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The Alexander Menagerie -- February 2007

Hey! Two days in a row!

I did another session with Rowan (and I'm very proud of that). Today I introduced her to the first stages of being tied. When we first started, I looped the lead rope on her halter through an Aussie tie ring. I didn't tie it, or even loop it around the center thingy. I just ran it through the ring and held the end.

I groomed her right side, and she stood quietly. When I switched sides, I looped the lead rope around the center thingy so it would be a little more taut. I held onto the end so if she pulled back, I could control whether or not she got any slack. When I moved back toward her back end on her left side, she pulled back a couple of times. I held the rope and waited for her to offer even a bit of slack. She thought about it... and then took a step forward. Click! She didn't even seem close to panicking, even when she was unable to pull away.

After I groomed both sides, I decided to see if she remembered any of the work with her hooves I did last summer. I ran my hand down her front right leg, and she shifted her weight and lifted it. Click! I did it again, and she again stepped back and lifted the foot. I held it several seconds, and then set it down. Good girl.

Next session we'll work more on her feet. The problem I have with her feet is that rather than just lifting them, she always takes a step back first. It doesn't matter whether the foot is back, forward, or square; she takes that step. I need to figure out how to communicate that she just needs to lift the foot, not step back and lift.

I video taped this session too, but I'm not going to post it. No reason to post it every day though. (Really. It's not that exciting.)

Friday, February 23, 2007

First ten minutes under my belt

I did it! I worked with Rowan for ten minutes. Thirteen, actually. Of course it took more than thirty when you add in all the pre- and post-stuff I have to do. The hardest part was getting her back in the dry lot without letting the other horses out!

I started by just letting Rowan out in the front area, sans halter. She has had a halter on, oh, half a dozen time maybe, so putting it on was to be my first exercise. I got asked her to target my hand, then the halter, then I put my arm over her neck, and then I spilled it on. No fuss.

Next we worked on leading. Really, we just worked on following my target hand and walking beside me. We did just a step or two at a time because when I did this with her a couple of times last summer, she was cranky and bitey. Today she wasn't cranky at all, so no problem. Still, we did this just for a minute, and then I decided to introduce her to a brush.

I honestly can't remember if I'd introduced her to a brush before. I tossed a rope around her a bit to see if she was going to be spooky with me working around her body, and she had no problem with it, so I began brushing her.

By this time I had gotten rid of the lead rope because I didn't want to hold it, so she took a step away a couple of times. She was particularly prone to do it if I moved back to stand near her middle or back end -- she prefers me to stand in front of her. But even when she moved away, all she did was turn around and position me in front of her again.

Very successful first session! She remembers a lot.

I'm in no real hurry with her. Although she hasn't had her hooves trimmed, they look fantastic. (Really. Very even and beautifully shaped.) Even if everything goes 100% perfectly, I wouldn't back her until she's three -- summer of 2008, and I wouldn't have someone begin lightly riding her (walk/trot) until a year after that. So we've got nothing but time.

Here's the video of what I did today. It's not terribly exciting, but I decided I might as well have a record to look back on. I used a mouth click for all but a couple of clicks, but you can't hear it on the video. Rest assured, I'm not just randomly treating her.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

10 minutes a day

Can you train a horse in ten minutes a day? I'm considering giving it a try. Ten minutes. Surely I can commit to that.

I'm thinking about Rowan, although it makes more sense for me to work with Guin, the horse I could actually RIDE come summer. I figure that if I work with Rowan regularly, though, I'll be more likely to spend some time working with Guin later. Besides, she's so easy that even if I don't work with her, I'll be able to ride her, if I'm ever confident enough to try that again.

Anyway, ten minutes a day. How about just one day? Let's see if I can spend ten minutes working with Rowan tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Naughty horses and a darn good dog

For the last week I've been turning the horses into the front area for a few hours every afternoon. There are bits of grass to nibble and room to play, and it makes them happy.

I turned them out yesterday, and then went back to my computer. A while later I noticed Guin staring at me through the sun room window. I waved, and she took off, cantering down the driveway, Rowan at her heels. Oh, how cute. They're playing. I walked to where I could see them better. Hmmm. Why isn't Blue playing with them? I went out on the front porch.

You know, I had four horses when I turned them out. Why do I have only two now?

