One week

 Today is one week since Leo arrived . We have made good progress and I am quite happy with him. 

I can catch him easily in the barn; I make it a good experience by haltering him then leaving him alone to eat his feed. I can pick up all 4 feet,although we have a way to go before I can hold them long enough to clean them and trim them. 

I can lead him fairly well too, last two days I have led him out of the barn.

That was the first day: today he was much better and willing. Tuffy was still in the barn eating so it is nice that he isnt emotionally dependant on Tuffy. Speaking of Tuffy, he has gotten used to not being with the mares and is ok with them being far away and out of sight. He is behaving himself with Leo now and it is so cute to see them hanging out together and being buddies. 

Including synchronized nap time!

I am planning a photo shoot this weekend so I will share the cuteness in a couple days!

Leo is a good boy

 So far, Leo has been easy to get along with. He seems to have a quiet mind and hasn't been emotional about being weaned. It really helps that he is with Tuffy who is so easy. I gave them a few days to settle into their relationship/routine before asking anything of Leo, other than touching him all over and running my hand down his legs  

The boys are getting along pretty good, although Tuffy has let Leo know that he is #1.  

They have their own feed spots in the barn, but do also eat out of the same pile. 

Tuffy is so huge compared to little Leo!

Yesterday I introduced Leo to the start of halter breaking. A little bit of pressure and release with a big soft rope, only working for a couple minutes so that he got the idea as the basis for the next phase....

Putting a halter on him. He didn't like it going over his nose but only backed up a couple of steps then stood quietly while I slipped it on and tied it then removed the neck rope.

 A short little session was enough, we will build on this every day until he is leading. I feel that it is really helpful that Tuffy is there with his calm presence. 

Leo was dewormed the day before he arrived and he did have a wormload, so hopefully he will soon start to get a shine to him and put weight on.  He is loving his Purina Maternity ration . I still have both boys together in my foaling pen until Leo is a bit more halter broke so they are getting good hay too. The herd dynamics have settled down; now the mares can go way out in the pasture without the boys getting upset. 

It's all about good management and keeping things going smoothly!

Mission accomplished

 Yesterday, while his mama had her ration out in the pen instead of in the barn, Tuffy decided to stay in the barn. So I caught him in there and asked him for a few steps each direction. He was a bit uncertain because he couldn't see his mama, but trusted me enough that he complied.  I only gave it about a minute, that was enough. 

Today, I closed up the barn and while the mares had their breakfast, I walked up to Tuffy and caught him. 

No problem!

Leading was also no problem. 

Tuffy will be a month old on Monday. We will continue daily catching and short walks and start introducing him to thing that make him aware of where his feet are, like poles, and soon a tarp and the pallet platform.

Good boy, Tuffy! 

I am a good boy!

The rain has stopped; we got 3 and an eighth inches in a day and a half. Much needed! Some areas in southern Alberta got over 8 inches in that time frame. 

In other news, Dally came in heat and they started breeding her yesterday, June 2nd.  She should be ready to come home middle of next week. 

Walk with me, Tuffy

 I think it is about 10 days into our short halter lessons. Over that span Tuffy did really well, building on each lesson without resistance; I think only twice he walked away from me when I went to catch him, but it was only a few steps. For the last week I have been able to walk up to him and halter him right away. He is a very smart and willing colt. There were a couple of days where I helped him understand to move his hip over by touching his hip while I brought his head around but by the third time he understood. Then we progressed to asking for 1 step forward, reverting to a sidweays step as needed. The next day I asked him to follow me forward, and he did, a bit hesitant at first. And then today.....

Success!  Next will be catching and leading him when he's out in the foaling pen and not in the confines of the barn. 

We have heavy rains right now so that may be a couple of days away yet, but I am sure happy with his progress, and his willingness. 

Here are some photos from before the rain hit

The trouble with being an only foal is he doesn't have anyone to pester except the mares! And Thumper, who was no fun at all and just walked away. 

 

It is possible that my working with him replaces not having another foal to play with and learn horse stuff. 

Tuffy spends a lot of time away from his mama; she can be way down in the bottom pasture, and he will be up by the barn with his babysitter Velvet, and Happy seems quite content with that arrangement. 

She is very patient with him and enjoys his company, with minimal reprimanding due to his antics. What a wonderful mare she is. 

Halter lessons

 We are almost a week into Tuffy's halter lessons. Every morning I bring him and Happy into the little barn, and while she eats, he gets his lesson. The max time is about 5 minutes, I only ask for a little bit every day. I have been working on letting him feel me take the slack out of the lead rope, then wait for him to find out how to give himself slack. He did the usual try to get away, I followed and he thought about it for a while. Some colts get really panicky at this point, but he just kind of stopped by his mama and thought about things. 

