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.

Continue to Continue

It’s time, as they say, to get back on the horse – in this case literally. There are affairs to settle, a house to clean, laundry to do and flowers to plant so let’s go riding. Spice is lame – she broke a chunk out of her hoof, my husband has claimed Doc and they’re still bonding so if I want to ride it has to be Whisper. It’s certainly time. It has been more than a month since his first ride and I can count on one hand the number of times he’s been ridden since. And no one except Tall has ridden him off of a lead line. Time to just get on the horse and ride him.

Whisper has become a different horse in the past several weeks. He has become more personable and less fearful. Instead of me taking him his carrots he is the first one to approach asking for them. I can walk up to him and throw my arms around his neck and he no longer flinches or tries to turn to the side. I can walk around him without him trying to keep his eye on me all the time. His wary, suspicious look is gone. All this has happened since Tall rode him. It’s like he’s figured out the end game and it’s not so bad – if fact he kind of likes it. That’s not to say he doesn’t still sometimes lead me on a merry chase around the pasture but I get the distinct impression he’s laughing at me rather than trying to run away. Yesterday after I worked him I returned him to his pasture and went to put the halter on my mare. She was having none of it and took off up the hill with Whisper right beside her. He knew I wasn’t trying to catch him so he blocked for Spice. I could walk up to him and scratch his nose but when I tried to move around him he’d block me just long enough for Spice to get away. I did finally catch up to her and his whinny as we left the pasture sounded an awful lot like a chuckle.

So, I grabbed my husband (security blanket), tacked up the big boy, and put him through some paces in the round pen. Then I got on him and rode 1.87 miles in a circle at a walk (my husband had attached a gps to the saddle horn). We started and stopped and started. We changed direction. We were surprised by a car roaring into the driveway – I told him the owner is an idiot and he agreed and moved on. We worked on one rein stops then on ‘whoa.’ He was a gentleman the entire time.

One thing kind of surprised me. I had my husband stand in the middle of the round pen in case Whisper decided to take off. Stepping in front of his drive line would cause Whisper to slow and turn. He is also used to having someone in that position and I thought he might be less nervous. That turned out not to be necessary but when I told him (husband) to leave the round pen Whisper started to follow him. Even though he (husband) had been standing perfectly still Whisper was paying at least as much attention to him as me. I noticed that once my husband was out of the picture Whisper was more distracted by events happening outside of the round pen. Of course the endurance horse being trained to lope past someone handing it’s rider a water bottle distracted me also. All that aside it was an excellent session. There are things to work on – standing still beside the mounting block is paramount. We won’t be leaving the round pen until we have walk/trot transitions down and then it will be to the arena for a bit. I hope to have him on the trails in a couple of weeks. I think with Callie’s help that’s doable. We’ve made an excellent start.

We Had a Merry Ride

This entry will be only peripherally about Whisper. Possibly it’s been noticed that the entries have become fewer in the last couple of months. I’ve alluded to the cause in an earlier entry but the time has come to tell why.

When I was a child all I wanted was a horse. We lived in the city and (as I found out only recently) my parents seriously considered buying me one but just couldn’t afford it. As I got older other things took the place of that desire but I’ve always had a soft spot for horses and loved being around them. My mother took a hiking trip to Peru about 10 years ago. She was mid sixtyish at the time and said later it was the hardest thing she had ever done. But, there were three horses available to ride and she took advantage of that whenever no one really needed to ride. She came home and began taking riding lessons and – you can see where this is going - she bought Doc, a 7 year old paint gelding. And she had great fun with him. They went here and there and rode trails and forded streams and loped up hills and spooked at benches and hay bales. He would do something stupid, she would get dumped, and he would look at her as if to say “What are you doing down there? You belong on my back.” They were a team; a bonded pair.

When we knew I was moving out here she began to tell me about this mare that was boarded at the same stable as Doc. Her owner had died and she was for sale. Mom was afraid she would be sold to someone who didn’t appreciate her. She had personality and got along well with Doc and was not dull and boring. And best of all – she wasn't mare-ish. You can see where this is going – I bought Spice,  an opinionated, stubborn, redheaded mare - and if that's not mare-ish I don't know what is.

I moved out here two years ago and we spent a lot of time riding in the hills and on the rimrock. We didn’t need to tell the horses where to go. My mother would ‘yip-yip’ to Doc and we would take off at a lope up the hill. This actually became somewhat of a problem. When Spice hears that trademark cue she’s off. I just had to be ready for it. We went on the trail ride from hell which left Spice lame but she learned to go through water. We trained for an endurance ride which actually improved Spice’s disposition somewhat.

Mom thought fostering Whisper was a great idea. Spice has navicular syndrome and is an accident waiting to happen. She comes up lame periodically. Whisper would give me a horse to play with if Spice was incapacitated. From the time I brought him home Mom helped with him. She took him for walks and rubbed him and helped get him used to other people. She was there with him when he had surgery and walked his groggy butt to a stall afterward. She thought he was a great horse and deserving of this chance.

