Terrible Roads! Egads!

So the past few days have been terrible. Lots of that dry, easily blown snow, and equally fast winds whipping it around. Saturday was bad, so we decided to go out on today instead. Rocking Bar is located on a backroad with lots of farmland surrounding the area. We assumed there would be drifts, and indeed there was! Some were 4ft creeping onto the road in certain spots. It was fine, however, as the winds had died down quite a bit, so off we went.

Got out to the barn and it was freezing. The driveway was full of drifts too, but luckily most of it was hardpacked. However, down from the road (the only other exit road to the highway) it was impassable. There were drifts everywhere. You couldn't tell road from field. The winds were still fine at that point. So off I went to get Cali, and thats when they picked up. My eyes froze at one point, forcing me to walk blind through the field to get back to the barn with Cali. Must've easily been below -40C with the windchill. We weren't doing any work today.

Brought Cali in and made sure his coat was completely dry, gave him some warm water (since having even two heaters in the troughs wasn't enough today) and let his hooves thaw out. He had about two inches under the toe of his front hooves, forcing him to stand rocked way back on his heels. Poor boy limped from that damn ice. So we stood on the warm floor in the tackbarn until they melted off, re-fluffed his coat, gave him a bit more water and some treats before turning him back out. By then the winds were wild. Cali ran beside me to his pasture and I turned him loose as soon as we got to the gate. He flew out to his herd, where they were all huddled behind the surprisingly warm three-walled shelter they have.

We hussled to get out of there. We got out of the driveway and realized it was going to be nearly impossible to get home. Two and three foot drifts had come off the farmers fields and onto the roads. You couldn't see where the shoulders were. We followed the tracks of some previous trucks, then the worst happened: Our car was rocked off onto the shoulder, landing in snow that engulfed the whole front of the car. Temperatures were about -45C on the exposed road, with snow whipping like sand. It hurt. The shoulder was a ridiculous angle. We tried to dig ourselves out but the car just couldn't get through the snow. A truck showed up and the nicest gentleman came over to help. We pushed, dug and pushed some more. Nothing.

Then one of the ladies who works at the barn showed up, and drove back to get some rope to pull us out. We dug some more, and when she came back, we hooked the car up to the truck and pulled the car out (with LOTS of pushing even then!).

By then, the winds had thrown even more drifts into the road. A big truck ahead of us got stuck too, but thankfully, his buddy had made it through just before him and got him out in a matter of minutes.

The drifts were getting worse by the second, and this stretch of road was very bad. The lowest spots were filled with half a foot of snow, the highest probably came up to my chest. My mother was all freaked out; even though we had tracks from the latest trucks going through, it was still bad. Very bad. So the guy took over and drove the car through. I sat with him to give the car some weight. And even with him, clearly a back-country truck driver, almost didn't make it. We almost were shoved off into the shoulder again. Ugh! Scary.

But he was awesome and managed to get the car through the worst of it. Then he followed us all the way to town to make sure we didn't have anymore problems.

Gah. I wasn't scared, as there are always options, but it was definately an experience. Took us over an hour and a half digging in -45C weather to get the car out. My face is windburned, my toes are still mildly frozen and my eyes hurt from the fact they actually froze a bit when the wind really picked up.

So, until the snow clears and the roads are better, Cali will be having a nice vaccation! I do not want to crash into a ditch again. Pushing a car out while standing in snow up to my waist is not my idea of the perfect afternoon x.x!

These were the roads when they were still decent. Those shoulders on the side are actually around 4ft deep. On the left side of the road, you can see one of those large drifts already creeping onto the road. Should have known better than to push our luck, but live and learn.

Bundled up to take Cali back out to the field. He wasn't tired, just in mid-blink in this picture ^^
He wasn't the happiest pony today, but this weather is enough to make anybody cranky. Hopefully the weather clears up soon, so I can have my happy pony back. Ah, well, he is still super cute.

A Good Pony

Sorry for the lack of updates. I haven't been able to get out to the barn too much recently due to the terrible roads and working a little later than I'd like. Managed to head out today which was definately nice (if bloody cold!).

Cali is now such an easy boy to catch. I bring out my clicker now when I go to bring him in. I walk within sight and call his name. The moment he looks over, he gets a click. That cue means that because he did good, he gets a reward. So he wanders over, and in doing so, gets another click. So now I have very little, if any, problem catching him. The only issue is if the other more dominant horses come over, but he seems to be standing his ground (especially when it comes to treats).

He's been very good lately as far as manners go. With the clicker work, he is no longer grabby with treats, which is wonderful. He will stand politely and not reach for my hand unless he hears a click, and even then it's lips only. Yay! Along with that he has realized that standing nicely in the crossties will sometimes earn a click&treat. As does picking up his feet nicely. And nice relaxed sighing. I randomly reward these, so it's really helping him calm down and not worry.

Tossed his saddle on and his bridle. He still gets a bit fussy about being bridled, but that's coming. He no longer chomps away at it like before.

Brought him into the arena and worked with him nice and quiet. Walking, lounging, turning, stopping. Despite not having worked with him for a few weeks, it took only two corrections with his loungework. The rest was spot on. He even switched onto his bad side via verbal cue and only slight pressure.

With the bridle, he was having major issues with how sensitive his mouth is. I was working on teaching him to give to pressure last session we had and Cali would brace every time, no matter how the cue was given (arg!). So I left it for the day. No sense making him anxious about it. So today I tried something new. I tied up his reins and looped them over his neck. I dropped contact and walked with him. The nice thing about Cali is we did so much liberty work that I can usually work him with little to no line contact if I need to, so he followed as usual.

Since I'd left the reins long enough to droop, I could easily reach out and touch them. So I reached out with a finger, picked up the inside rein, gave enough cue to get him to follow the pressure, and then I would use my body language to turn him. Boom! He got it. No resistance, no head-jerking, just dropped to the pressure and yielded. So I tried again, this time using the other rein. Boom! Didn't even have to use my body language. Man that boy is smart. A few more times and he was already bored with it, haha.

