Gwen's Hoof, Camping Trip, and Catching Up

So, I have a lot to summarize!  First, let me talk about the horsey camping trip, which was three weeks ago now (Yeah, I'm a procrastinator).  The trip was *awesome*!  If you recall, I was worried that Gwen and I wouldn't make it, because of her hoof issue. To be honest, her foot probably would have prevented us from going, if just because the tissue was too soft to handle all the rocks.  However... I came down to the barn the Thursday before, to check on her, and.. my horse had shoes on!  O.O  Not only did she have shoes, but she had pads, to protect her frog and soft tissue while it healed. 

A quick call to the barn manager and I had the story; she'd paid for my horse to be shod, so that I could go on the camping trip. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude that I cried. I think I freaked her out a little, because she kept apologizing and asking if she'd offended me.

I prefer my horse to go barefoot, and if I owned Gwen outright, I would find a natural trimmer to work on her feet. But, since I don't get to make that call, she usually just goes barefoot with a "regular" farrier trim every six to eight weeks. Since she lives in a soft turn out, and we ride in a sand arena, there's no way her feet are prepared to handle all the rocks out at the camping area. The shoes kept her from being foot sore the whole trip.

That Friday, we had some rain in the morning which had us a bit worried, but by the time we got to the camp grounds (about two-three hours away) it was sunny and bright!  The horses made it there find, and Gwen was an absolute gem. As soon as I got her off the trailer, we went exploring. I didn't want to just turn her out with the other horses; I wanted to play with her in this new environment and get a feel for what she might be like outside of our comfort zone. She did great!  We did a lot of circle game in the field near the other horses. I wanted her to be close enough to see them, but not so close that she was "with" them. There was a small hill nearby, so we played the circle game up and down the hill, putting something new into our game. Then we did sideways along the fence line, and then squeeze game between me and the fence. Once she was calm and more interested in grazing than looking around, we took a break.  I let her graze a bit as the sun set, and then turned her out.

The next day was our first trail ride, and she did fine. The whole group went, so I knew she wouldn't give me much trouble, since her whole heard was with her. Sunday, tho, I was a little saddle sore, and opted not to go with the group on their next trail ride. Gwen and I hung out back at the camp grounds, along with her old buddy Cool.  I used the opportunity to play with her online again, away from Cool and away from her buddies. She was much more extroverted than usual, looking around and moving her feet, but she remained connected and responsive to me.  There were some small wooden poles in the ground, that defined the "camp" area from the field, so we I took the opportunity to do figure 8's and try our hand at a weave. Awesome.

A little while later, another barn woman showed up, so I saddled up Gwen and we hit the trails together, just her and me (her on a donkey, me on Gwen). It was our first time going out "alone" and Gwen did surprisingly well! She was a bit concerned about leaving Cool, but behaved like a lady. She definitely wanted to go back to the turn out, but she didn't give me much attitude (just a lot of drifting and attempting to reverse direction). There was absolutely no up/down behaviour, or real naughty behaviour from her, and once she realized I was being persistent but calm, she settled down and was a real trooper!  I was so proud of her!!!

We came back that Sunday evening... and the storm rolled in!  I didn't make it to the barn for over a week thanks to rain storms nearly every night (Crazy lightning, pouring rain... it was nuts!).  Last week, the barn was still pretty soggy, so I didn't do much.  I rode this past Monday, but didn't get back until today...

Now for a change in conversation...

I've been feeling a little discouraged lately, but wasn't sure why. I just didn't feel like Gwen and I were progressing, but I didn't know what to do about it. I felt like she wanted absolutely nothing to do with me, and would just shut-down once we got into the arena. This was concerning, but I didn't know what to do about it except make her move around... It wasn't until I read Emily's blog about communication that I had a light bulb. We weren't progressing, because we weren't communicating!  OMG! *face-palm* Duh! I was just bossing Gwen around, and I didn't even realize it. She was doing what I asked, but her responses were dull and "grump" because I was just being a dictator, instead of actually paying attention to what she was feeling. I wasn't getting any questions, because I wasn't waiting for them, and I wasn't encouraging them. Wow. I'd really been failing.

So I headed to the barn today with this new perspective, determined to turn things around.  The first thing I did was take advantage of a deserted barnyard and empty arena, to groom Gwen at liberty. I got her into the arena and parked her in the shade, then took her halter off. I let her know that she was free to move, and then proceeded with my grooming routine. Being introverted, she didn't go anywhere, but I could tell she was thinking about it. Most of the time she was very closed off emotionally (her eyes where half lidded, her head was down and her ears were "floppy". It's her classic "I'm hiding in my shell" face). I mostly ignored it. I *really* sloooooowed down my grooming routine. I made sure I used my curry in very slow, gentle circles, and spent a good long time working from shoulder to rear, paying more attention to my horse than actually worrying about getting her clean. Since we would be working online, I wasn't concerned about getting all the dirt off; this was about slowing things down.  I repeated the process with my stiff brush, concentrating more on moving slow, methodically and gently rather than getting her clean.

I didn't get much change from her, but I knew she was thinking about the fact that she was "free", because any time she moved her head to get a fly, or rub her face, she would lick and chew as soon as she was back to neutral, almost as if she were saying "Huh, I really am loose..."

Once her feet were picked and I had fly sprayed her, I reassessed then situation. I was waiting for a sign that she was ready to progress. When I didn't get it, I prolonged our grooming experience to include thoroughly combing/detangling her tail, then her mane, and finally braiding her mane into a running braid. By the time I was done with her mane, she was looking more alive, with more expression and paying more attention to the world around her. I decided we were ready to do something else. When I slipped her halter on, she had a tense moment. She wasn't ready to be online. I left her halter on, but I unsnapped the lead and made sure she was aware that she was loose again, even if she was haltered. We worked at "liberty" on some hind quarter yields, since that is the easiest thing for me to do with her when she is being a bit tense.