In April Mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It didn’t change the way she did things. She and Doc still loped up that hill. She helped me with Whisper. She rode him before I did because I was afraid another chance wouldn’t come. And it didn’t. We did the Sheriff’s Posse poker ride at Skull Hollow on May 22. We won prizes and it was a great day. She died June 1st. And I hope she knows that when the time comes for Doc to join her I will be there to point him up the hill.

Phototography courtesy of Claudia J. Howell Photography http://www.claudiajhowell.com/

Whisper’s First Ride

Well, not exactly his first but I’d venture to say it was his best. I would recommend Tall to anyone. He took the time to ask about Whisper’s background and get to know him, do some groundwork first without the saddle then with, and eventually become Whisper’s newest bestest friend.

The day started out with Whisper being Whisper. We did some groundwork in the morning. He did pretty well but was jumpy. We introduced a new exercise hoping he would concentrate and settle down a bit. This met with marginal success. I put him back in the pasture and ran home for lunch. An hour later I was back at the stable tacking him up for his big adventure. In the middle of this the mare and foal who were occupying the round pen we were going to use were brought into the stable. The foal came trotting up to make Whisper’s acquaintance. Visions of Whisper meeting Skylar at EOI came rushing back. Whisper was terrified of Skylar and there was a fence between them. I expected an immediate meltdown. Amazingly he merely looked at her and stood quietly while she danced around. He continued to stand quietly when she came back a second time. It was time to move to the round pen.

Tall went through groundwork, unsaddling, more groundwork, saddling, putting weight in the stirrup, putting weight on the saddle, up, down, up, down. And then the rains came. It was downright boring and I’ve never been so happy to be bored. There was no drama, few hysterics, and the drama queen was banished at least temporarily. When Tall got on, Whisper just stood there while he rubbed and bounced and rubbed some more. When he got him moving it seemed he only had a reverse gear. Whisper can back up straight. He can back in circles. He can practically do figure eights going backwards. It probably took 20 minutes of stopping, starting, getting on and off, circling, a little spooking, and finally a couple of slaps on the butt with the ends of the reins before the light bulb lit and he moved more or less forward. The first couple of circuits were done in a beautiful sidepass. After that he moved forward first at a trot then a walk. As the video shows he’s almost like a different horse – his head is down and he looks calm and happy. Funnily enough when Tall tried to back him after this it seemed he’d forgotten how to go backwards. We all decided that’s just fine for now. Once again Whisper has validated everyone's faith in him. I firmly believe he can do this.

Same Old and Some Cautious News

We have been having some rather intensive groundwork sessions. One thing that’s different between how I’ve handled groundwork and how Whisper’s trainers do it is direction changes. Where both Sam and Callie tend to keep him going in one direction for long periods of time I like to change direction often. I decided Whisper needed a fast workout with a lot of changes to keep his interest and attention. To that end after his warm up, we cantered to the right, cantered to the left, then cantered some more. After several minutes of this his head came down some and he became more responsive to requests for direction changes. He is almost to the point of pivoting on his hocks although I probably shouldn't push that. I don't think he'd make a great cowhorse but what he lacks in quickness he more than compensates for in length of stride. He can cover a lot of ground quickly.

Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to watch Callie work him for the past week or so but I can see improvements when I work with him. Where it has been difficult to keep him walking for any length of time now he seems happy to walk without breaking into a trot - this is very effective for cooling him down after a workout. 

He has also become more responsive in the pasture. For a long time we would take his pan of grain to him and let him eat it wherever he wanted. We finally decided he could eat at the feeder like the other two horses. A couple of times Spice snarfled his dinner but to date nobody has gotten his carrot or apple. Where I used to take his treat to him now he comes to me for it. Below are Whisper and his buds Spice & Doc waiting patiently for dinner - not.

Now for the cautious news. I have spoken with the person we've chosen to do Whisper's 'first ride' and it is tentatively set for Wednesday. I'll touch base with him tomorrow to finalize a time but hopefully the next post will include video of the big boy under saddle. Fingers crossed!

Work and Walkabout

Today Whisper went on an adventure. First we did groundwork which went well except for the moment I dropped the lead. I ran to jump on it which startled Whisper. Luckily I actually landed on my end just as he hit his end. Thinking I still had hold of him he continued his circle. We went over poles then over a small jump – he hasn’t jumped since his surgery. He did well and my husband was able to take some video. I haven’t seen it yet but will post it when I get it.

Afterwards we went on a walkabout. We went over the bridge which he checked out thoroughly but didn’t object to crossing. The water didn’t bother him; the ducks didn’t bother him; even the belligerant horses up the road didn't bother him. They bothered me - we didn't hang around. I had to tell him to get out of my pocket a few times but overall he was more interested than nervous. His was looking everywhere at once and his ears were swiveling so fast they were practically spinning. He got to graze a little and went back to his buddies with stories to tell.

