Joke's on Me

So in my last post I talked about how Gambler is a young horse who needs consistent work in order to remember anything I teach him. That's an exaggeration, but you get the point. Well, apparently he's reading my blog and he thought it would be fun to prove me wrong. I was surprised, but I'm certainly not complaining!

It was 25 degrees at the barn yesterday, warmer than it's been for weeks. The wind, however, was blowing at about 13 mph. As I walked toward the barn, I said to myself (yes I talk to myself - a sign of genius or insanity or both), "The horses are gonna be spookified monsters today." Then Kezi whinnied at me from the gate, almost like she was replying to me. She whinnied again when I got to the fence. Apparently she was very glad to see the food-bringer.

We brought the horses in and dished out the grain, same as usual. Gambler was surprisingly calm. Instead of ignoring his hay and pacing the stall, he stood and munched away. Once he was done with his grain, I brought him out into the cross-ties. For the first time in the last few weeks, he acted as if he really had seen cross-ties before. Imagine that!

I brushed him and then addressed the picking up of the feet. I took it pretty slow, like I did when I first started focusing on his feet. First I just asked him to lift the foot calmly. It took some time, but in the end I picked out all four feet without any hopping, kicking, mini-rearing, or attempted biting. I didn't even have to ask Mom to hold him.

Then I put on the bareback pad. I haven't even brought the pad into the barn in weeks, so I expected the usual "I have never seen that object in my entire life" response. I was happily surprised when he allowed me to tighten the girth without a single complaint. Is this the same baby horse I wrote about yesterday?

On top of it all, I brought out the bridle again, to check the fit. He let me put it on first try without any problem. I felt horrible because I forgot to warm up the bit. I specifically prepared a hand warmer for that very purpose, but forgot anyway. I don't think he'll hold it against me.

He played with the bit a little, but not much. The bridle fits perfectly, except for the browband, which is definitely too tight. I guess he has the forehead of a quarter horse. The noseband was attached to the wrong part of the headstall, so I couldn't tighten all the straps. You'll notice in the pictures it looks a little awkward. The best part is, he was totally relaxed and accepting of the bridle, even though I haven't put it on him since . . . October? November? I don't even remember.

I guess my baby is growing up!

He's standing a little awkwardly, because he's so focused on the thing on his head. I have his halter - still attached to one cross-tie - around his neck, but he really wasn't tied. Thankfully, he didn't realize it. He just stood there thinking about what was on his head. 

When he saw me take out the phone he stopped messing with the bit, looked at me, and perked up his ears. I swear he poses for the camera. 

The Cold has Struck

Where have I been? Believe it or not, I have been at the barn with Gambler. I don't have a good excuse for not writing. I just didn't feel like writing the same thing over and over and over. That's what its been for the last week or so. Repetitious. There is nothing wrong with repetition, in fact, it's beneficial for a young horse. It is not, however, good blog material.

The cold has struck. Right now my phone says that its 0 degrees at the barn and feels like -7 degrees (Fahrenheit). Granted, it's nothing compared to last year when it was ten to twenty below nearly every night, but it is cold! As a result my sessions with Gambler have been the same every day. Bring the horses in, feed them, put Gambler in the cross-ties, put the bareback pad on him, pick up/pick out all four feet. He continues to improve. The bareback pad is hardly an issue anymore. He's putting up more of a fuss with his feet, but I think that is due to the cold and the fact that he hasn't had a good work out in several weeks.

Gambler in the cross-ties last week.

Last night we put the horses in their stalls overnight for the first time. I haven't heard how that went, hopefully Gambler stayed in his stall this time. We'll be heading over there in a couple hours, so I'll try to update tomorrow. 

Gambler in his stall last night. You can see his little purple ball hanging from the rafters. I was hoping he'd play with it, but so far he has just ignored it. 

Honey, I'm Hoooome!

I'm back! Not that I'm happy about it. I definitely didn't miss my horse at all. Not even a little. Nope. Why would I do that? Why would I get homesick for the barn? I don't even like horses.

"There you are Jenna. Where have you been?"

Grumpy ears.

Hiding from the camera.

More grumpy ears.

This one's cute!

Even more grumpiness. 

And more grumpy ears.

When Mom and I let Kezi and Gambler into the barn Gambler tried to follow Kez into her stall. Such a snot! I guess he decided to welcome me back by causing trouble. If these two don't shape up we're gonna have to start leading them into the barn again, which is more of an inconvenience for us than for them. Can't you just walk into your stall like a good little horsie Gambler?

I was glad to get to the barn early today, because artificial lighting after dark doesn't do Gambler justice. He is one of the prettiest horses I have ever seen (Kezi is definitely up there as well) and I'm not saying that just because he's mine. I have always loved dapple greys. When I first got Gambler he was a boring mouse grey. I've always said that I didn't want a "boring" colored horse, no bays or chestnuts; I wanted a horse that would stand out color-wise. When I was offered Gambler, I didn't care for his color; but he was sweet, adorable, and he was mine. Since then he has become a gorgeous dapple grey. I couldn't be happier!

