural to all of them, that it was really quite boring!  I decided that this was a success.  It was much better than having to separate them, or fight someone off of someone else!  

Doc earned himself a new name, yet again:  "Curious George".  This is because he wants to inspect everything.  Alicia did a great job of showing him how to put his nose on scary things because now he wants to touch everything that is new to him with his nose! 

Mmmm... yummy salt block

Once their breakfast arrived, we expected some action, but Rolex and Rudy were so good to him.  They let him eat as much as he wanted from the same bags that they ate from...

Papa Rolex

Patient Rudy

 So, the day has come when we can finally release him from his small pen and let him roam around with the big boys.  Hooray!!  We still can't put him with the mares for another 1 1/2 months, but it sure is nice to give him more room to wander around. 

Can you believe we have only had him for two months now??

Until next time,
Jackie