Whisper's Week in Review

Whisper has had a fairly busy week. He met his new handler/trainer and had a farrier appointment. Here’s how his week went. Sunday – 25 minute lunge with saddle/bridle; Monday – 25 minute lunge with surcingle/bridle; Tuesday – 30 minute catch and release training; Wednesday – farrier; Thursday-30 minute lunge with surcingle/bridle; Friday – 15 minute lunge, 15 minute walkabout. A note about the ‘catch and release’ training. This was the first time Callie tried to catch Whisper in order to work with him. He embarked on his usual song and dance when a new person tries to catch him. Callie was able to turn the tables on him and use his shenanigans against him. She hasn’t had any further problems catching him.

I lunged him for about 30 minutes today and am very happy with his responsiveness. Most impressive was his willingness to walk calmly for six circuits in each direction. He only broke into a trot a couple times and returned to the walk when cued. This is a first and to me indicates he is very relaxed with the entire process. Still working on the first ride person.

The Best Laid Plans…

…are subject to change without notice

As much as I love my horses there are times when I wish I could just say “horses?, what horses"? They can add significant stress when that’s the last thing needed. We had no sooner gotten back to work after Whisper's surgery than he – and all the other horses at the stable – came down with strangles. It was a mild case but he had to have a shot – a big shot – twice a day. The stable owner took care of most of the shots as I had another major issue developing but I was there for a couple of them. I thought he handled them really well but apparently that was only when I was around. I heard rumblings around the stable that he was a less than cooperative patient. Too bad. I had other things to worry about and it was the owner who brought it back from a trip.

He’s well now and back to work again. I think I’ve noted before that the more time off Whisper has the more things he dreams up to be afraid of. Well, he’s been off work most of a month and I was beginning to think he’d completely regressed. Yesterday it took 20 minutes chasing him over hill and dale in his pasture to get a halter on him. Now, I think part of it was that the three brats were having a great time ripping around the place. Funny part was every once in a while Spice or Doc would stop and come over to see if I had a treat for them. Then they’d tear off again to chase each other around. Whisper finally deigned to let me catch him and we had an excellent work session. He went over a small jump several times and over poles and did very well with his transitions. We worked quite a bit on desensitizing as I’d like for him to be at least as calm as he was a month ago.

Interestingly today it only took a few minutes to catch him and he is calming down. He’s truly a horse whose active imagination needs equally active channeling.

We’ve added a new member to his training team. Samantha will oversee his training and Callie, one of her students, will be doing the hands on work. She lunged him for the first time today. Whisper was initially nervous around her but as they worked he settled down and responded very well. She agrees that it is time for his first rides – I’ll try to get that set up for next week – and in the meantime we’ll both try to work with him every day. We’ll be doing groundwork but also just grooming and walking and generally handling him. Did I mention he is a high maintenance horse?

When I caught him for the second time today I just walked up to him. Then he and Doc got to go to the hayfield and graze for awhile. One thing I have neglected with him is just to wander around. He needs to realize that everytime he is haltered it doesn’t necessarily mean work. I am really happy with his progress this weekend and feel that with the addition of Callie we’ll be able to move forward toward our goal of making Whisper a contributing member of equine society.

We're Back!

Whisper started back to work today. Granted it was just walking and slow trotting on a lunge line and some desensitizing exercises but I think he’s happy to get back to it. Toward the end of his convalescence (which went very well) he was beginning to get more and more flightly and fidgety. Even though he was handled every day - mainly to give him drugs and hose down his belly but it counts. This may sound ridiculous but I think he needs something more to think about than when the hay will come. Maybe he is just exceptionally imaginative for a horse. We have accomplished a couple of things in the past 2 weeks. Whisper will now go into the wash rack without too much trouble. It’s not his favorite place to be but he knows water won’t hurt him.

He has a clean, silky, flowing
tail – the dreadlocks are gone – and isn’t that a nice looking butt.





We’ll do some more groundwork tomorrow to get him back into the swing of things and Monday I’ll contact his trainer. He should be fit to ride in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed….

Whisper Goes to the Doctor

With horses one thing you can count on is that there will always be something happening. About a month ago I noticed that Whisper had an odd lump on his belly. The stable vet happened to be visiting and I had him take a look at it. He diagnosed it as a melanoma – quite typical in gray horses – and advised watching it for changes. Well a week or so ago it began growing and looking rather nasty so, back to the vet who determined it was a sarcoid and advised immediate removal. For more information on sarcoids: http://www.gaitedhorses.net/Articles/EquineSarcoid.htm

It was removed last Thursday. Whisper spent one night in the barn then rejoined his pasture buddies much to his delight. He is officially on ‘no work.’ Our quality time consists of me giving him antibiotics and hosing down his belly. The good to come out of this is that he is losing his fear of the washrack and I’m slowly getting his tail clean.

One funny instance to relate. When I have to work my mother takes over medicating and hosing. Friday she put Whisper in the washrack,and looped his lead thru the bars in the window. She left him there and went to find the hose nozzle which typically had migrated to the bottom of whatever receptacle she was searching. By the time she found it and returned, Whisper had apparently gotten tired of waiting and ambled off. True to form he was moseying down the lane to his pasture. He was waiting at the gate, regaling his buddies with tales of his adventures when she caught up with him. The two of them returned to the washrack. It appears we don’t have to worry about him taking off over the rimrock. His pasture is his happy place. Thus far the few times he has gotten loose that’s where he’s headed.

