Progressing Well

I love this goofy picture. He looks like a Muppet.

I put a fly mask on him for the first time. He doesn't love it. That morning I had to leave before the sun came up.

I also put fly spray on him for the first time. He was very upset. Each time I sprayed him he jerked like he'd been hit with electricity. Scout wanted the treats I had, and ended up crowding and blocking Duncan's attempts to escape. It almost looked like he was trying to help him cope. Whatever he was doing, it worked. Duncan still didn't like it but he settled down and accepted it pretty quickly.

Here you can see how one is able to focus better than the other. :)

We worked on desensitizing with the lariat. No prob.

And ground driving. We need a lot more practice but it was an excellent first session. He got confused but not overly upset about it. I can't wait to play again today. :)

This horse really is something else. He takes to things so quickly.

Yesterday we had snow, sunshine, snow, and sunshine. It was a beautiful spring day.

Day two of the new routine - working together in the afternoon. I walked out to get my boyo and he brightly joined me. We went out to the far pond again to graze, and this time he didn't look back toward the other horses even once. 

While we're walking we practice crossing all kinds of small water. Thin trickles, wide boggy spaces, wide running water. Not going into the ponds though. I don't trust myself not to fall if I walk into the muddy bottom and I am trying to promote relaxation so I don't want to send him in alone.

We went into the round pen and he walked circles. He's such a good boy. At each direction change I brought him in to me, stood and relaxed, then asked him to drop his head to the ground. There is much less resistance there now when I put my hand on  his poll. Of course he's still perfect when I use halter pressure.

I showed him the surcingle but didn't put it on him. I need to decide whether I want to use a bit or not. I don't see why he needs to have one to go down the trail, but I also feel like it communicates more clearly for precise work. I will probably add a bit to the equation today, and the surcingle tomorrow. I may not start driving him for a while because pulling is still  on the verboten list for me.

I am hurting worse after two days of overdoing it, but I don't want to give up this new routine, so I'll probably just cut it shorter. Maybe the bit can wait.

Turning Point

I'm at the two week mark post-surgery and I feel a lot better. Still painful of course, but more capable. I can walk almost at a normal ground-covering pace now, just being careful not to jolt. On rough ground I have to take it slower.

I got Duncan out for the first time, counting on him to be good so I wouldn't accidentally hurt myself. He was. :) I was a bit slow for his taste, which made for a good teachable moment.

I gave him a lot of time to graze at the far end of the pasture so he'd feel like leaving the other horses was a good thing. It's hard for me to stand and do nothing. A good teachable moment for me. :)

We did some walking circles in the round pen. Not asking for anything but continuation, waiting for him to relax. It took a while, but it happened.

Another thing we're working on is dropping his head willingly and keeping it down until I release him. He does great in the halter but has some resistance when I signal with my hand on his poll. Eventually I'd like to turn it into a cue I can give from the saddle, using pressure on his neck.
I've been reading a book about endurance riding and getting a lot of food for thought about proper conditioning, balance, and teaching the horse to use its body correctly, which of course means the rider needs to ride well. I don't plan on ever doing a 100 mile ride in one day, but with the things I ask my horses to do in the mountains, they could use some better conditioning.

Getting Bored

I'm feeling a little better each day, and along with that comes boredom. I'm almost inspired to start up a new hobby like wood burning or something. Almost. Right now I'm all gorked out on pain meds so a nap sounds good...

I've been getting in a walk or two every day, visiting with Duncan and Pedro and letting the dogs run off some excess energy. The weather is actually kind of nice, with sunshine at least part of every day.

He is the cutest horse ever!

Huckleberry lays down and dies if he gets cockle burrs.

Surgery done! & Another Saddle

Had my surgery yesterday. No way is it "no big deal" as I'd been told, although it might have been if it had been more routine.

The surgery itself, which usually takes an hour and a half, took three and a half hours. My uterus with its fibroids was 7x4x4 inches. I think it's supposed to be more like 2x3.

The pain has been really hard to manage, I think because my innards are so offended. They were so compressed before, and then all that rooting around, and now they have room again, which I guess might make them angry for a while. So I'm still in the hospital instead of going home same day.

