Gia sessions 1192-1194 - More with Danielle!

Merry Christmas! With the holiday this week, Heather and I actually took 2 days off to relax! With cool nights and warm days, the horses have also been enjoying a little break. We’ve seen just about every horse sleeping in the fields! However, Gia and I did get some exciting work done this week!

Monday, December 22nd - I basically reviewed the grooming with Gia and the carrot ball. For some reason, Gia came in a bit agitated on Monday. She was impatient with her carrot ball and was tossing it around. Interestingly, she was quite patient with me. One thing I have been focused on with Gia lately is picking her hind feet. She has been very good at picking them up and letting me clean them. But, when I put them back down, she sometimes picks them up like she is going to kick. It is not directed at me, but it does seem somewhat like a threat. Basically, she’s acting like a teenager slamming a door. I have been speaking to Heather about it. In and of itself, this is not unusual behavior for horses. However, Gia tends to do it only after I have removed my hand. Typically, a horse will do something like snatching their foot or trying to kick out while you are still holding their foot. Since this behavior has been happening only when my hand moves away, I decided to give Gia more time to prepare for my hand moving. Most of the time, I run my hand down a horse’s leg prior to asking them to pick their foot up. This allows the horse to process what I am asking and gives them predictability. Usually, this is all the preparation a horse needs. Once the individual grooming the horse has finished, the horse will place their foot down. Gia is unlike most other horses, so I decided to try this in reverse with her. Rather than just pulling it away, I started running my hand back UP her leg after putting it down. For the most part, this seemed to be quite helpful. Heather suggested pushing Gia away if she is naughty. I did try this and she seemed quite offended! (As intended…. I’m offended at GIAnt feet coming my way).

Tuesday, December 23rd - While getting Gia’s carrot ball together on Tuesday, I found the carrots to be getting soft and gross. This may have been why she was antsy and irritated with her ball on Monday. I decided to revisit the hay bucket on Tuesday to see how Gia would do. When Heather and I had attempted the hay before, Gia was loose and still quite sensitive to her belly from the fungus. I opted to try the hay bucket with the long crossties to help contain her. I really think that a major part of this puzzle has been the ability to contain Gia in one place. When I groomed her with the bucket, she was quite relaxed. I was able to do all of her grooming and even put the saddle pad on easily. I did work with her hind legs again and she did pretty well.

Saturday December 27th -To make up for taking off on Christmas Eve and the day after, we worked a few horses on Saturday morning. One of my students from Saturdays has expressed interest in my groundwork lately with both Gia and Ava. She was able to come out early before her lesson to help us groom, so I opted to see how Gia would do with someone new. Gia knows this individual very well, but as a feeder. I knew this would be a good challenge for both of them! Luckily, many of our students bring treats to fill our horses’ stockings. Gia got some carrots in hers, so we were able to refill her carrot ball for grooming. Seeing as Beth has to work with Gia in the field on taking her blanket on and off, we started there. I showed her the technique I have been working on with Gia during blanketing and let her know what verbal cues I use. Then we moved onto the grooming. Gia was pretty good! Beth was able to get through the curry comb and the hard brush. We went very slow so that she could see the body language indicators, and I could demonstrate how I would like them addressed. At the end of the session, Beth was able to successfully put Gia’s flysheet on and read her body language. It is exciting as an instructor whenever I have students who want to learn about the nitty gritty groundwork. It is so important to become a well-rounded horseperson! It’s also exciting to see Gia’s progress and accepting of others touch. All in all, Saturday was a great learning day for both of them, I hope!

- Danielle