Second Day

I gave River Saturday off to adjust to the herd and hopefully calm down some. So I headed over again this afternoon before my turn to feed.

The friend who had recommended the barn to me was already there, so I went and caught the boy and brought him in. He called a lot but I had him in the rope halter so he didn't lean on it so much, and he seemed a bit more relaxed. Brought him in and put him in a stall hoping he'd calm down since theoretically he was more used to that. But he just started pacing. So I went and got his grain and fed him, then brought him out and tied him up next to my friend's horse.

Eventually he calmed right down and was very nice. He licked and chewed a LOT, yawned and yawned, and generally let go of a lot of stress. We followed my friend out and hung around while she started teaching a lesson, and I started teaching River the Parelli 7 Games.

Wow.  That is all I have to say.

This horse is SO SMART!

Friendly (desensitizing)--no worries. Porcupine (direct pressure)--yup, got that. Driving (suggestion of pressure)--oh that's the same thing, sure. Circling--okay, great. The only thing we had a problem with was Yo-Yo (backing up and coming forward). He backs fine off pressure, but not off wiggling the lead rope. We'll work on it. I didn't do Squeeze or Sideways because the only fences we had to work on were electric and I didn't want him or me getting shocked!

I feel like I "taught" him nothing. Lol! Either someone else has taught him all this, and done an amazing job (unlikely), or the horse is just crazy smart. It did really help him start using his mind and calm down, though. Eventually we moved away from my friend and her horse and worked on our own where he couldn't see anyone. He called some, then settled down. I put him to work whenever he got antsy, and when he calmed down I told him "Okay" and encouraged him to graze. Pretty soon he was very chill except for the flies--I took him inside the barn and although there was nobody around, he calmed down and let me finish grooming him and everything with no fuss.

He did throw both front shoes sometime between Friday and today. Ugh. But I'm not surprised--it would be a miracle if any shoes stayed on in that pasture. Nice as it is, there are some very muddy spots. It didn't mess up his feet much though, so I weighed my options and turned him back out with plans of calling the farrier ASAP. I think he'll do less damage to himself in the pasture than pacing and being worried in his stall.