Starting to heal

Today was the last day of Skittles' penicillin doses. Why the penicillin? Well, while at the trainer's last month she tried to jump out of the pasture she was in (I think this is the 3rd or 4th time she's tried the whole "escape artist" thing since we got her). But this time she didn't quite make it and landed on her side with her back leg caught on the gate until Ken came to rescue her. Needless to say, a nasty gash in her hock. So I've been doctoring her ever since she came home ... cleaning twice a day at first, then down to once a day in the past couple of weeks. The vet came out last week (just me being cautious) and gave me another round of penicillin to give her twice a day for the week. Which turned out to be the right answer because in the last week the flesh has really started to come back. I was also giving her bute at first (when she first came home) to keep her moving around, and I have the "cherry-flavored" powder you dissolve in water. She LOVED that. Whenever I came up to her with the syringe to squirt in her mouth, she'd literally try to eat it. Not much of a struggle to get her mouth open!

The bute eventually ended, but then I started using the syringe again to give her the penicillin. I ground up the pills in my coffee grinder, dissolved it in hot water, then mixed it up with molasses before putting the whole concoction in the syringe. At first I think she was expecting that nice sweet cherry flavor and was rather taken aback at the change. So for the first few days she was reluctant to take the syringe. Yesterday I didn't even need to put the halter on to hold her head. I just held up the syringe and she happily grabbed it in her teeth while I squirted it in her mouth. Today was her last dose (photo).

In all the time I've been cleaning her wound, the weather has been brutal (-15 C to -20C and often with wind chills), so my fingers have been turning into icicles while I clean her (I heard someone say it's been the coldest February on record. Wouldn't surprise me). I'm sure it's not all that pleasant for her either! And I don't have a barn or shelter to take her in, so I've been trying to coax her into our garage. At first she'd have none of that. But each day I got her a little closer, then got her to stick her head in, and now she's walking right in and standing in there no problem. After the first time I got her in there, I think she realized it's a lot nicer to be out of the wind as well (even though there IS that scary red Honda right next to her).

I'm REALLY looking forward to some warmer weather so I can actually DO some stuff with her. And with all the other horses as well.

Getting started

This is exciting! I now have a way to log my progress (or lack of) with my 4 horses and get instant feedback! This is so cool!

So, some history... I learned riding and horsemanship "the old fashioned way" - which is to say, essentially forcing the horse to do what I want; or if you don't get it the first time, ask HARDER (it's like communicating with someone who doesn't speak English and then SHOUTING the same things louder thinking they'll understand if you say it louder! Kinda stupid huh? Sheesh). Needless to say, I wish I could go back and apologize to those first horses I rode for all the idiotic and heartless things I did to them. So now I'm "unlearning" so I can relearn the right stuff.

I was introduced to Parelli Natural Horsemanship in June 2006 as a result of trying to find help with the weanling fillies I bought at an auction in Sept. 2005. They were completely wild and I was only able to halter-break 1 of them (IndyAnna), while the other remained completely wild and virtually untouchable (Skittles). A full year after buying them I had progressed to being able to scratch Skittles on her face and sometimes on her neck before she turned tail and ran away. And even when she would let me touch her, she was head high, snorting, leg cocked and ready to bolt. I was starting to wonder if I'd ever gain her trust, but more importantly: what the heck was I doing wrong?

I took a level 1 clinic in September with Gypsy (my mare). Parelli recommends you get through the first 3 levels with a seasoned horse before attempting it with a young horse. We got through all 7 games with flying colors. :-) Well, we had a few gliches, but she was awesome. Me... well I need some refinement. Thank God Gypsy is so forgiving and patient! So we practiced a bit more at home and then winter hit. We haven't done much of anything since (it's been a nasty, cold and snowy winter!), but we're going to another level 1 clinic in June and I'm determined to be tested and pass level 1 at that clinic.

In the meantime, I decided that I needed help with Skittles. I heard about a trainer who lives close to me and contacted him. After meeting him, and a couple conversations later, I decided to send her to him for 2 weeks -- just to get her to the point where she was halter broke and I could work around her, pick up her feet, etc. Long story short, she's an entirely new horse! She leads like a dream, loads like a dream, you can walk up to her and put a halter on, she'll even walk up to me! She's learned to trust, is curious and willing... I can hardly believe she's the same horse (she's the one in the picture). I also learned a ton from her trainer and intend to keep in touch. He is not crazy about Parelli, but I figure if they're both singing from the same songbook, what does it matter who the singer is? It's the horse that counts and they both agree on that point!

The rest of these entries will be specific to the horse and activity completed.