While I groomed Gambler, Mom picked up some of the poop piles in the arena area to move them to the manure pile. For a month or so, I have been unable to pick out Gambler's hooves without someone holding his head - mainly to keep him from rearing or backing in the cross-ties. He is fine as long as someone holds him, but because Mom was in the arena I didn't have someone to hold him. I started way back in square one, just asking Gambler to pick up his feet and set them down again. I was able to pick out both of the back feet with a moderate amount of kicking. I wasn't able to pick out the front feet, but I did convince Gambler to pick them up and set them down politely, which is a step (pun intended) in the right direction.
As soon as I brought Gambler into the arena he saw the pile of poop Mom had gathered and was on high alert. I thought he was spooked, but Mom mentioned that a stallion would mark his territory in that way, perhaps Gambler thought there was a "rival." That may very well have been the case since Gambler was in a dominant mood for the rest of the session. I spent some time leading him on his off side and yielding his forequarters from that side. In response Gambler tossed his head, flicked back his ears, and tried to bite me. I spent the rest of the session leading him in serpentines around barrels from his bad side, using forequarter yields to turn him bend him around the barrels. By the end he was leading quite politely.
At one point while I was asking for a forequarter yield, Gambler started pawing at a sandy spot in the arena. I knew it was an area that he and Kezi liked to roll so I said, "Uh no, you aren't allowed to roll," and walked away. Gambler didn't follow. Instead he sat down, laid down, and rolled - with the bareback pad on. Once I stopped laughing I made him get up. Thankfully the bareback pad didn't get terribly dirty.
Maybe he's still sore in his shoulders even though you can't find it? That's weird that he was trying to nip. Could be why he doesn't want you picking out his front feet as well. To me it's just really weird how he'll do great and then backslide so much like that... maybe it is a pain issue?
ReplyDeleteGambler is a left-brained extrovert (Parelli terms) which means he is very playful and curious, but also very dominant. He loves to get in my space and does not appreciate it when I move him out of my space. Dominant horses stereotypically put up a fuss about moving their shoulders away . . .I don't remember exactly why, but I've experienced it before. Back when I was re-training Gambler to lead properly he always wanted to push me around with his shoulders and when I asked him to move away he would pin his ears and try to nip. I think that there could be a pain issue, especially when I was using the other saddle that didn't fit well, but I think dominance and personal space is the problem at the moment.
DeleteIf he's done that in the past, then yeah it probably is. If it's completely new I'd be worried about a pain issue. I didn't know all of that about when you first started teaching him to lead (or I forgot lol). Horses use their shoulders to move other horses, so it definitely can be a dominant move.
DeleteI don't really know the Parelli terms very well, but from what I've read I always thought Chrome was LBE, but maybe he's not... he's not really the dominant type. He definitely gets all up in people's personal space, but that's my fault. He isn't dominant though... All the other horses I've ever had with him push him around and he's submissive to me. So I'm not really sure which one he is. He is definitely a very playful, curious horse though. When he was younger he was never spooky. That seems to be getting worse the older he is, but I still don't think I would call him right brained.... I don't know. I get so confused about all of that lol.
I would agree that Chrome is a left-brained extrovert. That doesn't necessarily mean that he is dominant, it is just common with horses of that personality. As you can see with Gambler, LBEs can be quite spooky. Although Gamby has right-brained introverted tendencies. Sometimes when he is afraid he will become very quiet and still then suddenly explode.
DeleteOkay, then yeah that totally makes sense. I think Chrome and Gambler are a lot alike. I just think Gambler is more opinionated hehe. :D
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