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!
2 comments:
15.3!!!!! Wow - I'll say he's grown! His mom is just over 16.3 now so expect him to keep growing!
It's wonderful that you get so much positive feedback from others, vets, trainers, etc. We know he's wonderful but it's nice to have other people recognize it as well!
Sounds like he is learning a lot - that's great! I'm glad things are going so well!
It is so nice to hear that Roo is doing so well. And getting huge! He is going to be a big boy!! Abby turned six this year and it seems like she is still growing. I cant me to see how big Roo will get.
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