Forward Is Good.. Progress Is Better!

"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!