No new shoes for Holden!

Holden standing like a gent while we (I) get organized.

Today, I spent some time really getting Holden spic and span. I curried him, brushed him with all three brushes, and then swabbed him fore to hind with a damp wash-cloth. I've noticed he has a fair amount of dandruff -- which is fine, but he never looks clean!

Our hand-walk regime today was much the same as it was yesterday, save today we had many distractions. Mike came to the barn and brought Genova (our dog) into the indoor and at first Holden was suspicious of this new indoor-play participant. I elected to walk him around the arena a few times in both directions before clipping the long-lines on and walking him from behind. I'm glad I did this -- while Holden didn't spook, he wasn't very convinced that Mike or the dog were there for his well-being.

We spent today working on straightness. Lots of straight lines down the indoor, as well as straight lines across the diagonal. For once in his life Holden did not try to gravitate towards the entrance/exit -- though I suspect this has a lot to do with the two denizens that were perched there speculating us. 

Holden's beautiful walk beat!

Holden was fab as usual. He demonstrated a nice, easy walk the entire time and seemed to be enjoying the "work". He listened very well to voice commands and there was a definite improvement over yesterday on our straightness. Mike was able to snap some precious pictures of him; some of which I think are flipping adorable!

I briefly worked on walking along-side him as he walked, just to get him acclimated to the feel of the rope around his haunches. He took this well, and I do note we need to work on getting him to turn when there is pressure applied to the bit through the line. However, I don't want to do small circles -- so for now, we will settle on walking straight lines. I figure the steering is something we can work on gradually as to not upset or aggravate his old injury. 

We didn't walk for very long before the farrier came. We were in the indoor just shy of fifteen minutes before Holden's appointment. We untacked him quickly and the farrier spent some time palpitating Holden's hind leg -- which naturally lead to some dubious outrage on Holden's part! The farrier speculated that Holden's angles were not as bad as I thought (collective sigh of relief) and that he thought Holden should go barefoot if he is in a stall all time. Okay, he's the professional -- so Holden is now sans shoes on the front! I am betting tomorrow he might be foot-sore -- but I'm hoping he takes to the change swimmingly. Luckily for him, he is only ever in a cushy stall or walking in the cushy indoor -- which I may request be dragged in the next week or so. 

"Is there something on my nose?"

On another note, I'm running low on the porridge partition of our Platinum Porridge. I am contemplating getting alfalfa pellets and the alfalfa/oat cubes at TSC. His grain has a fair portion of oats on it and I imagine he was fed oats at the track anyway -- so hopefully this will help him put more weight on for the winter. Anyway, have one last picture of Holden. Like I said, isn't he CUTE?

"I'm going to need to speak to my agent about this."

This morning when I opened the barn door, Holden greeted me with another nicker! He must really like his Platinum Porridge. I dumped the soup in his bucket and let him gobble it down -- and as soon as he was done we headed to the Outside World where I let him graze for 10 minutes.

During his grazing, I noticed two things. One: he looks way cleaner inside and two: he still does not yield to pressure. There were a few instances where he would walk forward and clip his leadline (I was TRYING to help him not do this, but evidently I'm not great at preventative measures). Each time this happened, he panicked and balked. Panicking is a dramatic word - he really just flew his head up and would start pedaling backwards. Not what we're going for.

Each time he did it, I coaxed him back by holding my hand out with the grain that was conveniently in my pocket from yesterday. The first time, it took him a few seconds to notice I was offering him grain. The second time, he still slung his head up and balked, but he quickly mugged me for treats. He's a quick learner, and I am not sure if it will work in my favor. If he is smarter than me, we are going to run into some problems.

Outside-World, where everything but Holden resides.

I spent the rest of his time grazing by pulling down on his halter (where the lead clips) and wrapping the end of the lead around a leg - the result was the "feeling" he had clipped his lead but was a much safer alternative. I did this a few times until he stopped yanking back and simply dropped his head and lifted his leg. 

This kind of carries over into what I've been working on with him while we are ground driving. I want to prepare him for the (likely) unfortunate scenario where he may get loose and get tangled in the amassed amount of long lines -- if this happens, I don't want him to further panic and hurt himself over the lines. I want him to realize when there is pressure, he needs to yield - and thus far, when pressure is applied, he gets worried. I accredit this to a life lived under a chain-noseband. 

In the indoor during our walk, I worked on this exercise again. Using the long-line that was NOT clipped to him, I wrapped it around his elbow and pulled while simultaneously pulling on the bottom of his noseband. Cue an instant balk. Holden didn't like this. I rewarded him, patted him, told him it was okay -- and then I did it again. I did it until he dropped his head to pressure AND lifted his leg -- then I gave him treats and we began to "work" (read: walk). 

