Update on the leg issue

I went out today to investigate how his leg looked, clean it again, and possibly wrap it up.

I was greeted with a very pleasant image. It has almost covered over. Don't confuse closed up for covered over. It isn't bleeding anymore, and is not looking as nasty.

The property manager has put some nitr(o/a)fur(o/a)zone on it. He thought Faran would baulk at it, but he was very calm and easy about the whole thing.

I had taken some gauze and vet-wrap out with me to try to cover it, but it has stayed very much clean, the flies aren't attracted to it, and it isn't really deep. It has just scraped the hide off it. Well, not just like it's nothing, but it isn't a gouge, it isn't a puncture. We decided to leave it open because it's doing fine.

I didn't take pictures today because there won't be much change, but he's doing ok.

I will not be able to go out tomorrow because of a prior engagement, but I have told the property manager and he will clean it and put more meds on it and I will check on it Wednesday.

We think we figured out how it happened. We think he was trying to run the other horses off the round bale of hay out there and he got his leg snagged on the ring.

I think this is due to the fact he has been malnourished so he feels threatened about whether he will have enough. He doesn't get aggressive over the grain though. I am glad he's not just being walked all over, but he shouldn't be aggressive.

Anyway, I need to go to dinner.

Until next time -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Life is what happens when you have other plans - especially when horses are involved.

Today I had intentions to go and work with Faran on some training with endurance. We were going to go on a 8 mile "hack". I got out there and low and behold, he had a huge gash going down the inside of his rear right leg. It was pretty fresh. The blood was still oozing. It's not gushing, so I think that is a good sign. None got on his other leg, or in his tail. I don't know how it happened. He wasn't limping, nor was he seeming to have it be painful to step / stretch it.

I did use this opportunity to train him about bathing, and learning to stand still when I am doing something that may not feel just wonderful, or that he wants me to do. I gave him a full bath, and sprayed the wound out several times to clean it. Here is how the wound looks today (warning - it is a bit gory.)


This was when I found it.

This was when I had cleaned it once. It filled with blood rather quickly, but was not gushing.

This is after several heavy spray downs.

I couldn't scrub it, but he would let me spray it with pressure on the hose. I scrubbed his tail with shampoo, and scrubbed his whole body except on the inside of that leg where the wound is with shampoo to clean him as much as possible.

He stood good for his major part of his body, but when he thought I was going to get seriously involved and aggressive with his wound. If I stood near his hind legs he got a bit antsy, but I could scrub his tail, and semi-aggressively spray out his wound until I saw it clear (no blood, dirt, debris), but before I could get the camera and get a good picture, it would have blood back in it again.

No workouts for a while - this is bleeding enough that I can't ask him to exert that much stress or energy on it. When it starts to close up, we will get back to it. Until then we can train on ground manners when doing "vet" work.

You take what you can and turn every opportunity into a training session and as good as possible.

Until next time -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Faran's Feet

Well, today I got a call from the guy who owns the property that Faran is on, and he said the farrier was there to work on his horses and he wanted to confirm I was interested in Faran still getting his hooves trimmed. I said desperately so, yes.

I was going to go out today, but I have been battling being sick all day today. I didn't get to go, but will try again tomorrow. I really do hope it helps his stumbling.

If I can handle it, and he isn't acting sore because of being trimmed (he needed it badly), I will work with him again. I tend to be more sensitive to heat when I get like this, and the heat index is predicted to be 115-120 tomorrow.

I will updated again if I do.

Also tomorrow if I can I am aiming at bathing him. I have read some tricks for flies, and this poor boy (as all horses probably in this area) is having bad issues with flies. I am going to try one or two out and see if any help out.

Anyway, going to go get some sleep to try to feel better tomorrow.

Good night -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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How much more amazing can this horse be?

Today I went out to see Faran and work with him some. It was amazing yet again. As you know I have been working with educating him to the round pen and the idea of lunging, and he did pick it up relatively instantly.

He has had about a week to rest up and recover from the hard work out I did just about a week ago, and he was moving much nicer. I'm still waiting for the farrier (this is getting frustrating.) Even though the farrier care is supposed to be included in the cost of board, he isn't coming. I went out there and his front right hoof is chipping up. I am just about to get my own out.

He however wasn't stumbling, and was moving out with some energy and not dragging his back legs and any point I saw.

When I went to catch him, he tried to avoid it for about 5 minutes or so, but I put my hand up at chest level and said halt, and he stood perfectly still for me. So amazingly well behaved.

I let him graze on the grass in the yard about an hour while I slowly desensitized him to the cavesson, the surcingle, the whip, and the noises the equipment makes when moving around. It didn't really seem to bother him a bit.

