It's been almost a year since Shaun joined the herd here in Kansas.  Before he shipped out from Washington state, I asked the folks taking care of him to pull his shoes.  I knew he was stalled in soft shavings, and turnout was also pretty decent footing.  Shipping is better for the horse, better traction, if they are barefoot.  Shaun couldn't tolerate being barefoot, and went lame almost immediatly.  I had him shod right off.  He's been shod ever since.
Race horses are shod before every race, and that starts pretty early in life.  Shaun averaged a race a week before he was retired, and that makes for a lot of nail holes, contracted heels and overall poor hoof condition.  It didn't help that he was starved when he was placed in the kill pen, his hoof wall was horribly thin, and he had little sole to work with.  No wonder he couldn't tolerate being barefoot.
Shaun has been sponsored by Emerald Valley Equine, which has supplied his hoof supplements right from the beginning.  It's some of the best, and most complete supplements I've found.  Now all my horses are on Formula4Feet, and you can tell by their shiny coats and rock hard feet. 
So like I said, one year later and another miracle!  Last week I pulled Shaun's shoes, the trimmer came out and cleaned up his feet, and he is now pasture sound!  Yes!  He is barefoot!  He's still a bit ouchy on gravel, but doing real well in the pasture.  He RUNS!  Nary a misstep!  I didn't think this horse would ever be able to go barefoot! 
Yes, I pulled his shoes.  I didn't intend that part as I had never pulled a shoe in my life!  The barefoot trimmer was supposed to be there in two days for that part.  However, (and isn't there always a "however" with horses?) when I got home from a clinic that Sunday evening, I noticed both Shaun's front shoes were sideways and one was bent!  He was limping on both front feet!  I had already turned out Eclipse, the horse I had just returned with from Missouri. So the mares were literally heading for the back 40 by the time I realized he was in trouble.  I quickly threw the halter and lead I just took off Eclipse onto Shaun and started heading down to the small pasture by the house.  I knew I had a pair of nippers somewhere, and just wanted to contain him so he wouldn't do more damage. 
Nice idea, huh?  Shaun didn't think so!  He danced, he pranced, and even kicked out at me, trying to reunite with the mares that were heading away from us.  I INSISTED he come with me, he screamed for the mares, and thankfully they came running.  I might have done a little screaming myself, just sayin.  Eclipse and Bit joined us, and I headed the herd down to the little pasture, through the gate and hoped everyone would nose dive for the brom hay and stay put while I grabbed my nippers from the house.
I knew things might have that magical flow when the first place I looked, I saw my nippers.  Why do I have nippers? No clue.  Saw them the week before and thought, "I don't remember getting those."  I ran back up the hill, through the gate and there was the herd, right where I left them.  I picked up the lead rope attached to my four legged kite, and true to form, he began to fly around.  Probably because about that time, the mares decided to head for better pickin's down the hill, and we both watched as their well rounded butts disappeared over the hill. Crap.
I had just learned at a centered riding clinic how to do breathing whoa's.  It's a HAAAAaaaaa kind of breath, and it's great for stopping your horse, and sending that big engine right down to idle.  Could it work for Shaun?  Couldn't hurt.  I looked him in his panicked eye and breathed, HAAAAAaaaaaaa.  He stopped dancing around, and practically vibrated with tension.  HAAAAAaaaaaaa.  He looked at me, licked and chewed.  HAAAAaaaaa.  He lowered his head.  HAAAAAaaaaa.  "Shaun, I'm going to pull your shoes so you won't hurt anymore.  You are just going to have to trust me." 
When you pick up one of Shaun's feet?  It's like picking up a something bolted to the ground.  We are working on it, but he's challenging.  Long story.  It's a race horse thang.  My back is bad, I have a shoulder impingement, so I really needed him to stand still and cooperate.  I reached down, and picked up his foot.  It was weightless.  HAAAAaaaaa.  I knelt down on one knee and rested the front of his hoof on my knee.  No hoof jack, I had to improvise.
I tried to remember just how the farrier pulled Shaun's shoes.  HAAAaaaa.  That one was for me.  Oh yeah, nip the nails on the hoof side so you cut off the curvy bit.  There.  It pulled right off.  I trimmed his toe, so he had a nice break over, and then the sides.  Then the other side, all the while breathing those nice, calming breaths.  When I was done, I gave him a rub on the neck and thanked him for being such a good boy.  After removing the halter and lead?  He just stood there with me.  No mares, just me and him.  We HAAAAAaaaa'd together.  He took his first barefoot steps since he was a colt. Tentative at first, expecting pain.  He was a bit off from that darn bent shoe, but not bad. It wasn't because he was barefoot, he was going to be fine.  HAAAAaaaaaa.