I’ll continue to post when there’s anything worth relating but until he’s recovered there probably won’t be much. Doc and Spice are taking good care of him, keeping him entertained until he can return to the arena and his training.

Always More to Learn

Whisper has been a real gentleman lately. He’s getting better at his gait cues and we’ve been working diligently on ‘whoa.’ This has been difficult to do which is why it got put off when it shouldn’t have. Whisper has an ongoing fear of a lunge whip (or any article of that type). To him it means move away. We’ve worked on rubbing him with the whip and dragging the string over his back and neck and around his legs. As soon as he realizes that’s what we’re working on he will stand still and tolerate it. I don’t think he really relaxes but he stands calmly. We’ve been working on whoa using a version of Clinton Anderson’s sending exercise. I send him off to the right or left then when his tail passes me pull the lead towards me and step toward his tail while bringing the lunge whip to the ground and saying ‘whoa.’ In theory this encourages him to swing his hindquarters away from me and stop. It works pretty well except when I pick up the whip to rub him with it (good boy) he takes that as a signal to move off again. So we go round and round until suddenly he has a light bulb moment. I say ‘whoa’ and he stops. Don’t need any steps towards tail or whip to the ground. Simply tell him what he’s supposed to do and he does it. OK, it’s not really that easy and it only works well going one direction but it was so obvious when he got it you could hear him thinking ‘duh.’

After my less than successful attempt to maneuver Whisper from the saddle I’ve been working on ways to cue him for turns from the ground. I don’t want to try ground driving as I’ve never done that and don’t want to confuse him. So, he’s been wearing his bridle whenever we work and at the end I attach the reins and work on a few simple things. First he flexes (touches his side with his nose) then he gives to the bit while I pull lightly down on the reins (kind of a seesaw motion). We’ve been working on this for some time and he does it so well that he thinks that any bit pressure means to drop his head. While that’s not wrong it’s not quite what I want right now. After a bit of confusion he discovered if I pulled his head toward me while poking about where the stirrup would hang he should move his hindquarters away. It didn’t take long and the slightest touch on the rein would have him moving away. After working both sides we called it a day. I am very pleased with his quick intelligence and increasing lightness. He is incredibly responsive.

Have Patience or Never Make Assumptions

It doesn’t take much of an imagination to realize that gravity is going to work against two objects going different directions and that they are probably going to part company sooner rather than later. Yep I goofed. I got on Whisper when all the signs said it was a bad idea. And, yep. The signs were right. He bolted and I bailed. The dirt/sand/various organic materials in the arena are surprisingly soft.

I really can’t say exactly what happened. When I was grooming him I noticed his back seemed tender. But how could his back be sore? It’s not like he works that hard or carries much of anything around. I ignored it. It was a brisk windy day and the kids were racing around their pastures. Ignored that too. Proceeded to groundwork, then some jumping. He was a little excited and I dropped the lunge line at one point. Whisper exited the arena and headed for his pasture. I was happy he didn’t go far and calmly collected him. Did the usual drill – flapped the stirrup leathers, pulled on the stirrups, lined him up at the wall and leaned across the saddle. Nothing indicated his head was in a different place from the day before and I assumed…. So, I hopped on. As soon as my butt hit the saddle Whisper moved his – quickly and to the right. We made one large semi-circle ,missed the jump, then came to the parting of our ways. Whisper headed for his pasture and I went kerthud in a sort of sideways not quite belly flop. When the dust settled – literally – I hobbled over to Whisper who was telling his pasture buddies about his adventure and he stuck his nose out to say hi. Can’t beat a horse for understatement.

So, we’re back to groundwork and leaning on the saddle and such. He was very calm and well behaved today, responding well to gait cues including slowing to a walk. . He was a little nervous about lining up at the wall – he’d move his hindquarters away when I moved towards the saddle. So I just scratched his neck and he settled down after a bit and let me move back farther. I think I need to work a little more on his ‘whoa’ skills and hopefully that will translate when he’s under saddle. To that end I hope to have the person doing his first ‘real’ ride on him soon.

Whisper's Ears

Anyone who has ever been on a horse will recognize this view. Yes, I finally just hopped on. Stupid thing to do really. No one was around and the arena isn't fenced. It could have been a royal wreck. But he just stood there. And stood there. And stood some more. He was listening to me - look at how his ear is cocked. I bounced around in the saddle and rubbed his neck and and his butt. I dropped the reins so I could put my arms around him and rub under his neck. He just stood there. Then I got brave and decided we should move out. I squeezed - and he stood there. I clucked - and he stood there. I picked up the reins and gave him some serious leg. He took one step sideways. Finally I decided that just hanging out wasn't a bad thing. After all, I was sitting down. After 10 minutes or so I slid off him. He stood still for that too. About then my mother showed up so I got back on him and had her lead him. This made him really nervous and he started dancing around. That made me nervous - I've seen him buck. So we settled him down and I sat on him and flexed him for another 5 minutes or so and called it good. He got lots of treats and pats.