So we walked over to the mounting block, he stopped beside it, I stepped onto it and began putting weight on the saddle. He looked at me funny, but stood. I tightened the girth, shook the saddle a bit, pulled on the horn, pulled on the cantle, put weight in the stirrup... Nothing. So we walked out as a reward. Cali sometimes goes backward when he's learning something new, so I've really been stressing that 'Going Forward' is the reward. It's just safer that way, since I'd much rather have him walk off and be in the thinking mindframe than back up and become anxious (since he has a history of backing up until he falls over).

Again we came to the mounting block, I put weight in the stirrup again... Nothing. So we walked on. Repeated on the opposite side (his bad vision side) and still nothing. We walked away from the block and stopped. I grabbed the horn and hopped as if I were getting on. He stepped away a little, since it was new, but stopped when he heard 'Whoa' and relaxed again. I hopped once more, and he stepped away more calmly, and a shorter distance. Eventually I was hopping up and down beside him, hanging onto the saddle while doing it, and nothing.

We called it a day after that point, finishing when he was still nice and relaxed, but more importantly, while he was still confident. Went back to the barn, did some stretching with treats, worked on his foot cues a few times (His front feet now lift up with vocal cue alone, yay) and gave him a good rub down.

We had a bond before, but I feel it is definately getting stronger. Before I felt we were close, but not quite partners yet. We knew each other, but were still learning. Now, I feel that that we are really getting close. It really shines through when we are alone, because he has so much more confidence when he is focusing on what I'm asking. Today was really nice. I can hardly wait until summer. So many fields to explore.

Winter Fun

Today was such a lovely day out. Only around -8C, so I knew it would be an adventure with the ponies. Got out there and you could just see all the horses playing in their pastures.

Brought Cali in, threw on his surcingle and we went out to walk the track. Mark and Allie came with me, since they both like playing with my boy. And wow, the moment we set foot on the track, Cali was prancing beside me. So, I started to run, and he trotted beside me for about half the track. He is getting very good with that. Before he used to toss his head and act like: "Why the hell are you following me?!" and put on the brakes. Hah! Not today.

So we walked for a bit before handing off the lead to Mark. Mark loves to run with Cali [See above], and they get along real well. They did half the track and Cali was clearly enjoying himself. I then asked Allie if she wanted to try. She was like: "Sure... Not sure I like this." To which I replied: "Don't be afraid, be confident. Just walk him."

Allie walks him for a bit, and he was following happily. He kind of trotted, so Allie started to run beside him. But, because she was nervous, he wasn't going super fast like with me or Mark. "Gosh, you are SUCH a slow horse!" Allie said. Sigh. I'd warned her that Calique understands more than anybody really believes. About a second after she said that, Cali suddenly bolts out in front of her (not a fearful bolt, just turning up the speed), pushes her off balance, and starts really trotting out. Allie tried to follow, but stumbled and did a faceplant in a nearby snowbank.

Calique circled her once, and once she was getting up and looked okay, he postured in the most showy, stallionesque way possible and took off down the track on his own. I was giggling to myself a bit. Went and caught my horse (since his buddies were nearby) and we walked out for a bit. He's a very good teacher, that's for sure. A little bit later he pulled the same stunt with me, but that was from frustration that I couldn't turn him loose in our original pen. It was all iced over, and the arena had lessons going. But, I didn't fall, and he came back after a few seconds after proving his point.

He has gained a bit of weight over the winter, but he's not as fat as it looks. It's really from lack of muscle tone, which helps hold everything all 'lifted' and 'up'. That will come with time.

But overall he is looking good. His coat is now soft and smooth (almost shiny, despite it being his winter coat). His mane and tail are growing out and his hooves are looking great. One had started to collapse, but Brian has been taking great care of it, so it's 100% better and hardly noticable. Oh, and Calique picks up all four legs now. He still struggles with his back legs, but I've found if I shoulder his hip more (hold onto his weight with my hip a bit), he relaxes and feels secure enough to hold it up.

And I was super proud of him today. Another horse was freaking out in the crossties beside him, and despite not having been worked with for nearly a month (Energy galore), he was the perfect gentleman. I love this pony.

December Blahs

Is it just me, or did December just fly by?

Roads have been crappy on-and-off here for a while, so I've only been out to see Cali once this month. Not terribly worried about it. It's winter; He deserves a bit of a break.

Went out yesterday and brought my boy in. In fact, I think that time out in the field has been good for him. He seemed quite bored, and was eager to come in from the field. Man did he have energy. Nice warm day (only negative with single digits, yay) so he was definately feeling his oats. His coat has come in beautifully. It's so soft and actually a bit shiny despite the mammoth amount of it. His hooves are looking great too, aside from he must've kicked a fence because the back heel on his right hind is a bit gouged.

He was a bit ancy in the crossties, but that was just him having so much energy. Oh! And he lifts his front feet by voice command now. I walk to his shoulder, say: "Foot!" and it pops up right into my hand. But, the hind legs are a different story. He kicked me with his left as I went to pick it up. No harm done; He just shoved me really because I was standing so close. So I went and did the front ones again, and retried the back. This time I used my shoulder moreso than maybe is safe to 'hold' his hip up. That extra security seemed enough, because up popped that foot.

Just needs a little more muscle control in that back end, which is getting there.

Turned him loose in the arena and he was off like a shot. And, holy shit, does that boy ever do rollbacks well! Since I've worked liberty with him so much, I can change his direction with a gesture of my arm. And he is freaking good at it. He was circling me at a trot, and I gave him to 'Switch Directions' cue, and he rolled back without even slowing down. Yay for compact horses. Going to be a project on horseback though; He has an almost zero turn radius... Can you imagine trying to stay on that pony if he spooked and rolled back? Egads, haha.

But he was a cutie. He -very- much doesn't like his face being controlled, so it'll be interesting to work with him in a bridle. Maybe he'll be one of those bridleless horses, nyuk nyuk nyuk.

After our workout (Yeah, I run around too, haha) I stood him by the mounting block we have in the arena, got up on it, and gave him a nice massage. He dealt with me putting about half my weight down on his back at one point, which was wonderful.

You know, it's very tempting to ride bareback on him. When I'm standing up there, leaning on him and he's tackless, he's fine. However, I tried the same thing with a saddle, and he was all nervous about it.

Nah, I won't be stupid and try to jump on my boy without tack, but it was very tempting. He was just so calm.

So next time, I'll be tossing on his surcingle and repeating the exercise. We'll get over that nervousness about weight. It'll just take time, and play.

