pretty ears!

It's been a journey, getting Shaun to relax at feeding time. Asking him to go to a certain place, wait, and then put those ears up, instead of pinning them at me. Oh, maybe not AT me, but they were pinned. Hard to change old habits. Sure has taught me about release and timing. It's taught me how important timing is, and how bad I am at it. You have to release as the horse decides to do what you are asking, which happens before the horse does what you want. He is teaching me how to be as soft as possible, to ask with a whisper, and celebrate those small steps quietly...together.

Jan, 2012

It's been a pretty mild winter, considering we've had some brutally cold one's in the past. Yes, there have been cold days, but mostly 40's and 50's. That's not bad. Snowed last night, ugly storm, but snow is mostly melted off this afternoon. Had to put metal shoes back on Shaun because Epona's would not stay on. He tends to spin on his front foot, which torks the shoe and rips it off, doing some damage to the already flakey hoof wall. This time, Eli put snow pads on with the metal shoes, and Shaunie seems to be doing fine.
Ottb's typically have bad ground manners. Now, the horses I worked with at the track and training center had very good ground manners. Depends on the trainer, I guess. As long as the horse is winning, he can do whatever he wants. Attempts (usually never follows through) to bite, kick and other wise maime are tolerated by the grooms who just keep doing what they need to do. Ottb's really do want to please, but like children without boundaries, they appear to be difficult. They are not, and are lovely horses, once they know how to be. They want to be calm and happy. When Shaun arrived, he was pretty fussy about just about everything. Don't pick up my feet, don't move my feet, and don't touch me, either. I can see how a human might get a bit frustrated and give up. Course, that wasn't going to work for me, so we've been working on that.
He's now pretty fluent in "horse". He didn't even know how to greet another horse. This human had to teach him. He likes "saying hello" a lot now. He's fine with picking up his feet, and is learning to give "pretty ears" when it's feeding time. Pinned ears do not earn you breakfast. They delay it, and it gets cold. Giving to me, getting those ears forward, transfers right to the saddle. I'm asking for softness, and he's learning that softness feels good.
Instead of frantically running everywhere, the mares are teaching him to mosey. Oh, he'll still kick up his heels and race around, but it's playing and not because he's afraid or worried. This spring I'll be taking him down to Tony and Jenny Vought's to be restarted. They are amazing trainers, their horses lining up, competing to be chosen to be played with and ridden. I'm going to pack up all three horses and go spend some time down there. He won't go alone, his herd is coming too.