So I had a vet over here today (unrelated to Serenade), her name is Gail Jewel and she is quite well known in endurance circles.... she and her husband were on the 2010 Canadian Endurance team and competed and completed the WEG 100 mile ride at Kentucky last year - so.... she does know about horse lameness and stuff :) Anyhow, I asked her about Serenade and she suggested that Serenade needs to work herself out of this - so I am on the right track.... but Gail is getting a new horse exerciser and she said she could board her at their place for a month and work Serenade daily to try to get her through this - I am pretty sure I am going to do this. Serenade will either improve or get worse, but either way I will know for sure if she will be sound to ride. We are sure hoping so - she is everything her purebred Arabian mother is but with the added bonus of the curls!
Next up was *Kobee - he is such a hairy thing this year that I took the clippers to him again - I already did his bridle path the other day, but this time I did his legs - he looks SO much better... well, I do admit that like them cleaned up and clipped :) So he was good for that and I slapped the boots on him as well - he has not worn boots before that I know of, maybe shipping boots, but I can't really remember :) He was very good - some of that high stepping that horses do with their first time, but that was it.
So then I rode him - I put draw reins on him for the first time - he needs to get more steady in his gaits and head carriage and since he is being retrained by me, rather than trained, it is much more difficult to show a horse how to be consistent without using anything like draw reins. Now these reins only come into play when he bobs his head up - he "runs" into them. So they worked very well and I hope to have to use them for only a few rides - after that he should have the idea.
But here is where the "real life lesson" comes in.
Now years ago I started Kobee under saddle and have not ridden him much at all since then (5 years) he obviously still remembers his initial training because while he is lacking in some of his finishing training, way back when I did a lot of work to show him what to do when he is scared of something and let me tell you that today I did something stupid and was I ever glad that I did my work with him in the beginning of his training! Here is what happened. I got off, I undid the draw reins (one shouldn't leave them attached, they can get hung up on things) and I tossed them over the saddle. They aren't very long, but I thought they would be okay there. Well, I turned my back and Kobee gave a big shake - I didn't look back - I had his regular reins over my arm and went through the narrow gate and on the way through I bent down to pick up my vest, camera, two whips all with the same hand that had ahold of him. I felt him spook through the reins and looked back to see that the draw reins had fallen off of him and were dragging underneath him! "very" luckily for me, his spook was small and while he was scared.... he knew to hold his position - if he had bolted, I would have definitely been in trouble, he was half way through the small gate and practically on top of me! I talked calmly to him and got the reins out from under him - geesh - dumb, dumb, dumb, but like I said, soooo glad I took the time in the beginning to teach him such an important lesson!!
Here is what the reins looked like under him, they are attached to the girth between his legs - talk about a snake following him!
Here is a photo of her in between her pawing to encourage me to "get going" LOL
http://www.curlystandardplace.com
Shelly-You were definitely lucky with Kobee. That desensitizing work while at times can seem boring really pays off in the end.
ReplyDeleteWe have a few like Sheila-typically they are keeper horses and it seems as if they know they are not leaving the farm so walk around very high and mighty. I also need to spend an extra bit of time working with them so we can come to an understanding and have some mutual trust and respect.
I am so glad to hear you also have a nice horse with a it of a queenly attitude :) The horses here have to learn that I am the only queen on this hill :) I'll ditto Zoe... not fun to get run over and stomped. Having your building blocks in place when you lay the foundation is a big piece as is the temperament. Kobee is a VERY handsome boy, but I am quite partial to a beautiful bay.
ReplyDeleteShelly,
ReplyDeleteGreat photo work, I'll have to try that timer idea. I agree with you ladies about the Queen attitude. Usually my horses that require more time with this attitude become my favorite and are the smartest{:>
Oh yes, Sheila - yes, she has a very high opinion of herself - quite queenly :) But, she will not be a long term keeper - she needs someone to run barrels with her or do reining - maybe if I was 10 - 20 years younger! Look at the hip on her - she is really built!
ReplyDeleteI will say that I am glad to hear though that I am not the only one with the occasional Curly that requires "more" from me :) Sometimes I wonder about some of these horses - most of them are just SO easy.
You are right, Angie - the ones that require more time usually become my favorites as well, and, once they get with the program they are usually rock solid.
Yes, Kobee is a handsome boy - bay is my favorite colour and he is hugely elevated in my opinion now - after my stupid behavior, he took care of me!
Shelly
I am glad to hear Kobee reacted great when he was scared.
ReplyDeleteI hope the training works out well for Serenade and that she turns out sound to ride, she is so beautifull! I am wishing the best for her!