Today I went out set in mind to try to lunge him in the large arena pen and then if he was moving good and seeming comfortable to then try and drive him.

Let me tell you he did fantastically. Moving to the left he was more comfortable staying on the rail, and he did listen really well, and I even allowed him open up into an rolling lope since the pen was larger.

Moving to the right he was not as secure. He kept wanting to turn around, and he did cut the arena in half, but he did move, he did listen, and he did try.

Therefore I went ahead and decided to do an introductory session on driving, but I was going to keep it fairly short. He needs more work to the right to get comfortable with staying on the rail, so I will start tomorrow in the smaller pen, just at a walk to remind him at liberly, then on the line, then move him into the arena.

Anyway, back to today and what happened.

We warmed up slightly and walked around on the lead. Then I backed off and lunged him and got him up to a trot on the left, then even up to a lope. Then I hooked him up to drive, and even had him at an easy going trot.

He was thinking hard about the lines dropping around his hips and legs, and it was a little confusing when I wanted him to stop, and then tried to move up to the front to unhook him, but all in all he did fabulous!

I rewarded him with a bit of grazing then turned him out without over doing the work out. He needs some confidence building, and so this was the best reward I could possibly give him this time.

I did get a video, but I am having problems with my hosting at the moment. I will post them as soon as possible. Sorry for the delays. I promise they are coming. (And I remember the other ones below are missing too.)

Until later -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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"Workout" on 8/3

100 SPF Broad Spectrum Sunscreen... check... Refill cup... check... 69 cents for refill... check... HD video camera... check... tripod... check... stethoscope... check... timer... check... notebook... check...

Yep, another day of working with *drum roll please* Stonehaven Stables Faran's Phoenix.

His name has been chosen. We think it is perfectly suited for him. Symbolically suits the situation for both he and I, and he is named after one of my favorite equine characters in literature to date - Faran, from the David Eddings books.

Fits him really well in name from his predecessor too - as he is extremely intelligent.

Now that the drama and pomp and circumstance are over and done with, on about what has been going on with Faran of late.

On Sunday we had a really marvelous workout, but it seems that workout, paired with being kept in the round pen, and his lack of conditioning beforehand has caused him to become a little bit sore, which is making him not want to work in the roundpen at a walk/trot. He has done so without too much consternation (I got the bulk of his consternation on "film" this time, but really opened the check valve before it got out of hand).

His issues are not making him limp, or be lame, or anything like that. I'm just noticing a bit of awkwardness and laziness in his movements. He's occassionally dragging his back legs, and seems to trip himself up. I also think it is possible that because he is a large guy (length of body) that this round pen I have worked him in the last 3 days might be a bit small so he is getting "tight". He did still walk and trot for me - really much better yesterday than he did on Monday, which was better (in response to the voice commands quicker) than on Sunday.

He was supposed to be turned out to the pasture in front on Monday night, but that didn't happen for some unknown (to me) reason. So when I got there and asked how he did in the front pasture, the property manager said we would turn him out that night (last night on Tuesday) at dinner.

I took Faran into the round pen, which he wasn't keen on, but did it anyway, and walked him around a couple times in each direction letting him check out everything and where everyone was (regarding the horses loose in the pasture surrounding). I then unhaltered him, and began him at a walk for 10 minutes in one direction, with a short burst of trotting occassionally, and then back to walking. I had decided to change my plan when I saw how he was moving out sluggishly and was dragging his back legs, and they almost seemed weak under him. The only way I can explain what it looked like it felt like is if you were to run a marathon and how your muscles would be so spent you couldn't lift your legs to walk properly. He wasn't limping, favoring anything, or showing any outward signs of injury, just didn't seem in top form, so I did a workout of just warming up, then I walked him out to let him graze on some grass in the yard. He really enjoyed this, and I felt it was a fair reward for the effort he did put forth even though he really didn't want to do it. He honestly could have baulked, bucked, kicked, and fought me all the way, but he only thought about kicking once. He thought better of it with one quick stern "NO!" from me though - which I also was very proud of his reaction and his reaction time.

After he had grazed about an hour, I turned him out to the new pasture. He kind of looked sideways at me, but quickly ambled off to check out the new surroundings. He sniffed every manure pile in the pasture, and the current residents of the pasture looked on warily. When he found a place he liked, he quickly dropped and rolled several times, then hopped back up and walked right back to me, as if to say, "OK, that was fun, now what?" I looped the lead lightly around his neck and walked toward the water trough, and he found the mineral block and licked and chewed it a moment, then went and had a nice long drink. Then he wandered off to the far side of the pasture and walked the fenceline next to the road we walked on Wednesday 7/21 after he came. I watched him moving and he was covering much more ground on his own (which was when I began thinking the pen is just too small and so he gets tense. This is also combined with the way he was trotting when asked - it was almost a trot in place.

