But anyways! I got to the barn, got Gwen out of the turnout, and let her loose on a patch of grass while I groomed her (she's spoiled like that; as long as she behaves, she gets to graze while I groom her). She's shedding like there's no tomorrow, and since I wasn't going to be riding her, I concentrated less on hair-removal and more on dirt/mud removal. Still, it's a bit disheartening to run your brush over the horse and feel like nothing changed. I can't wait for her winter coat to be gone!
She was being a good girl (probably because grass is way more interesting than me) until I got to her feet. She's not bad about her feet, she's just lazy. She doesn't like to pick 'em up. I had this "problem" with Missy too, but eventually got her over it by being patient and persistent about it ("yes, Miss, we ARE going to clean your feet!"). With Gwen, I've adopted the same approach, only slightly less... ah.. time consuming. Where as with Missy, I would stand hunched over, tugging and pulling on her until she finally got bored and lifted, with Gwen, I'm going for the 'twist the chestnut' option. This approach mainly consists of these steps: I politely ask her to lift. If she ignores me, I pinch her chestnut gently until she shifts her weight and allows me to lift her foot. If she decides to ignore the gentle pinch, I pinch a little harder, and so on until she decides to shift her weight and give me her foot. As routine is important, I always clean her feet in the same order (left front, left hind, right front, right hind). I did this with Missy, and once she learned that I was way more stubborn than she was, she would anticipate me and shift her weight off the appropriate foot as soon as I put the previous one down.
So, today with Gwen, I got foot number one (left front) up with only a mild chestnut pinch. Left hind came up with a gentle pinch. Right front, however, decided to be testy. I don't like to wrestle with my horse (the horse tends to win) so after the second time she tried to jerk it out of my hand, I decided grass-time was over, and we headed for the sturdy post that serves as a grooming/tie/hitching rail. I tied her there, and proceeded to clean her feet. She did better when grass was not a distraction, and I got right front and right hind with minimal effort and only a little protest (she kept trying to pull her right hind out of my hands). I never, ever, drop my horses foot after I clean it. I always gently set it back on the ground, so that they learn that it's OK to shift their weight and let me hold their foot for them; that I would never drop it back on the ground. (I also insist that they allow me to carry the weight of their foot before I put it down. I don't want to encourage them to pull away from my hand). It worked wonders for Missy, and I'm pretty confident that Gwen will get the message and picking her feet will become just as easy in a few days.
After that, we headed over to the round pen for some very, very, very basic Parelli practice. In fact, I wouldn't even call it practice, as all I did was use the lead rope to "test" Gwen and see how she did. She was absolutely fantastic with all of it. I tossed that rope over, under, around and beside her, and she barely flicked her ears. I helicopter-ed it around my head and she had no issue (even when I accidentally clipped her ear with it - I'm so sorry Gwen! - She jerked a little, but didn't over react at all, and just kinda gave me the stink-eye for a moment). Left side, right side, she had no problem. The only time she got a little unsure was when I swung it over her head (But, given the whole ear-clip incident, who could blame her?) and she relaxed after the second pass and it became a non-issue.
This all took about two minutes, and I didn't really want to put her back in the turnout after only two minutes of time(!) so I turned her loose to see what she'd do. When she just stood there, I shrugged and figured "Why not?" and performed the same lead-rope tests with her standing loose. Again, absolutely no problems, even when I swung it behind her (like sometimes people will swing a rope to get a horse to move). She took a few steps when I tossed it over her back, but once she realized that I wasn't asking her to move, she just stood there and took it like a champ.
I practice backing her by using my hand on her chest (I've been trying a variety of "backing" methods lately), and she did really well with it. Only had to get insistent the first time, and she caught on to what I wanted when I tapped her chest. She's also really, really good about yielding her hindquarters when I touch her side/flank/haunches. The first time I tried it, I had to tap a little harder, but after that, I just had to barely tap the tips of my fingers against her and she would swing away from me (both sides! And I practiced this while she was grazing, i.e. distracted, and she still obliged by moving out of the way). I'm pretty confident at this point that someone else has been doing the same thing with her (moving her hidequarters, desensitizing with rope/etc) but it was great to see her respond to me (or in the case of the leadrope, not respond).