We walked around the outside of the ring a few times at a hand walk, just to get his muscles moving and shake off any stall-aches he had. After a few laps in both directions I clipped on the side-reins -- who, at this point, really only act as a visual aesthetic - they're too loose to function but I want Holden to become familiar with their presence. He didn't give a flip one way or another about them: good.

I then clipped on the long-lines and off we went on a super exciting walk! 

Today, we worked on a few things and I have a few things I need to work on tomorrow. We worked on changing the direction gradually by going across the diagonal: so a constant, gradual figure eight. This, in theory, would be a fun pattern to practice: except, at this particular moment, A: Holden is very convinced he always needs to be at the entrance to the indoor and B: Holden doesn't steer well. 

Okay, not a problem. Our discombobulated and jiggly figure eight eventually turned into a sweeping change across the diagonal, but it took some tweaking. He figured out after the third lap that we were repeatedly going across the diagonal, and he started to march without much directional interference on my part. Today was also the first day (after some proper "pre-conditioning") that I walked adjacent to his shoulder while we walked -- effectively wrapping the long-line around the back of his haunches. At first he was wary, but I think he stopped caring. Also good!

I walked him a little longer than I have been (I'd say we were out there for nearly 20 minutes instead of the usual 10-15) and I think he noticed this because at the end of the session he got a little fussy. I had spent a good ten minutes at the beginning getting him to yield to the long-rope, which attributed to our time spent in the indoor. The BO came up while I was working on Holden's straightness and wanted to chat, which further delayed the end of our session.

But I figured I'd reel him in before he got too sassy -- I spent a few minutes recapping the "tangled long-line scenario" (from now on referred as TLLS) until I was satisfied with his responses and then we went back to his stall. I untacked him, spent some time currying the scurf on his legs, picked his feet, tortured him by brushing his face for a full TWO WHOLE minutes (including picking detritus out of his forelock) and then tossed him some hay. Holden is gradually becoming more interested in everything around him - today, for example, he fussed with the stall door after I closed it and I caught him following me around the barn with his eyes while I swept up and tidied.

"We're done, right?"

 Tomorrow, the new farrier my vet recommended comes. During our brief phone conversation, I mentioned his injury and he said it might be beneficial to go barefoot. I have my reservations and will remain guarded, but if farrier thinks he is a candidate we will discuss. Holden has grown a SIGNIFICANT amount of hoof since he was last shod, which doesn't help the steep angle he currently has. I am hoping new farrier will have a suggestion for correcting ugly race angles as well as some insight on Holden's hind feet, which are still slightly bull nosed from the toe-grabs he had on the track. We'll see!

"Where's my soup?"

Today was another uneventful day at the barn. I truly wish I had some insightful and interesting things to blabber about here, but luckily for me my days remain inordinately orthodox.

No nicker from Holden when I opened the barn doors today. However, he was standing very patiently at the stall door awaiting his Platinum Porridge -- and I managed to sneak in a few paparazzi moments which he was not very thrilled with.

I gave him half his soup and groomed him - he still has some grimy scurf on his one leg - the RF, and it was attacked with some anti-fungal spray and curry-comb. Holden was not pleased. His hind legs, both of them, were cold and tight today. Our tack up routine went without a hitch, and today I elected to introduce the side-reins while ground-driving. 

One may remember from prior posts (before the vet visits) that Holden was already introduced to loose side-reins, and acted a model citizen. Today was no exception. The side-reins were on the loosest hole but I'm afraid he either remembered their function or the weight of them encouraged him to "carry a frame" (not that he KNOWS what that is yet!) - our initial hand-walk around the ring with them clipped was done with mincing and slow steps. One could tell practically hear the quizzical gears in his head coiling.

"But why is the porridge gone?!"

I encouraged him to walk at the pace he normally walks - he has a naturally ambling gait; at at first he was reluctant to move out. I suspect the weight of the side-reins plays a part - Holden is fairly sensitive to pressure and I imagine he may have felt this was a conflicting aid. Since the goal here is to spice up our hand-walking routine (while still keeping the workload minimal) I did not adjust or tighten the side-reins. They were kept on the loosest hole through-out the walk session.

Our allotted ten minutes of walking was up in almost no time, so I spent some time in the middle of the ring with him standing while I unclipped the long-lines and pulled them around him. Again, working on getting him to not be alarmed when he felt he was "tangled" in the lines. 

He had a brief blip where he backed up (another thing we are working on - Holden likes to back up to face me, especially if I am at his flank. I think this has something to do with the treats in my pocket.. ). Anyway, Holden tried to back up to face me while I was at the girth -- and we had a small hiccup when he met the taut line of the long-line around his haunch. At first he startled from a stand; but after I pet him he relaxed. Wasn't much of a hiccup, I'm afraid.