Next day, just a bit of give and take with the lead rope to get him used to the feel.

He was pretty good on the left side, but didn't want to switch eyes;  here is what he did if I went on his right side- trying to turn enough to see me out of his left eye:

Yesterday I worked on that right side, and he was ok with me being there. I got some nice soft neck bends on both sides. 

Today I started asking him to move his feet while haltered. I stand by his hip, take the slack out, then use my other hand to gently put some pressure on his hip; when he steps away with his hind feet, it automatically gets him facing me and the result is the pressure on the rope and on his hip go away. Smart boy figured that out pretty quick!

Next up will be getting to figure out that the rope around his hip means the same thing. But that is for another day. Love his "thinking face" in this photo as I let him feel the rope around his hip!

Tomorrow I haul Dally to the stallion, (Belle's son, Scooter). 

Tuff stuff!

 First up, Tuffy now has his registered name. Sire is Jess Too Blue, so I used Jess from him. And dam is DFBit of Sugar Frost, so instead of "a bit" I went with Enuff  and his name is Jess Tuff Enuff!

And he really lives up to his name. Thinks he is tough but is actually rather sweet. 

I make a point of touching him all over every day; each leg, his head, ears and face, even under his belly and play with his tail.

Over the last week, his mama has finally relaxed and let him visit with the other mares without chasing them off, and has stopped protecting him from me. 

Which makes Dally happy, she is in love with him. It is a good thing that she will be bred this year, she should be a great mama next year. 

I started rubbing Tuffy with a rope, tossing it on his back and letting it just fall off. Then switched to the baby halter and lead rope. 

It is a progression; only a minute or two at a time. 

I like to let the rope touch him in all those iffy spots. It got to where I could just toss a rope on him anywhere and he would just look at me as if to say, ok, what next?

So this is what next. 

I tried to slip it over his nose but he decided it needed a taste first. ( Shouldn't have any trouble with a bit eventually!)

After a few days of playing around with rubbing the little halter all over him...

this morning while mama had her feed, I slipped it over his nose a few times. All good, apparently it didn't require a taste test today. 

 

I got it done up loosely at first....

No he doesn't have giant ears, it is just a cell phone photo problem!

And then adjusted it properly and let him just stand there quietly. 

Took a bit of the slack out of the lead rope...

 Then all the slack but not pulling on him. 

Only long enough for him to feel it, then tossed the rope over his back and stood back. 

Good boy, Tuffy!

So this shall be our program going forward, until he learns to give to that little bit of pressure. I am in no hurry and will let him figure things out in his own time. 

What fun to have a colt to work with again!

Gemma's Journey

 When Gemma and Shiner arrived here for halter training, they were both pretty much untouched. Of course with weaning and travelling an hour to get here, they were rather looky and flighty. I gave them a day to settle a bit and get used to their new pen- basically my foaling pen, with access to the little barn. 

I was curious to see if they would go in the barn on their own, but within minutes, they were both hanging around in there. That, of course, made things easy for me as that is where I was planning on working with them.  

Another thing I did was to park my horse trailer where they could go in and out of it on their own- which they did right away, and were often to be found in there, just chillin'.

The first session, and for a couple days following, I worked them together. First using my flag to touch their backs as they scooted past me. Then when they stopped and faced, just resting the flag on the ground. After a bit, I was able to touch them with the flag while they stood still.

The next day we moved on to introducing a rope. As they scooted past, I would toss the rope on their backs (when my aim was accurate!) and let the rope lay on them as they went around. Surprisingly they weren't too worried about that.  

I found that Shiner was way more flighty than Gemma, and since my focus was on her due to her impending trip to the Yukon with her new owner, I separated them when it was time to work them, which I was doing twice a day. Shiner soon figured out that he didn't need to go in the barn when Gemma did, and was easy to cut back while she went in. 

The first few sessions with Gemma were interesting. Well, all of them were! I learned a bunch with her. First, she absolutely would not let me on her left side. I roped her around her neck, let her go around then took the slack out of the rope. She would turn her butt to me and try to pull away, so I would have to quickly step to the side and get her to face. When I walked up to her to touch her, she would turn so that I could only approach on her right side. I pondered that for a bit, and decided not to make an issue of it at first. So the next couple days were all about getting her to accept touch and rubs on her right side. Another interesting thing about her was that when she was thinking things over she would drop her head right down to her feet. Then I could rub all her neck and between her ears. Still from the right side. I managed to get a halter on her then, but it was rather awkward trying to tie it as it ties on the left side. So next day, I turned the halter inside out and put it on and tied it from the right. Well, I decided that was an inconvenience to me, so the next session I was going to inconvenience her and get her to accept me on her left. Enough already!

