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Dec. 3rd, 2017 09:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickOther project horse updates. Genie.
Zipper is my ‘kinda rides’ project horse. Genie is my ‘does not ride yet’ project horse. She’s three, will be four in the spring. I have a lot of project horses for someone whose job is not horses.
My horse people have too many horses. This is regrettable, but it is a fact. They have about 36 horses. (Yeah it’s an “about” figure instead of an “exact” figure. You’d think that horses were the sort of thing that you could count, but it is not that easy. Some of them don’t live there. Some of them are on long-term loan. Some of the ones that are on the property don’t necessarily belong to them but are, in actual fact, the property of others. Do they count, or not?)
So there’s Martini, Proof, Cheops (the black horses) = 3
And Mariah, Saguaro, High Tide, Skoal (the pintos) = 4
And Ceres, Thyme, Taku, Keystone, Brizon, Oasis, Peake, Nick, Tank, Genie, Snap, Switch, Copenhagen, Beretta, Moon Rhea (the bays) = 15
And Talon, Elklin (the buckskins) = 2
And Tin, Bird, Chenille, Chantilly, Zipper, Mora, Roxy, Whimsy (the greys) = 8
And Punch, Cuervo (chestnut) = 2.
And Casper (chocolate silver) = 1
I am probably missing a few. We have a written list somewhere. And while this is a regrettably long list, I would like to point out a few things that will make “approximately 36 horses” sound way the fuck better.
1. There used to be 75.
2. There are 9 horses under 10 years old. The age profile is in our favor and improving every single year.
3. The bulk of them ride. Do not ride b/c too young: Genie, Switch, Snap, Chantilly. Proof (15? heaves), Copenhagen (20+ blind), Beretta (10? heave-y), Tamora (15, toast-rack asshole), and Chenille (20 heaves) were never started under saddle. Everything else rides to one degree or another and has been sitten upon at least one time by a live human and gone forward under guidance of that human and that human alone.
4. Some of them are useless and marking time until they die. Whimsy and Copenhagen are stone blind in both eyes. Brizon is crippled (permanently lame on back leg). Proof, Chenille, and Beretta are heave-y to the point where keeping weight on them in the summer is challenging.
We are making headway. Every year we get a couple more under saddle. Every year a couple die or are humanely put down for valid reasons. This year (2017) we lost Mezcal (put down – heaves, age 19) and Trevor (put down – only two teeth left, 26) and Irish Red(put down – could not get up, ongoing cushing’s, over 20).
So, anyway. I have a lot of project horses and that’s why. Genie is the latest in a string of “get ‘em skills” projects. She’ll be four in the spring. She’s just about 13 hh and bay, with a narrow blaze as her only marking.
When we started, she sorta-caught if you got the rope around her neck and held on through the first two escape attempts and then kinda swiftly got the halter engaged. She sorta-led if you counted “hung back and then leapt foward suddenly” as leading and were tolerant about spin-outs at the end of the lead rope during the leap-forward segments. She did tie. She did not pick up her feet or handle all over her body. She didn’t move away from light hand pressure. All advanced rope skills were missing, horse could not work a gate. She was also disrespectful. She tried to bite me. She tried to kick me. She bucked in-hand while I held on the lead rope. She wasn’t “wild” as such, but she didn’t have very many skills and hadn’t been handled a lot, hence the inappropriate behaviors. If I’m the first person you’re spending any time with, you obviously don’t know how you’re expected to behave so you’re going to make some mistakes.
We had a few chats about the mistakes and things are rather better now.
We’re about four or five outings into the project. She catches well. (Our horses need to stand to be caught and haltered, get led out of the field, get tied, and THEN get food. There are no treats at all for catching. I don’t do treats for letting me catch you. Ideally, you will over time learn your name and come when I stand at the gate and call it. Just a side note that this is an entirely reasonable expectation. Nick and Bird come to their names. When I was working with her, Punch came to her name. Zipper knows his name and comes for it, took him about four reps to get the idea.)
