Merry Christmas, Flash!

Moonlight walk

It was an unusually dry and clear day for this time of year. I got out to the barn after work and while dusk was rapidly on its way, it was still pretty bright since there was no cloud cover to create premature darkness. I decided it would be a lovely time to take a walk through the woods. We headed out the back door of the barn and out into the dusk. We walked down to the field as the sun was setting and saw a bright nearly full moon coming up along the tree line. The air was still pretty warm for early November, but I could feel the temps dropping as the sunlight faded.

We walked back towards the barn then up to the house to feed the hogs. The moon was shining bright by this point so we could find our way up the driveway with no trouble at all. Flash has visited with the oinkers several times before so he was not startled by the snorting or sudden activity when they heard us coming. I tied Flash to the trailer while I went to get the feed. I figured it was good practice to stand tied to the trailer. I walked away and heard no pawing or neighing or snorting and as I got further away, only his big white blaze reflecting the moonlight stood out in the dark.

He stood perfectly quiet the whole time I was dealing with the pigs. He did not seem to get worried about being left alone for a few minutes. That's a good start!

With the pigs all fed, I went back to the little guy and gave him lots of pets and scratches and took him back to the barn to be with his herd.

Just photos

It was a sunny day so I took some more pictures...

Growing Boy!

In January, shortly after Flash and I met, he measured 53" at the wither... or 13.1 hands. Today September 18, 2011. (7 months later) he is 57" at the wither and 59" at the rump or 14.1 hands at the point of the shoulder, or wither, and 14. 2 hands and about a year and a half old.

The indication that Flash is about to hit another growth spurt starts in his barrel... his ribs will show ever so slightly and then "bam"the next day either his rump or his wither will be a little bit taller than the day before. (Horses are funny, they will grow tall in the front then the back end will catch up and grow more than the front end and then it will have to catch up. This goes on for the first 4 years (at least) of a horse's life.

Ground work basics

As long as the lessons stay brief and low key, you can really get a head start on the training down the road if you take the opportunity to focus on ground work with a young horse. Besides, ground work exercises are a great way to develop a strong relationship of trust and communication. (two things that make a great riding team between horse and rider).

I have been using a mix of methods and exercises from various natural horsemanship trainers. The objective is the same on all approaches - teach the horse conditioned responses to light and subtle pressure while developing trust and respect. Sounds pretty impressive. What it comes down to is consistancey, respecting the horse and being clear in what you are as

king him to do. There are great exercises that help est

ablish the goals.

I have introduced Flash to giving to pressure in moving over the hips, shoulder and side passes all with pressure from my hands. We have also started to explore the basics of going forward on the end of a lead rope (almost lunging) and backing. I work these exercises into our hikes through the woods and fields. Its great practice

to work in diverse settings with varying distractions.

He is a wonderful student in that he thinks about what I am asking him to do (as opposed to reacting to my cues or becoming scared or impatien

t) and then responds with the correct answer nearly every time. When he gives the wrong response, a clear and gentle reminder is all it takes and he finds the correct response again. He's a laid back fella and seems to enjoy the time we spend together.

Summer has arrived and in theory so should the warmer temperatures and hairy critters are starting to get rid of their winter coats. Well... actually the temperatures don't really have much to do with coat shedding, it is more that the shifting light cycle triggers the body's hair dropping process. And it is just as well that it is light and not temperatures that trigger the shedding for the hairy critters in the northwest. Summer's warm temperatures are slow to get here in southwestern Washington and the poor critters would remain woolly well into July if they were waiting for warmer weather to drop their coats.

The days are in fact staying lighter for longer and Flash is starting to show his summer coat and he is all together a horse of a different color than he was before!

The woolly bay and grey undertones are giving way to a white belly and pewter grey haunches and shoulders. He still has a ways to go on his shedding around his belly and I am curious to see if any paint markings are going to shine through.

He has two small spots of defined white markings on his shoulder and belly which earned him his first name as "Two Feathers" It will be interesting to see what is under the shaggy light colors around his barrel.

Just hanging out

We have been spending lots of time going for walks and grazing in the back field. Flash does not really like leaving the herd, he looks back and whinnies his high pitched shrill of a whinny but he still walks forward with me so I figure he will get better with time. However, all thought of the herd are forgotten when we get to the back field, when he discovers the tastiness of the lush green grass. So we spend some time just hanging out. Today was a particularly nice day as it is starting to warm up and the sun was actually out for a change.. it is starting to look and feel like spring; at last!! Maybe the mud will start to dry out at long last...

And now there are two...

I can hardly believe I am now a 2 horse owner!

While I am planning to have Flash a long while, it will still be several years until we can really do any sort of serious riding. I still have the eventing bug and I started to think maybe I could find a suitable older horse to bring along while Flash grows up. So I found Deuce (or he just might of found me... I am not entirely sure) At any rate, Deuce came to live on the farm with Flash and the rest of the herd. I made a separate blog for my Big Spotted Horse.

