And They Lived Happily Ever After

Today is the official end of the Whisper Project. I have his adoption papers and while EOI has an interest in him for the next 24 months and will always take him back if I can’t care for him, he is mine. Not exactly what I had envisioned but certainly my adopting him was always a distinct possibility.

His training will continue of course. We’re currently working on bends and counterbends and just riding. Basically he is being treated as a green horse and when he steps up and says ‘I know how to do that’ it is a nice surprise. There are still some issues to be worked out. Occasionally he will bolt for no apparent reason. I’m coming to believe more and more that the toe of my boot has something to do with that. He is a very sensitive horse and he can be really really light.

All that said I have to thank a few people for their help and insight. EOI (Suzi, Heather, Joan, and Connie) for introducing me to Whisper and allowing him to follow me home. Samantha and Callie for invaluable training help - Samantha particularly for the early work and her belief that Whisper is a ‘good horse’ and Callie for the ongoing work under saddle. Most of all to my mother who took care of him when I couldn’t, held his ‘hoof’ when he hurt, and believed in him so much. And to my husband who believes in me and gives his blessing to almost all of my endeavors. If you want to follow Whisper further you'll just have to check out my facebook pages:)

We're Riding Again

Whisper and I had an excellent session yesterday. I started him on light round pen work last week and put a saddle back on him on Thursday. He also finally got to try out his new bit – that was kind of a nonevent but made me feel better to have him in a bit that fits. I had big plans to ride him on Friday. Hah, no one told Whisper the plan. Seems he’d been practicing his avoid the mounting block routine while he was off. Every time I picked up the reins he’d move his butt away. Took a bit of fumbling on my part but Clinton Anderson saved me again. One of his favorite techniques is to work the horse then let them rest beside a scary object. I initially moved him in small circles back and forth around the mounting block. This didn’t seem to work so well – at least it wasn’t accomplishing much. So I said the hell with it and sent him around the round pen at a canter – about 5 circuits in each direction then stopped him and led him to the mounting block. If he stood still he got rubbed and told he was a good boy. As soon as he moved I sent him off at a canter again. Pretty soon I was able to climb up on the block, pick up the reins, step in the stirrup, and lay across the saddle. We did this for maybe 45 minutes. I never did get on him, just went thru the motions. When we were done I tied him in the round pen to think about the lesson. Saturday was a day off. Yesterday we started the same way -circuits then he stood by the mounting block. Only this time he never moved. I sent him off at a walk a couple of times then seriously worked on standing in the stirrup, sitting on him and dismounting without having him move. On and off, on and off. Finally we set out and worked on walk/trot and whoa. Afterwards I tied him in the round pen to think again although what he actually thought about was how to untie himself. He was wandering around when I brought Spice up. I’m just glad he didn’t roll with the saddle on. As of right now I’m confident that he is at the same place he was when he was injured. Later this week (work does interfere) we'll move on to the arena. The really good news is that the endurance and show seasons are over and I should be able to get some professional training help.

On the adoption front I still don’t have his papers but those are apparently in the works. Once that is finalized I’ll have to give some thought as to whether to continue his blog. EOI has declared the venture a success – their definition of success being adoption. Although training is ongoing the initial goal for him has been achieved - he has certainly joined the ranks of working equines.

He's Back - and the Decision is ...

...It’s time. I knew when I started this project that this could happen – and probably would. When my husband said (more than once) that he thought Whisper was the best horse of my three (he’s knows little about horses but in general I respect his opinion – especially when it coincides with mine); when he said wistfully ‘Whisper is my favorite but Doc is my charge,’ I knew that Whisper would be staying with us. The logistics are difficult. Board for three horses isn’t cheap. Training for Whisper isn’t either but I don’t have the expertise to teach him the fine points he needs to know even to be a competent trail horse and I still hope that he will be more than that. Keeping three horses ridden and in decent physical shape is definitely a challenge although Spice would be perfectly happy to be fat and out of shape. Her goal in life is to be a pasture ornament. So, I’ve decided. We will go from two horses to a small herd of three and have relayed this intention to the appropriate individuals. I'm assuming a pro forma response but haven't heard back yet - ok, it's only been an hour or so.

ETA I emailed the request at 9:54 am; at 9:57 am I received a message indicating the official paperwork is being drawn up. Guess I should go buy celebratory apples all around.