Anyway, once the halter was on, I slid the neck rope off and had her learn to give to pressure with just the halter. Basically, let her go round and round, then take the slack out and hold until she stopped and faced, then slack the lead rope. Within a couple sessions she was learning to lead. I really took my time with her and when we made even a small advancement I would turn her loose and let her consider it until the next session. That incremental building worked well for her, she's a horse that needs time to think things through. 

So- the left side. Starting with the rope work, I would rub her from the right and then step around in front of her so I would be on her left- she would immediately swing her head to the left and her hip to the right to try to keep me in her right eye. I did a lot of head rubbing and neck rubbing until she relaxed and dropped her head down to the ground again.  Funny thing is, I had to take the lead rope off the halter, rub the halter on her neck and between her ears, let the nose piece drop down onto her nostrils, then take it off and get her to raise her head a bit and halter her properly. Then just stand there and rub and pet her all over on her left side, then turned her loose. A couple days of that, and getting her to lead a couple steps each time and the light was starting to come on in her baby brain. She finally figured it out that both sides were safe for me  to be there. I never did get to the point of being able to just walk up to her and catch her, still had to either use my neck rope or throw the halter lead rope over her back first. I think with a bit more time I would have had that done too. 

By the time she was ready to leave, Gemma was catchable, led well, loaded in and out of the trailer both at liberty and by being led in and out and had become a real nosy parker- she had to come and investigate whatever I was doing, would eat hay out of my hand, would pull on my jacket and be very helpful with tools when I was working on the fence. In short, well on the way to being a pocket pony!

I actually really enjoyed working with her - she gave me challenges and made me think outside the box, and it was a delight to see her go from a fearful flighty filly to a friendly and curious little miss who is someday going to go on and do great things for her owner. Who, by the way, was really pleased with her when she picked her up. 

In case you were wondering

 I didn't mean to get y'all worried with my prolonged absence here, but things just piled up in a hurry. 

I will do a separate post on Gemma's journey from being an untouchable to being a darn near pocket pony, as it will be a fairly lengthy one.

Suffice to say, I am well pleased with the progress she made. 

Meanwhile, I went from having a cold to having full blown pneumonia and needing hospitalization.

My first ambulance ride since I broke my wrist 20 years ago

 It's amazing how quickly pneumonia can take you down., I will spare you all the details, except that it will be a fairly slow recovery with weekly check ups. So no major projects for me for the next couple of months. I just got released from a 4 day stay, most of which was spent in the emergency ward; I got an actual room at 11:45 pm last night and got released today around 2:30 pm. Oh how welcome it was to breathe fresh air and feel the sun on my face!

Catching up

 I have been busy- that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

The weanlings are slowly progressing from wild eyed range colts to allowing as how I might maybe touch them. At first they were in full flight mode, however I am utilizing my small barn to contain them when I work them. It has a small divider I can stand behind if I need to get out of the way, and the set up is that they can go in a circle around it. I have hay stored in the extra stalls in there so it is effectively like a mini round pen. 

It has been a week today; I have been working with them twice a day. 

They took to the barn right away, which is good because I feed them in there. 

I started with flag work, just touching them with it and using it to direct traffic, so to speak. 

After a few days of that I progressed to tossing a rope around and over them. They actually weren't too bad about that and on the second session I was able to get the rope around the necks and get them started on giving to pressure. We are still a long way from being able to get a halter on them though. 

Getting the rope off was more difficult than getting it on though! But we got it done. 

There came a point when I wasn't making any progress so I changed things up. I am all about changing things when one method gets stale. 

Once they discovered that I was the purveryor of oats, Gemma did a complete turn around. She let me touch her more often, and started approaching me in a friendly manner.

She is still reserved and cautious but really is starting to allow me into her space. Shiner, on the other hand, has become more reactive. Can you say, double swirl? He was the first to let me rub his quarters and his back but not much past that so far. That's ok though- I am on a time schedule with Gemma as she leaves for her new home on the 13th, and Shiner can stay longer. He might actually be easier when Gemma leaves. 

I would have posted more photos and videos too, but my computer refuses to download the photos from my phone, so I have to email them to myself. The support for windows 10 is ending so that might have something to do with it. I will post more if I get things figured out! 

I leave you with a spectacular sunset