The picture was actually taken today. Now that I know he's not going anywhere I could probably do entire photo shoots from this position. He either doesn't have a clue what to do or is the most stubborn horse on 4 legs. I plan to let the professionals answer that one. His trainer will be back in a couple of weeks and she can determine the next step. For now I'm perfectly happy just to use him as a comfy cushion and practice flexing and giving to the bit - he's pretty good at that. One interesting note. Once you're actually on this guy he doesn't seem so big. Go figure....

At Long Last - the Video

One thing I forgot to mention about Whisper’s dental appointment. In order to have the procedure he had to walk into a trailer then into the stocks. The dentist was extremely patient with him allowing him to smell and proceed pretty much at his own pace. When he was about a third of the way in I tapped him on the butt and he moved right in. No muss, little fuss, just general curiousity.

And now the long promised and oft delayed video of Whisper jumping. He’s a little excited but is paying attention. There is speculation that he is pulling me around the arena – he definitely is at the end but before that I thought I was just walking to keep him in line with the jumps. Comments are welcome.

Whisper was dripping with sweat by the time we were done and my husband spent a fair amount of time walking him afterward. I was gratified by how well they got along. He (husband) is not a horse person but has extensive people training skills and his approach to Whisper reflects this. He brooks no nonsense. He was very clear cut about what he wanted Whisper to do and I think Whisper appreciates that. He (Whisper) gets very frustrated when he can’t figure out what I want. I think my body language is ambivalent at times which only adds to the frustration. Now I have some videos to compare with the ‘right’ way to do things. That can only help. Back to ‘they got along well.’ I was initially concerned that Whisper would become a one person horse but he is quite the social butterfly. He gives everyone he meets benefit of the doubt. If they have a pat, a rub, and a few words for him he calls them friend. That’s not to say he comes racing up to greet you – he is rather reserved – but he will wait calmly to be approached and greeted. Which brings up another quirk. Whisper must be greeted. If I walk up to him, put a halter on (yes , he allows that with no problem now), and lead him out of the pasture without petting him and saying ‘hi’ he is offended and will mope along until I realize what’s going on. Only some scratching and conversation will placate him. All in all he’s a pretty loveable guy. If I stand under his head and put my arms around his neck (did I mention this is a big horse?) he will rest his head on my shoulder. I take that to mean he likes being hugged.

After his tough day yesterday we went back to basic groundwork today. He walked and trotted over the tarp and some poles. He does amazingly well at that now. The tarp is an old friend and I think he likes prancing over the poles. After that to the bucket and I put weight in a stirrup and leaned across the saddle. Of course the bucket had to fall over and I poked Whisper in the stomach with my boot. He took a couple of steps sideways and stopped. I removed my boot from the stirrup and told him he was a good boy. I did that once more (without the poke) then decided it wasn't all that safe and moved him to a wall. He doesn't really like standing by the wall but he finally stood still long enough to get patted and for me to stand in the stirrup and lay across the saddle. He kept turning his head to look at me - probably wondering why I don't just get on with it - but never moved. I think he may be ready to ride.

Whisper & The Dentist

Wednesday, Whisper got a new smile. As I've mentioned before he has a parrot mouth and I was concerned that he hadn't had dental work in some time. The reality turned out to be much better (and much less expensive). He had very few hooks and negligible ramps. His upper teeth only needed to be shortened a little. While his lower front teeth can touch the roof of his mouth they don't seem to when he is chewing. All in all very good news. One interesting note. The dentist taped his weight at 1,245 lbs - less than I had thought but still no lightweight.  She also indicated this is about

his perfect weight.

These pictures were taken during his dental procedure. Don't tell him but the one below is exceedingly funny

Whisper & the Bucket

We continue with the groundwork. It’s slowly drying out so we’re able to work a little faster i.e. cantering. Whisper still gets excited when cued for a canter (throws his head, sometimes humps his back a little) but is improving in paying attention at speed and is pretty reliable at slowing to a trot when cued. The biggest problem (if it can be called that) is his tendency to lean on the lunge line going around corners.
Yesterday I decked him out in his new bridle – thanks to Sam for putting it together for me. English bridles are a little different. It fits him fairly well – believe it or not it is too big in spots. I threw on the Western saddle and we went out to work. Just for giggles and grins I reached over and flapped the stirrup leathers a few times. I got a look. Seems he has totally gotten over that particular phobia. He also didn’t mind me pulling on the stirrups and horn, jumping up and down beside him, putting weight on the saddle, or swinging my leg up. He doesn’t like standing beside the wall – he swings his hindquarters over so he is perpendicular to it. We’ll work on that and also standing beside him on a mounting block (or reasonable facsimile).

