Sundry pony update

Indigo had an afternoon of being a camp pony. I tied him up in the tacking area while R and I lead the last four rides of the day, and he hung around for the unsaddling bit where all the horses milled around and sniffed his bum and sides and face. Only Marquee and Missy made valiant attempts to kick him. He didn't offer to kick anyone back and seemed rather polite and taken with Hannah. Cutie.

He was the most unnerved I've seen him today when I first brought out the blanket. But after he sniffed it and chewed it and I started tossing it to his shoulder rhythmically, he settled down and I was able to get it over his sides and pull it over belly, hip, tail, neck, and head within a few minutes. It never seems to take much time to teach him anything. I even "girthed" him with a spare rope around his belly.. Loose at first, then I tightened it 'til it was about cinch tight. For some reason, that didn't bug him at all. He wore the blanket and fake-cinch around for a little bit, tied with it, chewed on it some more, and then we were done. After I walked him through the tack room a few times.

Thursday, we went for a walk about camp. Nothing was scary, except for the big Y-Man poster cutout when whapped with a stick and the lids on the big trash cans slamming. Besides that, he was generally just bemused with everything going on and quite calm in hand. Only once or twice have I had to reprimand him for walking through a "woah" cue; he listens well. The new halter with a few more knots over the nosepiece gives enough bite that he minds easily.

He's met a few campers and done well. I do worry about his mouthiness, but he's learned what I mean when I growl at him and he has his lips wrapped around something/someone.

Richard taught him to pick up his back feet today. I'm proud of both of them— R can be a little quick to discipline, but we talked about trust and he absolutely got it and the different learning curve Indy's on. But without any kicking, any fright, he asked him to give his back left and then his back right. The only struggle is just a balance issue, but I think they are both figuring it out. It's cool to watch. :)

Pax looks awesome. Her belly is back. Her shoulders are filling out again, and her hips are rounding. Hopefully her tail grows out quickly. (It was bandaged so long and not taken out for 10 days; some of the weaker hairs at the dock wore out and so she looks a little.. Skunky.) Her mane has gone totally wild again and I decided not to tame it out of its double-maned-ness. I sort of like it. Even though I haven't done much with her outside of feed her and watch her closely, it absolutely brightens my day when she sets her big head into my chest and sighs and looks for pats. She is a very good girl.

And Bandit? Sassy as ever, but great to ride. He is a little lazy in the back end still if we're just lollygagging, but I think he looks fit and ready.

Progress

Indy-Pants spent some of the afternoon on Monday handled and tied and in and out of the arena / tacking area. He was well-behaved, save for a little pawing at the start of his tying. (I tend to dismiss this the first times by just giving him no attention; this was enough discipline for him to quit within a few minutes and fall asleep. If he'd been at it for longer or if we were farther along in his schooling, I get a little more aggressive about it. He did pretty much the same thing in the trailer and quit in short order.) Richard was down at the barn again, picking up feet and working on his farrier's stance —did I mention he was planning to go to school for it? He asked to work with Indy's feet again, while I watched. He had handled all four feet the day prior, without asking for anything but Indigo to stand reasonably for the process. But this time around, without a lot of fuss, he had both of Indy's front feet picked up and held for several long seconds, a couple of times, until the process was relatively smooth. He started to work on the back feet, but I asked him to wait until the pony is totally convinced we aren't going to rip off a hoof or anything. I like to think I'm pretty good at getting a horse to be quiet about their feet, and Pax wasn't too hard to teach, though she regressed a little, but I was fully expecting feet manners to be really, really difficult with a wild horse. Thank goodness sometimes that Richard is braver and ready to take steps faster than I am. (Note I said, sometimes.)

Today, we worked on feet again and he was very willing for me to pick them up, pull into a normal stance underneath him, and even stretch out in front of him like I do to warm up my riding mounts. Haven't started the backs yet, but we've started walking and working behind Indigo without any threat from him. I'll give it a little time.

I also worked on moving his hindquarters and forehand independently on the ground. I started just asking him to move his hindquarters away by swinging the slack end of the lead, which went pretty well, and then swapped to using my hands above his stifle to push his butt around and on his shoulder to move his front. The hind end was easier, as I think it often is, but after a couple of minutes we could move all four quadrants with a decent amount of pressure. He is certainly very bright and catches on to exercises and requests easily, but he isn't dramatically reactive unless you totally catch him off guard— which is hard to do. The other day I threw his hay over the fence and while he was scooting to eat it, I reached through the paneling and touched his rear. He flew sideways, gave me his crazy wide-eyed-why-the-heck look, and stayed pointedly out of hand's reach. But I find if you give him just a second to prepare for a request, he's very compliant.

New halter came in today, finally! I ordered it from The Stick Lady weeks and weeks ago, but she does make everything by hand. Very impressed with the quality— if I could afford to have every camp horse in a well-knotted halter and a yacht rope lead, I would. Lindsay, Bonnie's "mom," suggested her. I am very conflicted over what is considered the Natural Horsemanship industry, partially because I think in many cases, merchandise is stressed over relationships and patience. I think a horse should respond in a crusty old Hamilton nylon turnout halter just as well as they do in a fancy-dancy Clinton Anderson Endorsed $90 ensamble, but I do see the value in a great halter and the benefit good balance, particular knots, and better materials. That said, my NH-entrepreneur of choice is Monty Roberts, and his crap is hella expensive too, up there with Parelli and Clinton and Brannaman. ANYWAY, I don't want to get into a diatribe; I'm slowly making my way through the first couple sets of Parelli tapes, and I don't think there's a single person out there who has re-written the humane horsemanship bible. I like to read everything I can get my hands on and take what I like and leave what I don't. And this Stick Lady makes a mean rope halter at a better price. I recommend!

