WE'RE BAAAAACKKKKKK!!!!!!

To those of you who have been waiting patiently for my owner to get off her butt and post something new about me....well, the news is good. She has finally made time to do this! I keep her pretty darn busy, along with that spotted boy you see next to me (Eagle) in the photo above waiting to be let in at feed time! It's show season for Mom and she has been taking kids here and there. I guess my spotted brother did very well in dressage this year and has some blue ribbons hanging from his stall. I wonder when I'll finally get to go to a show?????

I am 1125 pounds and 16 hands high at the withers. If you look at Eagle in the photo above, he is 15.3 and I am on a downward slope from him, so I am taller than he is. I know the following ground work tricks/cues and do most of them very very well....

(1) stand; (2) whoa; (3) face mom with two eyes; (4) don't eat the crossties; (5) turn left; (6) turn right; (7) stay put while mom walks away; (8) come to mom; (9) follow mom; (10) walk width wise over the blue tarp; (11) walk lengthwise over the blue tarp; (12) walk to and stand with two front feet on the tarp; (13) back up and stand with two back feet on the tarp; (14) back up (with no help, just a cue); (15) come to mom in the field; (16) walk, trot, canter on command; (17) free lunge a small circle around mom no matter the size of the arena; (18) w/t/c with saddle on and stirrups down and flapping against me; (19) back into my stall; (20) hold my head down until mom tells me to lift it; (21) step over (sideways to the right and to the left depending on cue).

Mom has been doing lots of saddle stuff. She also has taught me to stand very still by the mounting block. She hasn't really ridden me yet, but says that is coming very soon. I love her. I wait for her every day and nicker for her so she takes me out of the stall first before the spotted thing. She gives me nice cool rinses when it is hot, and bought me the neatest fly mask that covers my whole face down to my nose (I don't have it on the picture because Andy likes to take it off sometimes, and this was one of those days).

I am growing and happy and have lots of friends and admirers. I still get my Himalayan Salt blocks too! Mom is going to be busy traveling for work these next two weeks, but will post more on me when she returns and take some additional pictures!

Love, Roo

Oh Oh Those Summer Nights...

No, this is not Roo. This is T.D. our cat, who is hot and laying near an open window in one of the pet beds we have.

It's as hot as blazes here and we have had very little rain. It is also show seaons. Show season brings with it many days of lessons and many Sundays and Tuesdays of trailering horses and kids to nearby events.

It is also the time of the annual visit of the grandkids. They are with us this week and we are enjoying them immensely!

I have been meaning to update my pics of Roo, but just have not been good about taking my camera to the barn. I always seem to forget it when I head out the door, mostly because I am usually running late from work and need to leave as quickly as possible.

So I promise that after the grandkid leave this weekend, my priority will be to get update pics of the big boy and post them. Not that my lovely cat T.D. (who is also a very nice cat) isn't a good eye filler, but I know you are all waiting to see ROO!

So what have we been doing? Well, we've started using a bit during our work sessions. I have rigged a larger bridle with a nice Myler comfort snaffle and Roo is nonplused by it. He works just like he did without the bridle and snaffle. I keep a halter under his bridle and I do not hook to the snaffle yet, but he is certainly very calm about it all. Next week we are going to add the saddle and do some work in both the saddle and the bridle. I have used the surcingle on him prior to the saddle and again, he just doesn't care about it. He'd rather try to eat it really!

We have been taking walks on the farm in the nice, cooler evenings. I use a rope halter and longer lead for this. The first time we went out it was nearly uneventful. Roo did spook a bit at a few things here and there, but ultimately he took my cues (I don't spook and don't care if he does and I give him no reaction) to mean that things were okay. We went down to the outdoor arena a few times already and worked there as well on the cooler evenings. These past several days we have not worked at all and we won't again tomorrow due to the heat and humidity. The heat index here today was 100 degrees and tomorrow it is expected to be higher. All I do on nights like these are hose him down with some nice tepid water and squeegie him off. He loves that.

Roo and I are now using Clinton Anderson's ground training and directional change methods. I wanted to do this before saddling him for ground work, as this will play a role later on when we start him getting used to me on his back. Roo has gotten lighter in his front end and more bendable from using Clinton's methods.

