Ground manners

My life is way too crowded. For example: yesterday after work I went to see my Dad. He was awake (not very common these days) and talking (well, talking for him is a few words at best, but the words made sense) so I wanted to spend some nice comfy together time with him and I stayed longer than usual. I told him that I love him, and he said he loves me, and that felt very good.

Then I went to the barn to spend some time with Champagne. I needed to put the cream on his sarcoid, and I wanted to work on his ground manners. (No time to ride!) Some of his manners are quite rude. He is given to balking when led, which is a pain. And he doesn’t respect my space at all. Plus, I’m not sure he is always aware that I’m the boss. So I got a nice long lead rope and I’m working on the issues.

First we do head lowering, which Cath says is submission. When we began this work he’d just stubbornly endure the pressure on the halter (I pull down on the rope with moderate force, and if he gives at all, I stop asking for a couple of seconds, and then pull down again) for minutes on end, very boring. I’m also giving him verbal cues, which isn’t usually part of the deal, I guess, but so far he has learned “pick up your foot”, “stand”, “no”, and “okay” (though I think he thinks “okay” means “carrot”). So I think he can learn “put your head down”. Anyway, he has gotten the picture, and with one or two asks he will put his nose all the way to the ground.

Next we work on leading. I’m trying to get him to follow me on a very loose rope, and stay far enough behind me when I stop. This I do by suddenly stopping and backing up, meanwhile twirling the loose end of the rope in front of me like a propeller, which he doesn’t like to get too close to. This is working only medium well, because he has figured out that instead of backing straight behind me, he can also keep his distance by backing to the side. At other times he still tries to walk ahead of me or change sides on a whim, or stop to graze or look at something.

Finally we work on moving his body around. I have gotten him so that he will move his hindquarters away from me while pivoting on a foreleg and stepping smartly across and under with his inside rear leg. I can get him to go rapidly in a complete circle, pivoting on his front leg. (turn on the forehand.) And last we work on moving his shoulders, the goal being to have him pivot on his hind legs while stepping smartly across with his outside foreleg. This one works, but his range of motion is pretty limited, and sometimes he tries to step his foreleg behind the other leg rather than in front. At least he is taking rapid steps, though.

I am feeling my way because I don’t really know what I’m doing, but it is kind of fun and less dangerous than lunging and less time consuming than riding due to not needing to tack up.

Meanwhile, his sarcoid is definitely changing in response to the cream. It is less symmetrical, and is kind of squashed in on one side. Yesterday for the first time he was not happy about having the cream applied. The vet said it would be irritating, and I guess she was right. If he gets too unhappy about it I’ll have to have someone help me hold his head while I put it on.

After that, home to gulp down dinner, and then out to a meeting. And the same for tonight! I won’t get to ride until Wednesday. I need to work to pay for the horse, but work keeps me from riding my horse. That tends to make me grumpy, so I have to mind my own ground manners. At least I have a secure job (it seems). Be happy.