I feel a lot better this morning. More human, but still hurting. No reason to think I won't go home today after they transition me to oral meds.

In other news, I sold Duncan's Crates saddle. It just wasn't comfortable and was very cheaply made. Now we're trying out a Billy Cook barrel saddle, which is super comfortable and has rough-out, which I really like the idea of for first rides. I don't like the skinny barrel horn but it seems low and out of the way, even if it doesn't look it.

I only have crappy pics, but I'm going to share them anyway.

Ride & Saddle

I rode Scout briefly yesterday, for the first time in months. He was a good boy. I rode in the Crates saddle I recently bought for Duncan and I'm just not sure I like it. Maybe it feels funny because it doesn't fit Scout just right. It's not terrible but it would take some getting used to.

I also saddled up Duncan. He needs more work circling so he can understand that it's not a scary punishment, it's just an exercise. Next time I'll do it without the saddle, because I think that added a little worry.

What's your favorite cinch? I need to get a shorter one for Duncan. I usually buy a string roper cinch for breathability and stability, but I'm open to others, mainly because I like the idea of having padding under the buckle. I have liked the felt Smart cinch, but not really the neoprene because of the slippery sweat factor. What do you all use?

Surgery is set for next Thursday. I hope to get in some good horse time before then, if I can. The pain & weakness is kind of unpredictable but every now and then I feel up to doing stuff. Maybe I'll ride again this weekend.

Waiting...

So I am going to have to have surgery. Waiting on insurance to approve it, then plan on getting in ASAP. This pain and weakness are really wearing on me. It'll be a laparoscopic surgery, so hopefully I'll bounce right back. I'll have to miss some work regardless, because lifting and wrestling bad dogs are big parts of my job. :( And I wonder how long before I can get in the saddle.

I finally got a bill of sale for Duncan, and today I got his lifetime brand inspection. So happy! He was a sweetheart for the brand inspector.

Yesterday I could tell he had a lot of pent up energy, so I went out and walked around with him. He followed me one full circuit of the pasture with no incentive other than companionship. :)

Then I opened up the gate to the pasture adjacent to Bella and Scout. They went to the races! It was really fun to watch. Duncan is far more graceful than the two red horses. He was doing flying lead changes for fun.

I was having trouble moving around, but that didn't keep me from hanging out and taking pictures.

He has this strip of buffalo pony hair down his midline. It's extra long. I love it.

Progress

Duncan has been making great progress. I admit I haven't been putting a lot into him, since I've not been feeling well.

He's a pro at saddling, and I've tried out a sidepull and a bosal on him, both of which he responded well to, but he didn't like the bosal quite as well.

Yesterday he set all of his feet on the hoof stand and I trimmed his toes. I am so proud of how he's progressed there. He even let a friend of mine he had never met before pick up his feet. He's a sweetie.

I've had to choose not to ride a few times lately because of this pain in my lower abdomen. I've also been tired and nauseous a lot. There was a lot of run-around with scheduling a CT scan and delay in getting the results, but I finally found out I have a couple of large uterine fibroids. I'd never heard of them before. I don't know much other than what I could easily look up online. They're almost always benign. I'm hoping I can get in to my regular doctor soon. I had gone to a quick care place to try to save time but it ended up costing me weeks. Now the pain is keeping me up at night and definitely affecting my everyday life. I hope they'll hurry up and fix me. I don't want to end up being down when the weather is nice.

All 4 Feet!

No pics, just bragging. Today after going for a short walk, Duncan picked up all 4 feet and I picked them all out for the very first time. No fuss. Just like he'd been doing it every day. Doesn't sound like much, but this has been months in the making. Granted, I wasn't in a rush because his feet wear so well on their own. We could've maybe done it sooner, but whatever, we did it! I was so happy with him, and he was pretty proud too!

First Hike!

 Duncan is going to be a kick-ass mountain horse. He really enjoyed himself today.

First Bit and Saddle

Duncan had a whole week off because I haven't been feeling well. I still don't know for sure what the heck's wrong with me this time, but I was tired of it yesterday so I played with my horse. Duncan and Tylenol are a good remedy.