Has it been this long?

Wow, I haven't updated this in forever! Truth is, I haven't had much time lately.

Cali has been doing quite well. It's unfortunate that winter is now here, because I get off work at around 5-5:30pm, so it's already dark by the time I go out there. Pitch black. Ugh. So my weekday visits have been cut back pretty heavily in exchange for going out on weekends. Everything is still going well though. We are working on small things in his training, making sure he's ready for the next levels.

We've been resolving an issue with feet handling. He kicked the farrier last month (Eep!) so that's been our focus for a while. Fortunately, he had them done again a week ago and I heard no reports of poor behavior. I imagine he was still fussy, but he doesn't panic and try to yank his feet away anymore. He's also learning to lift his feet on command ("Foot!"), so with time I imagine he'll be awesome. It's only been a few months of feet work and he already lifts his front legs when I give the cue.

Did I also mention I found a saddle that fits him? Yep, a nice old western saddle. A bit worn in, but it works. He needed QH bars. Big shoulders on that boy, let me tell you. He's fine with saddling now, as we've been doing it for a month or so now. In fact, he quite likes his saddle. Since he'd had two weeks off, I asked him today whether he wanted his surcingle or his saddle. Of course, he wanted his saddle. I offered the surcingle and it was all pinned ears and head turning away. Whoever says that animals don't understand us and can't answer our questions has clearly never owned an Arab.

He does fantastic with his saddle too. At first he was a little cinchy, but now he's great. I got a nice thick woven cinch too, so it's comfortable for him. He doesn't even bloat with his western on (like he does with his surcingle).

Our lounging is getting better now too. Since there isn't a roundpen on property, it was a bit tricky to teach him how to circle and listen to the slack. We'd tried in the arena a few times, but he would lose the curve, run straight and hit the end of the slack. I'd try to walk with him, but he is naturally faster than me. So I finally grabbed some groundpoles, and made a circle in the arena. I only had a few, so the circle was small, but I ran him outside the poles, and he would hug them enough to get the idea of following the curve. Now, I can do it without poles or cones, and he listens to the slack. He knows whoa very good now, and "Switch!" to change directions. Still a bit rusty going to the right (Okay, really rusty), but he's getting there.

I was very proud of him today. After two weeks off, he was a perfect little gentleman. A bit of issues leading when coming off the field, but he's always a bit touchy when I first bring him in. He settles right away once we head into the tackbarn. But, today was an awesome day. I took him into the big back fields, since he's always wanted to go there, and we explored for about 45 minutes. He lead, and I let him lead. He wandered around, nose to the ground, having a grand old time. But, the best part? When we were going towards the gate, he was getting very excited. Prancy, almost. So I picked up speed, and he broke to a trot, and I started to run beside him. He trotted along, on lead, for a few minutes until we got to the fence! Eeeeeiii! He has never done that before. It was a fantastic feeling. Just the two of us in a nice open field, running. He gave me this look afterwards like: "I knew you'd like that." Again, animals can answer us far more than we realize.

Our relationship is getting there. A few weeks back I was feeling pretty down... Could I really handle training him? Were he and I going to ever really connect? Did he even like me? What if things started to go sour with his training? What if it was something I couldn't resolve? Man, that's enough to get anybody down. I went out today with a positive attitude after all that, and Cali really made it worthwhile. Our animals know us so well, so I'm sure he knew I needed that confidence boost. It worked. I'm on cloud nine right now.

Oh, and on another note: Oscar, our new cat, is doing great. He's gaining weight, getting his energy back, and being extremely playful. In fact, he attacks my hubby on a daily basis. Good fun.



And Cali, investigating the garbage can in the barn....



Plus...

Saddle Day!

The Maitlands were kind enough to let me try one of their western saddles on Cali this past weekend. If it fit, they were going to let me buy it off of them. Huzzah. Off we went to the barn.

Cali and I now have a nice little routine. I go get him, and we either go for a walk around the track (if the weather is nice), or we go straight to the tack barn. Since the weather is going to start going downhill, I was wanting to get Cali in the habbit of going directly to the tack area. I didn't want to have to develop that as a routine when there's ice everywhere. However, I've been doing lots of fun 'games' with my pony when he's in the cross ties, so they are no longer scary. In fact, he's quite the trooper. Just the other day another horse came into the barn, and was more of a spaz than Cali was. And to make me even prouder, Cali ignored the other horse and stayed dead calm. Yay.

So in we went to the barn, off my boy goes into the cross ties and Tiffany, Carol and Melissa come to give me a hand. None of us were nervous about it and we all knew we had to stay calm and positive around him. Tiffany brought out the saddle, which Cali swiftly went to investigate. There was one thing I wanted in my horse: Curiosity. It doesn't matter what problems a horse has or develops, curiosity is the greatest tool for getting through any bumps in the road. He rubbed his nose all over the saddle, tested it with his lips, checked out Tiffany's hands, went back to the saddle.

It may sound odd, but I told him a time ago: "Once you are calm, and I feel I can trust you more, we'll move on to trying out a saddle and learning how to ride." Calique loves to try new things, loves to work, and has always been eager to please. When the saddle came into sight, and the way he perked up... I knew he understood what it meant.

Tiffany put the saddle on him, and he seemed a little surprised. It was a look of: "Oh, I didn't know it would be heavy." It went in fine, and he had no issues with saddling. Carol and Tiffany checked the fit. It wasn't the right saddle for him, unfortunately. He has wide withers. I mean like QH withers. Muscular boy, let me tell you. But, we tossed a saddlepad on him and the saddle again to check, and he took it all in stride.

The most hilarious moment was when we finally took it all off. He looked disappointed. You could tell that he had wanted to 'try it out' (since we always go to the arena if there's something new he's learning, where he gets to figure it out more). So now we're in the market for a saddle. Going to check with Kim and see if I can borrow one of the lesson saddles for now, just to start working with him.

Ugh. He also chipped his hoof pretty good on the corner, and a week later a nice big crack went right up the center. Ugh. The split went fairly high, too high to trim out. He's not lame on it, but I want to keep it that way, so he's getting it looked at and trimmed up. If it's not one thing it's another with these guys...

Catch Up Pictures

Nothing terribly new to update everyone on. Cali is getting better at lounging day by day. He's steadily learning the vocal commands and responding consistantly. There are still some issues with him lounging to his right, but that is due to suspected vision problems. He is also starting to learn patience when being tied.