She handles all over her body for grooming, feet pick up, horse yields to gentle hand pressure on barrel or flank to get over. She can work a gate about half as well as I want but gates only get worked on when taking horse out of field or putting horse in field. I don’t drill gates, I just work on ‘em when we’re there doing ‘em anyway. She’ll get it. (”Work a gate” – proceed through gate beside me. Once through, turn and face me. Stand quietly while I shut and latch gate. Stand politely for unhaltering (if turning horse loose) OR turn with me and lead to the work area (if starting our day of work). Working a gate (or stall, same idea) is an actual skill for horses and it’s one that is well worth installing. Makes ‘em a lot nicer to be around.)
Leading is almost to where I’m happy with it. She still tests sometimes but mostly she’s learned to keep the slack in the lead and to say with me. She does not need to be tugged on to halt with me. She does not need to be tugged on to walk on with me. It’s about 80% good. I’d like a better trot-in-hand and we’re working on that. (Her pacing is iffy… too much, too little, just not good.)
Circles (walk or trot around me, both directions, change direction, change speed, back up, halt on circle OR turn in and face me) are moving along, about 70% there. She sometimes has a questionable attitude on a circle but she doesn’t DO anything about it, so I am waiting until (a) she needs a beating because she has done something bad or (b) she gets over it. Not sure which it’ll be, but I’m ready for either one.
Rope skills other than circles are proceeding nicely. Taking walks… needs work. She’s low man on the totem pole in the field and not entirely sure she’s OK being out and about with just me. She gets nervous. Too much pooping, too much sweaty and inattentive. We need more work on this.
Loading we haven’t done much with because there are border collie pups in the horse trailer at the moment. That’ll probably wait until spring, honestly, because I don’t like to play Let’s Learn To Trailer Load in ice/snow. Good footing for that sort of foolishness is a better plan.
We’re about ready to start Meeting The Tack. I don’t know as I have a girth that will fit her, but I’ll have a look around. It won’t hurt her to do her ground skills wearing a saddle with stirrups a-floppin’.
Zipper is my ‘kinda rides’ project horse. Genie is my ‘does not ride yet’ project horse. She’s three, will be four in the spring. I have a lot of project horses for someone whose job is not horses.
My horse people have too many horses. This is regrettable, but it is a fact. They have about 36 horses. (Yeah it’s an “about” figure instead of an “exact” figure. You’d think that horses were the sort of thing that you could count, but it is not that easy. Some of them don’t live there. Some of them are on long-term loan. Some of the ones that are on the property don’t necessarily belong to them but are, in actual fact, the property of others. Do they count, or not?)
So there’s Martini, Proof, Cheops (the black horses) = 3
And Mariah, Saguaro, High Tide, Skoal (the pintos) = 4
And Ceres, Thyme, Taku, Keystone, Brizon, Oasis, Peake, Nick, Tank, Genie, Snap, Switch, Copenhagen, Beretta, Moon Rhea (the bays) = 15
And Talon, Elklin (the buckskins) = 2
And Tin, Bird, Chenille, Chantilly, Zipper, Mora, Roxy, Whimsy (the greys) = 8
And Punch, Cuervo (chestnut) = 2.
And Casper (chocolate silver) = 1
I am probably missing a few. We have a written list somewhere. And while this is a regrettably long list, I would like to point out a few things that will make “approximately 36 horses” sound way the fuck better.
1. There used to be 75.
2. There are 9 horses under 10 years old. The age profile is in our favor and improving every single year.
3. The bulk of them ride. Do not ride b/c too young: Genie, Switch, Snap, Chantilly. Proof (15? heaves), Copenhagen (20+ blind), Beretta (10? heave-y), Tamora (15, toast-rack asshole), and Chenille (20 heaves) were never started under saddle. Everything else rides to one degree or another and has been sitten upon at least one time by a live human and gone forward under guidance of that human and that human alone.
