No snow Monday morning, but it is getting closer! I went out to the barn to check on Boomer and found this:
AWWW!!!
He let me get close enough to sit down and feed him an apple. It was a very sweet moment! I think the high today was around 25* and it was pretty chilly! I brought Boomer up and was disappointed to see that the kick from Saturday had swollen a little. He walked sound but seemed a little stiff on it at the trot. I lunged him at a walk to help him stretch and also get used to the indoor arena (huge, by the way!).
I went by the vets office and picked up a tetanus shot and a tube of Bute paste. His last tetanus was in October of 2008 when he ripped his shoulder open.
I went out to the field and he walked up to meet me (the apples are working!). I was able to give him both the shot and 2g of Bute out in the field with just his lead over my arm. I am just continually impressed with his progression. Basic things are now just that, basic, to him. I remember dreading dewormer day or really anything that might set him off. Now, I can give him medications in the field without him moving away or even tossing his head.
Obviously, the 6 weeks of training had a lasting effect on Boomer. I'm not sure how horses think, but I really feel that what he learned there he has translated to his whole life outlook. John and I joked about it being a religious experience for him. He went there to help solve riding issues, but has come back a calmer, more tolerant horse all around.
4 comments:
awesome moment captured on film!
I had the same experience with Rosso... things that would cause him to wig out, just didn't.
He seemed much more mellow and calm all the way around... AND he didn't pick on the other horses so much.
Before training, he was sort of the "turd on the playground" with the other horses!
I wish we could know what happened to them at training, was it gradual or did they have a sudden moment of enlightenment? Surely he didn't get dewormed or poked by needles while he was there, so what could have made such a huge change that those things would become no big deal? Its a mystery to me, but I am ever so grateful!
That is so interesting that Rosso's interactions in the herd changed as well. Was he in a herd at the trainers? I wonder if his becoming more submissive to the humans took him down a notch with the horses too?
He will still pick on the other horses but it's just not as intense - crazy-ass behavior that goes on and on and on... yeah, the trainer I ride with says the sumbission while in training is what does it.... but yes, it IS very interesting isn't it?!
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