A Beautiful Day in PA

Roo had a great day playing outside today. It was a lovely 56 degrees. Lots of bright sunshine. More of the same is expected tomorrow. Today he was somewhat overjoyous about going outside. His is the last paddock turned out (and the first paddock brought in). He watched all the others going by and realized his buddy Sin was just in front of him and wanted to catch up. Lori, the stable owner, said he was just a bit effervescent about leaving with his halter and lead rope still intact, so she schooled him in proper turn out patience and made him wait it out until she was satisfied he was getting the message. Lori may be small, but when she plants her feet, not much can move her.

I helped Lori bring in today, as Brad has four fractured ribs from a bad fall on Saturday. In trotted Sin, Sam and Andy to the indoor arena holding tank where halters are put back on and they are led to their stalls. But no Roo! I asked Sin if he knew where Roo might be hiding, but got no response....LOLOL...

I went out and called Roo and he just strolled slowly up the path to the arena. Seems he was reluctant to give up the fine day in PA as well. I promised him there would be more nice weather tomorrow.

After all the horses were brought in and he had time to eat his dinner and munch some of his hay we did 15 minutes of in hand work, then grooming and feet cleaning in cross ties. The walk/whoa/back commands elicited quicker responses today, and the step over (giving the shoulder) to the left was almost perfect. We worked on the right a little more, and then Roo remembered to stand away from the gate and wait until I gave him the signal before moving forward. Now that was impressive.

We also maneuvered through some horses crosstied in the aisle today with no difficulties. Roo tried his best to investigate what exactly was in the tack room while I was talking to some one, but didn't get to finish. Everyone admires the heart on his rump, as well as Roo himself. He had a few visitors from the lessoning group today who insisted on dropping cut up carrots into his bucket.

The vet has been scheduled to do his regular Fall barn call next week, so Roo wil get his Fall shots then. All is well.

A Working Sunday and A New Name Plate

Roo almost seems like he is trying to see his new name plate by peeking out his stall door. It was actually hard to get this photo because he kept following me around the stall trying to make friends with the camera, which he does by sniffing and trying to mouth it. Eventually, he gave up, ignored me and tried to see what was added to his door again. The thing I like so much about Roo is that he is curious. Curious horses tend to spook less than those who are not. I already own a curious horse (well, two actually) and I've had nothing but very good days with them.

Roo has alot of new things besides his name plate: A new purple halter and lead rope, a new blanket, and a new way to wear his mane in the winter.

All of the recent posts are posted on the same day in order to catch everyone up with where we are to date. But in the future, we'll try to actually stick to what happened on that day.

Roo wore his new blanket for the first time overnight on Friday night. I laughed when I told the barn owner that if he still had it on in the morning I would be surprised. He seemed to want to grab the front of it and pull it over his head. But once back in his stall he just munched hay and ignored the blanket. This is his first blanket. The next morning I called to see how the blanket survived. It was still on him and perfectly situated in the morning. So looks like things are boding well for my not having to invest in blanket stock.

I put a little star on Roo's name plate that says "Laugh Often." It's a reminder that not only do I expect to have Roo make me laugh at his antics, but that I will need to laugh at some of my own mistakes and missteps as we proceed in his training. Horses can't be perfect all the time, so we shouldn't expect them to be. Today was a perfect reminder that laughter is often the best medicine...

Today I decided to work with Roo for a bit. I went to the barn at 2:00 and took some photos of him in the pasture with his newly made friends (Andy, Sin and Sam). Roo and Sam spotted me taking pictures and worked their way up to me. I slipped the halter and lead rope on Roo and walked him to the gate. All was proceeding quite well until Sin decided he missed him and ran up the pasture full throttle, bucking all the way. Roo thought this was great fun and forgot his human was still attached to his lead rope. He started to trot slowly at my side and then thought he might like to join Sin. I have another draft horse at home and I have long since learned two things about working with horses and lead ropes, especially young horses....(1) always wear a good pair of gloves with a good grip; and (2) don't try to hold a draft horse. I learned both of these things the hard way. I did have my gloves on, but figured the lead rope would be no worse for the wear taking another turn around the pasture attached to one happy rose gray Percheron, so I let him go. He ran off with Sin, bucking down the pasture. I walked slowly behind him figuring at some point he'd step on the lead rope and stop. Sure enough, he did step on it, and ground tied himself to the spot, trying to figure out which foot he would have to lift to get his head up again. I was there before he figured that out, stepped him off the rope, picked it up and this time, more prepared, walked him back up to the gate. We successfully made it through with no other bucking horse send offs, and I took him into the indoor arena.