4. Some of them are useless and marking time until they die. Whimsy and Copenhagen are stone blind in both eyes. Brizon is crippled (permanently lame on back leg). Proof, Chenille, and Beretta are heave-y to the point where keeping weight on them in the summer is challenging.
We are making headway. Every year we get a couple more under saddle. Every year a couple die or are humanely put down for valid reasons. This year (2017) we lost Mezcal (put down – heaves, age 19) and Trevor (put down – only two teeth left, 26) and Irish Red(put down – could not get up, ongoing cushing’s, over 20).
So, anyway. I have a lot of project horses and that’s why. Genie is the latest in a string of “get ‘em skills” projects. She’ll be four in the spring. She’s just about 13 hh and bay, with a narrow blaze as her only marking.
When we started, she sorta-caught if you got the rope around her neck and held on through the first two escape attempts and then kinda swiftly got the halter engaged. She sorta-led if you counted “hung back and then leapt foward suddenly” as leading and were tolerant about spin-outs at the end of the lead rope during the leap-forward segments. She did tie. She did not pick up her feet or handle all over her body. She didn’t move away from light hand pressure. All advanced rope skills were missing, horse could not work a gate. She was also disrespectful. She tried to bite me. She tried to kick me. She bucked in-hand while I held on the lead rope. She wasn’t “wild” as such, but she didn’t have very many skills and hadn’t been handled a lot, hence the inappropriate behaviors. If I’m the first person you’re spending any time with, you obviously don’t know how you’re expected to behave so you’re going to make some mistakes.
We had a few chats about the mistakes and things are rather better now.
We’re about four or five outings into the project. She catches well. (Our horses need to stand to be caught and haltered, get led out of the field, get tied, and THEN get food. There are no treats at all for catching. I don’t do treats for letting me catch you. Ideally, you will over time learn your name and come when I stand at the gate and call it. Just a side note that this is an entirely reasonable expectation. Nick and Bird come to their names. When I was working with her, Punch came to her name. Zipper knows his name and comes for it, took him about four reps to get the idea.)
She handles all over her body for grooming, feet pick up, horse yields to gentle hand pressure on barrel or flank to get over. She can work a gate about half as well as I want but gates only get worked on when taking horse out of field or putting horse in field. I don’t drill gates, I just work on ‘em when we’re there doing ‘em anyway. She’ll get it. (”Work a gate” – proceed through gate beside me. Once through, turn and face me. Stand quietly while I shut and latch gate. Stand politely for unhaltering (if turning horse loose) OR turn with me and lead to the work area (if starting our day of work). Working a gate (or stall, same idea) is an actual skill for horses and it’s one that is well worth installing. Makes ‘em a lot nicer to be around.)
Leading is almost to where I’m happy with it. She still tests sometimes but mostly she’s learned to keep the slack in the lead and to say with me. She does not need to be tugged on to halt with me. She does not need to be tugged on to walk on with me. It’s about 80% good. I’d like a better trot-in-hand and we’re working on that. (Her pacing is iffy… too much, too little, just not good.)
Circles (walk or trot around me, both directions, change direction, change speed, back up, halt on circle OR turn in and face me) are moving along, about 70% there. She sometimes has a questionable attitude on a circle but she doesn’t DO anything about it, so I am waiting until (a) she needs a beating because she has done something bad or (b) she gets over it. Not sure which it’ll be, but I’m ready for either one.
Rope skills other than circles are proceeding nicely. Taking walks… needs work. She’s low man on the totem pole in the field and not entirely sure she’s OK being out and about with just me. She gets nervous. Too much pooping, too much sweaty and inattentive. We need more work on this.
Loading we haven’t done much with because there are border collie pups in the horse trailer at the moment. That’ll probably wait until spring, honestly, because I don’t like to play Let’s Learn To Trailer Load in ice/snow. Good footing for that sort of foolishness is a better plan.
We’re about ready to start Meeting The Tack. I don’t know as I have a girth that will fit her, but I’ll have a look around. It won’t hurt her to do her ground skills wearing a saddle with stirrups a-floppin’.