Out for a run

Tippy, the little calico that hangs out by Calique's pasture

One of Cali's new pasturemates. Lovely polite mare who follows him constantly. However, the herd dynamic changed when the two new horses were brought in, and Baby was moved to another pen. All the females had wounds after the introduction, and thus Baby was seperated to restore some balance.

Cali with surcingle. We did a bit of lounging after this photo.

Walking the track.

Relaxing after running around for a while.

I don't know why, but he loves the weeds that grow on the track.

Visiting the neighbors. Playing around.
I love this cat, I really do. So much that I'm trying to convince hubby to let me bring him home. He is some type of purebred that has ridiculously short hair (in a barn, I don't think he'll do well in the winter). Unfortunately, he was brought here after his family accidently ran over his tail. Not only did he lose his tail, but it caused some nerve damage and now he doesn't have full control over his bladder. Thus they brought him out here.

He's a darling little thing, a little shy, and seems embarassed whenever he has an accident (Poor thing!). He hides in his little crate most of the time. However, if hubby says I can bring him home, he'll be going to a local holistic animal hospital, where they have a feline chiropractor and acupuncturist on staff. He still seems to be in pain when he walks, so I'm hoping it can be resolved. The bottom picture is actually him walking. He keeps his hips really low to the ground. Even when being pet by the tail, he only raises his hips up a little.

Even if his bladder issues don't resolve, I've figured out another way to keep him at our home. However, I do hope that something can be done. He is such a sweet little thing, who went through something terrible that caused him to lose his family :-(

Working on Basics

After encountering a couple of sticky spots in Calique's training, we have instead been going over the basics again. Touching, humans entering his space, sudden noises, sudden movement, new objects, etc. He is an incredibly smart horse, as he has already learned a few voice commands. Such as when we are exiting his pasture. There is one mare there, a lovely quarter horse named Baby. Baby loves to work, so she will often follow Cali to the gate and try to follow out after him. With Cali's defensiveness of his hind end, it made it difficult to walk to back to discourage the other horse from coming through since Cali would sometimes stop or even back up. So after the last time, I started to show Cali how to move forward even if I'm moving towards his hindquarters. At first he would swing away, but a few tries later and he was a pro.

Now, when we approach the gate, I send him forward with "Through", to which he will exit the gate before turning around to wait for me at the other side, allowing me to stand by his quarters to make sure the other horse doesn't push through. Yay for Cali boy.

Despite the improvements, he still has his moments. So I took out my crop with nylon tassel and proceeded to check how he responded. Again, explosive reaction to his hindquarters that took quite a while to settle. Slightly explosive reaction to his legs being touched. So we worked on those, to which he settled quite quickly and remembered what this was. However, I did notice something. Whenever I patted him as a reward, he would suddenly freeze up. Someone might not even notice it if they weren't familiar with his 'bottling up' mannerisms. It was the sound that had caused him to flinch. I then recalled a technique my friend had used with a whip shy horse who had been afraid of the same type of sound. I started to slap the ground with the rope tassel on the end of my crop. It has a leather tie at the end to give it weight, which would snap when it hit the ground.

Cali froze. He looked calm, but it was tense. I kept slapping the ground beside me while standing in front of him. Then I started to see him work up. The head started to come up with every slap, eyes started to widen, body weight shifted slightly. I kept hitting the ground. Then BOOM! Cali suddenly jumps to the side, throwing up his head and rocking from front legs to back as he danced away. I kept slapping the ground, moving with him, letting him move away in a circle around me. Fortunately, he is very intelligent. Most of his early work consisted of him needing to figure out the proper behavior to release the pressure. Sometimes it was walking, sometimes stopping, so already he was trying to figure out how to get it to stop. Then, finally, he stopped, and I stopped. After a brief break, I proceeded to slap the ground again. This time, Cali didn't freeze up. He immediately danced away, but not nearly as fast. A few steps later, he stopped, and I stopped.

We continued this until he was barely bothered by the sound. Now, whenever the rope slaps the ground, he drops his head and I will stop. This behavior has now been immensely valuable, as whenever he encounters something that bothers him, he will lift his head up, then once over the initial spook, he will drop his head to figure it out. Smart boy.

The next day I brought a tarp with me and we worked with that. When he saw it, he snorted, head up and spun away, but I just continued our normal routine while remaining close enough to the tarp for him to see. A lovely little barn cat helped immensely, actually. He ran right over to the tarp and jumped right on it, giving Cali a hefty taste of that strange noise. Of course, he danced a bit, but after stopping he dropped his head and went right over to it. Yay!

He doesn't like the tarp 100% yet, but he will step with all four feet on it now and walk across it calmly.

On a seperate note, I am 95% certain that Cali has some vision problems in his right eye. When doing the whip-slapping-ground work on his right side, he spooked far more than normal, and kept trying to turn his head completely so that his left eye could see what was going on. Only then, after recognizing it, did he calm down. This lack of an essential sense can definately compound confidence and trust issues with already nervous horses. I had suspected for some time. He has some vision, as he can see large objects, he can see movement, but smaller items (such as the rope tassel, or a ball) he doesn't seem to see until they are closer to his body and/or moving.

Since I'd had this hunch, I already introduce new things on his left side first. However, I'm getting more familiar with the degree of it. It explains why he hates the crossties. The ones at the barn position him so that his bad eye is to the door, meaning that he can't quite see what's going on. Not quite sure what to do about that problem. The posts I can tie him to as well will also leave his right eye to the doorway.

Hm. I'll have to think of something.

Visitors

Hasn't it been a hot one the past few weeks. Gah....

Been out to visit Cali many times since my last blog entry. He's getting to be such a sweetheart. One of the things we've been working on is trust, and further developing that bond of friendship. There were times when I would feel we were becoming closer, but he would still tune me out on occasion. It's difficult, since he is not kept on my own property, but the goods outweigh the bad in that situation.

Our bond has really improved over the past short while. We now go for walks along the track at the facility (they used to train standardbreds on said track), visiting with the various other horses and taking a few moments to stop and graze on the yummy grass all around it. It's so relaxing, and we get to say hello to everyone. After that, he isn't anxious about us working on things, so the trust is definately developing.

