Sandy wears his 'belly rope'. Please ignore the mud...
Sandy will have a lazy horse weekend. Not because I'll be off doing some super Easter stuff, but because I've decided to try and lure him into my space with handful's of grain, the only string attached being that he needs to come to me. So far, it's working out quite well for both of us.
I started yesterday afternoon. Once finished with our little workout, I brought in some COB. For those not in the know, thats Corn, Oats and Barley, a very popular blend. When I first offered him grain a week or so ago, he didn't know what to do with it. He'd lip some into his mouth, then let it fall back out. Yesterday I had it mixed in with a bit of alfalfa pellets. That was too funny to watch, as he'd decided the COB tasted good, but the texture of the pellets was just a little odd. So in went a mouthful of the blend, and out came all the pellets...one, two, three...they fell to the ground in a slobbery mess as his tongue carefully manipulated all the grains and tastes in his mouth. It truly was remarkable that I saw no corn coming out, just green globs of alfalfa.
Today I just offered the COB. He was thrilled at the little hands full that continued to be offered as I worked around him in the paddock. He let me put on the halter with relative ease and I led him (with MiKael's round the middle rope trick) easily out through the mud and into the round pen where he received another mouthful for his effort. Life, he decided, was pretty darned good today!
This afternoon I went out to catch him in the round pen, offering another handful of grain. The halter went on relatively smoothly, and this time, without the aid of his belly rope, he walked like a gentleman out of the pen. A completely different experience from yesterday! He even stood nicely and waited for me to close the gate behind him before we walked through the muck and the mud back to his paddock. He never questioned, balked, or hesitated.
Good Boy, Sandy!
I started yesterday afternoon. Once finished with our little workout, I brought in some COB. For those not in the know, thats Corn, Oats and Barley, a very popular blend. When I first offered him grain a week or so ago, he didn't know what to do with it. He'd lip some into his mouth, then let it fall back out. Yesterday I had it mixed in with a bit of alfalfa pellets. That was too funny to watch, as he'd decided the COB tasted good, but the texture of the pellets was just a little odd. So in went a mouthful of the blend, and out came all the pellets...one, two, three...they fell to the ground in a slobbery mess as his tongue carefully manipulated all the grains and tastes in his mouth. It truly was remarkable that I saw no corn coming out, just green globs of alfalfa.
Today I just offered the COB. He was thrilled at the little hands full that continued to be offered as I worked around him in the paddock. He let me put on the halter with relative ease and I led him (with MiKael's round the middle rope trick) easily out through the mud and into the round pen where he received another mouthful for his effort. Life, he decided, was pretty darned good today!
This afternoon I went out to catch him in the round pen, offering another handful of grain. The halter went on relatively smoothly, and this time, without the aid of his belly rope, he walked like a gentleman out of the pen. A completely different experience from yesterday! He even stood nicely and waited for me to close the gate behind him before we walked through the muck and the mud back to his paddock. He never questioned, balked, or hesitated.
Good Boy, Sandy!
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4 comments:
Tracey, I have been off line for a bit and the last time I visited your site you had just picked Sandy up and brought him home. Wow! You're doing great. Sure, he's not the easiest horse, but you've had Sunny and Firecracker to teach you all about dealing with less than easy horses. I love that MiKael's belly rope trick worked so well for you.
Thank you, Katee! I've missed you.
Yes, Sunny and Firecracker have taught me a lot; glad I had them come first so that I could get a feel for different personalities and what works!
Sandy's really coming along. I have to laugh at him spitting out the pellets and hanging onto the grain. Horses can be such wizards sometimes.
The weather was gorgeous today. If we could just string a few of those together, I think we might both be able to use our round pens. Although, I don't know if I told you I have ducks breeding in mine. LOL
LOL...yes, you told me about the ducks. Too funny! Once the weather clears up they'll go away, I'm sure.
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