The reasonable facsimile turns out to be an upended bucket. Whisper, being Whisper, is absolutely convinced that the bucket has its own agenda and that he would be best served by always keeping an eye on said bucket. It is difficult to watch anything unless you are face with it which moves the accompanying hind end away from the bucket. Hmmmm, difficult position to mount from. I stood on the bucket and walked Whisper around it stopping him periodically. Back end still swings away. I fell off the bucket. Surprisingly this elicited no reaction although I suspect he was secretly laughing. I walked Whisper around the bucket at ground level then mounted the bucket again and managed not to fall off. I stopped Whisper, moved the bucket to the appropriate position, climbed on bucket, and leaned on saddle. Whisper stood calmly. I had wanted to stand in the stirrup but decided to call it good for today. Whisper got a hug and a treat.

We also got some relatively good news. The equine dentist has arrived for her annual teeth floating, sheath cleaning, and general horse maintenance week. Whisper’s appointment isn’t until Wednesday but I had her take a look at him so we’d both have a better idea with what she’ll be dealing. Good news is his molars don’t have outrageous hooks and his upper front teeth don’t actually touch anything. Sounds weird but apparently the only maintenance they need is to make sure it remains this way. That’s not to say she’s going to have an easy time but it’s doable and he will probably be more comfortable afterward. More good news – she’ll give me a 10% discount because he’s a rescue horse. The bad news – a parrot mouth can’t be corrected, at least not one as severe as his. I’ll have more information after his appointment on Wednesday and if allowed, hope to take pictures.

Tomorrow he gets a day off. His next training session will be Wednesday morning before the dentist. He should be tired enough to appreciate the sort of nap he'll get. And...I don't imagine he'll care much about going into the washrack so I hope to finally wash his tail.

We're Back

 I’m positive the horses were glad to see me. They came right up to welcome me back. Couldn’t have had anything to do with the fact I was carrying their dinner….

Whisper had an exciting time while I was gone. His training continued under the able management of Samantha and my mother. During one of his training sessions one of the rowdier horses got away from the vet and decided to introduce himself to all the other horses leading four people on a wild goose (err...horse) chase. Mom continued to work with Whisper during the episode and to his credit he remained calm. He was definitely interested – all of the other horses were racing around their pastures, neighing and generally getting themselves spun up – but he continued to respond to commands and behave himself. When the miscreant arrived in the arena to make Whisper’s acquaintance Mom decided it was time to go and the two of them proceeded calmly to the stable.

Cantering has been added to Whisper’s groundwork repertoire. We noticed when he was jumping that the faster he goes the more excited he gets so I’ve been working with his accelerator pedal for the past couple of days. He trots for a bit, then I’ll have him walk, then canter, then trot again, and so on. I think he’s already showing improvement. He is responding very well to cues to speed up or transition from a canter to the trot. He’s doesn’t respond as quickly to cues to walk but he’s getting better. We’ve also been working on him standing parallel to a low wall. Given that I will need something to climb on in order to climb on him I need him to stand calmly beside anything that will provide me with that extra foot or so. To this end as long as he stands quietly he gets rubbed and fussed over. As soon as he moves away that stops. He’s not perfect but again, he’s making progress. His next training session is tomorrow and the forecast is rain. So probably no jumping but with luck the footing will be good enough for groundwork.

Next week Whisper will finally have his teeth floated. As is typical in a rescue horse this has been put off for quite awhile. I imagine he will have extensive hooks . Add to that the parrot mouth that I doubt has ever been addressed and he will probably require a lot of work. This will probably be just the initial steps. Everything I’ve been reading suggests the work should be done in small increments to avoid removing too much and leaving the teeth susceptible to decay. The vet who will perform the procedure is an equine dentist and will help determine a treatment program going forward. This should make it easier for him to eat (not that he has any problem inhaling food) and more comfortable for him to carry a bit (he does periodically get his tongue over the bit).

After the dental work is done we’re going to schedule his first ride – probably the last Wednesday in February. It will be done by a gentleman who specializes in first rides and also rides broncs. He has a light touch and comes highly recommended. I’m really looking forward to that and can’t wait to post the video.

Proof

Whisper is currently hanging out with his buddies while I help move my husband across the country. The picture above was captured from a video we took just before I left. Said video is in the process of being edited and hopefully will be posted in a couple of days. In the meantime I will report news of the ‘kids’ as I receive it. Latest is that the mud and muck are back and Whisper is happily playing king of the pasture - or thinks he is.

Want Something Done? Call an Expert.

Whisper can jump…boy can he jump. And of course I forgot the camera.

Training began in the arena with Whisper fully tacked – bridle, surcingle w/side reins, and Jean perched saucily on his back. Samantha set up the cavalettis and the barrels (the pole was set higher than I had it last week) then said when he was lungeing comfortably to take him over the jump. The first couple of times he picked up his feet and trotted over. The pole was raised. Whisper jumped. Several times. After giving me pointers on my form Samantha took him and they worked out his tendency to speed up (very common in green horses) and some of his fear of jumping the barrels. Basically he canters on landing because he can - that gait seems to flow naturally after a jump. By the time he reached the arc of the circle he had slowed to a trot which is what he should do. He would then trot to the jump and jump. Samantha showed me how to give him added impetus by clucking and using active body language (that’s the only way I can think to describe it). She also showed me what to do when he starts leaning on the line and quits paying attention.

