A little manners work

The Black One's owner came by to watch the horses interact. She was pleased and I was annoyed. Baasha kept nuzzling her pockets. He's not a baby anymore and knows he's not supposed to use his mouth around people. I finally asked, "Is your pocket full of horse cookies?" Yes it was: ) Finally she handed them out.

The girl was thrilled her pony has so much space and grass and I said, "Well we're working on second cutting now so I really need to get the horses on the grazing strips, but a few days every so often won't hurt." After second cutting the horses will have the whole 5 acres all winter. They should not complain so much but they do.

My man came in, "The horses are neighing!" and I did my flying run down the hang to the lower strip --expecting that there was a tangle with the fence - to see them both under the Elderberry tree peacefully swishing tails. The pony neighed at me twice, frustrated. "What about the big huge field I was enjoying?" I sighed and gave out carrots. Geez, greedy one, look down at your feet, it's up to your knees here too.

Manners. I want to refine the pony's ground manners a bit. I'm into this "light leading" thing and I need a horse to move aside at the press of a finger.

Both owners said "He's a stubborn thing" but I don't call it stubbornness - it's just years of being a school horse for kids, your skin gets a little thick. But that can be fixed in no time.

I haltered him and told him to stand still as I started feeling him all over. I wanted to know if he has ticks, or sores, and I'd never had my hands on him. He tried to graze and I said "No eating, Stand here!" and he did. I cleaned his feet and noticed they need trimming, but not badly. His hoofprints are odd due to the length of his walls - they leave crescents in the ground almost like a horseshoe would. I'll have to get pictures soon.

He was a little mouthy so I am not gonna give him any treats during lessons, only rubs and praise. Then with my hoofpick in my hand, I put a distinct finger to his ribs and said, "Over" and clucked to him to get his attention. He stood like a rock, gazing off into space. I put the hoofpick there and pushed. And pushed. And...Are you made of stone or flesh?

If I'd pushed that hard on Baasha he would have flown away. I actually thought I might be bruising him when I saw him shift his weight and then move a foot. I stopped and praised him like crazy, scratching his fuzzy neck and chest. Again.

No reaction. Statue horse. Then he gave a slight move, and got lots of love. He must have had a thought cross his head cuz the third time he actually stepped aside by the push of my index finger. I loved on him and then switched sides. Same statue. Then a shift, a move, all done. Whew!

Then I did some separation training. It's probably a lost cause (I was never able to fix a barn sour mare in 2007), but it can't hurt to try. Every day, we do a little separation. Besides the slipping out of the halter incident, it seems to be working. My hopes are high!

The pony is also learning how to stay back at feeding times, and not come between me and Baasha. He is getting it - he stands back and stares at me like he's trying to figure out my rules. He sure enjoys his morning beet pulp bucket.


Problem: they are not able to share the stall--the pony has claimed it as his own--so we have a contractor coming out Monday to give us an estimate on a two-horse run-in shed. Although we cannot afford this right now, I don't like the solution of keeping Baasha alone until we can.

The pony's owner called and I told him the pony has weird skin issues I'd like a vet to look at and prescribe something. He has scaly/bald patches, and some patches are bumpy like rain rot. He said their vet is coming out Monday to take care of their sport horses and they'll send him over. I was surprised to find out they are getting horses ready for Kentucky's World Equestrian Games and it sounds like the whole family will be there this year. I also found out he is a mounted police officer so my feeling is that they will be taking care of the black pony even though he's out of their immediate care now.

I'm curious what the vet will say, and more curious what the contractor will say.