I invited out my friend Allie and Mark to help me with Cali. Not doing too much, but my mother has a bit of anxiety when it comes to being around horses, so I don't like to ask her to help me with certain things. Not only that, but I also don't want Cali feeding off of her nervous or hesistant behavior. Well! Darned if Cali didn't practically adopt Mark. Mark is not a horse person, or an animal person really, but he's got a good head on his shoulders and is a kind hearted person. We went for a walk around the track, and I passed Cali's leadrope over to him. They got along quite well, to the point that we were able to teach Cali how to trot alongside a person (something he was deathly afraid of before).

After a walk around the track, we turned both Cali and Mark loose in the outdoor arena (hehehe) to burn off some steam. Both boys came back a little while later all hot and sweaty, but looking and feeling good, so it was definately a job well done. One more walk around the track to cool off and we called it a day.

Today was so hot. Ugh. We went out in the morning to try and beat the afternoon heat, and it proved to be real nice. Cali and his mares (Lady and Baby) were put out in one of the bigger pastures (good couple of acres to themselves). I walk over and normally the girls are the first to come over, but not today! Cali turned around and hurried right over without any hesitation. I hopped the fence and went in to visit, bringing goodies for everyone. Previously, my boy would take the treat and back up, but I'm happy to say he stands nice and quiet while I halter him, even after all the treats are gone.

It was a fairly easy day, simply because of the heat. We took some nice pictures, which I'll toss on here later. Did a circut on the track, before turning him loose in the arena for another run. He's getting a bit of weight on him (Easy keeper + Roundbale = More work to keep off those pounds), so we're stepping up the activity level to combat that a bit. He's getting much better with lunging now too, and no longer has hissy fits when he doesn't understand what I'm asking. He just stops, and looks at me in this certain way, and I respond by asking in a different way, or taking another approach. It's really helped our communication, since he doesn't try to bolt anymore when faced with something new.

Still working on picking up his feet and holding them for any length of time. Front legs I can pick up, but the back legs have gotten bad again. The flies causing him to kick haven't been helping. And have I mentioned he deathly afraid of fly spray? Poor fella.

Video Tribute

Calm & Happy

- Leads on left and right sides with slack in lead, head lowered and forward motion

- Can be touched anywhere without any aggressive or bolting response (Does move away occasionally, but only a step or two)

- Can be brushed, even down his legs front and back

- Drops his head when pressure applied to neck

- Halters with no problems, also can be caught in a large field and willingly comes over

- Picks up all four feet

- Leads for strangers (still hesitant, but is very curious and doesn't try to run)

- Handles having a saddle pad tossed on him, onto his neck, back or quarters, then dropped from any side or touching his legs

- No longer has girthing issues and willingly walks with a surcingle on with absolutely no issues

- Lunges in both directions, and is learning voice commands

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I got my hands on a decent surcingle the other day with a nice padded top to keep it from riding forward or to the sides. Since Calique had some issues (aggressive) when being touched there, I had the intention to see if he could tolerate this on him, and if there were issues, I was just going to walk him and let him work it out however he felt he needed to (bucking, kicking, whatever he needed to do to realize it wasn't going to hurt him).

We walked for a bit, worked on our basics and visited with several other people in the arena. He's gotten so good with being inside that he almost seems to breathe a sigh of relief once we're inside. It's like: "Oh good, I won't be so easily spooked by the wind or trees or birds in here." I brushed him for a bit, touched him all over, worked on walking. Turned him loose and chased him around just a bit, but he was being a little bugger and running up behind Shadow Boy's butt (resulting in a near kick) so I went back to what we had been doing. I usually don't run him too much, but he was a bit ancy so it just helps him get that out of his system. So I tossed the blanket on him, walked him around, and he was fine with it.

Since Cali was being super calm and very willing, I took out the surcingle and tossed it onto the blanket he was wearing. No issues. I let the girth strap drop down his left side. Not even a head raise. So I removed the blanket, and played with the buckles (to make some noise). Nothing. I reached under him, took the girth and strapped it up nice and slow, careful and gentle. His head came up maybe two inches, but still remained lower than his withers. I tightened it up all the way, made sure it was resting properly, and began walking him. I don't know what I was expecting. A hissy fit, perhaps. He walked a little bit faster than normal, but kept his head nice and level, ears up, face relaxed.... Absolutely no issues. So I stopped, took it off, let it slide over him a bit, let it jingle, and put it on from the opposite side (his bad side). Head came up on that side and he flinched a bit, but that seems a normal reaction for anything on that side (brushing, petting, etc). Cinched it up nice, and lead him around again. No problems. Took it off again, and no issues.

You can bet I was one happy mommy. He was such a darling. Very willing to please, and is starting to become quite attached. When I tied him up to go and get him a few treats (within sight, only about twenty feet away), he scooted all up underneath himself, head came up and lip puckered all worriedly. Such a little diva, haha.

Gah! What's with the heat?!

Bleh. It's been ridiculously hot these past few days, going on weeks. 32°C and up during the hottest parts of the day. So I've only been going out to see Cali on days that it's not so hot, or days that there aren't any lessons in the indoor arena. Fortunately, every time I've brought him into the arena it's been only us, or a single other person. And he's so cute that nobody minds having him around the arena: "Is that Cali? Aw! Yeah it's no problem to have him in here at all!"

Brought him inside today with only a bit of trouble at the doorway, but no trouble walking him down the pathway full of trees, which was a great step. Usually he freezes up and spooks while walking under those shifting shadows made from the canopy above him, but not today.

Once inside, I turned him loose for a bit just to walk around. That's become a bit of a routine. It allows him to settle down inside, and decide when he wants to start working. This reduces the stress level, and allows for a more positive learning experience.

I've been having a lot of trouble getting on his right side, even from the beginning. Now, I can touch his left side almost completely, but his right? Nope. He always swings away from me. He also does another paticular thing: He'll follow me with his left eye until he can't turn his head that way anymore, then he'll swing his head back. I've been keeping an eye on this. He doesn't appear to be blind in his right eye. He can follow movement, he can see things at a distance, he can see close things. However, I will likely get this checked in the future, just to rule anything out.