As he got into it I think he started to enjoy it. He refused a few times – mainly at the barrels – and changed directions without being told a few times but always came back to her and settled down quickly. At one point he made a flying lead change as he turned to the left after the jump. The pole was raised again – I think it was up to 24” but I’ll have to measure and Jean moved to riding sidesaddle. He totally ignored that thing flapping at his side. He never had any problem clearing the pole and even made one gorgeous jump over the barrels. Of course I had my back to him when he took off but I turned in time to see him with his forelegs tucked in sailing over the barrels. It made my day. I am so proud of him.

You Want Me To Do What? No Way!

For the past week we’ve been working to convince Whisper he can jump. The barrels were pretty much a bust although he did do a sort of hop, reach, kick thing with them a few times. What he actually learned was that if he pushed one it would open a space big enough to walk thru – which he did quite calmly. Nope, can’t say Whisper isn’t a smart puppy (er…horsey). In an attempt to find out if we were just starting too high for him I took him down to our somewhat improvised trail course and lunged him back and forth over some logs with varying heights. No problem. No jumping but he moved smoothly over the obstacles…until…he caught a branch in his tail. Now this branch was about 3 feet long and maybe an inch and a half thick – not insignificant. He jumped and the branch jumped after him. He loped a few steps and the branch flipped around and poked him in the belly. He loped a few more steps and stopped. Offending branch (aka dragon) was convinced to join the wood pile. We did a few more rounds and called it a day. The high point here is that although the branch spooked him he didn’t overreact and allowed me to help him overcome his adversary.

Time for the cavalettis. We set up one in the arena and after some basic lungeing I sent him over the jump which was set about 12 inches. He trotted over rather nicely but didn’t jump. After doing this for awhile he started moving faster and broke into a canter. I let him hoping he would jump and he did a couple of times but he also was getting himself spun up. He started leaning on the lunge line and refusing to change direction. Again I let him keep cantering because that’s what I would do with Spice. She will run for a bit then seeing that her histrionics were getting no result she slows down and pays attention. If all else fails I can use the lead to pull her off balance.

Note to self. Whisper weighs at least 400 lbs more than Spice. I cannot pull him off balance. He pulled the lunge line out of my hand and lunged himself right out of the arena. He didn’t go far and let me walk up to him (the treat probably helped a bit). We returned to the arena and did some more controlled lungeing until he settled down. At this point my mother took over.( She will be working with Whisper and Samantha while I travel to Virginia to help move my husband here). They worked mostly on getting used to each other and coordinating handler, horse, lunge line, and lunge whip. She’s probably more stern with him, definitely more vocal, and won’t let him bluff her. It will be really good for him. He's learning to respond to and trust someone other than me.

Same Old Stuff

1/12/2010
We mostly worked on things he already knows including moving between the barrels and over the tarp. He was a good boy and did everything well – as I would expect at this point. In preparation for mounting/riding I have begun to position him next to the short wall in the arena so that I can lean on his back. He lines up well with his right side to the wall (figures) but moves his hindquarters away when parallel on his left side. I have to wonder if he thinks I’m going to get on him. For now I’m rubbing and scratching when he lines up and stands still. Hopefully this will encourage him to stand still and I can move to leaning on his back.

Pedicure and Props

I forgot to mention that last Friday Whisper had his first trimming since coming to stay with me. He was pretty good for the farrier although he lost patience with the process a couple of times. The farrier suggested I hold his feet up longer and tap on them to simulate shoeing. We’re going to leave him barefoot for the next few months and see if his heels will grow so he is more upright. If they don’t we’ll need to shoe him so that he’ll have more heel support.

I am slowly acquiring more ‘stuff’ for Whisper. Most of it is jury rigged from discarded tack but so far it’s working pretty well. I was able to elongate the throat strap on Spice’s headstall by buckling in a piece of throat strap from that old headstall – best $15 I’ve spent in a long time. I’d feel safe using this rig to ride with but I still want to get a headstall made to his measurements. To all of this I added ‘Jean.’ Jean is a multipurpose desensitizing tool (aka a pair of holey Levis with stuffed legs). Attached to the D rings on the surcingle Jean simulates the flappy leg movement of a less than perfect rider. Jean normally rides astride but is occasionally moved to ride sidesaddle. Its appearances have provided many moments of hilarity thus inuring Whisper to sudden and loud peals of laughter. Preview Jean’s inaugural performance in the video below. Oh, and watch the dog (Ajax).

Mud, Muck, and Puddles

It’s been kind of a sloggy week for everyone. It’s rained and snowed and melted and rained and the mud is deep and sticky and just nasty. Whisper doesn’t want to leave his pasture because he always slides the short distance to the road. So far he’s been really good about letting me know he doesn’t like it then sighing and doing as I asked. Having slid on ice and banged myself up a couple of years ago I imagine I know how it feels but I think he trusts me not to ask him to do anything that would hurt him. At least I hope so.