So after I did the back-up/yield stuff, I decided I'd just let her be loose in the round pen with me, and give her some time to do whatever she wanted. This is a pretty big thing, considering we actually have a patch of grass in our round-pen. I figured as soon as I left her alone, she'd head right over and ignore me. Nope! She actually followed me around when I went to put the halter/lead outside the pen. And then she followed me some more after that (I was testing to see if she would realize I wasn't demanding something of her and then go for the grass).
I was thrilled and, encouraged, tried to see if she'd follow at a trot. Nope! She'd walk, but she was definitely not gonna trot if she didn't have to. At this point, I just got downright silly, and started trotting/canter around the round pen while she stood toward the middle and stared at me. I got two eyes and two ears, so I must have been pretty entertaining, and even if my horse now things I'm nuts, it was totally worth it. I tried to entice her to chase me, by running half a circle, screeching to a halt and running the other way. She'd look at me with interest, but there was definitely no motivation to move. When I finally got tired of looking silly, I walked over and just rubbed on her a bit. It didn't take her long after that to figure out I wasn't going to ask her to do something, and she finally ambled over and started nibbling at that grass patch.
I was pretty darn pleased, considering this was only my second day really being with her. We left the round pen and went back to the grass-patch near the turnout area. I figured as soon as we got near, I wouldn't be so interesting any more. At the moment, she actually has two pasture mates that came from the same ranch as she did. The three of them are very close, but I'm happy to say that Gwen is not very herd-bound. She's not thrilled to leave them, but she doesn't protest or put up a struggle, or anything like that. The round pen is far enough away that she can't see them, but when we're closer, she does keep an eye on her two buddies (and they stand at the fence and STARE at her pleadingly). I turned her "loose" on the grass, and decided to work on that shedding coat a bit more as she ate. We probably spent a good ten to fifteen minutes just grazing/grooming before I decided I'd gotten as much hair off of her as I possibly could, and went to lean against the fence. She ate a bit more, and then just picked her head up and walked to the gate. I took this as a sign that she was ready to go back with her buddies, and happily obliged her.
And this is when I got my next thrill! I took her out, turned her loose, and stood back to let her go on her merry way with her friends. Both Cool and Star (the buddies) were right there ready to greet her, and the whole gang stood around where I'd turned Gwen loose. Wasn't at all surprised that she didn't move away, really, since there was nothing Out There that was interesting either, but I walked a few feet down the fence line and she followed me!! She had the choice of hanging with her buddies, or being with me, and she chose me!!! I walked a little further to be sure I wasn't just making things up, but nope! She came right along with me, nose ears and eyes all pointed in my direction. Well, I absolutely, positively could NOT leave her after that! I chose a comfy spot on the fence, leaned up against it, and scratched/rubbed on her until she finally decided to move on. But I cannot express how over the moon I was that she would want to hang out with me even though her two bestest horse buddies were there too!!
Today was absolutely one of the most amazing days I have ever had with a horse!
Also... I found out that Gwen likes Granola Bars! Haha! I was eating a bit of the Nature Valley granola bars (the hard kind, not the chewy kind) and though 'Hrm. Wonder if she'd eat it? After all, it's mostly grain/oats/honey'. I broke off a small chunk, waved it in front of her nose, and offered it on my hand. She picked it up and started mouthing it. Her head was nodding up and down, and her mouth was opening so wide as she ate it that I couldn't figure out if she liked it, or if she was trying to spit it out. But after she swallowed it, she gave me a very interested look and poked her nose over to ask for more. So I shared what was left with her. I'm thrilled that I found something she can enjoy as a treat, but I don't want her to become greedy or expect treats each time she sees me. I'll definitely give her more in the future, but only randomly, for no reason at all, and not at all frequently. I want her "cookies" to be a special surprise, not something she comes to expect or demand.
And now, some pictures!!
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| Gwen face!! Awwww!! |
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| Grass patch by turn-out. She's so fuzzy! |
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| The buddies! Cool is the bay, the chestnut behind is Star. |
A note: The first picture I posted of Gwen, in the previous post, was one I had taken last summer when I first saw her. She's really filled out since then, and gotten some muscles!
J
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