I stood there to make sure the other horses didn't come run him off/steal his feed while he ate his grain, and once that was done and I was leaving I saw him drink several times from the trough, eating his two flakes of hay, and grazing some as I drove away. Looks as if at that time the introduction was fairly uneventful - though they were watching intently.

I am going to give him a couple days rest in the pasture where he can roll, eat, graze, relax, rest, stretch, move at his own leisure to let any soreness come out of his muscles. I also will note, the farrier is scheduled, and some of that stumbling could be due to the fact his toes are entirely too long.

Then (probably not before Friday) I am going out with a surcingle, cavesson, long lines, driving lines, and going to begin working him and preparing him to understand rein commands.

I do not think this going to be difficult, as he does very well with voice commands, and does understand control with a halter, and even just a lead rope looped over his neck. I forsee this being another easy transition. Then we will continue with the conditioning and such to make sure that while he gains weight his muscles gain strength, and his endurance improves. Then when his spine isn't so exposed, and he is closer to a body score of 5 or 6, I will put a saddle on him and begin preparing him for weight on his back. I have hopes of this happening in the next 2 months, but only his further recovery will tell when honestly that will happen.

So, then next few days I am going to spend finding all the equipment that has been stored away and get everything ready to go.

Attached I have a short video of our "workout" session on Tuesday. It was 104+ outside, and miserably muggy, but he did what I asked. Instead of a work out, I kept it to just a warm up. 10 minutes in each direction mainly at a walk, with some short bursts of trotting just to elevate the blood flow through his body. I just wanted him to move because I was trying to loosen up what seems to be tight muscles.

Sorry - video has been delayed until I can get it edited to a point it will fit in the maximum 10 minutes allotted. I will link it up here A.S.A.P.

Enjoy!

Until our paths next cross -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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I am glowing!

Today I really wish I had taken my tripod and videoed the workout. He did amazingly well. He really was fantastic.

We exercised a full hour non-stop and he did so well. He only had one little temper tantrum which I saw building up and once the main coil was released he did perfectly well the remainder of the time.

What we did was warm up 10 minutes to the left, 10 minutes to the right, both at a hot walk and short bursts of trotting, then working out at easy trot 15 minutes to the left, 15 minutes to the right, then 5 minutes to the left at a long walk to cool down and 5 minutes to the right at a long walk.

He did so well, and I really wish I had videoed. I will do it soon. He is ready I think because he is very good at the voice commands walk, trot, easy, woah, and will come down to a walk from a trot with purely voice commands.

He is so smart, and is picking up everything so fantastically. He is truly an worthy "poster child" for rehabilitation and re-purposing of equines.

His one little "outburst" came during the warm up and the other horses loose in the pasture surrounding the round pen we were working in were reacting to the commands I was giving him and it was a bit too much stimulus for him I believe. One time a sorrel tried to challenge him through the pen I got him stopped, and stepped to the fence which sent the sorrel loping off. Other than that, he only grew tired and needed to be prodded forward after about 12 minutes of trotting it got a bit more of a struggle to keep him moving forward, but he did with a little clicking, some voice command coaxing, and some arm movements. On occasion I used the soft lead rope out behind him underhandedly flicking it gently about 3-4 feet behind him when he still refused. I don't believe it ever touched him, but if it did it barely brushed on him and caused no pain or injury. Mostly a bit of clicking and reminder of the gate I wanted was all I needed.

Did I say I was proud of him. I must add that this was totally at liberty. I walked him on a lead one time in each direction, then took the halter off and did everything using hand/arm signals, body language, voice commands, and sounds.

I am so extremely proud of him! I can't say it enough!

I'm not even going to post the video of when he was in the arena cause he did so much better this time. I just need to make a new video.

Today was simply amazing!

I may not get to go back out there tomorrow, because I need to work on finding some of my equipment in my storage unit. Once I do find it though, I will be going out there daily and keeping up the conditioning training, because he's doing so well.

His feed has been bumped up to grain being a scoop and a half a day and hay. We will keep this up at least another week, when we will possibly bump it up to 2 scoops. More exercise makes the need for more food.

It is time, I think, to begin training him to drive. This will prep him to be ridden soon. His development is coming along. There isn't any physical change yet. I will take pictures in one month to compare.

The swelling on his leg isn't changing yet. I have tried cold water. Next I will try ice on it to see if that helps when I have some time to stay out there with him long enough to really test it. The guy who operates the facility got in and felt it too and said he thought maybe he knocked it getting in or out of the trailer, and since it isn't hurting him now it is just going to take some time to go down. It's pretty close to the right point where a knock would create an "injury" so I think he could be right, but if it was that it has been a couple weeks and it should be down by now.

