Outstanding at Standing

This weekend, if the frigid weather does not keep me inside, I will have to get a picture of Roo doing his outstanding standing work. It has taken us a while, but Roo finally gets it when I say "Stand" and move away. Before I was able to just hang onto the lead rope and move backwards a few steps for about five seconds. We gradually increased that to 10 seconds and 15 seconds, then dropping the lead rope (you can't drop the lead rope because Roo wants to eat it).

Finally, we have progressed to no lead rope, the STAND command, backing up a few steps, then walking totally away. And he stands. No movement. Just watches you.

As of last night, I began to further complicate his life by adding as somewhat different task. Now I back up, turn, walk away and stop about 20 feet from him. Then I squat down and hold out my hand.

The funniest thing was that last night you could see his mind working as he tried to figure out what I wanted. He dropped his head first to the ground, and looked at me as if he was saying "Look, I know I'm supposed to STAND HERE, so what the heck do you want now?" Finally, he stepped tentatively toward me and I quietly said "Good Boy," and he stepped toward me some more, then finally walked all the way to my hand. At that point I jumped up and gave him high praise. We waited a bit then tried it again. This time he thought about it a little less, and walked toward me. Again high praise and "Good Boy."

I think Roo will be our trick pony (not that he will be a pony....LOLOL). Eventually I will progress to the point where I drop and he trots to me. We'll see how this goes. Right now he loves these games and I try to vary them with him. I want his repertoire of tricks to be substantial. Maybe we can go on the road show, and visit Vermont! LOLOL

Thanksgiving and Nice Weather

Roo is growing! I'm not shrinking. You can see by this picture that his withers now hide my shoulder area.

Thanksgiving brought rain all day, so Roo was in for the duration as the fields were very muddy. We've had alot of rain and some flooding recently in low-lying areas. I went up early early Thanksgiving Day to get him out a bit and work him in the arena. The arena has new footing. It is softer and just great and Roo loves it. He sniffs it and snorts, then runs off.

My family came for Thanksgiving Day so I went home to finish cooking. We ate at 2:00 and everyone had departed by 5:00. I feed all of our horses a mash on Thanksgiving and Christmas days. So I fed the boys at home their mash, then made one for Roo and Eagle and transported it to the stable (hot water in thermos, etc.) to put together there in their buckets. I put apples, shredded carrots, applesauce and molasses in the mash. Roo slurped his down.

This week we are back to pleasant weather. It will be in the 60's all week which will give the pastures time to dry out. Roo was outside yesterday playing with Sam. They are joined at the hip I think. As it was a nice day, I left him outside to play. My theory is, he has plenty of time to grow up into work. Right now he needs to enjoy some play time! Winter is coming and it will be hard to run and play in slippery fields.

Roo is a pleasant soul and always comes up to me in the pasture to say hello when I go out to see him. No treats necessary. He just likes to visit.

This upcoming week I will work on free lunging again. I don't like putting him on a line too much yet, as it confines him to a too tight circle and they can injure their legs/splints in too tight of a circle. However, he has learned to free lunge a nice big circle around me and not run all over the arena, which is great!

More to come as the week goes on!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

And it sure flies when you can't get into blogger to update your blog because they are working on things.

We're back!

Last week was full of regular work for Roo, with his usually day off mid-week because I had to travel on a work-related trip again. It's gotten colder here, but we had one nice day earlier in the week. We also had torrential rains and low level flooding on Thursday of last week and I almost didn't make it home!!!

Roo is progressing nicely. He now stands quietly facing his stall door to have his halter put on and taken off, without trying to exit the stall door first. He now walks with me nicely in the pasture even though his friends might be going full throttle behind him (we practiced this for an entire 30 minutes one day in the pasture). He also has learned to move away from his feed bucket toward the back of the stall in order to receive a treat in his bucket (he was crowding in his effervescence to enjoy a yummy granola bar). He has gotten even more quiet, standing solid for quite some time in the crossties while being groomed, if that were possible. And he has developed a vocal personality, this last week and weekend whinnying for his buddies both in the pasture and in the barn if he is brought in before them, and nickering for treats (which he gets from my horse, Eagle, who is near him and the loudest nickerer in the barn!).

Roo gets lots of hugs too. Little kids especially like him and think he is just great because he is so big already for his age. I think he grew since arriving in October. Pretty soon we will be celebrating Roo's one month anniversary!

He continues to be a very good boy. My husband did the honors of grooming him on the day I was away last week and said "boy, he sure is a nice horse."

We'll be spending more time together over my Thanksgiving break. I am thankful for Roo and for all of our animals and glad they are all happy and healthy.

Roo and Sam

I know I have mentioned him before, but Samarai (Sam) is truly Roo's most favorite friend. They can often be found grazing side by side or wandering up and down their large pasture together.