On the injury front – Whisper is back in his pasture with his buddies. It took him about 90 seconds to re-establish his “I’m in charge and that’s my hay pile’ credentials. I watched with some amusement as I haven’t seen Doc & Spice move with such alacrity since Whisper first joined them. Spice is such a suck-up. She was soon munching hay right beside him. Doc decided to pout for a time at the top of the pasture but was soon moving Spice to another pile so he could claim hers. Maybe this will help my slightly chubby charges become a little more svelte.

The plan now (I know. I have a new plan every time something changes) – is to work Whisper for 20 minutes every day for a week to get him back into shape mentally as well as physically. He’s gotten used to being a fawned over pet in the past six weeks. The injury to his leg caused only minimal lameness and he is showing no sign of lameness now but I think easing him back to work is best.

And the vet was right

Promptly at 6 days, minutes after I made an appointment to have his stitches removed, he ripped out the ones on his left front – the more seriously injured. Arrggghhhhh. As my regular vet was coming out to give all the horses their shots she took a look, removed the pieces of stitches, cleaned it, and replaced the bandage. She gave him no drugs just some alfalfa. Have I mentioned he’s a tough guy? I wouldn’t bring up the ‘no drugs’ except when the other vet showed up to take out the remaining stitches and clean/rebandage the wounds he gave him a 'calming' shot. Seems he remembers Whisper from the sarcoma surgery and was taking no chances. Can't blame him for that I guess but I did tell him Whisper's a lot more calm now. Anyway he has 10 more days in a stall before he can move to one of the small round pens. He’s handling it very well. He likes to watch the two little fillies being weaned in the round pen outside his window. They talk occasionally.

Today I had both Doc and Spice in the round pen. He called several times from the confines of his stall and got to rub noses with Spice on her way through the barn. While he doesn't complain often I can tell he really misses his pasture mates. He doesn't seem to have bonded with any of the Arabs in adjacent stalls - imagine my surprise. We're both counting the days until he can get back outside.

I Repeat, With Exasperation...Horses...

Do horses go around looking for ways to get hurt? It can sure seem that way. Last Friday I’d barely gotten to work when my phone rang. Isn’t caller id great? I knew instantly one of my horses had done something stupid. Yep, it was Whisper, his leg was bleeding and the stable owner couldn’t catch him. I told her the tried and true methods and hung up to call my husband to assist her – I work in Bend while the horses (and husband) are in Prineville. The stable owner called me back about 15 minutes later to let me know Whisper was in a stall and needed stitches. I told her to call the stable vet and went back to work. I wish now that she could have given me some idea of how bad it was but she probably couldn’t tell. I got a call from the vet about 3pm – yeah, I thought they had been and gone by now also – wanting to know when he’d had his last shots and letting me know they’d be there in about 30 minutes. I called my husband again and asked him to meet them at them stable. An hour later he called to tell me what the silly horse had done to himself. The good news – it wasn’t life threatening. Apparently he had an altercation with his feeder, a metal behemoth so heavy I have to have help sliding it away from the fence where the horses periodically push it. The only thing I can think is that he pulled it over onto himself or one of the other horses pushed it over. Anyway, he cut open the backs of both knees to the bone. He missed tendons and ligaments and there was no joint fluid leaking. He’ll be fine in about six weeks. In the meantime he is confined to a stall for the next couple of weeks in order to lessen the chance of ripping out the stitches. This is not his favorite place. He misses his pasture mates but there is generally some activity in the barn and he talks to the arabians who pop in and out at various times of the day. And, he attracts a lot of attention. Big, stately, and aloof with both front legs wrapped in horrible lime green vet wrap, how can you miss him.

The most surprising and rewarding aspect is Whisper’s attitude towards being worked on. While we hacked off the old bandages and fumbled through applying new ones the big guy stood still and allowed whatever we did. No stamping, no fidgeting. Velcro and ripping noises don’t bother him. He checked out what we were doing occasionally but was more interested in finding the treats I had in my pocket. He doesn’t seem to have much pain, little swelling, and has never been lame at all even when we put the knee brace on him. Well maybe for the couple of steps it took to pretty much destroy it.

Now comes the hard part according to the vet. About 6 days in is when they usually rip out the stitches. They were still good last night. We just have to keep him quiet for another week then he should be ready to go into a nice flat round pen to finish recuperating. He’ll like that – outside and still getting all the attention. He may be aloof but a good neck rubbing trumps all.

