Saturday, Don came in for training. Don is a gorgeous black and white gelding. He is 5 years old and came to me to be green broke. His owner wants to use him as a trail horse so she wants him as bomb proof as possible. I put Don in the pipe lots when he first came so he would be in a safe environment to meet the other horses. He stayed there for most of the afternoon and settled in quickly. Later that evening, I gave him a quick grooming and moved him to his own paddock. He has some stiffness in his hindend which I think may be from the trailer ride. He spent some time checking it out and started munching his hay.
Sunday morning, after church, I got him out and throughly groomed him. He did not want to lift his hind hooves, but other than that was a perfect gentleman. I then began a short assessment of his training level. I should mention that his owner had started him previously but was unable to complete his training. From the ground, he will do a great hips over, but does not understand the cue for shoulders over. He is gives his nose easily, but is a little stiffer to the left. I then began to lunge him and he showed marked stiffness in his haunches. He was dragging his toes and had difficulty in quick changes of direction. I palpated his hip and loin and found no abnormalities. His hips do seem a bit unlevel, but the way his paint markings are it is difficult to be sure. I put Don up for the night with turnout in his paddock. Is the stiffness still from the trailer ride? I will check him out tomorrow to see if the problem is resolving itself or if it gets worse. Don is a very level-headed horse and eager to please. He loves contact and listens well. I believe that he will be a very easy horse to train and make a great trail horse.
Monday afternoon, I got Don up and throughly groomed him. Still the perfect gentleman except for the back hooves. Now this makes sense due to the stiffness in his hips. I again palpated his back and hips and he still showed no pain response. He was walking stiffly so I hand walked him a bit to see if he would loosen up. He did a bit, so I again worked him lightly from the ground in hand. Flexing, bending, sacking out. He stood like a champ and maintained softness. I began to lightly lunge him on a very long line, and he was reluctant to walk. He wanted to immediatly trot. I would bring him back to a walk, start him off, then in a couple of strides he would trot. I do not know if this is a learned behaviour or if trotting is more comfortable for him. He did seem to move more freely through his hips, but still a little off. We lunged for about five minutes (w/t) and then I wanted to see how he felt about saddling. He could have cared less. He was more interested in playing with the saddle pad and saddle. I lightly cinched him up, walked around, unsaddled him and called it a day. I groomed him again, checked his back/hips, and turned him out into the front pasture (5 acres). I am hoping that maybe increased movement will help aleviate his stiffness. I caught him a little later and he was walking much better. Tomorrow morning, I will turn him out to a larger (10 acre) pasture for the day.
We have begun ponying Jazz to help condition her. She is growing quickly, but has gotten a little soft. Sunday, I ponied her for a short time off of Brandy. Other than trying to bite Brandy and I, she did well. She did not want to trot, but did for a few minutes. She was throughly upset about having to work, but did behave. Wanting to end on a good note, we quit when she was following along on a slack lead. I was proud of Brandy, she took Jazz's bumps and bites with grace. We then moved Brandy and Jazz to a new pasture across the road because we had moved the calves onto their pasture. The clover is exploding in growth and the horses will not eat it but the calves love it.
Monday, ponied Jazz again. She did well, but tried to run out a time or two. We worked for about 15 minutes.
Sunday morning, after church, I got him out and throughly groomed him. He did not want to lift his hind hooves, but other than that was a perfect gentleman. I then began a short assessment of his training level. I should mention that his owner had started him previously but was unable to complete his training. From the ground, he will do a great hips over, but does not understand the cue for shoulders over. He is gives his nose easily, but is a little stiffer to the left. I then began to lunge him and he showed marked stiffness in his haunches. He was dragging his toes and had difficulty in quick changes of direction. I palpated his hip and loin and found no abnormalities. His hips do seem a bit unlevel, but the way his paint markings are it is difficult to be sure. I put Don up for the night with turnout in his paddock. Is the stiffness still from the trailer ride? I will check him out tomorrow to see if the problem is resolving itself or if it gets worse. Don is a very level-headed horse and eager to please. He loves contact and listens well. I believe that he will be a very easy horse to train and make a great trail horse.
Monday afternoon, I got Don up and throughly groomed him. Still the perfect gentleman except for the back hooves. Now this makes sense due to the stiffness in his hips. I again palpated his back and hips and he still showed no pain response. He was walking stiffly so I hand walked him a bit to see if he would loosen up. He did a bit, so I again worked him lightly from the ground in hand. Flexing, bending, sacking out. He stood like a champ and maintained softness. I began to lightly lunge him on a very long line, and he was reluctant to walk. He wanted to immediatly trot. I would bring him back to a walk, start him off, then in a couple of strides he would trot. I do not know if this is a learned behaviour or if trotting is more comfortable for him. He did seem to move more freely through his hips, but still a little off. We lunged for about five minutes (w/t) and then I wanted to see how he felt about saddling. He could have cared less. He was more interested in playing with the saddle pad and saddle. I lightly cinched him up, walked around, unsaddled him and called it a day. I groomed him again, checked his back/hips, and turned him out into the front pasture (5 acres). I am hoping that maybe increased movement will help aleviate his stiffness. I caught him a little later and he was walking much better. Tomorrow morning, I will turn him out to a larger (10 acre) pasture for the day.
We have begun ponying Jazz to help condition her. She is growing quickly, but has gotten a little soft. Sunday, I ponied her for a short time off of Brandy. Other than trying to bite Brandy and I, she did well. She did not want to trot, but did for a few minutes. She was throughly upset about having to work, but did behave. Wanting to end on a good note, we quit when she was following along on a slack lead. I was proud of Brandy, she took Jazz's bumps and bites with grace. We then moved Brandy and Jazz to a new pasture across the road because we had moved the calves onto their pasture. The clover is exploding in growth and the horses will not eat it but the calves love it.
Monday, ponied Jazz again. She did well, but tried to run out a time or two. We worked for about 15 minutes.
Great work!!
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