Today we had 70 degree weather with lots of sun for most of the day. I spent the better part of an hour watching Roo and Sam play in the field. Sam is only a bit over two years old, so he is the youngest member of Roo's pasture buddies (Andy is around 12 and Sin is 13 or 14).

I gave Eagle a bath today and stood outside with him and let him hand graze while he dried. The entire time I watched the two buddies at play. Head play, head bobbing, going for the front leg, all the usual horse play activity, followed by running away, chasing, then stopping and doing it all over again.

I had asked Lori if she ever caught Roo laying down. I know from having our Belgian, Gifford, that younger horses like to rest and sleep flat out. Today she told me she finally caught Roo not only laying in his stall flat out last night, but also SNORING! LOLOL...

Roo and I continued our ground work over the past several days. The only thing new I added was putting Roo in crossties while the food cart goes around and puts in the late afternoon/early evening meal. He was a little "dancy" during this activity, but nevertheless, heeded my command to at least not back up or not go forward in the cross ties. We'll have to work on this, as he clearly wants to be where the food cart is, and if he sets his mind to it he, obviously, can be there just by making short work of the cross ties!

Tomorrow rain all day and possibly into Monday. I will go up later in the day and do lunge line work.

Roo's Mom (Abby)

Here are some photos recently sent to me featuring Roo's Mom, Abby, and her owner Amy at a horse show. I wanted to include them in my blog because Roo's Mom, as you can see is a very pretty lady, as well as a very large lady! I am expecting that Roo's coloring will be like his Mom's in the end, so we shall see. I've put these here for comparison so we can look at Roo's photos at a later date and see how close they look to the coloring of his Mom.

Amy did very well in showing Abby. In her own words here is how she placed:
In our Equitation classes we placed 1st, 2nd and 5th. Our pleasure classes we place 2nd, 3rd and 4th. There were I think around 12 people in each of my classes.

So there you have it! Just wanted to share!

Rain Rain Go Away...

Today was very rainy. All day. Sometimes long hard downpours, sometimes just (what my grandfather used to call) spit rain.

All of the horses stayed in today.

Roo has had two days off due to my work-related activities and travel. But today I had the day off as the equine dentist visited all of our horses, including Roo.

Roo did not need anything done, as he is still young, but the dentist noted he has some wolf teeth coming in and he will need them removed in the Spring. So Roo will have a visit from his dentist in the Spring again.

Because he had been in all day, I was sure to take him into the arena this evening and exercise him. We didn't do much free lunging, just walking and whoaing and back up. I let him then enjoy himself and walk around the arena and play with cones and smell the flower boxes, etc.

He then got a good grooming, a picked out (freshened) stall, and a walk down the aisleway before being put up for the night. He is getting more affectionate with me.

I have also learned that Roo's favorite treat is Nature Valley Granola Bars Honey & Oats flavor. He will pass up everything in his bucket except this treat.

We simply had some fun together tonight. He will go out tomorrow, as it's supposed to be close to 65 and nice again. I'm sure he'll be happier than staying in.

Additional Thoughts on a Sunday

I have no difficulties getting Roo from pasture. He is quite aware we are going to do work by now, but he, nevertheless, in his trusting ways, always comes to meet me half way.

Today was another beautiful day in Northeastern PA. We are promised more unseasonably warm weather at the end of next week.

Today was also the first day Roo and I worked beyond 20 minutes, both with lunging and in-hand work. He actually broke a slight
sweat today so maybe my luck will now change in catching him in the field? (LOLOL)

Today Roo gave his clearest signs of being somewhat stubborn on the lunge line after being asked to work a bit longer. He is traditionally not much of a suppler on the line, but would rather free lunge. I usually do more free lunging than line lunging, but today I did the opposite to test the waters.

Well, the votes are in and he hates it! (LOL) But, I won anyway, and for the first time today he actually gave to the pressure on the line and bent inward in both directions. Normally, he tries to use his weight and power (which is quite a bit right now even at his age) to just keep on running when he doesn't want to bend. Well, today I ate my Wheaties and was prepared. I think he was surprised.

I corrected his "run out" with swift tugs to bring him back in line, then made him supple to that side and then tried again. This took five tries before he figured out I wasn't kidding, and would sweat just as much as he did to get what I wanted. Finally, he gave to the pressure and just went around me on the line. When he did it to both sides, I let him rest and gave him a great big show of affection. You could almost see him thinking this through.

When I took him off line today, I used the bag whip for the first time. Prior to this I had been using a lariat rope. But today I wanted him to learn about directional changes. That he should only do them when I wanted them and not before. Needless to say I shed quite a bit of clothing teaching him this, but in the end, he couldn't stop until he listened, and he did. I'm not sure who was more tired? Roo or me? It might have been a toss up.