Well anyway, let me just say I am very proud, very excited, and looking forward to the next training session.

Until then -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Day #8 7/25/2010

Today I was still feeling a little bit ill, and so I took it easy today and figured that with all the work Touch Diamond / Bravo / Name T.B.A. put out this week he deserved a day off too.

Tomorrow I am going to take some measurements of / for:
halter/bridle
girth / weight tape measurement
cannon circumfrence
body condition measurements
wither height
croup height
body length
distal limb length
chest width
back height
circumference of upper front leg
circumference of hind at gaskin
circumference of hind at stifle
Angle of shoulder
angle of pasterns
circumference of pasterns
circumference of knee
height of belly
take his resting pulse

I am going to make a careful and documented effort to check on his tolerance wit handling his:
legs
ears
mouth
gums
girth
flank
tail
sheath

We are also going to begin doing stretches and "equine calisthenics"! LOL
These will get progressively more involved, but to start with, we are going to do neck stretches for down, left, and right 3 times each and a form of sit-ups 5 times. I will video instructions on this. The sit-ups will help him learn to round his back and collect himself more, as when he is moving at liberty he tends to move a little bit hollow, though not badly. I don't want to over sore him, so we will start low and build up. He hasn't been in any type of conditioning program before coming to me (as you can tell from the prior photos), so I am really starting with a blank slate, which is good. I have found he isn't bound up or tight, and freely moves to both sides.

After doing the stretches, I will be putting him into the arena again, and we will review what we did yesterday. We will address the walk, trot, easy, and woah commands. I will video the work this time, and hopefully he will give me an equal or better performance. I will not be attempting to take it up above a trot at this time, as I want to make sure I have the ability to compel him with my voice and no physical aids before I send him off on what could turn into a very dangerous type situation for him, and me.

Remember everyone, when working with these animals, even when you feel you know them, always put safety as the first priority for both you AND them. If it slightly slows down your progress, there is always tomorrow. It is much better to take an extra day, week, month, etc. than to rush things and end up with one or both of you seriously injured or killed.

According to the facility owner, his appetite is astounding. He has been getting free choice hay and a scoop of grain feed in the morning. This week we are upping it to a scoop and a half. He does need to put on weight and has not had loose stool with the introduction of grain in his diet. (He was pasture kept at the rescue). He has been a little gassy, but I have personally witnessed him eliminating and it was healthy looking.

I know this was a boring post, but it at least gives you a heads up to what I am aiming at tomorrow.

Keep your butt in the middle and a leg on each side -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Day #7 7/24/2010

Today did not go at all like I had wished. I do dislike days like that.

On my way to work with Touch Diamond / Bravo / Name T.B.A. I started feeling sickly. When I pulled up to the gate of the property, I decided I had to go find a gas station or something to take care of it. I went about a mile down the road and there was no gas station or anything at the freeway like I had hoped there would be, so I turned around and came almost half way back to the house before I found one. By this time I was terribly ill feeling.

Once I made it to the horse for the day I was feeling better, but we were now at the peak of the heat of the day.

When I arrived, Cowboy and Touch Diamond / Bravo / Name T.B.A. were both out in the "yard" area practicing their function as lawn mowers / multi-processors. I took some photos while he was loose for further reference.


A reasonably good conformation photo from the near side. You can also see evidence of almost all the "issues" he has. One must remember this guy is a rescue. We are working with several unknowns when addressing his plights, and they do and will take some investigation as well as inference.

I checked his leg and the swelling had not gone up from working at a walk, so I took a few more pictures of him as reference photos of injuries and hoof issues. In fact, the swelling is almost not visible so I didn't photograph that.


He has some kind of "flakiness" and white around all of his coronet bands.


He has a "skinned" patch on the front part of his gaskin (which I would like to get the hair to grow back on, just because it is a bit unsightly),


and then a scrape (that is healing - it was open and fresh when he got here on the 18th.)


He has an old injury on his front off heel bulb that causes his hoof to grow damaged

and other than that, everything is fine.

Looking at this list it looks like he's in poor shape by sheer numbers, but all but one of these things I feel is superficial, and I hope to get them handled in short order. I don't think (judging from the fact his hoof grows with a crack where the injury is at the heel bulb) that particular issue with the hoof can be affected, but I will discuss with the farrier if that is the case when he comes.

I also think some of his toe out condition could be because of being long in the toe, because he walks normally and only shows this when he is standing for any period. When you halt him, he stops pretty straight (considering I don't think he has been conditioned to do so.)

