All The Kings' Horses

Yesterday, I worked with Baker for about 46 minutes. He has been getting a little big for his britches, so I decided it would be a good time to start working with him in the round pen. I started out by just getting him to move forward away from me. He was very distracted by working in a new environment, and all of the "new" things around him.  He spent a lot of time looking outside the round pen, and trying to get away from me. My main goal with this first session in the round pen, was to get him to focus on me, and ignore everything going on outside of the round pen. Basically, every time he turned his back to me, or his hind end in this case, I would make him move away, usually at the trot, but sometimes he cantered on his own, so that he understood that to not focus on me meant that he had to work.  As soon as he would turn and face me, I would stop making him work, and allow him to have a break. Most of the time when he turned to face me, he would also come towards me, so

I got to work with Baker yesterday.  We spent almost an hour together.  He came right up to me in the field ( he is such a personable horse!).  As I was walking him in, there were a few things he noticed, and was a little worried about - the tarp on the trailer, the chairs that sit under the tree near the barn, a dog trap (we are still trying to catch those dogs 😒).  At each of his "concerns" we stopped, and I waited until he touched them.  Sometimes I would have to encourage him by pulling a little on the leadline, especially if he would get distracted with something else.  Anytime he moved towards the scary thing, he would get a "Good boy!", and whenever he finally touched it with his nose, he would get lots of scratching in his favorite spot.  We had to repeat this process on the way back out, at the end of our session as well.  He was a little nervous and unsure at first, but by the end, he was starting to pull me, gently, towards things that he "should&qu

On Tuesday I had to take Baker in to the vet (don't worry, nothing bad happened 😃).  He needed to get his last rabies booster shot in a series of booster shots.  With all the other shots he's received, I've had to have the vet out for something else anyway, so we just combined the trip.  However, this time, I didn't need anything else done, and it seemed silly to have the vet come all the way out to my farm, and for me to have to pay an extra $30 or so for the trip fee, just for one little shot.  Every Tuesday, when I'm on my way to my lesson with Butch, I pass right by my vet's office, so, I thought, why not just combine the trip?  It would be another good opportunity for Baker to get on the trailer, and it would save me a little money and time too!  Now, you might remember that Baker has already been on the trailer, several times.  The first time was when he was colicking, and that trailering experience definitely did not go the way I would have planned for h

Wow!  It has been a while since I have had the chance to work with Baker.  Things are just so crazy busy around here.  The good news is that horses this young don't need a lot of work at this point, unless problems arise.  Baker has been coasting along, staying under the radar and behaving himself. So, even though I have felt a little guilty for not having time to spend with him, I know that he is just fine on his own.  However, yesterday presented us with the first time this fall that the horses have required blankets due to the weather.  Everyone has different blanketing philosophies, so I will share mine.  All of our horses live outside 24/7.  They do have access to shelter and most of them have their natural winter coats.  We also strive to keep their body condition scores at about 5-6 at all times, but especially in the winter.  And, most of them, except the fat ponies, have 24/7 access to high quality hay (the act of chewing hay generates heat and helps keep horses warm).