After the line lunging and free lunging we did in-hand work until he cooled down (me too) and he did very well at it today. By this time one of my students, Melissa, (who is also a good friend) had come to the barn. I asked her to try walking him and asking for whoa and back, just to see what he would do with another handler. She did and he performed nicely for her, but as she was bringing him back to stand where I was, again he proved he knows me as his caretaker by moving foward to come to me on his own.

Even Melissa noted "he knows his mom."

Roo had an admirer today from another farm. This gentleman loves the Percheron cross breeds and wanted to see Roo trot and canter. He absolutely loved Roo and said I was lucky to have him. He has shown the Percheron crosses for years and loves their mind and willingness to try (and their braveness).

Speaking of braveness...Roo spooks sometimes. He does a little dance to the side when he spooks. I never spook, and I don't make much of spooking (no reaction from me) so I'm hoping he realizes that. Because I don't spook (LOL) he just comes right back to my side and walks with me. This has worked for me before with other horses.

Roo has mastered all of his in-hand commands quite well (some were refreshers I'm sure) and we are now going to master suppling on the lunge line. He should sleep well tonight!

Roo backing up

All Play and No Work...

This photo is a good example of Roo's curiosity. We are resting after lunge work.


Roo and I have been working on more aisle work and standing, which has helped him tremendously in standing to have his halter taken off before turn out. He was so effervescent about turn out, sometimes he would forget to stand. But Lori reports the standing exercises seem to have made the difference as she just says "Stand" and he does, even if Sin or Sam or Andy are running full tilt down the field. This is good!

Yesterday I gave a lesson and had to return Belle to her field after the lesson. You must walk through the Four Musketeer field (Roo, Sin, Sam, Andy) to get there. Roo, of course, is the official WalMart greeter of this field and feels the need to be the escort service of every horse brought in and taken back out during the day. Sometimes this is okay, but on this particular occasion it was a pain.

Belle is quite simply a hussy. She is only four years old and loves all geldings. So Roo trotting up her side like "playtime" was not good for me, the handler, taking her back out. I decided it was time he learn to keep his distance.

Just flicking a lead rope at Roo has no effect. He is not afraid of much. Yelling has no effect either. To Belle's credit, despite all I was trying to do to keep Roo (and now the other three M's--who joined into the fun) away, had no effect on her and she just kept walking next to me.

Finally I decided to use the lead rope end on Roo's shoulder with some consequence. At the same time I made my "eh-eh" noise. Well, that did the trick. Roo trotted off down the field with his pals and I was able to quietly resume my walk to Belle's pasture. On the way back, I stopped by Roo and gave him a pat so he would know that things were okay, just that he needed to learn this lesson.

So all day, during lessons, I took the horses back and Roo thought about approaching only one more time. I simply whirled the end of the lead rope near me and made the noise. He stopped, turned and went back to eating from his hay pile. Good response.

I am able to handle the horses coming up to me in droves in the pastures, but some owners may not be able to do so, and some horses (especially the mares) will plant him with a good swift kick if he gets that close. Of course, that would teach him too, but it also might hurt him, so I'm trying to have him learn to keep his distance.

I fed Roo an apple tonight. If you leave the apple whole in his bucket it will stay there for days. So I tried cutting it up. That did the trick!

I also put his blanket on him for the evening, as it is very cold here overnight. Next week we are going back up to the 60's which is unusual for us in November, so he won't need his blanket at all next week. I have to buy a blanket rack for his stall, as right now I am using Eagle's blanket rack to hang Roo's blankets.

We did some more ring work yesterday, this time off lead. I let him wander, then free lunged him again and asked for him to follow me and whoa without being on the lead. He did pretty well, but just like any kid, his attention span is about 15 minutes long....LOLOL.

There are about five people who want him, but I keep telling them they can't have him.

Working Well With Others...

Just a note that it has taken me some time to figure out how to enable others to comment on this site, but I finally did it. So if you'd like to add your comments to any of the posts, that option is now available to anyone viewing the blog.

Last night Roo and I did ring work while others were in the ring. There was a horse being lunged and a horse being cooled off after a lesson, so I thought this might be a time to take Roo and his attention span out for a spin.

He was actually very good. Once or twice he started the little twisting, drop the head thing that most young horses like to do when they want to play, but I have a noise I make which is a noise all of my horses associate with "quit it" and he has really picked up on this noise. Whenever I make it, he stops what he is doing and looks at me...LOL...and then shapes up and responds to his next cue. It's sort of an eh-eh-eh noise. At any rate, we managed to halt and stand and give the left shoulder and someone step over on the right shoulder and back up successfully, and walk around the ring quietly while the others were doing their thing.