Anyway, I spent some time playing with my camera in his stall today. He was very curious about the camera, but after a few flashes detonated near his precious eyes he lost interest and resumed munching his hay. Tomorrow, I am hoping for a real paparazzi session where I can actually get pictures that are not at an awkward armslength angle!

Updates!

Holden, 10/25/13

So, it's been a while! Lots has happened - some antics, escapades, a car breaking, and some dogs running amok has kept me pretty busy..

It's been a little over a month and a half since I got Holden, and it seems like he has finally "settled" into his new life. He is not so headshy anymore (I make a point to brush his face EVERY day, something he isn't impressed with) and lately I've been able to bit/bridle him up without any head tossing. I was worried he didn't have much of a personality but lately he has been very perky and interested in everything around him, so I think he just needed some time to adjust and become comfortable.

I've also noticed he is finally lying down. While I haven't caught him in the act, I've found some betraying clues that he is finally at ease enough to rest - read: manure and poop on his haunches and shoulders and hay/shavings/detritus in his mane. 

Awaiting his "Platinum Porridge"

Lucky for Holden he happens to have the best Grandmother in the world - she bought him Platinum CJ; I mix it in with his alfalfa cubes for lunch and he LOVES it. I call it his signature Platinum Porridge; Mike does not approve of the smell or the consistency. I think it smells yummy. Yesterday, I opened the barn door and heard Holden nicker towards me! While I am sure the affection was reserved for his porridge, I still felt very special to have received such a royal greeting. When I opened the door Holden regarded politely me as usual and positioned himself impatiently by his grain bucket for his food. I think we're making progress.

On that note, last week I felt sorry that he had been confined in his stall for almost a week and elected to take him outside to "feel the sunshine".. That is not a mistake I will make again.. I took him to the outdoor to walk him in the ring and the cheeky brat FLEW out of my hand and galloped around the ring curtains aflying and the ropes sailing behind him which SPOOKED him even MORE.. After a rendezvous he was shortly curtailed and we have been resuming all activities in the sanctity of our indoor since. Like I said, novice and stupid mistake on my part!

Holden's leg has been looking great. He stocks up behind, but I think it is because of his time in the stall. Both hind legs are cold and consistently even with their stockiness - which further convinces me it is just from all the stall rest. Holden hasn't batted an eye (other than his frolic/escapade outside) to this new routine -- he seems to enjoy his time spent indoors. I've been mixing up his daily sessions of handwalking - some days we walk in a halter or a rope, some days we walk under tack (but not riding), other days I work on introducing him to ground driving. 

At a respectful stop. 

Speaking of ground-driving, Holden's first implementation to the subject went well without a hitch - no pun intended. We have been working studiously on polishing off his "Aaaand whoa" and "Walk on" cues -- and he is very responsive and obedient. I've noticed during ground driving that he sometimes braces against the contact - which is why I have spent more time really nailing his cues home so that I do not need to rely on contact with the long-lines to get him to halt.

He seems to get impatient when asked to halt and stand, so I have also been implementing different halt/stand times. Sometimes he is asked immediately to walk on, other times I "reel" the line in and adjust something on the surcingle or pet him. This definitely makes him less fussy, and I think if I keep working on this every day we will see immense improvement.

I have also been working on getting him to yield his legs against pressure. After seeing him panic and lose all marbles (okay, exaggeration) when the rope was sailing behind him when he got loose the other day, I have elected to really desensitize him to anything that moves like a snake. We started by throwing the long-lines on the ground and walking over them; at first, Holden was concerned but after many repetitions he relaxed. We then graduated to "tangling" the lines on him in his stall -- in which I would pull the lines taut until he yielded a leg (or whatever the line was around). I'll ask him to pick up a leg this way, or move his haunches this way -- and I've also resorted to dangling the rope around his ears and head. I've been doing this every day and there has been much improvement.

Practicing standing patiently.

In addition, I've also been gently throwing the line over his back, under him, all around him -- as well as hurling the line away from him in the indoor. I think our practices in the stall has already made him less wary of the lines -- because after a few repetitions he stood there nonchalantly like a school horse while I did all of this.

I think Holden likes the activity, and next week I think I am going to work on  getting him more straight when driving from behind. Right now I am only walking him on the rail with halts interspersed between the long side. After the halt transition he sometimes tries to turn towards the center of the ring. I will need a helper, but my next step with ground driving is to get him to respond to the "over" command as perfectly as he does in the stall.

Regrettably, I have yet to pick up a clicker.. I really think he'd be an adept scholar in this retrospect but I don't know anywhere that sells them.

On another note, Holden's farrier comes this Wednesday, the 30th. I am excited to meet him - as well as get Holden's long toes addressed. His angles are still rather unfavorable, and he's grown a steep amount of toe in the past month. The farrier mentioned Holden may benefit from being barefoot for the winter, so we will see.

More updates forthcoming!