After taking the photos, I caught him (never a difficult task), and lead him to the arena. Once in there, I worked him at liberty on the voice commands of walk, trot, woah, and easy. He did really well, especially considering the rescue said they didn't think he knew anything of it when they tried him out (of course, he was under saddle then too, which can make a difference.) He was reasonably calm, with only a couple outbursts of running / loping / bucking. They were mainly because he was confused about how to relieve the pressure. I wish I had done some video of it, but I didn't expect him to do so well. I will work on this again on Monday 7/26 and take video.

Basically, all I wanted him to do was react properly to the voice commands. I wasn't concerned with keeping him consistently moving. I also wanted him to learn the proper reaction to my hand signals (blocking his path and opening his path etc.) All of this was done without a lead rope or halter. Once he had stepped up to a trot I let him go where he wanted to relieve the pressure, and we worked only in about 1/4 of the arena. I also asked him to walk on command which he did exceptionally well, and I tried to get him to do circles (still needs a bit of work).

Without having any physical connection to him, he did marvelously!

We worked on this for about 20-30 minutes. By the end of the session, he was just beginning to break a sweat, but not frothing anywhere. I caught him (again very easily which was nice to see that he didn't take this session as a reason to keep running away every time I came near him), and lead him back to the yard again where I managed to rinse him down and let him stand in the shade to cool. Once his temperature had settled, I released him back to the ground and he quietly walked away and found a happy patch to munch on.

At this point I just got my drink to cool down myself, and sat down near him and let him graze without being worked, haltered, or "stressed". It is very important to me to teach him that just because I am there he isn't going to be prevented from eating, or worked, but when I want him to work he needs to focus in and work. So far we seem to have been accomplishing this well.

I left about 10 minutes later with the intent to come back, but later in the day I was still feeling nasty, so I stayed home.

Here at the end, I am posting a better "rear" and "rear 3/4" view to show he does stand / walk with his leg straighter (though I realize he isn't perfect) when he hasn't been standing a while. It's a bit like someone standing contraposto when they are standing a long time talking or waiting.


(And yes, he left a little present for me just before I took both pictures.)

Until our paths converge again -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Day #6 7/23/2010

Much of today was a repeat of yesterday, and he remembered everything wonderfully. He is retaining everything smoothly and easily.

Since he retained his training from yesterday, I worked on transferring the training to the off side. I lead him on the opposite side and for a moment he was hesitant, trying to switch sides to "correct" it, but quickly fell into the routine knowing how I wanted him to behave.

He did exceptionally well.

I also was able to groom him all over (including over the swelling on his rear offside cannon bone.) He allowed me to groom his full mane, tail, and brush his whole body well. He got a little antsy over the combing out of his tail, but it was very twisted and tangled. When it got all done his tail was a full 2-3 inches longer. I have some better shots of him today, though I ran out of memory on the camera before I could take some "after" pictures. These were taken before grooming.






Until next time -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Day #5 7/22/2010

Today I went to work with Touch Diamond / Bravo / Name T.B.A. and my goal was to do work to refresh his memory on lifting his feet. We also were going to work on leading and respecting personal space.

He did really well with the leading. We walked up and down the long driveway for about 30 minutes. We worked on walking up and down and doing half halts and walking to the side, and not walking faster than me. To break up the monotony (because he is so smart and gets bored very easily) we did circles, and broke the driveway down into sections. When he did exceptionally well, I would let him graze for a mouthful or two, then we would go right back to working.

By the end of 30 minutes, he was respecting my space, was halting and walking on command, and would quickly stand quietly until I told him it was ok to graze. I do not want him pulling on me to get down to eat, instead I want him to be respectful and wait until I allow him to graze, and to understand I *WILL* let him graze when it is a good time. This is with the goal in mind of being on long rides during endurance rides and ride & tie rides and not eating everything in sight and not working.

Today I also worked on getting him to allow me to touch him all over. He is very calm and has no problems except around the swelling on his cannon.

We did not work really hard on lifting his feet because his rear off side cannon had a bit of swelling that seemed to be too sensitive, but he was not limping or favoring it.

So smart and patient! I am very proud of him.

I didn't get any "different" photos or videos today.

Until next time -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Day #4

Bravo came to me on Sunday, and I did some very general petting and testing out his interest in connecting and communicating with humans that day. Nothing video taped or anything, but without a lead/halter, he would follow me around the round pen and do circles at my request.

Then he had a couple days to acclimate to his new surroundings because as my cousin died on 7/16, the funeral was 7/19, and there was family still at our house on 7/21, so 7/21 was the first day I actually got to spend any reasonable time with him.

