A Rescued Horse's Tale: Day 32-37

DAY 32: Roscoe’s public debut! We attended the September Nor Cal Downunder Brumbies practice in Wilton, CA. Roscoe worked on his round pen skills and fundamental groundwork, got desensitized top new places and other horses and even made a new friend. He helped a “new to horses” person try some of the groundwork exercises we practice. He seemed calm and relaxed, even when another horse came loping by. Sadly because of time we did not get to work under saddle at the practice but we did get in some work with the bit. He was much better and we were able to get him to take the bit three times, flex and back up in about 15 minutes. It was a good place to end the session and head home. He got lots of attention and rubs form folks. In short he did well as we hoped and better than we expected.

. Hard to believe we hit the 30 day mark so soon!

He seems to be gaining healthy weight and his energy levels are going up. His coat is looking good and we are seeing some good hoof growth. It is a process and an exercise in patience to be sure.

Day 33: We did an experiment Today.

A) We double checked with the vet that Roscoe could trot/lope for short periods without hurting him. His feet are still now 100% but MUCH better than they were just 30 days ago. Also he is putting on muscle (from the exercise) so carrying Michael for short periods is also okay. The lighter the rider the longer the ride.
B) We got in the round pen and "reviewed with alacrity and energy" the round penning exercises, backing and flexing for 20 minutes. Got some deep breathing and sweat happening on the boy. Good times.
C) Laurie saddled up and basically rode Roscoe through the exercises with Michael being the "spank/pressure" in the squeeze, cluck, spank formula for 15 minutes. Many direction changes and transitions of gait (walk/trot).

RESULT- He did perform better. Going to the right (clockwise) his turn and responsiveness was still not pretty but better. The "loose rein" was a big help too. He did transition into the trot smoother. So...we have a plan to help fix this as well. Our friend Stacey Boyd (owner/trainer -Royal Legends Stable) is going to give Mr. Roscoe the “once over” later this just to see if we missed anything. What we figure is that during his time of "neglect" he was not being used much at all or ridden poorly. We know so very little about his history. At the rescue they "sort of do the Method" but from what we saw they simply saddle up and ride until there is an issue. He reportedly got 8-10 rides on him in the arena and on the trail while there.. He did seem to need "active cues" during our “test drive”. So this "condition" may have been there prior to our adoption and it resurfaced now that he is feeling more secure. It's a process.

            As for the bit issues is is REALLY getting better. It now takes seconds compared to minutes to get him to calmly take the bit in his mouth. We have been doing short sessions of put it on, take it off several times and then he gets to have a snack.

DAY 34:  We loaded up the horses this evening and headed over to Royal Legends to hang out with our friend Stacey Boyd. She looked over the boy and highlighted some of the conformation/muscle development points we noted at the rescue. She turned us on to a farrier who she thinks can really help Roscoe recover his hoof shape/health too. We’re going to try him out next week. Stacey wanted to ride Roscoe cold (without ground work) to see what his reactions would be. After a 30 minute ride which combined arena work and a mini trail ride we all agreed on the level of Roscoe’s “training” under saddle. Sadly, the Animal Rescue was way off in their assessment of his skills. He is "green" so it works out well since the Fundamentals level kit is also green. He has some basic skills but he is not refined. He did seem to enjoy is mini-trail ride with Stacey so as soon as we are "sure" he knows his Fundamental skills we'll be getting more trail miles under his hooves. He even gave a bareback “pony ride” to Stacey’s two boys (ages 6 and 4 respectively) and was a rock star. Oh, he took the bit well too. Stacey has a bit that he really seemed to like so we’re off the to the local tack consignment shop to get one. Tomorrow we go back to square one and start working him through the program. The goal is to create a safe, sane horse for a "weekend warrior" to putt-putt down the trail and dink around the arena with. He was nick-named “Prince Charming” after the pony rides. We have found his calling!

DAY 35 -36: Round pen day! Michael was on the road for work so Laurie did his training session today. More fundamental round pen exercises with a focus on developing that gas pedal and steering. He was much smoother and seemed to enjoy the experience. He locked on very well and moved with energy. As it broke 100 degrees today the workout was only 30-45 minutes. May wins were achieved. A day off occurred as it was hot and everyone needed a break.

DAY 37: 9:00am – Round pen session with Michael and Roscoe. Lots of wins happened. It actually seemed like Roscoe missed Michael. Lots of direction changes at the trot and lope and getting two eye/locking on happened smoothly with little effort. We can tell that there is still some minor discomfort with Roscoe’s hooves but nothing like Day 1. Supplements and trimming will help greatly with this. His coat looks great. He actually has spots of dark brown/almost black on him. Very cool. The feeling we get that his belly is full therefore his mind is focused. He seems to be getting into the workouts more and more. We are very sensitive to rewarding the slightest try and it seems to be work as he keeps trying to give us a better effort each session. Later we’ll head over to the local arena for another training session and saddle work.

NOTE: The pictures below were take on Day 1, Day 17 and Day 30. Seems we are on the right "trail!"