I free lunged Roo who at first went all over the arena, but eventually confined himself to a smaller circle around me. I used a lariat rope as my only encouragement and my voice and a bit of clucking. He seems to know to whoa and turn into me, so he was taught that quite well already. We then did some in hand work, including some lead work and whoa, back up, and giving the shoulder. I affixed the lead rope to either side of his halter like a set of reins and used one side or the other to do some bending and lowering of the head. He gives the left shoulder quite well, but is reluctant to be easy about the right. We did end with him at least giving me one step to the right. His back up needed refreshing. But after three tries, he figured out what I wanted based on the voice command. I'm only asking for a step backwards right now and he's giving me two. We then did the STAND command. I encourage a horse to stand quietly while I face him and move a bit away from him still holding the lead rope. This is good for gate entry and exit, stall entry and exit and other situations where you want some space. He did great at this. So much so I incorporated it into leaving the arena (there is a gate to and from the opening of the arena) and he stood back quietly until I motioned him forward.

Roo is very smart.

Today I also pretend picked out his stall while he was in it making sure he did not try to run through the wheelbarrow at his door, and was not bothered by my working in his stall with the fork. He really wanted to eat the handle....LOLOL...

I've also put his blanket on both in the crossties and in his stall, just to see if he would stand quietly. We had a little bit of walking a circle, but again, it was more curiosity about a bird that landed just outside his window than walking away from the blanket donning.

Today I french plaited Roo's mane. He's not had this done and was not bad about it, but was a bit perplexed. In the end it all worked out and he was standing quietly in cross ties as I finished him off, but when we first began he really didn't want me to just hang onto his mane and do what I was doing. I just quietly did a plait, then encouraged him back into position, then did a plait again, then encouraged him back into position again. Soon he was just bored with me and figured I was going to keep pestering him to get back into position if he didn't stand there, so he heaved a sigh and stood quietly for the rest. I'm hoping to keep his long beautiful mane plaited throughout the winter so that it doesn't get damaged under his blanket and grows stronger until the spring.

Roo also has a beautiful full tail, which I will not touch until the spring. Be sure to check in for updates on Roo's training!

A Horse of A Different Color

I love this picture of Roo and his mom! I expect that he will be her color or close to it at some point in his life, but who knows? He has been a number of different colors, according to his album and baby book, so lovingly prepared by his former owner.

You just know that when a horse comes with his own album, he has a good mind because he has received nothing but love and good care from day one.

This photo shows how he got his name--he was all legs, so Roo seemed appropriate. I think it suits him very well.

Roo has gotten to settle into his new digs since his arrival. His excellent shipper, Kevin, said he made the trip like a champ, nevermind that this was his first long trip on a trailer (six hours). He just munched his hay and enjoyed the ride!

Despite only seeing me once for a small amount of time, Roo's trust in people is significant. He followed me right through the people door into the stable (after only a moment's hesitation to look it over) and into his new stall prepped with a nice big, fresh pile of hay. He was glad to see other horses coming in around him, as it was bring in time at the farm, and he whinnied a greeting here and there, but mostly settled in, looked out his window and took a quick roll.

Later I took him out into the indoor arena for some exercise because I knew he'd had a long day confined. He investigated the poles, the flowers, the wheelbarrow, the other horses along the way, followed me all around the arena and seemed content. We are going to buy him a name plate for his door and a new halter and lead rope. He didn't fit into the first halter I sent for him to be shipped in even though it was "horse" sized. I'll have to get an extra large.

He needs to grow into his knees....LOL.

Intuition and Another Horse

Roo

Call it intuition. I don't know when, why or how our horses come to us, I just know when an opportunity to work with another horse seems right, and the intuition kicks in, there is a comfort level that compels me to agree that another horse is an option.

I know this feeling has never failed me yet. We had five horses until October 25th, when the sixth horse entered our lives. His name is Roo and he comes from Vermont. He is a Percheron cross, born in May of 2005. Our newest addition and our newest project, we hope to share our work with him on these pages, his growth, our growth, and why this intuition never seems to fail me.

We've chosen a show name--one that keeps his original name, Roo, intact--not that he will be showing for quite some time, but just advanced planning. So Roo becomes Roo-Mer Has It in the show ring, at some future date and time still yet unknown. I'm a bit behind on the blog since I only just decided to start it so that his previous owners and caretakers can keep up with his progress. I don't plan to post daily, but here and there with all of our antics, trials, tribulations, successes and funny stories.

I hope you enjoy it!