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 #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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