When I got there, he was very happy to see me, and nickered and called as I got out of the car. He is being kept in the round pen, so there was no issue with getting him gathered where I wanted.

I set up the camera to video tape me doing some very basic ground work. Again, just testing the waters as I don't know him all that well yet.

His feet do need some minor farrier work on them, though they aren't as bad as I thought they were on Sunday. Either he has managed to wear them down a little on the possibly harder ground, or I was just a little emotionally overwhelmed on Sunday that I was being a bit judgmental. All in all anyway, he does need a little trim work done as they are flaring out, and due to the fact that the farrier is coming in approximately 2 weeks, my initial goal is to get him to stand nicely for a farrier.

He is a big boy. Somewhere between 16 and 17 hands is my estimate based on how tall he is compared to me. Here are some stills taken from video of him next to me.



I am a squat and overweight 4'11" (I really didn't want to be seen in any of the videos and pictures.) His back is well over my eye level as you can see (you should be able to click on the picture and get a larger version.) He's going to be big enough that he is taller than my mother who is 5'2". My dad is 6', and will be able to see over his back.

This is a drastic change from all my other horses in the past which I have been able to drape my arm across their back/see over their back. I have never had a Thoroughbred before.

To test out his willingness to lift his feet, I used a soft lead rope around his pastern to encourage him to lift on command, while being able to keep a view of everything going on around me. I am all about safety for myself and the horse. There was no one there except me, and my cell phone was in the backpack next to the camera because I didn't want the ringing to startle him. (As I become more familiar with him and his behaviors I will begin to do things more naturally).

Coming very shortly: Video of me working with Bravo the way described below.

I entered the round pen, and walked him around a little bit just to make sure he wasn't showing signs of pain or soreness, and to get him in the frame of mind to listen to me. Then I let him sniff the rope I was going to use and began "sacking" him out to it until he stood relaxed enough to progress through.

Then I made him move into a position where the weight was not being borne on the foot I was going to work with first.

This lead rope is purely slung around the leg beneath the pastern to allow pressure to be applied from a standing and aware position. I worked with him to teach him what I was looking for, since if he was used to lifting his feet through the general method this would be confusing. After a try or two releasing the pressure with an attempt to comply he quickly began lifting and holding on each foot. Judging from the fact his hooves need only a minimal amount of work I would say this is something he understands, so on Thursday I will try lifting the normal way.

On the first inkling he understood, I relieved the pressure. He did very well, and we worked on this in several small sessions through the evening. We got all four feet lifted and held for several seconds this way, and I think it is going to be just fine.

After doing 15-20 minutes of some lifting and some general leading around the pen to see if he understands walk, turn, and halt, I took him out for a walk. This was to see how he behaved on the road with light traffic, other horses in pastures next to him, and dogs.

When walking to the road he was devouring the grass on the way. I let him eat a few bites because it was getting close to meal time, and then we walked down the long drive to the road. Once on the road there was cut grass laying on the side in the easement and he was ravenous about eating that. We got about 5-10 minutes out, and encountered an oncoming delivery truck. The driver was very nice and slowed down politely to pass. Bravo did acceptably, though there is some work to be done. He was a bit high headed when the truck approached and didn't care for the fact I was making him stand in a drive way near a gate while the truck went by.

We heard some dogs barking a few properties away however, because I was getting a blister on the back of my ankle from the new "boots" I am trying to break in, and the fact this was a major adventure for the two of us already, I turned us back to the Running R Ranch. He was prancing about a bit at this point, and one of the horses in the front pasture (a white Arabian) was tearing off running and bucking a bit in excitement. This was keeping him a little distracted, and so it was more of a struggle getting him back then getting him out. He kept also tearing into every bit of grass he could. I'm going to have to curb that as well.

All in all, Bravo did reasonably well. We are going to work on getting him to observe personal bubble space, and desensitizing to vehicles, and animals. He also on the way out was very good about staying back and going where I said to go, but on the way back he was rushing me, which we are also going to work on with some basic groundwork manners. I'm going to hold off just a little longer on the dogs, since I don't know if they will nip, chase, or cause problems.

Lifting the feet would not normally be one of the first things I would focus on, but I need to make sure he is ready for when the farrier comes. I don't want to get on the bad side of this farrier.

(This was written Thursday 7/22 about work done Wednesday 7/21. It was not posted until Sunday the 25th. I know I am behind - There will be other entrys for Thursday 7/22, Friday 7/23, Saturday 7/24, and Sunday 7/25 posted today. I was delayed in posting because I spent forever trying to get the video downloaded to my computer so I could post it properly.)

Until our paths cross again -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Day #1

Such a day of excitement!

