Loose

Probably the one thing I have been most afraid of with taking him outside his pen....getting loose.

The backyard is not fenced.

Hadn't really had time to work with him for awhile between having a cold and working until 8ish. So I got off at the civilized hour of 5pm today so decided I would make him work for his supper. So far anyway, he has never gotten cranky about being pulled away from food or having to wait until we are done playing for his dinner.

We did a refresher of moving hips and shoulders and lunging, it was like he hadn't just had the last week off. The thickness I noticed in his back leg yesterday is still there in both back legs a bit, slightly more in his left hind. It almost feels like he's stocked up or something. He doesn't seem sore or off, but it didn't really go away much after working (not that we worked that hard). So anyway, things were going well so I figured, let's go for a walk.

His walk was slower outside his pen than it has been in the past, but that was okay. We got about halfway around the backyard when I thought I'd see how he behaved lunging outside his pen. We hadn't done this for awhile because he tended to get a bit exuberant and I was afraid he'd get away from me....

Started off pretty good but at some point I'm not sure how I managed to let things get tangled, but he got a little bouncy, the rope got between his hind legs and he ended up facing away from me. I had no idea what he'd do if I tried pulling on the rope at that point because it wasn't like he could follow his nose very well and get turned back around. So I think this was my loony-tunes moment as I watched the rope slip out of my hand and saw him going away from me.

Luckily, when he got to where the yard light stopped and it was black beyond, he turned back toward me somewhat. I got to see a rather pretty trot as it looked like he was going to dart back into his pen. He was almost there when he put on the breaks. He took a few steps and I said whoa and he turned around. He was blowing a bit from the excitement but I was able to slowly walk closer and get the end of the rope.

Then I tried to act like it hadn't happened, we went about halfway around the yard again, lunged him in a few more circles, and then went back into his pen and played a little more. At one point I had the rope between his legs so it was bumping his hind leg just above his hock, he did a couple trotting laps before he realized it was nothing and stopped.

I am so very glad he didn't just take off into the dark.

I so want to build a fence. (I ordered the Horseguard fence to make a 100 foot-long extension to his pen).

Just a quickie

Had a cold the last couple of days and gotten home really late from work so Mom has been nice and feeding him for me. I went out to feed this morning and while he was munching I ran my hands down his legs just for the heck of it. He wiggled around a little but let me run my hand down all four legs. His back left leg felt like it had a bit of swelling above the fetlock. Maybe a tiny bit of heat to it but barely. He's not favoring it at all, had him go out of his stall and trot a circle around for me and it doesn't seem to bother him at all so I guess I'll just keep an eye on it. At least the cough is gone!

Horsey friends

Here he is looking off toward the neighbors.

Horsey friends are the best! I went over to a friend's house last night to get some info and some pictures to update her farm's website. It's been awhile so we had to talk about horses and training, and more horses and, well, you get the idea. What started out to be a quick visit turned into more like a three hour visit. And in exchange for working on the website she is going to haul Cody to her farm for a week next month! This is a very cool thing because she has a round pen, an outdoor arena, a covered arena, poles, cones, a bridge, all kinds of stuff to play with. And it will also be a week when the farrier is going to be there so Cody can get his feet trimmed for the first time!

Yesterday morning before work we went out to play in the nippy weather. Cody and I went for a walk all over the backyard and nearly out to the road. This time we went around the big fir tree and got somewhere between 15 and 20 feet from the road. We stood there while at least one car went by and he didn't mind a bit. Unfortunately didn't have time to hang out there longer as I needed to get inside and get ready for work. So we turned around to head back and I'm not sure what popped into his head, but he reared up and tried to spin away but the ground was slick with a layer of frost and he slipped and landed flat on his side. Silly boy, hopefully he learned to not try that again! He scrambled right up and shook himself off. He seemed fine so we headed back to his pen.

You can see the road behind him. We went around to the other side of this big fir tree, this was just where we'd stopped to take some pictures.

After my horsey friend visit last night I had some new direction in things to work on.

So tonight we stayed in his pen and worked on moving his shoulders away and I made sure to release the pressure as soon as one leg crossed over the other. Taking it slow so right now am just looking for one good step. He got a few very nice cross over steps in there. He'll be doing a turn on the haunches in no time.

Then we also worked on after disengaging the hindquarters backing up a few steps. I need to get myself more coordinated to get that to flow better. We had one really good disengage and then back 3 or 4 steps and some so-so ones which I think were due to me not being a hundred percent sure what I was doing.

I was able to pick all four feet again and hold them for a bit and I stretched both front legs forward and then back and he took it all in stride.

Spent some time just standing there and petting his face and his muzzle and sticking my fingers in his mouth and rubbing his gums and at one point he just relaxed and rested his head on my shoulder. He's such a good pony :)

Just for the heck of it, when it came time to put his blanket on, I tossed it up on his back and then just pulled the whole thing forward and over and off his head. He raised his head some and took a step or two back, but it was more of a "what in the world are you doing?" than being scared and trying to get away. Even when I was trying to put it on him with the front buckles done up and it got stuck on his nose, all he did was calmly back up until he bumped into the panels and then stopped while I got it unstuck.

One other thing, took the stick, with string attached, and swung it back and forth slapping the ground. Just something else to get used to. I started it a bit away from him, not sure what he'd think and since he was just standing there I got closer and closer with it until if I got any closer I'd risk hitting him with it and he never even flinched. Even when I was swinging it above his head and letting it land between his ears.