So today, I brought my crop today that had this nylon rope tied onto the end of it, complete with a leather tassle on the end (for weight). It's a nice rope with lots and lots of movement, so it's easy to manuver. I began rubbing Cali like I did back when I was getting him used to being touched, but this time, while standing on his left side, I lifted my hand up and dropped the nylon rope over his back. It fell onto his right side, touching him without me adding more pressure to that zone by standing on that side. He froze up a bit, so I just rubbed and scratched with the crop like nothing was wrong. He settled after a few moments, me stopping whenever he would drop his head or unlock his legs. I steadily started moving it back, and had no problems, until it came to his flank. HOLY! He kicks out, squeals and bolts. I keep rope and crop on him while letting him have a bit of a fit. He's not pulling on the leadrope, just swinging his hindquarters around, so it's easy to stay with him. After a few circles he finally stops, and I keep the rope still. After a few moments of him standing, I scratch a bit with the crop, which wiggles the rope. His head goes up, but no spooking this time, so I drop the rope off him completely.

It was a fairly explosive reaction, but nothing dangerous. There were no ears back, no teeth, just pure fear. Once he settled and realized it wasn't hurting him, he settled a lot. I rubbed with the rope on the left side a bit to 'balance' things out and get his confidence up again. A few more minutes of this and his head dropped, and he was chewing and licking his lips like a good boy. So I flicked the rope over his back again onto his right side. Head came up just a bit, but his face didn't go tense this time. I scratched and rubbed with the crop, working my way down his back. Once I passed the flank area, he only tensed up slightly (Neck and shoulders). I scratched some more, dropped it away, and he began to get the idea. I tossed the rope around his legs a bit, and at first he was a little unsure about that, but he was starting to relax faster and faster.

Since he had almost fallen asleep he was so relaxed, I decided to try another sticky spot we've had problems with before. I draped the rope over his withers/back, reached under and grabbed the end. I held the rope on his girth area with enough pressure so he could feel it. Immediately the ears went back, and he flicked his head to the side with teeth open. It appeared to be a slightly ticklish reaction, but I think he's been cinched up before. I've seen lesson horses react that exact same way, usually when people jerk on a girth to tighten it. But, I was really impressed. Despite his reaction, he did not associate me with the discomfort. He did not bite at me. He turned to bite at the pressure. He came right at my hand, but actually made an effort to go around my arms. That was reassuring, at least. He was clearly telling me: "This is whats bugging me!" Once I got the message, I dropped the pressure (but didn't let go) and when his ears went up and he calmed down, I released the rope. Not trying to encourage naughty behavior, so he still had to 'work' to get all the pressure off.

He did very good considering. I did a quick 'review' before we stopped with the rope competely, and he stood for everything without so much as a tense face. So I pulled out a cavaletti to play with. I work without a leadrope a good portion of the time when we're indoors. I don't want him to learn to resist pressure, so by encouraging his natural curiosity, he not only gains familiarity with things around him, but courage about going right up to them. Nobody forces him, so he doesn't learn to resist. I took one of the cavaletti and set it up along the long side of the arena, pole on the ground. He watched me at a distance, not quite sure what I was doing. Once it was on the ground, I turned and clicked at him, and he was happy to come over. Sniffed it a bit, looked at me, and wasn't quite sure what I wanted him to do. So I walked across it, turned to face him, and clicked for him to come. When he took a step over, I took a step backward. He seemed almost bored, haha. So I went back and did it again. No problems. So I switched to 'play' mode with him and sent him around the arena at a trot, and he went over it willingly without so much as a second glance. Show-off, haha!

So I set it up with the pole off the ground, and asked him to walk across it again with me. A little bit more of a hesitation this time. He was like: "This isn't how I left it. You moved it..." A moment longer, and he stepped over it again. No problems. Hopefully these exercises will help him figure out where his feet are, since when he plays or moves faster, he tends to 'forget' on occasion.

I didn't push him to do that one at a faster speed, for safety reasons at this point. He isn't athletic enough at the moment to really handle his body in a controlled enough manner for anything like that. So we switched to a bit more touching with the rope and crop, followed by picking up his feet and getting him to give to some pressure and work on cues.

Nothing too mentally challenging, but nothing too boring or repetitive either. Gave him his treats, lavished him with attention (although I do that throughout when he does good). Took him outside to graze a bit afterwards, and actually had problems turning him back out to his paddock. He didn't want to go back. Once inside, I gave him some more treats, while my mom snuck some carrots to the older saddlebred mare he's paired up with. What a brat too! Cali is, I mean. I pet her after we're finished with treats, and he pins his ears, runs at her, turns, squeals and kicks at her, turns again and chases her off. Fortunately, she is a spunky little thing and kicked him in the chest when he tried to chase her, pinning her ears and threatening right back. Goofballs. You wouldn't have even thought that just a short time ago they were whinnying for one another.

Silly ponehs ^^

Edit: After cropping these pictures, I noticed the camera got a perfect shot of his flank area. I'd suspected these might be scars, but in the dim light of the arena, and his defensiveness about me being on that side didn't allow me room to get too close. However, here is a clear shot. This might explain why he is so defensive of that area being touched. One can imagine how painful any type of injury to that sensitive spot might be. Luckily, he seems to be gaining trust very quickly when it comes to his 'sticky spots', so I'm sure this won't be an issue for very much longer.

Trying something new

Boy has it been hot out lately! No matter what time of the day I go out lately, whether it's early in the day, afternoon or later evening, it's still ridiculously hot out. Even the barn horses (that are out during the day and come in in the afternoon) were at the gates, begging to come in. Just too hot to really do anything. As such, Cali's basically had a week off, which is a good thing. Gave him some time to settle into herd life again.

Since the last blog post, Cali's herd has changed again. It seems him and the two older geldings were doing alright for the most part, but not 'clicking' like we'd hoped. However, someone at the facility was using their heads and turned Cali out with another gelding. He's about the same height as him, a shade darker, an Arabian, and younger too. Those two have definately clicked. Not only does the other gelding whinny whenever Cali leaves him, but Cali gets mildly concerned as well. Aww.

Since I didn't want to work Cali outside today, I decided it would be a great day to try to bring him into the barn, which leads through to the indoor arena (Nice and cool!). Spent a good fifteen minutes just trying to get him past this one lane full of trees. There were lots of shadows, and my poor boy wasn't able to focus on any single thing, so he was 'freezing up' quite a lot. I promised that once he got past the trees and looked back, it would be nearly as scary. Once we did clear them, he stopped, looked back, and snorted before dropping his head. Seems he begrudgingly agreed I had been right.