***edit: This date should be July 18, 2010. I have no idea what happened that made it June! I did not take full possession of him until 7/18/2010 - and I have papers to show it.***

Today was the day Touch Diamond got delivered to the Running R Ranch. We let him out into a pen that allows him access to all the horses, but keeps anyone from injuring the others. This allows them do introductions on their own, but will in the end reduce the amount of risk that there will be serious fighting and kicking and reduces the chance someone will be cornered, or run into a fence and cut up. They can talk, groom, bond, or work out their differences as needed, and everyone has a place to go within a safe distance of everyone else.

For a week or two this round pen will be Touch Diamond's home day and night. He has a stall if the weather turns nasty for safety and health. This isn't the largest ranch, but the owner is very careful to maintain his pastures to a level of grass as long as possible. However since the round pen has no forage, Touch Diamond is being provided grain, coastal hay, and water. While this will give everyone a good change to do "gentle" introductions, and will also allow us to see who he gets along with well so we can put him in with the right horses when released.

****Along with the benefits of measuring and corralling any unwanted behaviors this will also allow us to clean him out for any parasites that possibly are in his system without risking them going into the pasture which would re-infect him, and also infect the other horses. It's going to work a bit like quarantine. I know the rescue facility dewormed him, but because his legs were covered in bot fly eggs I feel it necessary to be on the safe side.****

I observed him for a while as he settled in. I am going to take a camera out tomorrow to begin documenting and filming the work being done.

He is very friendly and curious. I have been given permission to post the information from the prior owners / rescuers about him to provide the best coverage about just how far he has come. She is sending me some additional pictures, but here is a duplication of the website she was keeping for him before I took him on. She has made some drastic improvements. It's amazing how far he has come.

I want to repeat, the following is a copy of what she has had on her site:
Bravo


$500.00
After Arrival at NTO...3/24/10




Improvement as of 4-22-10...


Bravo is new to NTO. He is a 6 yr old, dark bay gelding, and measures at 16hh. His registered name is Touch Diamond. I got Bravo from a young couple who rescued him from a horrible situation. Although it does not show in the first two pictures, Bravo is covered in rain rot and his face and upper neck is covered in ring worm spots. His legs were covered in bot fly eggs, and he was just a complete mess. He is by far one of the worst of the horses NTO has encountered, not just weight, but overall condition. But, Bravo has such a sparkle in his eyes. He is just begging for someone to help him. Thank goodness the day was warm as we began working on him as soon as we got home. My volunteers began the task of bathing him all over, then doctoring the rain rot and ring worms. He has good teeth and an even better appetite. I got some medicine from the vet that will help fight the fungus battle from the inside out, so he should show signs of improvement real soon.

I try not to dwell on the past of the horses I get, but there is no excuse for a person allowing a horse, or any animal to get into this shape. His previous owner indicated she was feeding him a sack of feed a day and hay. You know people, don't lie. Just ask for help. It is not a crime to need help, the crime comes in not asking for it.

4/22/10

As you can tell, Bravo is coming along very nicely. His hair has almost been replaced with good healthy hair, and the rain rot is all but gone. He is a remarkable young horse. We checked to see if he had a tattoo and he did, so we got on line and found out who he is. His sire is currently standing stud in Oklahoma. He was never raced, and we are not for sure why. But sometimes just because a horse is a thoroughbred, does not mean he has the heart or desire to race. He may just be a trail horse or maybe he can be a hunter jumper. We will help him choose. In the meantime, he is just hanging out with so much grass he does not know what to do. Occasionally he will just take off running and he literally thunders around the pasture.

Native Dancer, Mr. Prospector, Nasrullah, Bold Ruler and War Admiral are all listed on his five generation pedigree.

5/4/10

We saddled Bravo the other day in Western, and I am not for sure he knew what that saddle was all about. He humped up a couple of times, but then settled down. We lunged him and he did not seem to know how to do it. He still had the saddle on with the stirrups bouncing around and he never acted like it bothered him. When I got him, his previous owner said she had put the grandbabies on him and they rode him. Not for sure this was the case, but when he gets more weight on, we will work with him undersaddle again. He has no soundness issues, so I would consider him a prospect for any riding activity.

6/1/2010

Bravo is ready to go to his new home. He is very sweet, easy to catch. He is ready for whatever you want to train him in.

That was the end of the posting on her website. She had sent me a new picture of him in the pasture via email during the arrangements and discussions about getting him here to me.



She said she would send me more pictures of him during his progress with her so I can provide a proper documentation of his full recovery and conditioning and "re-employment"

Until next time -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Such excitement!

