Got My Thinking Cap On

My blog silence has been due to a dark cloud of horse-related depression. Last Saturday I headed out to trim four horses at my friend's ranch. A good opportunity (or so it seemed at the time) to trailer Flyboy somewhere new and let him practice standing tied to the trailer. He needs this kind of practice, but it kind of backfired on me. Fly loaded into the trailer just fine. I closed the slant panel (newly repaired, remember?) and went around to the outside and tied him. I already learned my lesson about not tying him when he tried to turn around and panicked and ended up with stitches, right? So I tied him to prevent him from trying to turn around. When he tried to swing his head around and realized he was tied, he pulled back creating a panic situation for himself. Since he had nowhere to go, he went up. Once he settled somewhat from his wicked scramble, I drove the ten miles to the ranch. I unloaded him and noticed a couple of drops of blood on his face. He had a 2" gash high on his forehead just under his fetlock. It was not bleeding badly, but was wide open. Ouch. This time it looked like it would heal without stitches. I trimmed sixteen hooves and trailered him home loose--no closed slant panel. Which is damaged again, too. Sigh. I doctored Fly as best I could and left it to heal.

So no riding or trailering for him this week. I was too frustrated to even write about it for a while. I rode Keno, taught two lessons on him, and played a bit with Fly at home. Today I introduced Flyboy to a head bumper. I told him it was his thinking cap. He wasn't thrilled at first, but I rubbed his head, neck, ears, eyes, and face with it until he let me stick his ears in it and snap it in place.

Once it was on he seemed to forget about it. We played some ground games with an old tire, a couple of barrels, ground poles, etc. He likes this kind of work and was doing great until he shook his head really hard and the bumper fell forward over his face. He spooked big, then wheeled around to face me, stood stock still looking at me like, "Help! Get this thing off me!" I unsnapped it, rubbed him with it again, and reattached it. I'll have to get a clip to snap it to the top of his halter behind his ears so that doesn't happen again!

I also gave Fly a full body massage which he seemed to enjoy. He started yawning after ten minutes and must have yawned six or eight times in a row. Good releases! Or maybe he was just sleepy since we were relaxing in the warm sun. Yes, warm! It was 4 degrees when I went out to do chores this morning, but the sun felt great this afternoon!

This horse has got to learn to yield to pressure when he panics. He does well on a lead rope with games, etc, but it's different when he is tied. The Blocker ring works somewhat, but he has learned that if he just leans into it and walks away he can pull the rope through. I use it of course when I have to tie him, but it's not truly teaching him to yield. I do have some other ideas, though, and Marleen (trainer) is coming down next week with some ideas of her own. I like so many things about this horse; I really want to help him get over this so he will be safe and useful and fun!

Good things about Flyboy:
1.    His canter. Wow.
2.    His flexibility.
3.    His forward stride.
4.    His curiosity.
5.    His willingness.
6.    He is super smart.
7.    He is kind.

Things that need work:
1.    His confidence.
2.    Tying.
3.    Trailering (related to the things above).