Clever, clever boy

Bandit and I (and most of the rest of the herd) spent the weekend shuttling lovely Girl Scouts around on trail rides that never ended in complete disaster, but occasionally came close. I kid, somewhat, but the most stressful part of my job is inevitably when the horses go "public" and parents are thrown into the mix. Having Tiff there absolutely helps control the chaos, and this weekend we also had one of the high ropes instructors from the summer, Justin, who did a great job for his first real go-around. He got to partake in the Bee Hive Fiasco of 2010 back in July, and works hard and keeps a very level head (much like Tiff) so really couldn't have asked for a better team.. But that said, it was still 120+ Scouts and moms, Daisies to Cadettes, and that, my friends, can be a crazy crazy time. I'm looking forward to my lesson kids coming back this week and enjoying real one-on-one teaching time.

This was also Indigo's "debut" as an educational piece / object of adoration by dozens of adorable little girls. I posted a little sign, talking about his origins and his color and please-don't-stick-your-fingers-in-here-because-I-innocently-like-to-munch-on-them, but really we can't see him very well from our vantage point at the barn. (His pen is behind the craft shed, using the back shade structure as a shelter.) Richard, however, did spend a good part of his weekend in the craft shed making bird houses with the Juniors, and he said Indy was on good behavior the whole time. The girls were thoroughly excited to meet him and thought he was the most beautiful thing in the universe. He didn't nibble on anyone and I'm sure got a few pets in there somewhere.

Pax also enjoyed some attention today. I think Richard grew weary of his last birdhouse-building group finishing their projects early and took them over to visit her. She was appropriately gracious about eating grass from everyone's little hands and enjoying lots of pats and ooh's and ahh's. If I'm not very diligent about getting my horses out to new places to see things, they are subjected to an enormous amount of handling from lay people and squealy kids. The rest of the time, she looked longingly at her best friends Karat and Dolly through the corral fence, or slept in the sun, sprawled out like a snoring, farting, oversized cat. I have never been around a horse that slept quite so thoroughly or voraciously all the time. I can't help but worry that there's something off about her, but it may also just be part of being so damn calm that firecrackers under the tail wouldn't set her off so much. I love that horse. I have no idea what made me buy that horse, but I love her.

Anyway, after an epic nap tonight post-Scout weekend, before it got completely dark, Richard and I headed to the barn to work on our respective crafts. While he picked hooves and trained his back, I caught Indigo and lead him out of his pen for the very first time since arriving a couple of weeks ago. He balked a little bit at the gate and stared at me rather wide-eyed, finally took a hesitant step out, then a few more, and then buried his nose in grass and grazed backwards until he was firmly back on the other side of his pen threshold. We tried again, and things were obviously easier, and it wasn't five minutes until we were easily leading around the round pen clearing, past the tacking area, and around the arena. He balked a bit at gates but doesn't act silly; he just wants a good sniff at everything before he takes it on.

After we lead around the arena, I let him loose and popped the lead at him until he was sent into a quick trot about half the length of the arena.. Promptly stopping to graze over visiting the rest of the herd, who were gathering at the far fence to check out the new kid. I grabbed a stock whip and drove him around a little bit— saw his lope for the first time, and some pretty silly crowhops (like, two of them) and the most trot since we first laid eyes on him. He's cute! Covers some ground. He came pretty easily, and ate his first horse cookie. Probably not the best idea on my behalf as he is certainly mouthy, but it's nice to have a quick food reward that he'll accept now instead of trying to feed him handfuls of alfalfa. (That said, I don't really believe in training based heavily on food reward, but I do use treats as a way to reward patience or a good ride or training session.)

After some grazing and more leading, I put him in the tacking area and tied him up again and gave him another good grooming. He was a little squirrely, but considering the circumstances, I was very impressed. Richard even handled his back legs a little bit. He tested the confines of his lead rope, but did not offer to set back or try to untie it again. I am thankful he is starting to look towards me for assurance whenever he's concerned about something.

Indigo's success hasn't made me overconfident in my gentling abilities, but he has made me feel like I don't entirely suck at choosing horses. Picking him out of that facility was one of the hardest non-life-endangering or family-related things I've ever had to do, and I felt like a lot rested on him. After we saw him and Eve dubbed him "Fugly," my mind immediately kept going back to him after every horse we pondered over certainly not because of his looks, but because of his temperament. I think he's a good match for us, and I'm entirely taken with him. There's so much left to teach him, but every day he shows an honesty and an openness to learn and to trust that is impossible to not get excited about. I do have to make a conscious effort to keep in mind his wildness and deeper-set instincts, but I think that also helps to keep me thinking on his level and at his speed.

I'm excited. He's a neat horse.