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Gia - sessions 1173-1176 - Danielle continues to search for a way with Gia

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  Danielle here, again. This week I embarked on my mission to find a way to keep Gia happy while being groomed. We tried a few different things, and, possibly, an answer! Monday 11/17/25 - There is a horse enrichment toy called a lick-it. It’s basically a hanging round tube that holds a lickable treat. Our horses are kept on turn-out 24/7 typically, but we do have a few toys available for them when they have to go on stall rest. The lick-it is one of these that we use. We also have used just the treat portion as a way to distract some younger or finicky horses during vet or farrier visits. I decided to try this first with Gia. I started by getting her treated for her wounds and fungus before the grooming. She was okay with this and, thankfully, the fungus issue has almost completely resolved. Next, I put the lickit in a feed pan in front of Gia and untied her from the crossties. She was quite interested in it at first but became frustrated that she couldn’t take a big bite out of t...
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Gia - sessions 1170-1172 - A change of reins - Danielle works with Gia ... and writes the blog!

I am stepping away from riding and working my own horses for a few weeks to get a few big projects completed.  During that time, Danielle will be working with Gia and writing her blog.  They had a busy week last week ...  Gia’s Blog 11/11-14/25 Danielle here. I worked with Gia last week on grooming and treating her fungus. I will say it was an interesting week! On Tuesday, I worked with Gia in the same manner as I had been for years. I am familiar [to her], and she is a bit more patient with my touches. It is not necessarily a favoritism situation as much as I provide her with an expected, consistent experience. However, our mutual affection for each other does not hurt (usually…). Before the show, I had some time to bring in Gia and give her an antifungal bath with prescription strength shampoo. My hope was that this would get the fungal issue under control. Additionally, Heather was able to find her a flysheet that fit her while we were at the show. So, we came into thi...
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Gia - sessions 1167-1169 - making progress, then more findings ...

 Monday 11/3/25 I started with Gia by treating several wounds she has - just minor cuts and scrapes, but it's better if I just go ahead and get those out of the way first.  She also has a bit of fungus here and there - near her shoulders, elbows, and a little under her belly.   When I have been working with Gia on the grooming, I have been doing it with her off the crossties, and just with her leadline attached to her halter, but without having her tied to anything fixed. On this day, I noticed that when she became anxious about a place that she didn't like to be touched - her shoulder, elbow, belly, etc., she would tense up and start to get upset, but because she was loose, she started to seek out something to eat.  She started to use food as a distraction.  Not really surprising, since I often have used grain, or allowed her to graze, as a distraction from something like having her mane pulled or being clipped.  So, I would allow her to go for it, an...
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Gia - sessions 1159-1166 - lots of figuring out what exactly might be going on

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, so I apologize for just now getting around to Gia's blogs.  I have been doing a lot of detective work with her issues going on, and I do think I have figured it out.  It also might explain some attitude that we see in other horses we have. Monday 10/20 - I once again worked on massaging Gia's neck.  She really has gotten into this and is pretty much enjoying it, for the most part. Tuesday 10/21 - Ditto Wednesday 10/22 - Danielle worked with her on this day since I wasn't feeling well.  She also massaged her neck, and said that Gia was great for it!  (Gia's always great for Danielle though, so take this one with a grain of salt 😉) Friday 10/24 - I was back at it again.  I massaged her neck, treated a few wounds that she had, and groomed her a little, as well.  She did fairly well with all of it.  If I came across a spot that she didn't like (expressed by ear pinning, turning to bite, trying to kick, etc), I kept ...
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Gia - sessions 1157-1158 in hand work and massage

 Last Monday, I decided to take Gia out in the arena, where there was more space, and she didn't feel claustrophobic, and just see what types of touches she liked and didn't like.  See if I could narrow down what was going on.  I have several horses that are very sensitive to touch, so this is not new territory to me.   I had gathered a few of the brushes that they seemed to like to try them on her.  I used a new curry comb that Boomer really likes, with long, soft fingers ...  NOPE.   (On a side note, Boomer decided yesterday that he didn't like the soft brush that we have been using on him for the past several years ....) I tried a massage brush that has rollers on it that Ali really likes when I rub it on his neck ... HELL NO! I ended up just trying my hand.  She wasn't crazy about it at first, but I would just place my hand on her, and not move it.  When she breathed into it or released, I took my hand away.  We went on lik...
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Gia - sessions 1153-1156 - change of plans - grooming ground work

Gia has recently had a behavior change.  I'm not sure exactly why, but regardless of why, I am putting her riding work on hold for a little bit, and taking a step back to work on her behavior on the ground, and to help her become a better equine citizen around her people.  She hasn't always been the easiest horse to groom, but lately, she has taken an extra turn for the worse.  Her reactions to being touched or curried or brushed in any way, especially in a way she doesn't like, have become a bit extreme - stomping her front feet, trying to bite, trying to kick with her back feet.  She has always been a bit "displeased" with anyone's touch other than myself or her favorite groom, Danielle,.  If a groom was ever having trouble with her, as soon as Danielle would step in to help, Gia would act as if nothing at all had happened, and she was happy as a clam, even leaning into being brushed, and acting like it was her favorite thing ever.  If ever a horse had a ...
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Gia - sessions 1150-1152 - back to riding, and some behavior modification!

 Last week was a little crazy, hence why I am just now getting around to writing the blog! Tuesday - I was finally able to get back into the saddle on Monday (although I didn't get a chance to ride Gia).  I did get back to my lessons with Suzin today though!!  We worked at the walk, trot and halt doing a lot of transitions.  We worked on bending, and when I got stuck in one direction not able to get the bend, she reminded me that I could go the other direction and ask for counterbend just until she was straight.  She also reminded me to "give" for the tiniest correct answer that I received from Gia.  All things I say to my students all the time, but it's funny how you can forget these things when you are in the saddle yourself! We also worked a little on turns-on-the-haunches, and even got a couple of nice steps! Wednesday - due to the rain, the fields were too wet to jump in, so Gia and I stayed in the arena for some jumping.  I mainly focused on her ...
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