A lot has happened in the life of Shaun since my last post.  I decided to take Shaun and my two mares to a Peter Campbell clinic.  I wanted to put Shaun in the morning ground work class and ride my Missouri Fox Trotter, Eclipse in the afternoon class.  I couldn't very well leave Bit at home alone, so loaded everyone up and off we went to Missouri! 
You know how life can sometimes take on this almost magical quality?  With Shaun, he seems to be in the constant company of angels.  One of the ladies at the clinic had brought a very troubled mare who she was afraid to ride.  It just so happens a cowboy by the name of Steven Thompson also decided to audit Peter's clinic that weekend.  Terrie met Steven, and Steven ended up working with and riding her very troubled mare for the first two days of the four day clinic.  They got on so well (you should see Steven ride!) that Terrie ended up sending her mare home with him as his forever horse.  Cool, huh?  Now I'm watching how Steven is riding and getting on with this mare thinkiing, that's the guy I want to put the first ride on Shaun.  The morning ground work bit of the clinic had very little on the ground work, and was mostly in the saddle, so that left me out.  I approached this gentle cowboy and asked if he would be interested in riding Shaun.  I let him know all about Shaun's history.  We asked Peter if it would be ok, and the next day, Shaun met Steven.
I'm not going to say my sweet ottb was a willing partner, at first.  I'm pretty sure it's the first wade saddle he'd ever known.  I'm pretty sure he hadn't been ridden since 2007.  And Shaun did have an "opinion" about the whole thing.  Yes he did!  Steven ended up riding Shaun the whole day, and I watched as my very skeptical, fearful horse got softer and more at peace with the ride.  Someone leaned over and said, "He's never been offered this before", and indeed I was sure he hadn't.  Race horses (I'm assuming all of them) are never offered pure horsemanship.  A soft feel.  Time to think and process.  Kindness.  Love. 
Gradually, I watched Shaun change.  From wide open eyes, and I mean I could see the whites, to softness.  by the end of the day?  He was working cows!  Yep, got him a job and he really liked it!  Steven said that he had to hold him back a bit, because Shaun was offering to really move those bovines, and he didn't want to undo all that good stuff he'd built on. 
The second change in Shaun's life, he is now barefoot.  It's taken a year to completely grow out his hoof, which is pretty typical.  Shaun has been on Formula4Feet by Emerald Valley, and that had built a rather lovely hoof structure and a great foundation for him to go barefoot.  Emerald Valley has been sponsoring Shaun since the beginning, so I have them to thank for his great feet.  No sugar, no grain, just timothy hay pellets, good grass hay, and msm and his hoof has grown out to be healthy and pasture sound.
Terrie Yordy came by yesterday and gave him his first bare foot trim.  Terrie puts the word soft into her handling of horses.  She does a lot of work with extreme hoof issues at rescues.  Shaun messed with her a bit, just to see if she knew what she was doing.  Then settled in and Terrie crafted the perfect barefoot hoof. 
Shaun has had a lot of changes this month.  His first ride, his first experience being bare foot, his first big clinic, his first experience of true horsemanship.  He's changed a lot this month.  More connected.  More willing. Lots of touching, sighing, and yawning.  I think he's happier.  I sure am.
I just purchased a Kieffer dressage saddle for him.  I'm hoping to put my first ride on Shaun next week.  Nothing long, no pressure.  Just sit up there and see Canada.  He is very TALL!

Not a lot has been going on with the herd.  It seems my very picky Missouri Fox Trotter mare has chosen Shaun as her best friend.  This is a big deal.  She's always so grumpy, but has had a change of heart towards Shaun and me.  Shaun has shed out quite nicely, muscled up a bit, and has been playing more.  The other day he actually reared, came off the ground with is back feet and then threw in a buck, back feet over his head.  Much rearing that day, lots of snakey necks, bucking and running about like a wild pony.  I'm hoping he's ready, because tomorrow we head for Archie, Missouri and a Peter Campbell clinic.  Four fun filled days, and who knows, maybe a ride on this bad boy.  Taking the whole herd, too! Can't leave Bit by herself, so everyone comes!  Hoping Shuan doesn't give me too much grief loading in the new trailer.  The opening is quite a bit smaller than the old trailer, but I'll load his girl friend first, and maybe that will motivate him some.  I'll take lots of pictures and let you know how it goes!

"It was once said I should clear my head for one cannot ride a Thoroughbred.  Hot they are.  Too fast they be.  Forever on the fly.  But I stayed the course and have no remorse.  I love my off the track race horse."

