DAY 7: Pedicure
(hoof trimming) and spa day for Roscoe and Argent. Lucky fellows! Tomorrow we
resume training! Roscoe was good with his feet…not great but good. Our farrier
did a great job balancing and leveling his feet. One to two more trims should
get him really straight. A nice cool water rise off for the boys plus an
afternoon snack for Roscoe. A good day all in all.
DAY 8: After his
hoof care Roscoe was a bit sore on his right front leg. His feet were not in
the best of shape when we got him so it is very possible that the leveling and
balancing of his feet may be throwing off is stride. We gave him some
anti-inflammatory drugs and rubbed all his legs down with Biggle Oil which
seemed to help. We went to the arena so Argent could get a workout in. Roscoe
got lots of desensitizing and some easy lunge line work at the walk, about a 15
minute session, before getting a nicer groom session and a late afternoon
snack. He seemed in good spirits! Tomorrow is the vet visit. This is where we
see if our current plan is a “go” or if we need to rethink the plan!
DAY 9: 8:00 am-Today
is the moment of truth! Today at 1:00 pm we see our regular horse veterinarian
who will give Roscoe a full physical plus shots. 4:00pm – Roscoe was a real gentleman during
the visit which made the examination go pretty well. Most everything checked
out well in regards to his eyes, heart, digestive (we wormed him and started
him on psillium pellets for a ten day run on day 3) and cardiovascular systems.
Roscoe is under weight by 100-150 pound as we originally thought. And the very
poor hoof care he had -or better stated – lack of hoof care) has caused some
leg soreness. Add to the mix the recent trimming/balancing and you have a horse
that now has to adapt to “new shoes” and being level. We have him on some light
pain medication as of today and will give him the next seven to days off any “heavy”
work while continuing to follow the now vet approved program as we monitor is mobility
y rehabilitation. If the soreness does not improve in the next ten days we have
a plan B in place. Everyone is confident that the recent changes in his world
will be beneficial, albeit slightly stressful, and that we’ll see the “new and
improved” Roscoe very soon as his mind and body adapt to the new level of care
and health. However, the limitations placed on us by our vet created the need
to review the training program we were on. So we discussed the Method with our
vet. Because round penning is usually done at the trot and lope that was nixed.
We were able to agree that all of the Desensitizing Exercises, Flexing, Yielding
of the Fore and Hindquarters, Backing and Lunging for Respect Stage 1 (at the
walk) could be done as well as Leading Beside could be done with solid rest
periods between. This seemed like a solid plan and we were excited for Roscoe
and his progress.
DAY 10-13: Three
meals a day plus supplements and pain medication seems to be making for a very
happy Roscoe. We have done some short periods of desensitizing to the rope and
stick-n-string and he has gotten some great grooming session. He helped with a
Horse 101 class taught over the weekend, where folks who have never touched a
horse got to groom, feed and put their hands on a horse while learning about
the basics of horsemanship. He really liked being the center of attention.
DAY 14: We had an
impromptu horse club (Nor Cal Downunder Brumbies) practice set for today. Argent is really on
the learning curve and we didn’t want to slow him down. We figured it would be
good for Roscoe to tag along (more time in the trailer is a good thing). While
folks were warming up Roscoe and Michael practices some leading exercises at
the walk, worked on flexing and the ‘prescribed” exercised approved by the vet.
He was moving MUCH better and even felt like trotting a bit.(we slowed that
impulse down, however) which was nice to see. He was decent at flexing but did
not fully comprehend the exercise, even with “bumping” the halter. So we tried
a variant of the “poke and flex” method by mixing the “bump” with one hand and
a scratching with the other in the target zone. While not easy to do it did
help him understand while keeping the reaction of the horse to the increased
pressure at a lower level. We incorporated a treat in the scratching hand that
was given once the target was touched. Once the concept was understood we would
then reward three good efforts with a treat. It made the process easier for
Roscoe who got pretty light to the halter in good fashion. Backing was fun. He
must have had experience to some of the approached in his past because the Wiggle,
Wave, Walk and Whack he understood straight away. He also understood Steady Pressure
pretty well. Tap the Air and Marching wee a complete mystery however. So, we
now have some starting points! We introduced the exercises and always rewarded
the slightest try. The human’s challenge was not to escalate the pressure too
fast. We dropped the ball on this a few times and went back to the Arena Mates
to check ourselves. Leading Beside was introduced. He picked these up pretty
well but will need some refinement on his awareness of where to stop in
relation to his human. He never “crowded” his human which is good and by the
end of the lesson he would stop and take a small step backward. It was good to see him feeling better and
actually looking forward to the mental exercise of the session.
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