Sorry!
I forgot to take the camera out, and remembered just as Zip and Tia had their legs fetlock deep in the mud in the gateway :-0 No photos for foot fetishists, sorry!
I'm not sure who gets emailed comments and who doesn't, so I'll repeat a comment from yesterday. Tia came in last night walking on the tiptoe of the hind foot which did not abscess last time. It's clear that she has one in that foot now, poor sweetheart. I was surprised that it had not burst last night so I turned her out as soon as I could into the mud poultice of the field. She has come in better, but far from sound. I stuck a needle into a pocket that I could feel and I think I hit the target, because she has just walked into the barn much better. Hopefully it will break open tonight and drain. I know I'm far from alone in having horses abscess after 3 months of constant rain, and since they cure easily once they're open I don't worry too much about it.
Zippy is learning some manners really well and is much more respectful of humans than he was. A friend came to see him last night so we stuck a girth on him (attached to 2 stirrup leathers over a back pad, I don't possess a roller). He wasn't the slightest bit bothered by it, so I don't expect putting a saddle on him to be any issue whatsoever. I have to say that Smartie is the only horse who ever has had real trouble accepting a saddle, and we all know now why that was. I suspect Zip is going to be fairly simple to get backed, he seems like a very accepting little fellow. (And I intend to do it while he is still "little" - I'm not trying to sit on him for the first time when he's a hulking great 17 hander :-0 )
I rode Jazz today and he had some GREAT experience. Right outside the barn a crew of four men were using a tracked machine with a hydraulic platform on it to change our electricity supply. He could hear them. He could see movement through cracks down the sides of the door. And they were chucking metal tools from 20 feet up straight into the back of the metal truck.
Jazz took maybe 10 minutes to settle and then did a perfectly normal schooling session. I thought that was exceptionally good behaviour for a horse of his age. Yet again he had a halt issue, and it is definitely defiance that is his problem and nothing physical or any failure to understand what I want. About six times I let him take most of the length of the school before he finally ground to a resistant halt. The seventh time, quite strategically and with no "temper" I took a very sharp pull on the reins. Hey presto - quiet and gentle halts within 2 strides were suddenly offered of his own free will. I don't recommend yanking a horse in the teeth, but sometimes it can actually be the right thing to do !
In the work itself, I am definitely getting much better myself about feeling how and when he is trying to get away from me. And I'm also learning where the leverage points are to control him when he does. It's quite a few sessions now since we have ended up going in any direction but the one I want. It's not for want of him trying, it's because I can keep him on my aids now. One day this will all translate into a dressage ring and then a pack of wolves couldn't stop me picking up my scoresheet and seeing what the judge thinks!
I'll try for photos tomorrow.
C
posted by cptrayes @ 6:16 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
There was the famouse line from one of my trainers, "Don't let him do that!" Or, perhaps, "Yank his teeth off," when we had one of those won't stop moments. There are just some times a strong correction is the only solution. As Jazz proved, when the disobedience is deliberate, it can make quite an impression.
Good for him about working through the distractions. I guess Tucker would have settled...but with Tucker you never know.
I left a note for my shoer asking him if Tucker could go barefoot. He pulled both front shoes off on the weekend. He is barefoot in back, but that crack on the front makes it risky to try barefoot. However, if I had know this winter was going to be so ridiculous, I might have tried. As it is now, I have to be very careful about turnout. I have never had mud like this before. It is bad and I am on a hill with very well drained soil. *sigh*
No attempt to get the scoresheet? Ah, gee...come on....please?
I confess that in the past I haven't always made sure enough that disobedience was deliberate before getting a bit too strong, but I'm a lot better now. Older and wiser I guess :-)
My experience of a cracked foot that had been there for four years and was getting worse was that removing the shoes cured it. Nic Barker had truly astonishing results with her mare who had mutliple sandcracks of huge width and depth, totally unstable and lame even in shoes. The mare now has only a very minor sandcrack down the front of each front foot.
Are you up to date about magnesium and feet Jean? Barefooters seem to do a lot better when fed a high magnesium diet. Since it also acts as a calmer, it works out well for most people.
No chance of the scoresheet, sorry!
C.
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