March 18, 2012 Day one of groundwork

I think I finally got to sleep close to 4 a.m. I had stayed up researching how to start an ottb, and then stressed about whether I was good enough. Shaun is huge, athletic, intelligent, synsetive, and strong. The thing I've learned about life? There are no wasted moments, and everything you've ever done prepared you for this moment in time.
I stopped riding regularly when I was 24. I realized I might as well have been on a motorcycle. There was no connection, no relationship, and the poor horses were nothing more than robots. My favorite was a mare that could jump like an impala. She would also try to kill you if she could. I walked away from horses, thinking maybe I don't love horses, maybe I just love to ride. My Black Beauty, Flicka, and Fury dreams dashed, I walked away. Oh I rode on occasion. It was always the same. No connection.
In 2003, a woman I knew got a caretaking job on a sweet piece of pasture taking care of 6 ranch horses. Now I didn't like her much, but I sure missed horses, so I put up with her controlling, manic self, although I didn't see her that much. I did manage to see the horses just about every day. She would beat the crap out of them, traditional kind of horse person I guess. I couldn't stand her or how she treated her horses, so I jumped ship and started riding with a friend at the local equestrian center. I rode a dream of a palamino horse, Jody. His gallop was smooth as glass, Eidie and I loved going fast, so I spent the next couple of years as Jody's partner and then moved on to a mare by the name of Cash. I really wanted my own horse, and fell in love with a mare by the name of Little Bit, a double driftwood quarter horse. Her days were spent tied to a post, saddled and waiting for someone that could handle her. She would spin hard if a horse put thier nose in her butt, a typical rental horse thing to do. Nose to tail, they carried tourists all over the Sierra's. Not Bit. She hated it. So there she stood all day, and then back in her small pen next to the porta potty at night. She was lonely, and she was bored. So I kept her company and dreamed of her being mine. I promised her that some day she would be. She believed me.
Edie told me about a guy coming to Reno named Pat Parelli. She didn't like him much, no one did but it might be a nice horsey day. I called my friend that lived up that way and she invited me, a friend with free tickets, and another for a bbq the night before. I told my story about Bit, and one woman there said she grew up with Bit's owner. She offered to buy her and pay her board until I could afford it. If this wasn't enough, I found out that a relationship is indeed possible with a horse. I sat there and just cried (along with everyone else) as Pat and Linda demonstrated true connection with their horses. Finally. It IS possible. I bought everything they sold, I think.
I guess you could say Parelli was the foundation of my natural horsemanship. I've moved on to Brent Graef, Buck, Peter Cambell, Carolyn Resnick and others. They all teach about the same thing, some better than others. They have all contributed to what I know now. And, it's enough. I am enough, and so Shaun's first day of ground work began today. We started with Carolyn's Water Hole Rituals, a little Parelli (minus the carrot stick), topped it off with Brent Graef's leading with excellance, some Buck, and then on to playing with some obstacles. He was amazing! He learned almost as fast as I could teach him. He had fun. He didn't want to stop. We won't. I promise, we won't. And the day will come, my sweet horse, and we shall ride!

March 19, 2012

Those tight lips and glassy eyes are gone. I was just looking at his picture at the kill pen, and saw how very worried he was. Tonight I sat on the big, round bale while he snuggled up close and munched his way through. I softly whispered, (he stopped eating, turned and listened)..."you'll never have to be hungry again. You'll always have as much as you want, your own herd, and green pastures. You'll always know love". He sniffed me from the top of my head, all the way down to my boots, and then back to my face, and lingered there. It's a love affair, really. I'm not sure if it's me feeling something, him, or there just isn't a line anymore. Same with Ecipse and Bit. I can feel the pull of the herd, how powerful it is. If I go somewhere else, I'm thinking about the horses, and wishing I was there. When I'm with one or all of them, I feel safety, comfort and joy. Dare say, I am herd bound.
Guess I will be taking all three horses down to Wichita to work cattle. Not Shaun, but he'll be along for the adventure. Maybe David can help me with him a bit. David studied with Ray Hunt an is a remarkable horseman...hell of a guy, too. I really love this horse.

It's summer

We hit 80 degrees today, which doesn't mean it can't snow at any time. For now, we are in full blown spring, flowers are blooming and pasture is starting to look scary green. Scary in that the sugar levels are going up, which can mean founder. Have pulled the herd off the big pasture in hopes that they will remain healthy and be able to maintain their nice, thin waistlines. Shaun looks good, but he does not need to gain any weight.
April 7th is coming up fast. It will be the first clinic that Shaun and I will go to together and hopefully it'll mark the official start of our riding. Or......I'll go really, really, fast and may set a new land speed record. :)

March 2012

We will be heading for our first clinic, Shaun and I. If we can get him loaded into the trailer. Tony and Jenny Vought will be putting on a young horse handling/ground work clinic for horses that need starting or restarting. That would be Shaun. It will be the first of his many encounters with Tony and Jenny. I may take all three horses to the five day horsemanship clinic at the end of the month. They all need a tune up.
He is comfortable being a horse, his feet are looking much better thanks to a great supplement, Formula 4 Feet. He is shiny, and healthy and has figured out his horsey behavior within the herd. It's still a bit funny to watch my 13 hh quarter horse, Bit push him around. Eclipse, my mft mare is a little more patient with him. Funny, when Ecilpse leaves with me, my lead mare, Shaun takes over lead horse position until we get back. Bit is a follower, and does not like the lead mare job. She's bossy, but she's not that confident. Shuan takes the job quite seriously. All he needs is a pocket protector and some nerdy glasses. I'm thinking he'll be that kind of ride, too. Yes, I plan on riding this big boy. A saddle may be the biggest challenge. His withers are so high, I'm not sure what kind of western saddle will work.