I put a bit in his mouth for the first time. He didn't love it, but he didn't throw any fits. We've been doing a lot of preparing for this, learning about lowering and turning his head just right, playing with his mouth, and passing the lead rope in front of his face and over his ears as you do with a bridle.

We walked around and he fiddled with his bit. There were some idiots on motorcycles next door so he was pretty distracted. Then I took it off. I wasn't expecting perfection in one day.

Then I brought out his saddle and threw it up on his back from both sides, walked him around & flapped the stirrup leathers, and took it off. All without cinching it up.

I picked up a all 4 feet, congratulated him profusely, and went inside.

I really wanted to put the saddle fully on, but had some apprehension after what Tonka did years ago. Duncan has worn a saddle at least once that I know of, but obviously hasn't been totally fine with the saddle going up on his back, so I wasn't sure what to expect about the cinch. 

Turns out it was a total non-event.

I love his forelock in this picture:

And I love his sweet face in this picture:

He walked and trotted in both directions quite a bit, and then we went for a short walk through the hawthorn trees next door.

After unsaddled him I picked up all 4 feet again and praised him a lot.

It was a very good day!

Whoops

So yesterday I wrote about things I'd already written about, and forgot to write about something important. Sometimes I think my brain is old before its time.

On Wednesday Duncan and I had a frustrating session working on picking up hind feet. We both were tired and desperate by the end. He would kind of pick up a foot then step down on it, or sometimes he wouldn't even try, and he'd move away. I'd yield his hindquarters around and around, then try again. A few times toward the end I trotted him off in a small circle instead of yielding hindquarters.

He really is such a sweet boy. Through all of this, he never once thought about kicking me. He just doesn't want me to have his leg, so he stands on it, moves it away, puts it down. He is apprehensive and off-balance. He isn't mean spirited, he just never learned that this is okay.

Finally, as it was getting too dark to see, he let me set his pastern on my knee. I kept it for a split second, then gently set it down. Praise and pets! Step back and let him soak that in. Licking and chewing. Two more times we did it, the last time I was able to leave his hoof on my knee and rub his leg all over. Super proud, pleased praise.

I left him after that, his reward my absence.  I didn't even go to the other hind leg at all.

We didn't work on it again until yesterday, and I wasn't sure what to expect. Either we had a breakthrough or we didn't.

My first ask made him move away just slightly and weight that leg. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and asked again without "punishing" him for moving off. He did it! I went to the other side and he did it there too! I didn't ask for anything more than a brief hold. Short and sweet. We'll build on that.

We Haven't Been Idle

 We've had to do some work inside the stalls because of the cold wind. He is jumpy in bad weather (aren't they all) so asking him to do stuff and remember we can be calm is good for him.

I let him wear his blanket around until it fell off. He thought it was interesting, but not scary.

Pedro was jealous.

 I got him some used easyboots and put pads in them to see if they'll help with his sore feet. Then the ground thawed and he didn't need them.

Duncan and I went for our first walk down the road! He was a rock star. He looked back toward home a few times, and was extra watchful going through the neighbor's farm equipment, but he never spooked or threw a fit wanting to go home. We didn't have any cars go by. Maybe next time.

He's also been spending a little time tied up. I ordered a new blocker tie ring so I could tie him without worrying if he really knows how to stand tied. It turns out he does. But he's a little nervous being groomed while he's tied. That's easy to work on.

I put a new piece of fabric on my flag and introduced it to him. He prefers if it stays still in front of him, but I also flapped it around and touched him all over with it. We will be doing more of that.

Have you ever heard of the Masterson Method? It's kind of similar to acupressure, I guess. Check it out on YouTube and maybe try it out. I did this with Duncan and he really responded well on his left side. Lots of releases with yawning and licking and chewing.

On his right side it's been more challenging. He doesn't want to let go of whatever is going on there, so he fidgets so much I can hardly keep my hand in position. I know the feeling. Sometimes my chiropractor does that to me and it's very unpleasant right before it releases. It's funny, because it's just the lightest touch, held without moving, so you wouldn't think it could do anything, let alone make you feel uncomfortable, then much better.

We went out to the Great White Pine area and went hiking the other day. It was kind of rough going in the snow, but it was just what I needed. I love being in the woods. So does Huckleberry.