So I have started working with Pam. I figured I’d write up a bit of what I’m doing for y’all.
Part 1: The feet.
The feet didn’t go so smoothly this time. When I first started lifting her feet when she arrived here, she was very hesitant, and did all the naughty horse tricks (leaning on me, leaning away, trying to put all 2000 pounds on the foot so I can’t take it). I’ve really taken it easy on her and not used a pick. I’ve just been lifting them for 4-5 seconds, and letting them back down. Well this time around, I decided to use the pick. The first hoof (front left) went great. I moved over to do the front right, and it was then that she realized that I was actually picking them. She suddenly tried to lean on me (which made me take a step away while holding the hoof pinched upward). I gave her some sweet talk, and she calmed down a bit, and when she did, I released the foot, and rubbed her all over letting her know how good she did.
I went to do the rear right hoof, and she jumped her rear to the left with a “like hell you are!” attitude. It was at this time, that I got to see the inner fireball in Pam. I kept slowly rubbing on her, and then I’d reach down for the hoof, rubbing down her leg and she’d jump to the side. Then she ran out of jumping room due to the fence. Suddenly the “flight” mode became “fight” mode. For the first time since I’ve been working with these animals, I had a horse try to kick me. As I reached down, she suddenly popped her leg forward, and then swung it back and to the outside to try and kick me. Luckily, I could see this coming, so I was out of the way. More sweet talk and rubbing all over was given, and then I went down again. This time I got a hold of the foot and as she tried to swing it forward, I made the front of the rear hoof point to her butt to really pinch that sucker and give me a good hand hold. She tried a few times to kick, but when she saw that I could not be shaken from the hoof, she went with plan B. Plan B consisted of her trying to kick, while trying to put all 2000 pounds of her body on that leg at the same time. This was difficult. What option did I prefer, to have Pam’s gimongous rear end come down on me, or to let the foot go and be kicked. Luckily I kept my wits, and tried to make that front edge of her hoof touch her leg. This was enough to deter that movement. Then, in the few seconds she was relaxed while I’m sure she was planning a horrible plan C, I released the pinch on the hoof, rubbed her down and placed the foot back on the ground.
Whew. That was enough to tire me out right there. I walked around and did lots of more rubbing, and when she felt my hand begin rubbing down the last leg, she jumped away and tried to kick at me. It was right here, that I had a change in game plans. We had done enough hoof grabbing for the day. I’m going to need to go slower with her on this and not introduce the pick so quickly. I can only think that she has some kind of bad memory of hooves being done.
Part 2: the blanket
As Pam was sitting there being loved on and enjoying all the brushing and petting I was bestowing on her, I decided to see what she thought of my horse blanket. I pulled it out of the shed, and in Pam’s eyes, that blanket was equal to Satan’s spawn from hell with an appetite for horses. I knew she was big and muscley, and had to be strong, but I had no idea. Pam hit reverse. I laid the blanket down on a barrel a few feet away and sweet talked her. She calmed down. I waited a few moments for her to check out the blanket. When I went to pick it up again, it must’ve looked like the red spawn of Satan was hungry again, because Pam hit reverse HARD. My lag eyelet thing completely bent, and opened, and it is only through the grace of God that the ring did not slip off the lag. This hefty 6 inch post that was concreted into the ground, also had a 2 inch gaping hole on the opposite side. Wow … simply amazing.
About this time, I decided that the spawn of Satan (my red horse blanket) would just lay on the ground while I tried something else.
Part 3: the bridle
It is my understanding that Pam was worked before, so I thought I’d see how she handles the bridle. Discovery #1 … Pam and Lily have the same size head from bit to bit. I was shocked. Discovery #2 … red bridle is not scary. Pam was fine with the bridle. She smelled it, and let me put it on her. After putting it on her, she began the “get the peanut butter off the roof of your mouth” routine. She acted like she had never had a bit in. She didn’t know where her tongue was supposed to go, and started shaking her head. At this time, I decided it was time to get those feet moving. So I grabbed the lead rope, and lead her all around. We walked around for 15 minutes or so. She was still busy playing with the bit, but nothing scary was coming from it. I didn’t work at all on using the bridle, just having it in her mouth for this day.
Part 2 Revisited
Since she was so preoccupied with the bit, I decided to try my luck with the blanket again. This time, I tied the lead rope itself around the post. I picked the blanket up, and the look came into her eye … “oh dear god, that thing is going to eat me”. J I moved very slowly, and moved it to her nose. She then begin sniffing and sniffing. I held it still for 5 minutes or so just letting her smell it. Her ears slowly came forward, and I waited until I saw her lips move a bit and then I began rubbing her nose with it. I rubbed her nose and then up her face with it. Instantly she relaxed because she loves being pet. After this, I spent the next 15 minutes rubbing her all over with the blanket. She had no complaints.
After I had rubbed her with it for a long time, I placed it on her back, and we walked around some more. This was cake. During this last walk, Pam remembered that she had a friend who was nowhere to be seen. This brought back some of her anxieties. She started trying to look for Lily everywhere. I just kept leading her and we did lots of circles to keep her mind on me. Then I tied her up, took the blanket off, and un bridled her. Then it was dinner time.
The best thing about this session, was that as long as I had Pam’s attention on me, she forgot about her “Herd anxieties”. That is great! The foot thing I am not worried about. It will come with time. I just need to take it really slow. Pam is a lot more fiery than Lily was when being asked to do something against her will. But she’s also got a bit more of a sweet side to her. She’s going to be a great horse and when the day comes that she’s pulling a wagon for me, I’ll be sure to post pics!!
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