Lessons

We have two yearling geldings.  They are a little behind where they should be in ground manners for various reasons. That’s for another post. I have been working with them more intensely since I was laid off from work. It’s the silver lining of not being able to find work.

When cleaning stalls I always take the opportunity to work with the young’ns. Since stalls always need cleaning this ensures that they get plenty of attentions. Yesterday I worked with Ser-Haat.  First I worked him in his paddock area. Once I got all the bucks and jollies out of him, we began the real work. Now normally Rudy has done all the training, he’s a trainer after all. Now there’s no one but me. This has done a lot for me giving me self-confidence in my own abilities, and my own instincts. I have had to do things I always wanted to do but never had the opportunity. Watching Rudy all these years, has taught me there are two ways of doing things, the safe way, and the stupid way. I can’t be laid up for any reason, because there is only me, and I have an aversion to getting hurt. At sixty my body doesn’t particularly like having to heal and repair itself. It’s so tiresome.

I went and got my tools and Ser-Haat’s lead, and tied him for the first time. I tied him close to his sire for comfort, and a pole that would not move no matter how many times he sat back. To my delight he never tried to set back even once.  I had been working on his feet but always when he was eating his goodies. This was totally different for him. He was not totally forth coming with his feet, but I was able to clean all four feet, and trim his frogs. Afterwards I untied him and walked him around. Of course he also got tons of praises and hugs. He did well and he knew it. It was a good day.

Today I finished up the stalls with Lance. It was his turn to get the same lessons as Ser-Haat. As with Ser-Haat I worked Lance in his paddock first. He got all his jollies out and it was no problem tying him up next to his dam for comfort. Again as with Ser-Haat I left him alone for a moment, and again there were no issues. He was more interested in playing with the lead, always a good sign, yeah right.

I put everything I needed close by, but out of harms way in case he should not be quite as good as Ser-Haat, safety first for horse and human. He gave me his first foot, with trepidation, but so far so good. I started cleaning it and he was doing fine, then I don’t know if he lost his balance or what, but next thing I knew his foot was on my foot. Thank you Lord not on my toes. He’s not that big so it hurt, but not as bad as if he stepped on my toes. I yelled at him, and he picked up his foot, but we both lost balance and I ended up on the ground. That startled him, and he pulled against the lead. Bad move on his part, he reacted the expected way, and sat back pulling as hard as he could. I told him it wouldn’t do any good, but you know how some kids are they just don’t listen.

He finally calmed down, and back I went for the same foot. This time it went better. I did all four feet and he sat back a few more times. Each time I gave him plenty of reassurances. At least we got through it without any more tumbles. You don’t want to push little ones to hard so even though his frogs needed trimming that would wait for another day.

The next big trauma was getting his mane & tail cleaned up. Now while Ser-Haat has no issue with being sprayed with either fly spray or mane tamer, Lance has never allowed me to spray him. He also takes issue with my combing his tail. Every horse I have ever known loves getting their tail groomed, but not Lance. He just has to be different. I gently lifted his mane so he wouldn’t feel the spray, but he pulled away anyway. All this time I’m talking to him in a calming voice. He calmed a little but was still panicky, so I sprayed the mane tamer into my hand and then started brushing. Eventually, he allowed me to spray his mane and finish combing it.

Then came the tail. The good thing is that they can’t feel the spray on the tail so this actually went a little smoother. When we were done I told him what a good and handsome boy he was. As with Ser-Haat, I walked him around with the lead, and he was perfectly calm and quiet. It was another good day.

I had planned to ride our TB mare, but the wind came up, and it was more than a little chilly so I opted for a muscle relaxer and a short nap. There’s always tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be an uneventful day. Lizzie is an off the track mare who has been a brood mare since being taken off the track. She needs the exercise as I plan on breeding her next spring. She’s an older mare, and I want her to be as fit as possible to give us at least one baby. Good Lord willing I won’t be racing tomorrow, but will have a nice ride. Today was enough excitement for a while.