Whisper’s latest training session was on Monday. We added a bridle to the surcingle and tried to add the side reins. He continues to do well on his groundwork. He has no problem with the surcingle. A pair of chaps was tied to it so as to simulate legs and that didn’t bother him. He continued changing gaits when requested and moving nicely over the poles. When I stopped him and began flapping the chaps around and making noise with them, that bothered him briefly. However after the first jump he settled down fairly quickly. This is something that should be added to every session. Maybe an old pair of jeans would work – I’ll have to try it. To this mix was added a couple of exercises designed to get him used to the bit and yielding vertically. I think he already knows this. He drops his head with very little pressure and will sometimes leave it there. He’s had some practice at yielding laterally in a halter so the transition to the bridle was pretty smooth.

A word about tack. Nothing fits Whisper. I’ve tried 4 headstalls on him. The closest to fitting is Spice’s – it has a wider brow band than the others but is still tight. The throat strap is too short by inches. I just tucked that into his halter. It works for the current purposes but I wouldn’t ride him that way. The side reins were too short. I went to Big R looking for a longer set but they were closed for inventory. Then I thought I’d try making them. I probably could have but during the process discovered that by adding a clip to the cheek pieces from an old headstall the current set were long enough. Yay. Cost me $6. Note to Big R: It would be nice if you would post when you're closed for inventory on your website.

For the remainder of the week I took advantage of the muddy, puddly weather and we learned more about walking through water. For me this consisted of convincing Whisper that the water was ok to walk in. For Whisper it was more fun to see how much water he could throw at me. Those huge hooves make a mighty splash. Tomorrow we’ll go over all of his lessons and make sure he remembers everything. I think I’ll even get the tarp out and see how he reacts after a couple of weeks without seeing it. And, we’ll get some more pictures. That done he should be ready for his next training session on Monday.

Getting stepped on doesn't hurt if you're standing in mud

As I’ve mentioned before Whisper and I are working on backing up. He’s got it down pretty well and he definitely respects that stick tapping front of him. But the big motivator seems to be body language. When we feed I enter the pasture with both his and Spice’s grain. They both have their designated eating spots. Sometimes I feed Spice first, sometimes Whisper. Today I ducked under the tape by Spice’s spot just as Whisper decided to claim said spot for his own. Now you don’t mess with Spice when it comes to food. She squared off to kick at him, he spun around to reciprocate, and Spice pushed into me. She planted her little foot on mine and squished it into the mud. A lot of mud was flying around until they got it worked out. I don’t remember who won. I called Spice back over and gave her her grain then went after Whisper. Walking towards him, shaking my finger I gave him an earful on manners and that big baby moved back out of my space and never took his eyes off me during the entire lecture. The look on his face was priceless. “Yes m’am;” “how high m’am?” It had to be the body language that got through to him. I was moving toward him with what he viewed as intent and he got out of the way with alacrity. I was in charge in that instance.

As soon as I left the pasture he made sure everyone knew he was back in charge. When Doc went to see if there was anything left in Whisper’s grain dish Whisper ran him off with a great show of bucking and kicking and squealing. Then, as he stood there taking a bow, Doc circled behind and finished his dinner for him. Spice was busy making sure the alfalfa was on its way. TeeHee. Horses are so entertaining.

Catchup and Mud

01/02/2010
Today is our day to go marching and exploring. This time Whisper got to share the fun with his pasture mates and I got to try something I’ve been putting off. My mother and I took all three horses and headed up the hill with them. I was leading Spice and Whisper and having visions of them tying me up in their leads and Spice deciding someone needed kicking. Surprisingly they behaved in an exemplary fashion. Whisper led beautifully, keeping his shoulder even with mine. Spice trailed behind at times looking for that elusive piece of green succulence. But there were times when Whisper was on my right shoulder and Spice was on my left and we were completely in synch. Everyone got to graze a bit and mom and I decided we’d have to continue doing this, trading off horses so they were all familiar with each other and the routine.

01/01/2010
It’s been really wet and mucky since the snow melted. Central Oregon mud is such that the further you walk in it the taller you get. Fortunately I got a pair of Muck boots for Christmas so I’ve been happily plodding around in whatever the environment throws at us. The horses don’t fare quite so well. Whisper, with his huge feet and massive size seems to have the most trouble with sliding around in mud. I had a terrible time convincing him to leave the pasture after the initial melt. We spent at least 10 minutes walking back and forth along the fence line – I thought the problem was the snapping electrical wire. Come to find out it was the slope to the road he was trying to avoid - with good reason. When he started sliding there wasn’t much he could do but ride it out – only a couple of feet but he was justifiably nervous. To top it off I took him down to the outdoor arena. Apparently the footing is good old CO mud. He sank to his fetlocks. He was incredibly good about it as we picked our way out and went searching for some decent footing. Along the way we made use of several mud puddles. Whisper believes the most direct route through a puddle is around it but after I explained to him that his hooves would be clean and shiny and I stomped thru in my new boots, he stomped right along with me. We were both soaked to the knees. We did finally find some firm ground and played around a little but after grooming we called it a day and I went to get Spice who, with her tiny feet , can practically walk on water. At least she’d like to think so.