Back from a few days of skiing and I found myself missing my new boys! When we got home last night, I went out to see them and they were both down in the round pen. I called to them and they both came galloping up! It was so sweet! What a lovely homecoming.
Today I wanted to work more with picking up Allegro's feet, grooming him, and just overall handling. My son came out with me, so we ended up bringing out both colts. And Allegro stood very quietly while I haltered him (both times previously he backed up a bit before I was able to get the halter tied). Both were groomed (they both love that) and while Pearce was walking around the yard with Sherlock I worked on picking up Allegro's feet. He's really getting better. Even after several days off, he picked up each foot fairly easily. He still has trouble standing and struggles a bit with me holding each foot, but in no time he was figuring out that if he relaxed and held still, he would get his foot back. But really, his struggling is pretty minimal and he settled pretty quickly, and stroking his leg while holding it seemed to help settle him. I picked up all 4 feet several times and each time he let me hold it just a bit longer before trying to pull it back. And each follow-up time I tried to let him have it back before he started to pull back. I am really pleased so far.
After that I took him up the driveway and back. When I did that, Sherlock got worried, so I let Pearce walk with Allegro while I took Sherlock. He's a very sweet horse, but is starting to show signs of being pushy, so we need to look after that now before he gets bigger. So while Pearce walked Allegro (who was amazingly good with Pearce), I walked and stopped, walked and stopped with Sherlock a few times to help him find the "sweet spot" while leading. It didn't take long, but we need to keep working on that lots because he still has a tendency to move into my space fairly regularly.
Today I wanted to work more with picking up Allegro's feet, grooming him, and just overall handling. My son came out with me, so we ended up bringing out both colts. And Allegro stood very quietly while I haltered him (both times previously he backed up a bit before I was able to get the halter tied). Both were groomed (they both love that) and while Pearce was walking around the yard with Sherlock I worked on picking up Allegro's feet. He's really getting better. Even after several days off, he picked up each foot fairly easily. He still has trouble standing and struggles a bit with me holding each foot, but in no time he was figuring out that if he relaxed and held still, he would get his foot back. But really, his struggling is pretty minimal and he settled pretty quickly, and stroking his leg while holding it seemed to help settle him. I picked up all 4 feet several times and each time he let me hold it just a bit longer before trying to pull it back. And each follow-up time I tried to let him have it back before he started to pull back. I am really pleased so far.
After that I took him up the driveway and back. When I did that, Sherlock got worried, so I let Pearce walk with Allegro while I took Sherlock. He's a very sweet horse, but is starting to show signs of being pushy, so we need to look after that now before he gets bigger. So while Pearce walked Allegro (who was amazingly good with Pearce), I walked and stopped, walked and stopped with Sherlock a few times to help him find the "sweet spot" while leading. It didn't take long, but we need to keep working on that lots because he still has a tendency to move into my space fairly regularly.At one point one of the dogs spooked Allegro and he jumped away from Pearce, but once he 
reached the end of the lead line, he stopped and turned around and came back. It was great to see -- both that he respects the line and that he's able to come back to left-brained fairly quickly after being spooked.
reached the end of the lead line, he stopped and turned around and came back. It was great to see -- both that he respects the line and that he's able to come back to left-brained fairly quickly after being spooked. I also measured Allegro today... and he's as tall as I first thought (I'm not over exaggerating!). He's 15hh!! And only 10 1/2 months old! He's gonna be a big boy!
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