Flash seems to be the low man in the herd and still clicks his baby teeth to show everyone he is just a baby and does not want to cause any problems. He seems to be content keeping the herd in site and Deuce seems to recognize that Flash is not a threat. I would eventually like to be able to pony Flash with Deuce, but he is still quite a green bean so I want to make sure he will be a good role model before I bring an impressionable youngster into the mix.

Water crossing part 2

.....and success! he is in!!! Russ came along with me to the barn this time. We took a walk to the back field and decided to revisit the water crossing. After several failed direct attempts to get Flash's feet in the creek, we found some large puddles to walk through further up the stream and started with those. Flash would hesitate and then somewhat willingly walk in the grassy puddles. In this part of the field, the puddles sort of drained into the little ditch and the merger of the two was not clearly defined. So I figured if we just started walking down the stream in the water, he would be in and then we could zig zag in and out of the water all the way back to the origianl attempted crossing. That approach worked great! Of course it helped that all the praise and little breaks we took to eat grass in the water were quite helpful too. He's a smart boy and this water is no longer an issue for him. I am sure we will have other water issues down the road, but at least we have a starting point.

Water crossing part 1

In the back field, there is a shallow drainage ditch that fills up with water in the winter time. It still remains grassy, but the water flows through fairly well making about a 2.5 foot wide and 8" deep little creek. It's like a long puddle with water that flows through it. And a perfect opportunity to work on water crossings!

Tall rubber boots are a staple this time of year so the thought of a water crossing for me was not even a questionable activity to do without getting my feet wet in the process. So I set out across the field to cross the water. Flash walked along side me as he always does and I continued forward right into the water and Flash’s feet came to a screeching halt. I made it to the other side and Flash was not in the slightest bit interested in putting his feet in to join me on the other side. So much for the brave and bold, go anywhere little boy. So here we are with another opportunity to practice all of our ground work exercises. I took him away from the crossing and worked on sending him forward in a specified direction. This is an exercise which he is quite familiar. So I reminded him about the cues and what I expected. Then we gradually moved our circle down towards the water again and asked for forward, and forward he went until he got to the water then it was stop again and stare and then sit back and launch across! Wee! well there is the willingness to go, which is good, but there will be times on the cross country course when the water will be too wide to jump and he will need to get his feet wet. However, it quickly became evident now that he had figured out he could just go over the water there was really no reason at all to even consider walking through it. It was starting to get dark and we still had a good walk through the field and up through the woods to get back to the barn, and while I do carry at least one flashlight with me, I did not particularly care to try to negotiate a young horse and a light on a walk through the dark woods.

Since he was willingly going forward across the water (even if it was not through it) I decided we could end on that good note and revisit crossing water on another day.

Trail riding adventures

Now that Flash has gotten a good handle on how to behave on a leadline, I have started taking him for walks out through the woods and to the back pasture. I figure it is a good way to start getting him away from the herd and learning to be a bit more independent. He is not wild about the idea of being away from his safety, but he is willing enough to come along with me and despite the little bit of neighing, he is still agreeable to moving forward. Once we get to the far field with all the lush grass, he quickly forgets about missing the rest of the herd.

The Boy is Mine!

It took me awhile to wrap my head around the fact that Flash is a permanent fixture in my life. My heart knew the moment his little muzzle met my fingers and the more time I spend with the fella, the more clear my head becomes knowing this little colt is mine.

Learning to lead on a working farm

Lester's method for teaching a youngster to lead is to hook the yearling to one of the trained horses while working the fields and let him learn to follow. Since his experienced work horses are retired or currently on maternity leave, he used the next best thing; his tractor. So we hooked the little man up to the boom on the tractor and let him stand and think about the clatter of the diesel for a few minuets. The engine rattle did not phase the boy, but then it shouldn't as it is a noise he hears everyday. So Lester eased his foot off the clutch and started to crawl forward. Flash sort of dragged his feet at first but then figured out pretty quickly he did not have much of a choice in not moving forward. It did not take him long to determine it was much easier to just walk forward than resist the pressure. Soon Flash was leading around the barnyard and down the road like a perfect gentleman.

A Need....

When I was visiting out at the farm in late January, to get some horse connection, I noticed the horse trailer parked down by the barn. When I saw Lester, he asked if I had taken a look in it. With his question, I figured he had picked up a new cow or some other farm animal. I peaked in the trailer on my way out and was greeted by a soft little white nose, a gentle sniff and a bright white face. There was a young colt in the trailer! I felt the spark as soon as he touched my hand. This little guy had a need as badly as I did.

Lester said he needed a place to go and he figured he had the space in his barn and knew of someone who might be willing to work with him. Later, he said, he's your's if it seems right.

I have been working with the little fella, teaching him about standing still, wearing a halter and being led. He came with the name of Two Feathers, I was calling him Charlie but I think his name is settled on Flash.