I have also found a very good showman to take him to a few model horse division shows. I will ask him to show Roo a bit in September, which is near the end of model horse show season here, just to get him some "at the show" experience. This gentleman is very good and does well with the horses. He has been to the barn several times and has seen Roo work and thinks he is just a phenomenal horse. I agree!

So stay tuned folks. I am hoping to be back with more good photos of the growing boy in the next week. Then I go on vacation for a week during the following week's timeframe. So I will definitely get pics posted before that!

Roo says hello to all his friends in Vermont!

Elaine

Is It Spring Yet?

Hi everyone! It's been some time since I've gotten to post, but between work, riding and giving lessons it has been hectic here. That and the atrocious weather we had in early April that didn't remind me of spring at all...10" of snow!

Roo is growing and getting fat! No really, but he looks that way in these photos, probably because I am in the stall trying to snap the photo before he tries to smell the camera again.



Roo got his spring shots on April19th and was relatively good for them. Just a little ear pinning during the coggins blood draw, but other than that all was well.

We have been steadfastly following a work schedule which now has Roo pretty much free lunging in a small circle around me even in the big arena, sans lunge line. He knows his commands and does walk, trot, canter, turn, walk, trot, canter, whoa, stand very very well. Now that the weather has started to become less mud bath and more sunshine, we are going to start going for walks on the farm. I will use a lunge line and we'll go visit the outdoor arena (which is quite a walk from the main barn and indoor), as well as some of the other areas of the farm, like eating grass in the front paddock in hand, etc.



Roo's canter transitions are so smooth as he does his ground work, and yesterday I actually saw him piaffe in the field when he was playing with Sam. Sam may be going home soon as his family bought a farm. Roo will miss him greatly because Sam and Roo are about the same age. Roo hollers for him all the time when he has to come in early because his parents are working him in hand. He stands at the gate to the indoor arena and yells for him. I can't imagine how he will miss him when he goes home. Probably at the end of May.



Roo also doesn't try to eat the cross ties anymore, or his lead rope, or my shirt, or anything. He is still very curious. Brad was using the tractor to flatten the field the other day and all the horses in Roo's paddock ran far away, except Roo, who insisted on following the tractor to get a better look at it....




I did finally thin Roo's mane. In this photo he has just come in from the field for his dinner, so he isn't groomed yet. I will get more photos now that the weather has cleared. He is clearly dappling out to a nice gray.
He is the official greeter horse for his field as he comes to the fence line to talk to anyone who is standing there to admire the horses. Most people admire him as he is such a character!

The game plan for May is (1) walking the farm in hand, and (2) ground driving. Ought to be interesting. I'll keep everyone posted! Hopefully I'll do it more regularly.

Elaine

Snow Snow Everywhere!!!

Well, we waited until February for it, but on Valentine's day the Northeast was hit with a massive storm, and we, personally, got 20 inches of snow in our backyard.

We were snowed in for two days, thankful we stopped at the grocery store before the storm, and it took us just about that to dig out.

Needless to say there isn't much riding going on at this time, nor working with the horses. They were in for three days due to frozen gates and paths which needed to be dug out in order to get them to their paddocks and pastures. Two hours of sleet and ice fell like a sandwich between 6 inches of snow and the remaining 14 inches, so walking and driving conditions were hazardous.

Two major interstates in PA were shut down causing drivers to be stranded on these interstate for over 24 hours in 10 degree weather, overnight. We at home were astounded. As long as I can remember, nothing like this ever happened in Pennsylvania, which doesn't lend itself to the Governor's recent cuts in budgets for road maintenance and the loss of private contractors PA used to use to clear roads in the snow. It really is disgraceful. If it wasn't for snow mobile drivers taking these folks gasoline and food as well as blankets, until the Governor finally got on board and sent out the National Guard to assist, these folks would have been frozen and hungry.