Next step: Getting him INTO the barn. Fortunately, I knew how to play his game. He walked all calmly over to the doorway, froze up, snorted and braced. Of course, I can't outpull a horse. Plus, that wouldn't get us anywhere closer to the door. So, instead, I cheated. Mua ha ha. I walked over and pushed his shoulder instead. Since he naturally swings his hindquarters away from me, he was forced to walk forward to get away from the pressure. After a few steps, I stopped and gave him a pat, and he looked at me, looked at the door, and realized what I had done. However, he wasn't quite sure how to remedy this. When he tried to step back, I would move his shoulder again, so instead he opted to just stand still for a bit. Then, he took a step forward, and got a nice: "Good boy!". One more step, more praise. Once he got his head under the doorway, and realized it was nice and cool instead, he was only happy to follow.

Funniest thing happened too. Once his hooves hit the concrete, and the sound echoed a bit, he totally relaxed and didn't resist once. It was so strange, but cool. He went from being an outside horse spooking at everything to an indoor horse who had no problem with strange things. Lead him down the aisle towards the arena, and no fuss at all. Ears were up, head was level, he was keeping pace with me, respecting my space and reacting to my movements perfectly.

I opened the gate to the arena and he didn't push by. Instead, he waited politely until I opened it and invited him in, then when he was inside, swung himself around to wait while I closed the gate. The entire time he kept slack in the lead. I was so proud.

Since he hadn't been in the arena before, I took off his lead and let him go investigate on his own. I have no fear of not being able to catch him anymore. I trust him, so I like to give him a chance to be confident on his own when it comes to exploring. And explore he did! I walked away from him to the other side of the arena, and he walked around quite briskly, looking at everything, ears forward and curious. Absolutely no fear. And man, can he ever move! Not fast, but a NICE mover. He automatically pushes off using his hind legs more than his front, and has quite natural extension. Even though he's built like a western horse, he definately doesn't move like one. It's turned into quite the topic for discussion!

"Are you going english or western on him?"

"I have no idea."

"He looks western. I bet he'd be great at that!"

"Here, let me show you how he moves..."

".... Oh... Uh... Hunter, then?"

It's great, haha.

And I'm quite happy that Cali really looks to me for guidence now. We played tag a bit in the arena. I ran away, and he kinda chased after me a bit, but then I spun around and chased at his hindquarters, and off he went with this stupid cute tucking of his head and flicking of his tail. He likes to be chased, but doesn't much like chasing. It's quite funny.

Oh, and guess what I found out today? Calique knows how to lunge! Gah! How awesome. During our running at one point, he was reading my body language really closely. I'd take one step to the side (in front of his movement) and immediately he would spin away. If I dropped my shoulders and turned my back (removing the pressure from my posture) he'd stop. Since this was in the whole arena, I tried again standing closer to one side, and with my leadrope in hand. I stepped 'behind' him and he went forward perfectly. I stepped in front of him and switched hands with the leadrope, and he turned perfectly. However, it wasn't this that stunned me. It was the fact that he maintained a perfectly 20 metre circle while we were doing this, with no line attached to him.

The only issue he seems to have is stopping. Since he is still a bit insecure, he'll stop, and immediately try to come over to me. I'm working on stopping him and stepping away without him following, but it's taking some time. However, that's okay. I'm happy that he comes over to me whenever he's not sure about something. There is always that respectful space whenever he does. I'll take him coming over to me rather than running away and getting upset.

Forgot my camera today, but I'll have it for next time and you can see him playing around in the arena. I'll be pulling out some groundpoles next time. He absolutely loves new things, so we're going to be pushing the limits more and more over the next few weeks. His confidence level is WAY up from when he first got here, and he is so curious that it'll make getting him used to everything that much easier.

So next lessons are:

Picking up feet and trying not to pull them away after a few seconds.

Leading from the right hand side.

Playing with some groundpoles.

Learning to stand tied. (He's great at standing, but I don't know how he is when tied)

Coming into the tack barn (Low ceiling. I want to make sure he's really calm about entering doorways and standing tied before we even begin to get close to this)

and seeing how he is about blankets and having them put on his back/draped over him/being touched by them/having them touch his legs, etc.

A Bit Stormy

Today was a bit windy and had some rain on the horizon when I went to go visit my boy. After speaking with Lori, she told me that Calique did have the vet come out to see him. His teeth definately needed a good floating (Hint, hint to any adopters! This is a very wise thing to have checked!). For those not familiar, floating is the process of filing down any sharp points that occur on a horse's teeth. They grow out of the skull just like a hamster, and wear down over time. However, some wear is uneven and can create 'burrs' that make chewing uncomfortable and can even start to cut the inside of the mouth. For horses that seem to have difficulty gaining weight, this is one of the first things that should be checked. Since Calique is definately not calm enough to have this done (most horses aren't), he was sedated for the procedure. While he was under sedation, his feet were also trimmed slightly. Then, Lori did the most wonderful thing without me having to even ask:

She cleaned his sheath too! Oh when she told me I nearly hugged her. I'd noticed that Calique appeared uncomfortable or grumpy at times, and more often than not sheaths go neglected and can create a lot of discomfort if there is dirt or beans. Poor boy! No wonder he was so grumpy! Not only were his teeth terrible, but he had beans as well as a very dirty sheath! (Beans are lumps of smegma that can sometimes be over an inch in diameter! Ouch!)

Calique has (understandably) been a very happy boy since then. We're still working on trust, such as me approaching him from the shoulder and him swinging away, but its getting better. Once I put my hand on him, he seems to settle. It's just that anticipation that worries him. He's definately a horse that I can never use any type of harsh physical correction on. If I raise my hand too quickly, head goes up, eyes roll and he runs back. Sometimes I wonder what happened to him... and sometimes I wonder if I could even handle knowing....

Spoke with Pat on Monday about him being halterable and approachable now, which struck up a new suggestion.

"When do you think he'll be ready for turnout with other horses?" she asked.

I thought about it, and gave a bit of a shrug. "He could go out today, I think. With a couple of horses that eagerly approach humans, they'd probably be a real good influence on his behavior," I replied.