My gorgeous little horse was so good today. He was a tad spooky due to the cold and the wind (those Arabs love cold and wind sooooo much if ya know what I mean). Even so, he let me pick out all four hooves. He kicked out with the front right hoof a couple times, but never kicked free. I focused on picking up his feet over and over and holding them up for longer. I also tapped on them with the hoof pick (although Gambler is barefoot and doesn't need to deal with hammers). I pulled his front feet forward like the farrier does to put them on the hoof stand. Gambler was uncertain, but I think with time he'll learn to accept it. 

I put the bareback pad on him again. He put up more of a fuss than he did a week ago, but didn't grunt or move around much. While the bareback pad was sitting on his back (before I tightened the girth/cinch thing) he suddenly became tense. His head flew up. The whites of his eyes showed. He started pulling on the cross-ties. I glanced out the barn door to find whatever it was that had spooked him, but I couldn't see anything. So I braced myself for the spook. I took the bareback pad off again, unclipped the cross-ties, and held him in the aisle while continuing to search for the offending object. Gambler stood stock-still, ears and eyes quivering. And then I saw it.

Gambler loves little furry creatures. Trees scare him to death, but he will chase dogs. At his old barn he would chase the barn cats. The offending creature was, indeed, a cat. What I had mistakenly identified as a spook was excitement. Gambler wanted to go chase the cat. 

The cat.

Gambler watching the cat.

Once I realized that Gambler just wanted to play I put him back in the cross-ties and took pictures. What else could I do? The story was too cute to keep to myself. Eventually the cat wandered out of sight and I finished putting the bareback pad on Gambler. 

When we let the horses out to eat their hay, the wind was already picking up. We're supposed to get a big storm tonight. 

Life Happens

I've been a bad blogger this week.

On Thursday the wheel bearing in our mini-van got so bad that it was unsafe to drive. Driving an hour to the barn and back was a no-no. So I didn't see Gambler until tonight. And today I was on my way back from an Austen-movie marathon with friends, completely unaware that I was going straight to the barn afterwards. This meant that I didn't have the camera, and thus, have no pictures to show you. I did, however, have a productive evening with Gambler.

When I got to the barn we rushed to throw hay down from the loft before the sun went down. Those hay bales are heavy. The summer I worked at Galloping Hills I gained so much muscle from carrying hale bales and water. I'm hoping that over the winter I can build some of that muscle up again. After we had the hay down, we brought the horses in to give them their grain. I couldn't do anything with Gambler in the arena because the sun had gone down, but there was plenty to do in the cross-ties.

I picked up Gambler's front feet while mom was doing some stuff in town. He was bad, mostly because I didn't want to back him up in the barn aisle. He never kicked at me and I did pick out both of his front feet. All he did was kick his right foot free once and then try to kick free a second time. So while he was "bad" he was much better than he has been. I meant to pick out his back feet when Mom got back, so that she could hold him and back him up if needed, but I forgot.

Then I played the friendly game with the girth of the bareback pad. Gambler fidgeted a bit, but he didn't grunt once. I just lightly tossed the girth onto his back, pulled it off, and tossed it up again. I did this to his withers, back, rump, and his belly where the girth normally goes. When he licked and chewed, or cocked a back leg in relaxation, I praised him and repeated the exercise on the other side.
Then I did the same exercise with the bareback pad itself. Then I left the bareback pad on and repeated the exercise with the girth while the bareback pad was on his back. Finally, I put the girth on so loosely that it barely skimmed his stomach.

While watching the Parelli colt starting DVD series, I picked up a neat tip that I tried out today. Parelli suggested that when tightening the cinch you press down on the horse's withers harder than you are pulling on the girth. I tried it out and it works very well. The horse is distracted by the pressure on on his withers and doesn't react as strongly to the pressure of the girth.

Then we let the horses back out to pasture to eat their hay. I love Gambler's stall manners so much. He is one of the most respectful horses I know. Granted, he still has his days when he thinks he's a stud and all respect for my space flies out the window, but on most occasions he is very respectful. For instance, today I opened his stall door, told him "whoa" and stood in the door of his stall. He stood there calmly and quietly until I stepped out of the way and let him out. There are many horses (including Gambler a few months ago) who I would never stand in front of while letting them out of their stall. It's a good way to get run over. But Gambler has gotten to the point that I can trust him to respect my space. Now if I can just get him to let me pick up his feet and sit on his back!

Since I don't have any new pictures, here are a few old ones.

This pictures was taken just a few days after Gambler re-discovered the art of longeing. It took me a long time to teach him my version, a mixture of traditional longeing and the Parelli Circling Game.

Check out the collection! Why doesn't he do this anymore?

Funny how he had no issue with the girth the first time I put it on him.

Perfect Weather

I was skimming through old pictures and I happened upon this one. I don't remember the picture, but I remember when it happened. Gambler is spooking at a saddle pad laying on the ground out of the picture. He looks gorgeous. That neck! And he looks so much skinnier. Part of that is that now he has a summer coat, but part of it is that I don't see him often enough to keep him in shape. He's definitely an easy keeper. But I'm not worried, it's good to go into winter with a bit of chub.

