It's been a pretty hectic week, so I have only worked with Baker once so far, and I'm just now getting around to writing about it. I worked with him on Monday for about 27 minutes. For those of you who are not from around here, it's been really hot and humid this week. Most of the horses have been sweating just hanging out in their fields. As I approached Baker's paddock on Monday, I noticed that he was no exception.
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But this actually presented me with a great opportunity to work on something new with him - bathing! I am always trying to introduce new things to a horse in the most positive light possible. I am also always on the lookout for opportunities that make learning something new even easier. When would you be most receptive to feeling cool water on your body? When you are already feeling pretty cool? Or, when you are nasty with sweat and dirt and feeling pretty yucky? Well, horses are no different. So, as I took a look at his sweaty, dirty body, I thought this would be the perfect day for his first bath. I didn't have any help, so I couldn't bring him and Fiona out of the paddock to the wash area. So, I decided to bring a bucket of water and a sponge to the tree, and give him his first sponge bath. Once I got everything set up, I haltered him to lead to the tree. He was quite a fusspot Monday. He was not very interested in doing what I wanted, and really preferred to hang out with mom. Maybe he was just grumpy from being so hot? Maybe he knew it was almost dinner time? Anyway, I patiently led him towards the tree, tapping him with the whip whenever he stopped or hesitated, and stopping him and backing him up whenever he got too quick and tried to get ahead of me. We eventually got there, and I tied him and flysprayed him. Then I proceeded with sponging him down with water. Before I touched the sponge to his body, I let him check it out himself. He seems much more comfortable with whatever I am doing, if I let him check it out first. That's only fair, and it will go a long way in helping him to trust me and be more confident. He was a little unsure and tense when I first started sponging him. I started on his shoulder and front leg, and made sure to keep it quiet at first and not too drippy (sometimes the drips scare some horses). He never really reacted, and once he realized that it felt good, he completely relaxed and I continued sponging him like I would have any older, more experienced horse. He didn't even mind when I sponged his face!
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Once we were done with that, I proceeded with the clippers. However, the person feeding that night, had just come out to feed Fiona at that time, so he really started acting up. He was moving all around at the tree, and was totally unfocused on me and what I was doing. I kept at him with the clippers anyway - I don't want him to learn that he can get away with acting up, and that a little temper tantrum will get him what he wants. However, I did not push to get a lot done with the clippers. I only worked on his muzzle until he quit throwing a fit and had his attention back on me. Finally, I untied him and led him back to Fiona. He was quite fussy since he still wanted to get over there to eat. So, I had to do a lot of halting and backing. I waited each time for him to calm down before we would proceed forward. Each time, we only got about 5 steps before he tried to get ahead of me and we would have to halt and back again. He was quite obedient to my commands, he responded each time I gave them, but I did have to give them often. Finally, we made it close enough that I could take his halter off. He immediately pinned his ears and tried to wheel around and kick at me (he was definitely fed up with me telling him what to do). I was quite sure he was going to do that, so I was ready. As soon as he behaved that way, I sent him running. I continued to make him run until he showed better behavior towards me. It was a little tough since he kept running to hide behind Fiona, but behavior like that cannot be tolerated at all! As soon as he settled down, I left him alone. I won't try to avoid working with him at feeding time in the future, since he needs to be able to focus on me no matter what is going on. However, I will make sure not to push him to do too much, mostly just to pay attention to me, and I will definitely be ready for another outburst!
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