"Alright, then. Why don't we turn him out with those two and see how that goes?"

She was talking about two nice older geldings that were only two paddocks down from where Calique was at the time. I'd visited with both horses before. The chestnut was definately dominant, and the bay very submissive. Both were older boys, and very well behaved. Now was as good a time as any! So after our walk around the outdoor track, I let Calique go out with the two geldings. No fuss, no squeals, no ears back, no fighting. The chestnut came over and was very clear that this was his paddock. When Calique ignored him, the larger guy (a good hand and a half taller than my boy), he gave him a good push. It was kind of funny. Cali turned his ears back slightly (not aggressive, just not happy) and patrolled the paddock for a bit. Since they were all calm and settling quite quickly, I said my goodbyes and told them I'd be back on Wednesday.

I was out today, and called to Calique. Despite being out with other horses, he came right over, ears forward and happy to come along. I went into the paddock and at first he was defensive about his shoulder again, backing up even when I touched it. I had to tell him "Whoa" to get him to stop, which he did, and I moved away from his shoulder as a reward. He was a bit grumpy, but I think that's just from returning to the herd dynamite. It's a lot of work to be around other horses. But then it's like: "What is the better of two evils? Leaving him alone in a paddock, bored, or turning him out with two other horses that are really laid back and not overly dominant, but enough to push Cali occasionally?"

I knew it would be good for him, even if he didn't believe me at that point in time. The large gelding (I'll learn his name eventually) came over and was definately the kind of herd leader I'd hoped he'd be. Calique and him were both visiting with me, and the large chestnut didn't so much as gesture towards Cali to try and push him away from the attention. Nice fella. Plus, I get the bonus of spoiling another horse with my visits while at the same time showing Calique how horses are supposed to behave around people; Calm and quietly.

Since there was a storm coming, I figured I'd just play with Calique a bit. Nothing too serious and nothing that required him to stand still (the winds were picking up). Haltered my boy (Yay!) and took him to the outdoor arena. He was happy to go, since he knows this means he gets to play a bit. I turned him loose, and at first he was very much: "You can't pressure me to run."

Since he is very much that 'teenager with an attitude' at the moment, constantly testing my compitence as a herd leader, I quickly corrected this by running at him, lowering my torso in 'chase' mode, and swinging my leadrope a bit to hit the ground. At first he didn't know what I was doing ("Those weird humans...") but when I came right at his butt, he realized either he moves or I 'catch' him. That was enough to send him off.

Of course, I then 'trotted' after him a bit, turning away, running in the opposite direction, basically taking away the pressure of 'chasing' him to show that I just enjoyed running and playing too. I wasn't 'mean' or 'scary'. He would stop and watch me, and then I'd turn my attention back to him, and he would run off again. There wasn't fear in his running. It was very much a "Ha ha... I'm faster than you!" game.

He was so very good. He always ran so that he could see me. (I think he might have some vision problems with his right eye. I'll be experimenting with that a bit, but he seems to need to hold his head at more of an angle to see beside himself than he does with his left eye). He was very good at reading my body language, which is what I like to see. If I stopped and cocked up a leg, he'd recognize that and stop too, turning to face me. If I started walking again, he'd arch up his neck and move in the opposite direction. The more I did it, the more he would 'read' me. Eventually he stopped to eat some grass, while clearly looking at me. "I'm challenging you again," his body language said. So I stomped a foot, and he stopped for a moment, before doing it again. Still watching me, of course. I walked over immediately and 'chased' him off MY grass. I clucked for him to follow me, and he did. When he glanced towards the grass, I stomped my foot again, and he immediately hurried to catch up. He got a 'Good boy' for that one.

A few more runs and he was pretty much pooped. Probably had been playing with the boys that morning. Off he went again to his paddock. But not before breaking my heart! x-D As I was leading him past the individual turnout paddocks, he leaned towards his old pen. "Mommy, I want to go there!" I don't know if this was just him not wanting to try new things, but we'll see how his mood is over the next week or so. If he isn't happy in his new home, I'll be turning him back out in his old single paddock. I think he might've just been a bit homesick. We'll see. Whatever makes him happy :-)

Play Date!

Had Calique out for a bit just working with him. He had his feet done, and I believe his teeth floated (if the vet came as schedueled. Lori wasn't around for me to ask tonight). He's great about his legs being touched now, and I can pick up all four. He leans pretty heavy on them, but I'll take that over kicking any day! Since he has been improving by leaps and bounds, I figured I needed to up the pressure a bit with exposing him to new stuff. So I lead him out closer to the main barn, and he huffed a bit but was fine, even when another horse spooked him. Then I took him out onto the outdoor track. It's just a giant track circling the inner paddocks. I believe it's a 1/4 mile? Well, we walked half of it. I walked fairly quickly, to start getting his endurance built up more before we start more physical work, and he perked up so much! Not trotting, but definately a 'working walk'. Not pulling, not freaked out... Just really enjoying it.

After that, I let him graze a bit, and put him back in his paddock. Another boarder, named Taylor, was working her horse Moondance in the outdoor arena, within view of Calique. Well! I stopped to watch, and I hear my boy whinny (Never heard him whinny before!). I look over, and he's trying to run too. Hmmm.... So I go back, rehalter him, and ask Taylor if Moondance would mind some company. I explained that Calique has never really 'hooked onto' another horse there since he arrived, but was defiantely eager to play with Moondance. They sniffed over the fence, with no ears pinned, no squeals, no nipping. Taylor thought it was a great idea, so we turned them out together. At first Calique was like: "Hmm...." and didn't really want to do much.

So I kind of just came up behind him (a good fifty feet away) and stomped my feet a bit while sending him forward gently. Moondance was running by at the time, and it was like a lightbulb went on. He looked at me, looked at Moondance, trotted a step, then realized he was allowed to play too.

He had so much fun :-D

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Not sure what to do...

"Are you getting this?"

"Whoops! No, I swear I didn't just slip!"

"Check me out"

Moondance: "Come on, Calique! This way!"

Moondance: "Lapping you again! Do it like this!"

"You mean like this?!"

Moondance: "Yeah, like that!"

"Vrooooom!"

"Getting a feel for it"

"Putting on the brakes"

"I'm tired, mom..."