It's a reminder of just how far we've come. Today I put a big blue tarp on the ground right where that picture is to set all of my stuff on (it is a misty, moist day and I didn't want the camera or my equipment to get wet). When I walked Gambler by it he didn't blink an eye. He was curious and wanted to eat everything, but I didn't get the slightest spook out of him.

I went to see Gambler by myself again today, so I only have a few pictures. The weather was perfect. It was my very favorite kind of day. All day there was a layer of fog drifting in the air, thick enough to make everything seem magical, but thin enough that you could see. I absolutely love that weather. It was wet, but thanks to the sandy nature of the pastures at the barn, the footing was great. The temperature was about 39-42 degrees Fahrenheit. Overall, it was the perfect day.

I only had about half an hour of daylight to work with, but I made good use of it. I started by playing the friendly game with the bareback pad and the girth/cinch thing that comes with it. I lightly threw the pad onto his back and then pulled it off then repeated those two steps until he either licked and chewed or cocked a leg in relaxation. In the end I never did get the girth/cinch thing tightened, but he did relax and we ended on a good note.

He was grunting again today. I have a new theory about the grunting. I think that he is remembering an old injury. If I very, very lightly set the girth on the place where his back becomes his butt, he grunts loudly. But when I feel it with my hand, lightly slap it with my hand, groom him, or anything else I don't get a reaction. He isn't hurt, but he acts like he is hurt. For a long time this weirded me out. I know my horse, and I know when he's pulling one over on me. When I rub the girth on his neck and he grunts, someone is definitely just trying to get out of work. But whenever I touch that one place with the girth he genuinely thinks that he is in pain. But he isn't, I've messed with his back a ton and he isn't. So my new theory is that he was injured there, probably with a saddle on or while being saddled, and he freaks himself out and thinks that if he lets me saddle him he'll hurt himself again. So I'm just going to keep on keeping on and slowly step-by-step show him that I'm not going to hurt him.

After he relaxed I put the pad away to give him a release. Then I longed him for the first time in a long time. I was amazed at how responsive he was. He backed up with a wiggle of the hand (I didn't even have to shake the rope!) and he picked up a trot with a cluck and a pointed finger. I asked him to canter a little, but not too much because I haven't worked with him in a while and he's seriously out of shape. He seemed to enjoy himself and even offered a canter once when I wasn't asking for it.

Finally I ground tied him (sorta, we're still working on that) and gave him a good grooming. I picked out his left front foot and his right front foot! Since I was grooming him in the arena instead of the barn I had the room to back him up. So when he kicked out with his right front I backed him up and tried again. Right away he was licking and chewing and let me clean out his right front for the first time in weeks. Not that I haven't cleaned out his right foot, but it's always a battle and he usually pulls it away before I'm done.

Consistency

Today was the perfect winter day. I would be overjoyed if the next four months were like this. The snow melted, the temp cool but not below freezing, the ground damp but not slippery or boggy: it was wonderful.

I think the western saddle might be too narrow for Gambler (*cough* fatty *cough*), and even if it isn't he has been working himself up during the saddling process. So I put the bareback pad on him instead. I know that he doesn't have an issue with the bareback pad because I put it on him way back in June or July without any negative reaction. Today, however, he tried to get out of it by moving around and grunting. I know for sure now that the grunting is an excuse. He is not colicking. I haven't put a saddle on him for weeks. He doesn't grunt consistently. Not to mention that he was grunting before the girth even touched his belly. How does that work? It just so happens that I have one of the goofiest, smartest, brattiest little horses out there.

I longed Gambler walk/trot in both directions with the bareback pad on. I would have asked for a canter, but the ground was still a little sketchy. He didn't react at all to the bareback pad once it was on. Then I sent him over a "jump." It was a pole on a tarp on the ground with buckets on either side. He didn't jump it, which didn't surprise me because it wasn't jump-worthy, but the point wasn't to jump it. The point of the "jump" was to give Gambler something interesting to think about so that he didn't get bored.

After that I did more mounting preparation. I've gotten on him before, but I want to slow down the process. So many horses, both green and fully trained, have a horrific habit of taking off when the rider gets on. Right now I want Gambler to learn to stand calmly and quietly while I get on and off. He is doing much better. I can now stand on the mounting block, rub his back, and lean on his back without him moving around too much. He still gets fidgety when I jump up over his back though.

I have pictures, but the light was fading and neither Gambler nor I were holding very still, so they're blurry.

I think the biggest setback in Gambler's training is the lack of consistency. When I spend time going over the same task three or four days in a row he picks up new skills quickly, but when we take a few days off he falls behind again. The barn owner installed a light on the side of the barn that shines into the arena. It doesn't give a lot of light, but I think it's enough to get some basic stuff done. I want to see what I can still do with Gambler's on Tuesday and Thursday, even after the sun has gone down.