Episode 43

Whoa, what a week! We’ve had sunny skies, but also a harsh, cold wind. Made life a wee bit miserable out in Bodega Bay….

I got to pony Aries on an AMAZING trail!!! We went to the top of a ridge. Hard climb, but worth it!

I worked with Aries on and off all week, but didn’t get a chance to film until Sunday when Lena came out for a lesson. We warmed up, and I had Aries yield both his hind end and front end on a circle. We quickly graduated to a full side pass, yielding the whole body. He was a bit confused, so I used the fence to block his forward motion, making sideways the easiest choice. Each time he yielded softly, I stopped asking and rewarded.

More and more lately, his true temperament and personality have been coming through. This is, of course, AWESOME!!!! He is more confident. But this also means he is testing and challenging more. It’s in his nature… After all, he was a STALLION (probably a successful one) for 11 years….. This requires me to step up to the plate and earn his respect. I can’t do that by being a push over. Now this doesn’t mean I get aggressive and mean. I’ve seen may people handle stallions aggressively because they think that is what is required. Rather than being aggressive, it seems to me it’s more about being clear and consistant. There are rules and boundaries and my job is to explain them and be consistant.

Half way through the lesson, I saddled Aries and hopped up. During my last ride, Aries had been bracing against my requests and in some cases ignoring them altogether, a mark of his new challenging. Lena suggested I respond to this by carrying my stick. Pulling against him on the halter accomplishes nothing and actually makes things worse. Trying to physically pull him is never going to work. So instead, I’ll use the stick to put up a “wall.” When I ask him to turn, and he braces, I’ll drop the stick in front of that outside head-neck-shoulder, telling him, “Nope, not what I wanted.” He understood pretty quickly that turning was the easier option. But he still tried to see if his favorite evasion would work as the lesson progressed. But he tried less and less.

Rewards are always important. They give the horse the feedback he needs to determine what you are asking. I always reward Aries in many ways. Sometimes it’s a pet on the face or a pet with the stick somewhere on his body. Sometimes it’s simply taking off the pressure and allowing him to go forward accompanied by a “good boy.” Whatever the reward, it’s important that he gets them. It’s hard  to show that in the episodes, but trust me, he’s getting them.

On Monday, my vet, Tere, came out to try and work on Aries’s teeth. I was not entirely confident she would be able to get the speculum (the device that helps hold the horse’s mouth open when being floated) on his face given his dislike of having his nose touched.

We started out by doing Picasso’s teeth so Aries could watch. Aries stood close by and kept an eye on us as we worked with Picasso. His dental went smoothly. Tere then took Aries and went for a walk. She petted and scratched him and made friends. During one of her petting-scratching sessions, she quickly, and with no reaction from Aries, gave him a intra-muscular injection of a sedative. She did this so she could later give him a smaller follow up intravenous injection of a sedative. It took Aries about 20 minutes to sedate enough for her to give him the IV sedative. He reacted a bit more to that poke, but my vet is patient and kind, so he let her do it.

He quickly dropped into a decently heavy sedation. My vet got down on her knees and began to inspect his mouth. She noticed a few sharp points, some uneven areas, and a couple of incisors that were out of alignment. But no wolf teeth to pull!

Tere gently put the speculum on Aries and he accepted it. Even sedated, a horse is still aware. Tere started to work on his teeth with a power float. Every few minutes, she would stop, relax the speculum, and let Aries feel around his mouth with his tongue. This seemed to make a big difference to him. He could feel the smoother teeth, and even as the sedative wore off, he stayed with us, letting Tere continue to work on his teeth.

The sharps in his mouth had caused Aries to hold his tongue very still so as not to cut it on his teeth. This caused some small ulcerations. These ulcers will go away now that he can move his tongue freely. And now he can take a bit with no pain in his mouth.

He came out of the sedation slowly, and I kept him and Picasso in a paddock over night to ensure neither had any ill effects.

Enjoy Episode 43!!!!