Once I had her moving away at just a suggestion, and coming to me willingly, I snapped her lead back on and we moved on to something else. My focus was "ask me a question", so everything I did was slow. We did more hindquarter yields, then shoulder yields. I made sure I made the lightest possible suggestion, and backed off the instant she even thought about moving. She wasn't very connected yet, but she was super responsive. I was finally getting TRUE forequarter yields, where her rear stayed planted and she was just moving her shoulders away. At the end, I barely touched her shoulder and she moved away. I dropped my hands instantly, she stopped, and we both waited. And waited. And waiiiiited. And then finally... Gwen let out a sigh and started licking and chewing. SUCCESS!! I knew we were ready to move on. 

I was letting Gwen tell me what we needed to work on. It became clear almost instantly, that we needed to work on straightness. I'd been letting her get away with backing up "crooked" in the yo-yo game, rather than having her back up nice and straight. Since we'd just worked on our yielding, and she was being very responsive at just a look, we worked on being straight when backing up. We started slow, with little wiggles, and then moment she started getting crooked, I would yield her back to straightness, and try again. After a few attempts, she was going backwards nice and straight, giving me two ears, two eyes, and asking a question. Yay!  Time for circles. My goal, again, was to keep everything slow, soft and simple. She'd ask a question, I'd point the direction I want to go, and only if she didn't start moving would I pick up my stick. I was really using a long phase one (pointing) before I would pick up my stick. Surprise, surprise, she started responding to the lightest phase! 

We didn't have great circles, but I was OK with it. She was actually paying attention, asking me questions, and looking for suggestions. So even though she would stop behind me, I was happy; because those stops were clearly questions, rather than avoidance. I'd turn, she'd give me two ears, and I'd point her back in the direction I wanted. She even volunteered the trot! We stopped, and waited. And waited. And waiiiiited... and then I got another big sigh, and a lot of licking and chewing!

After that, we tried some sideways along the rail. But, she wasn't really getting it, and was starting to shut down again. I made sure to get one good step of sideways, and then abandoned that game in favor of something different. We played touch-it with the barrels, and she even volunteered to go OVER them. Wow.

Throughout the whole session, I did TONS of stopping and waiting, letting her process. We wouldn't move on until I got a sign of relaxation, even when it meant I stood for a good five minutes until she finally let out a sigh, shook, and then licked/chewed. I ended there.  Since there was no one else around (and she would be confined the whole way) I removed her halter and walked her back to the turn-out at liberty.

On the whole, I'd say this was one of the most successful days we have had in a long time!  I feel motivated, and I can't wait to get back out there and prove to Gwen that I can listen. I want her to enjoy our time together again, and I feel like I finally remember how to achieve that.

J

Darn You Mother Nature!!

Two weeks ago, Gwen and I were doing great. We were making some real progress under saddle, particularly with her canter work. I really wanted to start working with her on the 22' line so she can get more comfortable cantering, without someone interfering from her back (*cough* me *cough*). However, the weather had other ideas. Friday, it stormed so badly that I didn't even go to the barn. It rained and even hailed, all weekend. Fast forward to a week ago Monday, it was so soggy and still raining so I didn't get to the barn until last Thursday. When I did get to the barn, I didn't do much. Just kinda hung out cause it was still too soggy to ride, or even play online. It wasn't until last Friday that I actually pulled Gwen out of her turn-out.

However, as I was grooming her, something a bit scary happened. I picked up her right front foot to pick it out. Her frog was really soft, and I didn't do anything more than normal, but all of a sudden it felt like her hoof just "gave" and the pick went too far. She didn't give a big "ouch" reaction, just a little "Oo!" but blood started seeping out. I, of course, was panicked thinking I had just stabbed my horse in the foot, possibly crippling her for life (<-- RBI over reaction). I'm happy to say that I kept my cool. I untied her from the rail and took her over to the barn manager, who took a look and told me that it looked like I'd punctured an abscess.

Next came our learning moment of the day. Gwen needed to have her foot soaked in a bucket, which I had never tried with her before. I was a little concerned that she would be unconfident about her foot in a bucket, but I was patient and kind, and rewarded with LOTS of treats... she very quickly learned that if she stood with her foot in a bucket, she'd get as many cookies as she wanted (man, has she got her human trained!).  She did fantastic!

Upon closer inspection, after the soak, it wasn't an abscess at all, but instead it looks as though she had been trying to shed her frog and it went a little sideways, creating a pocket of trapped blood. The barn manager told me I probably did more good than bad by popping it, because she's pretty sure it would have developed into a nasty abscess otherwise.

The latest in Pony Fashion!

We wrapped her foot, and then I let her have some undemanding/grazing time. She didn't limp at all, and isn't bothered by the wrap or the bandage.

Yesterday, we took a good look at her foot and it appears to be healed. However, the tissue is still very soft, and since it's not completely dry yet, we re-wrapped it dry to keep the moisture out so that the tissue can finish hardening (it looked/felt kinda like pruny skin around finger nails after a shower).

So, phew, Gwen is fine and making a great recovery, and has lucked out with almost an entire week of grazing/undemanding time instead of work (which is always nice for the relationship!). I'm hoping it'll be even better by tomorrow, so that we can still go on our barn camping trip this weekend...

Fingers crossed!

J

My beautiful girl!