Gate closed. Fence up.

Surely they're just hiding. No, that doesn't make sense -- Guin wouldn't be upset if they were just in the barn or something.

About the time I decided I'd better start a search, my neighbors, Tim and Pam, come walking up the road with Blue and Princess in tow. Blue came back in the fence willingly; Princess wanted to explore their garden a while longer before coming home. Once everyone was in, we looked around and decided they must have gotten out through the arena, so I shut that gate. Problem solved!

Um, no.

In the time it took me to walk downstairs and retrieve my cell phone, Blue and Princess decided to head to their real escape route: through the supposedly impassible woods. The woods, I discovered, aren't so impassible in the winter. So the horses are locked in the dry lot again until we can get the woods fenced. That's really not so terrible, though, because fencing the woods means Aslan can spend more time in the front area of the property.

Speaking of Aslan, I just have to rave about what a good dog he has become. I was worried about him as he was maturing. When he was intact, he had a hair-trigger temper. He never aggressed toward me -- he redirected that anger onto Pax -- but I was still on pins and needles around him.

Although I know it's sacrilege in the United States, I'm not a big fan of neutering. Controlled breeding, yes, but not the removal of hormone-containing body parts. Testosterone is a multipurpose hormone, and removing it has lifelong effects, so I don't like neutering without good reason. With Aslan, though, we had good reason. With testosterone in his system, he was just a nasty-tempered dog.

It has been about six months since we got him neutered, and I'm blissfully happy with the changes. Only a couple of fights, and he's a lot more biddable. He's two and a half now, so part of that is maturity, but bottom line, he's just a nicer dog now. In fact, he's terrific. He's lovely to snuggle with on a cold nights, and he's fun to play with. He's more tolerant of having his nails clipped or poop trimmed from his feathers. He doesn't compete with Pax anymore, just patiently waits his turn.

He's a doll.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Did I say good fences?

I went out to feed the horses this morning, and the trash cans were knocked over.

Odd.

Then I noticed the horse manure on the driveway. And the empty paddock.

These things don't actually panic me, because if the horses are in the driveway, they can't get out unless they want to go through the woods (that even I find impassible). I found the four of them grazing on the far side of the house. Blue came to see me immediately, and when I mentioned the word "Breakfast," everyone followed quite willingly.

So no crisis except... I couldn't figure out how they got out. The electric fence was on, and the paddock fence was pristine. The areas where they have gotten out before looked fine. The gates were all closed. Jay suggested that the went into the furthest pasture, went through the section of the fence that the deer tend to bring down, and then skirted the perimeter all the way to the front. I scoffed. There's a nice eating area between here and there, and from the manure it was clear they had spent a great deal of time in the front yard.

But this afternoon I looked into the back pasture, and sure enough, the fenceline was down. I and the dogs slogged back there and sure enough, they had gone through the fence right where he said. I follwed the trail along the perimeter right back to the front. Like Jay said.

Mea culpa.

So until we can figure out why the supposedly hot fence wasn't hot enough to deter them from walking through it, I've locked the horses back in the paddock. Mostly. I let them out this afternoon to graze in the front yard. It makes them happy.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Good fences, silly horses

During the wettest part of winter, I try to spare my pastures by keeping the horses in the paddock next to the barn. (I call it a dry lot, but it's anything but. It's a sloppy, muddy mess.) Blue is so bored that he has taken to eating the moss on the stumps in the lot and maybe even the rotting wood itself. Oy. So today I decided to turn them into the pastures to give them a chance to stretch their legs.

First, however, I needed to tighten the electric tape fencelines, which gave me a good excuse to check the pastures for storm damage. Overall we fared pretty well. There's a tree down just outside one of the fencelines, and there are a ton of branches in the pastures themselves, but none of the fences were damaged. Deer had come through when the fences were off and broken a few of the connectors, and blackberry vines are growing over and weighing down some of the lines, but it didn't take too long to set it all to right.

The horses were thrilled to be turned out. So thrilled, in fact, that they had a little gallop-fest. Down the long aisle and back. Down the aisle, in and around a pasture, and back. Then down the aisle, into and around another pasture, and back.

And then they were done. Graze? Nah. Explore? Of course not. Just back to standing in the dry lot nibbling on a rotting cedar stump.

Sunday, February 4, 2007

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