TODAY...more than 36 hours after the storm, these two roads STILL REMAIN CLOSED. One (Interstate 81) is closed for over 50 miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the second day of snow in, I groomed all the horses at home. Manes and tails were done, clipped their muzzles, gave them all a nice rub and got off excess hair. Let them roll in the barn aisle for a good scratch and walk around one at a time in the inside of the barn and eat hay in the aisle. We ofen do this in very bad PA weather and our horses are used to it. They are all well mannered in the aisleway. We have a very large aisle and it is sawdust covered, with two rubber mats for grooming near the front entrance doors. If necessary, I can take in a rescue horse and put up a gate and the horse would have a makeshift staff using the aisle, so that is why we built it this way.

The picture on this page is one of many I took when a family of cardinals visited our feeders on day two of the storm. We kept them filled, and also put out corn for the turkeys and squirrels and we were treated to nature television out our big picture window.

I'm hoping this will be our one and only 20 inch snow storm for this winter.

Cold Weather Has Finally Visited PA

It's been a bit since I've had a chance to post a blog. Work has been extremely busy with the end of one year and all the reporting that requires and the start of the next year and all the set up that requires. We also lost one employee, which then adds some work time to the schedule.

But, amid all this, Roo and I have still maintained a semblance of a schedule as far as interaction and trianing goes.

As you can see in this photo Roo has grown a bit more and I am actually bending over laughing at him here. We use alot of activities in our work now, including the tarp and the poles and flowers and cones. I am teaching Roo to run a sort of obstacle course off lead. It's like agility training for horses. There is a different command for putting only front feet on the tarp and four feet on the tarp, as well as for approaching the tarp from the side (width-wise) or from the end (lengthwise). One command asks that he walk the tarp from end to end (lengthwise). One command asks him to halt with front feet only on the tarp. Etc. We make it up as we go along. I am trying to vary the experience for him, make him use his mind and see how long it takes for him to give me the correct response. Response time has actually DECREASED (in that he gives me the correct response FASTER now) over the last month as I've added new elements to the agility course. This is good. Roo seems to be thinking critically as his vocabulary of commands (both verbal and non-verbal signals) grows.

I may have joked once about Roo becoming a trick pony (well, pony may not be the right word...LOL), but there is no joking any more. He has the potential and the mind to do exactly that.

The weather has been very cold lately. In the past week we have had wind chill advisories and wind chills of -10 to -20 degrees. After work weather has not been cooperative for Roo and I for four days now, with it being 0 - 5 each evening. Not conducive for either of us to be working. So I typcially make a run to the barn to check blankets, feet, and just be a presence, then run home and sit by the fire. These few days off seem to be a downer for Roo. He looks at me each time I bring him out of his stall with that look that seems to say "So what are we doing today, Mom?" Each time I groom him and put him back I know he is disappointed. But it is just too cold, even with the little heaters in my shoes.

I changed Roo's feed to Blue Seal Charger in the last month. He is liking it alot. I wanted him to stay on a feed that was conducive to growing horses, and Charger meets all the requirements. I will keep him on this until he is about 30 months old, then I will most likely switch him to either Blue Seal Trotter or Pacer.

When the weather clears Roo and I will go outside more and walk the farm a bit. He is very trusting of me now and really will go anywhere and do anything I ask him to do. I'm looking forward to Spring!!!

Roo Is Growing!!!

I noticed today while working with him that Roo has definitely grown. Even more so than what is shown in this photo. He stands about 15.3 now, and he has begun to fill out in his shoulder area.

Today we worked with the tarp. Roo hasn't seen the tarp since he left Vermont, but he hasn't forgotten it. Today he stood on it like a trooper, chased it, and then let me put it on him like a little blanket.

He free lunges quite well now, staying on the circle around me even though we have a full arena. And today for the first time, Roo trotted on command and came to a halt on whoa, without any prompting other than voice (no props, no body language).

My vet was at the barn today as his daughter takes a lesson with the owner every Saturday at 5:30. He watched Roo work and couldn't believe how good he was. He said that Roo was a very nice horse, with a great personality!

Roo has also learned to stand away from the stall door consistently when you bring a wheelbarrow up to clean his stall. And, he will stand there now even if you let his door wide open and move away from it. Unless you halter him, he won't come out.