When I started this blog, it was a major part of my goal to provide a place for anyone interested to come and view, follow, and enjoy the adventure that is going to be happening both with the beginning of Stonehaven Stables as well as the horses, and the creation of my business.

Please subscribe if you would like to follow the story of the recovery of Touch Diamond, and his re-training to a new career. I am hoping to get us both active into endurance racing and ride and tie races. I have some personal work to do while I am training and conditioning him, but that is going to be the fun of it. I get to watch his progress from the beginning and see all those wonderful little transitions into what I can see the potential for being a really great horse under the right hands.

I am going to be keeping a daily blog of the care and training. I will be keeping logs of his progress in body condition, weight, and muscle tone. There will be training videos of my unique blend of training methods. There will be photos documenting progress, and enjoyable things - just because.

I have been making plans about evaluating him for training to find what stage he is at. I must admit I am a list fiend, but they kind of keep me focused and help make sure the excitement I feel is not going to get out of control and I forget to do something. Therefore, to help people enjoy these I am going to file them under categories. So far I have thought of Equine Updates, Training and Conditioning, DIY. Then I thought about posting the images and videos under their own category and linked in the blog entries to help the blog load quick and easy.

I may add more categories over time, but I think that is going to be at this time.

The next time I write I should have been to see Touch Diamond/Bravo and have some first hand update on him. I also will hopefully have gotten permission to use the photos of him from the rescue facility to fully document all the efforts that have been put into him.

Until then-
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Wonderful News!

We have our first horse. Well, not yet, but we were approved for it. His name is Touch Diamond, and he is a 6-year old dark bay registered Thoroughbred. He has been in a rescue facility, after having been in an abusive situation, rescued, and moved to a facility to take care of him properly.

I don't have permission to post the pictures here yet, I hope to have that by next weekend. It would be great to be able to document the whole transformation including the hard work the rescue facility did.

Until I get that permission, I will use the notes posted on the site where his listing is. When he was deposited at the rescue facility on 3/24/10 by the young couple who had rescued him he was severely underweight, covered in rain rot on his body, ringworm all over his face and neck, and bot-fly eggs all over his legs. His coat was terribly shabby and long. The lady that runs the rescue said even though he was in such a bad shape his eyes still sparkled and he was just looking for someone to help him - and help he received.

They immediately got to bathing him and treating the rain rot and ringworm. They gave him internal antibiotics to fight the infection from within. They began feeding him appropriately, and they gave him a safe proper place to recover.

After a month or so on 4/22/10 on the update online, his hair had just about been replaced and the ringworm and rain rot was almost gone. He had gained quite a bit of weight and was looking like a real horse again.

About a week and a half after the updated pictures, there was an update that they had tried him with wearing a saddle (no rider yet), and tried to lunge him but he didn't seem to know what either was. It seems he is starting over from scratch. Luckily he didn't react poorly to the saddle or the stirrups, so that is a good sign for us in the near future.

A week or two later he was announced as ready to go to a good home.

Enter Lucy Roberts and Stonehaven Stables.

I was looking for a horse to become the flagship of Stonehaven Stables. To represent exactly what Stonehaven Stables was all about - recovery, rebuilding, and reinvention.

I was trolling around the internet as I had been for the last 5-6 months looking for an equestrian project, and I accidentally fell into the rescue center's website. I looked at the horses they had and instantly felt drawn to Bravo. I put out feelers on other horses at other places, and even another horse at this location, but in my heart, I wanted Bravo. Well, pieces started falling into place, and I was approved to take on Bravo.

I am arranging the transport from the rescue center to the boarding facility, but next weekend I am going to go and take some pictures of him to document his progression from the beginning of when I get him if not the beginning of when the rescue center got him.

I will also be documenting the conditioning and training program as well. I will be taking video of the training/conditioning sessions and posting them online. My hope is that all of this will be helpful to someone else in the future. I also hope that people will get to see how much

He still needs work. He is under muscled, and still needs to gain some weight. That and I have work to do with me. I have a bit of physical rehab that is going to be going on as I am conditioning him and training him.

I am very excited about him.

Well that's all the update I have right now. I am going to go to the boarding facility tomorrow, and make sure everything is up to par and that there is a spot for him, and then to go see him the first time next weekend.

Update coming soon, until then -
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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Stonehaven Stables is starting up!

Stonehaven Stables is looking for a prospective equine to be our "flagship" for our program. We think we have one in mind, and are in a sort of negotiation for it, but we won't know until they make their decision.

The horse we are most interested in is named Bravo, and he is a grand looking thoroughbred with lots of potential. We are hoping to know something soon. If it is approved for us to take him in, we will update you here, and begin posting pics and links to him.

More information coming shortly.
Happy Tails!
Lucy Roberts

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