The tail end, lol.

A walk on the wild side--contributing to the one-sidedness of a minor

So I've been lazy the last couple of days and not posted. Friday night I went out and made him work for his supper. He gets all pinned back ears and sort of lunges at the fence (so I just stomp towards him) when I am carrying his food, but if I'm not actually carrying his food, he's fine. A few times, because of time constraints, I have taken him away from his food to work with him a bit and then let him go back to finish. He's been very good about that. He doesn't get cranky about it and still pays attention to me even though he'd probably rather be eating.

Last night, we went for a walk in the dusting of snow that had decided to fall from the sky. About halfway through our lap around the yard, I went to his right side and was going to go for another lap from that side. No go. Tried some circles to get him moving, but he was having none of it. I realized that I had let my habit of leading from the left side contribute to Cody's one-sidedness. How awful of me! So I went back to the "good" side and led him back in his pen and we went back to the beginning on the "bad" side and did circles and finally managed to get a few forward steps when leading on the right. So I know what we will be working on today!

Mustang hoof

Well, I started working my temp job yesterday. I am helping with the deployment of a new system called NextGen at the Skagit Valley Medical Center. This involves new computers, hardware upgrades, software installs, etc. But in the beginning, it requires an inventory be done of computers and printers. You would have to know my history with inventory, but I find it rather funny in an ironic sort of way.

So working with Cody I am trying to accomplish in the mornings because by the time I get home after working both jobs I am dead tired. This morning I went out to feed him and worth with him a bit before getting ready for work at job #1 (Skagit Valley College IT). He got to eat some of his alfalfa pellets before we got to work and he didn't seem upset to be pulled away, so that was nice. I love that I can just take his blanket on and off like it's no big deal. Haven't really introduced words like "walk" or "trot", just been using clucks, but he's lunging nicely and stopping well. It is taking less and less for him to back up and then come forward to me. Since I was thinking of teaching him to wear hobbles, figured I'd start with the rope around his pastern and see what he thought. Didn't really mind and I was able to pick his feet up with the rope. It hasn't been an issue to run my hands down his legs, he's almost better with the back ones than he is with the front, but picking his feet up has been very brief, pick it up and let it go. But this morning, I was able to pick all four feet up (one at a time of course) and hold them for a few moments while I pet him. I drug Mom out with me tonight to try and take a picture of his hoof to go with this post and I will get them off her camera in the morning and add one to this post.

Yesterday and Today

So, the pictures are from yesterday, forgot to bring the camera out today. Yesterday we had a bit of wild pony when I asked for a few lunging circles outside his pen. Luckily, he didn't get away from me. I think I scared my mom a little (she was the one taking pictures, but didn't get any of his rambunctiousness). I don't really blame him though, he's been stuck in a 24x24 square for the last month and a half, wouldn't you want to kick your heels up if you didn't feel confined anymore? But not wanting him to think that was acceptable, we backed, we did more circles, and he settled down. I am working on clearing out space to give him sort of an extension on his pen, so he'd have something like 26x100 to stretch his legs until I can get the field cleared.

This was after he backed up and was standing there paying attention. I think he hadn't quite finished that last backward step, hence the crooked looking leg.

Can you put your head down?

Bend to the left...

...and bend to the right.

So today, when Mom and I got home from seeing the movie "Defiance", and I looked out the kitchen window, he was just standing there in a bit of sunshine either taking a nap or just totally bored. Before I actually made it out, he had laid down. I figured he'd hop up as soon as I opened the back door-nope, still laying down. Okay, so he'll hop up when I get to the gate-nope, still laying down. When I slide through the panel, surely that will get him to stand up? I slowly walked closer, talking to him, and he laid there and let me pet him for a moment before standing up. How cool was that? Too bad I didn't get a picture!

We started off with the "usual"-take off the blanket, quick brush, a few circles each way, some backing and coming forward and then I figured, let's go outside again, the day is just too nice!

I opened the gate and out we went. He was walking right with me, head about at my shoulder, not trying to rush or crowd or stop or anything. We practiced "whoa", I would say it as I turned toward him slightly and he'd stop. After a couple of pets, with a cluck we were off again. We made a lap of the whole backyard, past the tree, past my uncle's old trailer (that needs to disappear) and back to the gate. A little hesitation at the gate, so I stepped back, pointed with my rope hand, gestured with my stick hand, and in he went, nice as can be. That went so well that we went out for another lap in the opposite direction. We almost made it as far as the road, but I didn't want to push it, so stopped maybe 40 feet back. Stood there while a couple cars went by and then headed back to his pen which he walked back in the gate like a champ. Oh, and the whole time he was wearing his bareback pad again (not that he cared). I wanted it to be a good and calm experience, so we didn't attempt any lunging so he wouldn't be as likely to feel rowdy and he did great, very attentive and well-behaved. Such a good boy!

Lunging

We didn't have much time this evening, but it was just enough to practice a few things. We continue to make small steps in picking up feet and leading. Probably the biggest step today though, was in lunging. I was able to point the direction I wanted him to go, gesture slightly (kind of just waving it behind his tail) with my stick and off he went at a nice trot. And then say whoa, point towards his hip and a touch on the rope and he swings his rump away and faces me and stops. And then point in the new direction and away we go. I think he figured it out :) Sometimes things just click :)