The temp has fallen here, and will be very cold tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday night (upper 20's) so Roo will wear his blanket on these nights, but have it taken off for turn out. He has quite a coat and I worry about him getting overheated running outside.

I'm giving him tonight off, as I have a dinner engagement, but back to work on Saturday, doing some lunge line work.

The dentist comes next Wednesday to check his and Eagle's teeth (as well as my four at home) and the vet on Monday. He will have a week of appointments himself.

Roo has been a very good boy and we love him alot! We are so glad he joined our family.

One Week Anniversary

It's hard to believe Roo has been with me a week. Time sure does fly by. Happy One Week Anniversary Roo!

Yesterday was Halloween and we had an unusually warm day (70's) which some said may have been our belated Indian Summer. Roo, who has a heavy coat, didn't like it this warm, so Lori noted he stayed in the run in alot during the day.

I gave him the night off last night because everyone needs some days off with pay (hay and grain...). Even when we don't work, I still groom, lift feet and visit with my horses. Last night Roo seemed to understand I was going to bring him out of the stall right after grooming Eagle. This has been my pattern since he came, and so he waits by his door while I take care of cleaning up Eagle and putting him up, because Roo knows I will be at his stall with his halter next.

Tonight was the clearest sign that Roo is identifying with me as his handler. Although he is friendly with everyone, and will come and investigate whomever looks into his stall, he now checks his feeder as soon as he sees me because he knows I sometimes throw three baby carrots in there in first passing his stall. I do not hand feed. It's a policy of mine because it encourages a horse to seek out your hands for treats at all times, and many people get bitten this way. So I always throw my treats in a feeder. If I am on the road, I put the treat in a smaller bucket that I carry in my trailer and feed my horses from that bucket. As a result, none of my horses seek my hands out for treats.

Tonight I started with grooming, feet and added a little ear massage. Roo didn't mind this at all. In fact, he leaned into the ear I was massaging, first right and then left. Tonight we worked on aisle manners and standing quietly by the handler until the handler decides it is time to move. I simply walked up and down the aisle talking to people as they worked either grooming their horses or cleaning tack, with Roo in tow.

There are oh so many distractions in a stable aisle. So many halters and lead ropes to investigate, so many other horses to sniff, but Roo understood to stand by me after one or two corrections. He waited patiently by the end of our journey to move onto the next adventure zone. When he had performed nicely for the last five minutes of his aisle work, I then encouraged him to seek out and investigate things on the floor and walls.

I get many comments on my horses handling manners because I use the same psychology you use in teaching a dog to heel--that is you ask for them to stand with you until you give them permission to move away. I use "okay" as the verbal for "permission to move away" and "stand" as the word for wanting the horse to stay with me. Since I use the stand command in a standing exercise I do in hand anyway, it just reinforces that when I say it I want the horse to simply stand with me until I decide the next move.

I have also tested Roo's cross tie tolerance by leaving him in them alone for a bit of time (maybe two minutes to three minutes) while I walk down the aisle, or pick out his stall, or find something in my tack trunk. He is very good about it. Just stands there.

We also watched another newcomer to the barn, Daisy, lunge today in the indoor arena. Roo just stood by me the whole time. We practiced back up and some showmanship turns in the aisle. Then I decided to introduce Roo to the wash stall...not to get wet, just to visit.

The wash stall at Painted Acres is concrete cinderblock with black pourous floor mats. The hose hangs from the wall, there are crossties, a window to the outside in the back of it, and some shampoo bottles lined up along the window. There are two scrubbing brushes in the wash stall. It is a small step up to get in, which keeps the water running into the middle drain and not all over the aisleways.

I simply walked in and let the lead rope dangle between me and Roo. He is so curious he just can't help himself. He lowered his head and sniffed the black mats, then put both front feet on them, sniffed them again, and then figured there was not much to them and came right on in. After investigating all of the shampoo bottles and brushes, we did a nice little turn and he was facing outward. I crosstied him there and stood with him for a few minutes, then undid the crossties and made him wait until I said "okay" and off we went.

He is just so good.

Lori reported to me that he is now patiently waiting for his halter to be removed in the pasture for turnout.

My farrier came up to our farm today to do my horses at home (I have four at home). He had been to Painted Acres and Lori had shown him Roo in the field. He thinks he is a wonderful looking horse and was happy when I told him how nicely Roo lifts his feet thanks to some really good training in Vermont, and how I was reinforcing that. "That's good!" he said. "Because he is going to be a BIG boy!" Let's hope so!

Here is a picture of Eagle, our Pinto, who also lives at Painted Acres with Roo.

Tomorrow we will do more lunge work after my lessons. I try to do no more than 15 - 20 minutes of work with Roo each night. This keeps his mind fresh and he doesn't get bored.

Our first week together has gone by quickly, and I'm looking forward to our time ahead!