Things to do witha laid up horse

["Sarah Roxanne Zawacki" <zawackis@pilot.msu.edu>]

    Okay, since Elliot is out of riding bounds and stuck in a paddock
for awhile, and there are several other people in the same predicament on
Ridecamp, I think I'm going to pass "Ways to amuse yourself and your steed"
ideas along as I get them.
    While hand grazing Elliot tonight, I got bored, but I wanted to let him
eat longer.  Because he is *much* more tolerant of my antics when he is
doing something pleasant such as eating, I started messing with him.  My
goal was to train him not to panic if he stepped on his leadrope.  One of
the things I really enjoy about Ridecamp is the attitude towards safety.
I was in 4-H for ten years (the maximum allowed!) and they always stressed
safety.  Don't let your horse step on the leadrope while hand grazing was
a biggie.  On Ridecamp, we have had actual discussions about the benefits
of teaching your horse not to panic when he's got rope wrapped around his
legs, and why hobbling is beneficial to a horse when he gets a leg over
the leadrope if tied too long.  It's a more "this could very well happen,
might as well be prepared for it, though not ask for it" kind of approach.
And I'm not knocking 4-H, because I certainly would not have a How to Wrap
Your Horse in Ropes clinic, as all sorts of things could go wrong when the
kids got home, or tried to teach their friends.  Besides this, I am still
bemoaning turning twenty (on Monday, geepers) because this is my first year
of not being in 4-H since I got a horse.  But anyway, the first thing I
did with Elliot was teach him not to panic if he stepped on his own leadrope.
    I tried standing on it myself at first, and he repeatedly jerked his
head up, freeing himself.  I realized that was kind of stupid, since I was
teaching him the opposite of what I wanted him to learn (if you push hard
enough, you'll be free) *and* what I was teaching him had nothing to do with
another important concept, that he could free himself by moving a foot off
the rope.  So I ran the rope, while he was grazing, between his front legs
and held it taut at a certain (longish, at first) length.  When he tried to
walk off, or move, he was restrained by a longish rope at chest height, and
he backed off from the pressure, probably because that's what I taught him
to do in a hackamore (so he drops his head and stretches down) or when I'm
backing him up and he hasn't caught on to the backing up concept from my
body language.  Anyway, we did that for awhile.  I gradually shortened the
rope until he had about a foot of rope between his halter and his chest.
Then I let the rope slip behind his knee, and held it there, long then
short.  And finally, I reached what I was actually going for: slipping the
rope around his pastern, so that moving his head would tug at his foot, so
he'd move it to release the pressure.  After he got good at that, I put the
rope on the ground and stepped on it.  Even at six inches of length, he
didn't jerk his head up anymore.  I had a terrible time of waiting for him
to step on the rope himself, but the few times he did, he ate in a circle
without panicking and then eventually moved his foot to swat at a fly and
had it come down somewhere else.  Not exactly what I was going for--I'd rather
have him understand that he's in control of when his head is released, but
at least the resistance was gone.
    Then I played the "putting scary things on Elliot's back, rump, and neck"
game, one of my all-time favorites.  The rope failed to get any response
from him, and he even let me lead him with the leadrope between his front
legs.  So I went off in search of something scary but non-dangerous and
came up with an empty 25 pound Friskies cat food (Ocean Fish flavored) bag.
So I played with that while Elliot grazed.  I wasn't bored anymore, mostly
because of Elliot's expression ("Would you PLEASE leave me alone?!?!").  He
was pretty steady most of the time.  He didn't spook at all when the bag
slowly fell off his rump and landed next to him, but he got really scared
when he stepped on it.  I'll work on that later.  He got to the point where
he was entirely content to graze with the large teal bag laid on his neck,
resting on his ears, and even when it fell off next to him, he wasn't afraid.
Which was very nice.  He's more sensible every year, but it's sort of boring
sometimes.  But I'll take boring over insane any day.  Elliot's my first
Arab, and I sort of revelled in his spooky, entertaining nature, so long
as it was not dangerous to either of us.  I used to show Quarter Horses and
Apps, and for showing purposes, a horse that functions rock steadily in a
myriad of show conditions is a real boon.  So, strange as it sounds, to have
an Arab for no other reason than because I really liked him (even though it
meant selling my show horse) and to have an Arab with all sorts of quirks
that are intolerable for showing (at least, stock horses) purposes was sort
of a luxury.  And Elliot's so much more fun to watch, because
he's so expressive.  But I mess with him so much and he's got a decent mind
anyway, that I suppose it's inevitable that he will eventually become
strangely calm.
    The third thing I did was let him back in his paddock and go off in
search of something else to play with.  I found a bunch of those reflectors
that are on plastic sticks about two feet long, and are meant to be used to
outline driveways and things.  I took four of them, and put them across the
ten foot wide doorway to Elliot's stall.  Now he has to walk between them
to get in and out.  I cannot imagine any possible way for him to hurt
himself on them.  They're not stiff--they wobble to and fro, they're rounded
at the top, and if he tripped on one, it would just come out of the ground
and lay flat.  When he gets bored with those, I think I'll put some loose,
empty cat foot bags across the entrance.  If they're not attached to one
another, I don't think he could hurt himself on those, either.
    More ideas to come as they hit me!





                        Sarah & Elliot (those wobbly things are shiny!)



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