He also knows I won't feed him treats from my hand, and when I enter his stall he moves immediately to his bucket and waits for a treat. I've been working on him more in his stall. I groom him there, and put on and take off his blanket there. I also do this in crossties, but I've been spending alot of time on stall handling as Roo would often put his ears back at anyone entering his stall. The "stand" command comes in handy when I'm taking his blanket off.

Despite our unseasonably warm weather, our rain, and our mud, Roo is very clean. His sheet/blanket keeps his body dry and clean, and I pick out his hooves, and clean his feathers every day. He is great to groom in the crossties, because he loves being groomed, particularly being scratched at his withers, and he likes to stand out in the aisle and see what is going on around him.

Tomorrow we are expecting sleet and freezing rain into the afternoon, so I'm not sure we'll get to work together, but Roo is in very good hands when I am not there. All of the horses stayed in today due to bad weather and will more than likely stay in tomorrow, so when that happens, the owners put Roo and a buddy in the indoor to play for a while as they clean their stalls, then they are put back into their stalls when they are clean. Roo definitely likes to play!

What Do You Mean--Christmas Is Over?

Christmas just got here, and now it's over? Hi, this is Roo. My mom has been lax in writing in this blog because she was very busy during the holidays. But I still saw her almost every day, even on Christmas Day.

She's been making me do some different things. I definitely know how to stay in my stall when the door is open now, even when she is picking out my stall. I don't try to leave it. Mostly, I tried to leave it because I was curious, but now I know I'm supposed to wait until my halter is on to leave the stall. I know the difference.

I am also very very good at coming to Mom in the field when she squats down on the ground and puts her hand out. My buddy Sam has learned the trick inadvertently and he sometimes beats me to her! Sam's owners are very glad he is in my field, because he is learning good things from my Mom too!

Mom is trying to teach me something I don't understand yet. I can explain it though. She takes me off lead in the indoor arena and walks behind me and twirls the lead line a little and says TROT ROO and I just look at her. I don't think that is what she wants. So then she takes the lead line and touches my butt with it a little and says TROT and she starts jogging in place and I start to jog away too and as soon as I do she stops. So I stop. Then I get a pat. We did that about a gazillion times by now. I have noticed something though. When Mom says that word and jogs in place, and if I move out jogging myself without her touching the lead rope to my butt, I get a treat! But if she touches the lead rope to my butt, I just get a pat. Not that a pat isn't a good thing, but that treat is the BEST! She was very happy with me the last time we worked on this, so I must be doing something right. I got 3 treats out of 5 times! Hmmmmmm......I have to think about this.

Mom says she has a picture of Pepper Pony trying to escape the paddock in Vermont. Maybe he is trying to come and see me? I don't think my buddy Sin would like him. Sin is very grouchy and doesn't like anyone, but he does like me.

Mom gave me a slight hair cut. She posted it on the board (Roo got a haircut) because she knew she had to break it to everyone gently before they saw me....I kinda like it myself. Mom says there are some burrs in the field where I am and I always seem to find them for her. I don't know what she is talking about.

Mom tells me that after she is done teaching her intersession class next week, we are going to start on using a bit while we work. Whatever....she says all these words I don't really understand, but it makes her happy.

I got lots of treats at Christmas. I will never be able to eat them all......uhm.....yes, I WILL! I also got a new Himalayan Salt block.

I have a sheet and when I wear it I keep it very nice. I don't rip it or dirty it. But, I do like to chew on Andy's sheet. I don't let anyone bother mine though.

I hear someone else I know has a blog! My Mom is going to read it soon and catch up with happenings in Vermont, where I came from.

Well, I'm tired. It's a hard day for us babies you know. Grazing, playing, visiting the horses in all the other fields along the fence line. The weather is so warm here. It was 60 degrees today! I didn't wear my sheet in three days because it has been so warm.

Oh, one more thing. The farrier checked my feet and said they are very good! He liked me and told me I was very good and very handsome. He had a friend with him who also liked me. So far, the dentist and the farrier have both checked me and said I don't need their services yet, so that is good.

Goodnight!

Roo