Man, Is It Hot

Whisper and I have had a couple of interesting rides. Both were in the arena. It's nice to have more room but this particular arena is not enclosed - it's essentially just a flat spot with a wall on one side and the ditch on the other. It's not a great place to ride green horses but it's all we've got. He's continuing to work on standing still alongside the bucket -  getting better but still needs work. He’s somewhat friendlier with the plastic bag but they’ll never be best buddies. We’ve stepped up the speed a little – walk/trot/fast walk now instead of just walk. He’s getting the general idea although he still doesn’t really get the bit & reins. He moves off my leg pretty well – he’ll move over to the wall and back and turn in a circle with leg pressure. To accomplish the same using just the reins requires a fair amount of muscle. He also likes to lean on the bit although he only seems to do it when he walks. And, he rubs his face on his leg. I don’t know if he’s itchy or he’s trying to remove the bridle, or?? Time to call in the professionals again – as soon as they’re finished with endurance and show season.

Ah yes. The interesting part of the last ride. A very large horse fly annoying my very large horse mightily. We did a lot of small circles while he twitched, swished, kicked, and stamped trying to get rid of the fly. At one point I told him if he’d stop I’d get off. He didn’t stop, I didn’t get off, and the fly eventually flew away. He settled down and we continued our ride. Even when he’s a handful he’s a controlled handful. He’s much, much better at using his head. Although things still spook him (some of them have to be imaginary), his reactions are more measured - a flinch instead of a jump. We were heading from the arena to the stable last week, ambling along when all of the sudden we were facing the other direction. What the ….?? I have no idea when he saw, heard, or imagined. He has walked that road numerous times – it’s the main drag from his pasture to the stable. But he didn't run, he just whirled and stopped. We turned back around and continued on our way. Horses….

I Know He's Laughing at Me

It’s been awhile but it’s the writing that has been put off not the riding. Let’s see. Whisper got a full set of shoes. He came to me barefoot and has done ok but his pasture is rocky and his hooves haven’t been growing very much. So about 3 weeks ago his farrier fitted him with a new set of ‘nikes.’ He did amazingly well through most of the process – he actually behaved better than my mare does. While he was getting his shoes we were visited by a retired farrier friend of my farrier. He was immediately taken with Whisper – as most seem to be – impressed by his kind eye and the awareness that Whisper was trying so hard to be good. I saw the gentleman yesterday and the first thing he said was “you been riding that big gray horse?” Happily I was able to say yes.

But, (there’s always a but) not as much as I’d like. Riding Whisper can be a production. We usually start out in the round pen (although that’s going to change today). First I have to find the mounting block which could be anywhere (one of my own is on the shopping list), then I need to get him to stand still beside it. He’s a tricky little devil; I can almost hear him chuckling. He knows if he’s not saddled I won’t get on him so he’ll stand there snoozing until the cows come home. I can lean on him rub on him, thump on him; he just soaks it all up. But put a saddle on him and we will spend the first 20 minutes realigning him. Hmmm…reading this maybe he’s picking up something from me that is making him nervous. Have to think about that.

We’re also trying something new/old in his ground training. The deadly plastic bag has been introduced. Tied to the end of the ‘handy-stick’ it is a scary, spooky, horse-eating nightmare – just ask any of the horses at the stable. They were all hanging over the pasture fence to watch. I wish I had a picture of Whisper mouthing it and trying to take it off the stick. After three days he has decided that he can co-exist with the bag as long as it's not whipping around his ears. Initially he particularly didn’t like having it around his withers – presumably because he couldn’t see it - but is ok now with having it rubbed all over him.  Let it flap around his ears though and that’s a whole new story. To his credit all he does is throw up his head and maybe take one step sideways. A little more work and he'll be eating his treat out of it.

Note to self: When standing on a bucket leaning on the horse make sure the stick with the bag on it is on the same side as self. Leaving it on the far side of the horse and having an errant breeze riffle the bag is not conducive to remaining on said bucket. To be fair he only flinched and didn’t knock me off but it did make me think.

I decided on this approach after I watched a Clinton Anderson video where he was doing a first ride on a rescue horse. Before he got on her he did the plastic bag thing then had an assistant sit on the top rail of the round pen while he moved the horse back and forth only allowing the horse to stop in front of her. This resonated with me because I know Whisper doesn’t like having something above him and I would like to be able to get on him from a fence. We haven’t gotten to the fence part yet – another couple of days of bagging and we should be able to try it.