Maternal Influence

Now that Copy has been gone for two weeks, we are starting to see a change in Ace’s personality. He’s settling down! Hooray! He’s still a mouthy egotistical teenage boy but it’s easier to get him to think. He isn’t constantly worried about what his mare is doing and where she’s doing it. Or with whom.

I’ve been trying to get him out and about more, so we’ve been doing more hand grazing. The other day on my last post I noticed a weird anxious behavior. When we would first bring him out, he would take a few bites of grass then paw impatiently. If you said “Ace… just eat” he would go right back to eating. It took me a couple of times to figure out where it was coming from. He paws impatiently when he eats grain. If there is a lot of activity outside when you take him to graze, he starts the pawing out of habit. Knucklehead! He hasn’t done it the last two times I’ve brought him out. He’s beginning to be ruled by his stomach rather than his nuts. That’s a good thing.

Today when I turned him loose in the outdoor arena, instead of the usual “I’m Free!” rocketing off, he immediately started grazing. Hmmmm… imagine that. After a little while, I walked to the other end to entice him into a little exercise. He immediately began galloping big loops. What impresses me most about this is that he has natural flying lead changes. Some Saddlebreds don’t because they are bred more to trot. My grey horse doesn’t have a flying change at all. Ace has a pretty good automatic change. I was impressed.

As he got hotter, and more tightly wound, he started sticking to the gate corner so I would call him out “Acey… C’mon.” and he would come trotting down the rail, knees popping, head up and eyes bright like a show horse. He’s pretty proud of himself when you call him and as he got bolder coming down to the far end where I was standing, I realized when he was about 15 feet away that he had no plan for stopping or going around me. I gave a yelp and jumped one way, and luckily he jumped the other. Had we both jumped in the same direction it wouldn’t have worked out well. But that bright happy “Here I Come” face was worth it.

When it was time to go in, he was easy to catch. Then you have to get him thinking again which takes a few minutes. Mom uses the whapper stick as a pacifier, but I’m trying to get him weaned off of it and the corresponding nipping and neck wrestling. Just outside the gate she gave it to him and I cried “don’t give it to him, he can’t think with that thing in his mouth” as he proceeded to walk over top of me. But a swish of the longe whip got his brain engaged, and he dropped the whapper and started to act like a horse again. He’s like a puppy with a chew toy. In fact, it's pretty hard to keep things out of his mputh still. He'll eat any old weed, and I'm constantly removing the ones I know he shouldn't eat.

He deals very well with biting flies. Some Saddlebreds can’t cope at all. The horse flies and deer flies are really nasty this year. He always has at least one welt on him from being bitten when he’s out over night. I ordered him a fly sheet and its on it’s way. In the mean time, he’s getting used to having Grey’s put on. The first time I tossed it across his back he was pretty worried. But he doesn’t freak out, he just studies my face frantically as if to say “is this OK? What are you trying to do to me? What am I supposed to do?”

He’s even managing to cross tie without the whapper to chew on. He doesn’t fidget with the ropes as much and he keeps his eyes glued on me. He loves being crosstied and fussed over more than anything in the world. He studies every move I make and just soaks it all up. He’s fun to groom. His coat is so fine, and his color so deep I could just polish it like fine mahogany all day.

Copy is doing well in her new home. She was bred by A.I. at home earlier this week. We’re waiting to find out how that went. We did get a phone message informing us that she is a “damned hussy”. Hey, we warned you. She’d walk over you to get in the trailer if she thought it was going to Sex Camp. She has bonded with her old friend Wayne. He’s such a dedicated horse husband. When he goes out at 2 a.m. to change the turnout group, he has to go all the way to the back of the pasture to get Copy.

Here’s a photo of her departure.

Measuring Up

I've only seen Ace once since Farrier day. Between awful weather, running errands, and attending my out of town company Christmas party, it just hasn't worked out. When I came to the barn today at lunch Ace was very happy to see me and whinnied loudly. He was happy because #1 it was lunchtime, #2 it was his turn to go outside, and #3 maybe he likes me just a little. I went right in, put my arm over his back and rubbed both sides of his neck, which is the only way you can snuggle him without being promptly bitten. What I notice immediately is that Ace has grown! He no longer fits in my armpit. His withers were hitting my arm about 4 inches further along. I've had it in the back of my mind to measure him, so today was the day. Ace is 13 hands, 3.25 inches. I also noted when he was playing that he looks much less ass-high which is a good thing. I don't really care how tall he gets (I already have a tall one) but I do want him to be built up hill, and I want as much neck as possible. So this is our first bench mark.

Other than that, Ace had a lot of the devil in him today. He trotted happily to the grooming area and stood without being tied because I have yet to figure out a way to keep Mr. Mouth from constantly fiddling with the snaps, and because he will stand there anyway. But, one time he did push the limits a bit, and in a moment had grabbed his brush caddy and emptied it all over the floor. Then he danced around in a circle, not because he had scared himself but because he knew he was in big trouble. After a brief grooming and event free leg handling, he was turned out to play. I tried to get all the hay scraps picked out of the gateway to the round pen, and he took a break from his playing to try to dump the tub. He had a plan. He wasn't simply investigating the tub, he was targeting the yellow rope handle and trying to dump it. Little pest. He was NOT successful, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

Buddy Bopper

Ace loves his Buddy Bopper. I have to sneak up on him to take pictures, because as soon as he sees me watching he stops. He spends a lot of time just standing with his chin resting on Buddy, but Buddy gets a lot of workouts and gets dragged all over the place. He's holding up well. He's only deflated once. He does need a little more pressure now that the weather has gotten colder, and I'll try to take care of that this weekend.

Things have been fine with Ace. Last weekend we had a bit of a wrestling match over picking up hooves, and I have the bruises to prove it. I sought some support and advice on COTH, and you can read the discussion here. We made it through, and haven't had any trouble since. The farrier was here this week. I am so thankful for my unflappable farrier. We brought Ace to the crossties, and Kim held him while I wiped the mud off his legs. I thought that might be tricky, but he barely noticed. Then I held him in addition to tying him to one wall or the other. He was well behaved for all but the right front. We had done the left side easily. The right front he always manages to snatch away from me, but not burly Kim. Kim held on, and Ace tried rearing to get away. The third time he got a lot of height and smacked his noggin on the side of the roof trusses. Besides some dust and cobwebs, he was unscathed. It sobered him up though, and he stood still for the rest.

Sept 21st progress report

Not much has been going on with Ace. He's growing, and behaving. Now and then I have to show up and play the enforcer, but for the most part, everything is running smoothly. He is shaping up to be very upheaded with nice length of neck, and pretty good hinge at the throat. That coupled with his handsome face is causing Mom and I to really look forward to his training in a few years.

He and Copy spend most of the day from breakfast 'til dark in the indoor round pen which opens out into a small pipe corral. Besides being a nice set up for exercise, this puts Ace front and center at the arena gate where he can see anything that goes on in the barn. Last week I had my Grey horse crosstied 6 feet from the arena gate and was rummaging around in the tack room. I heard sort of a start and a low snort from Grey, and looked out to find a paper feed bag lying on the floor at his feet. The culprit...

He just wanted someone to play with, and was offering Grey his toy.

Progress report on everything else...

Weaning: We now have an empty stall for him, and I need to fix the door latch and otherwise babyproof it.

Gelding: I felt for his testicles today, and the one that had dropped was nowhere to be found! **sigh**

The Great Escape

When I began to blog, I often wondered what on earth I would write about and would I eventually run out of material? But you know what? Stuff just keeps happening.

Mom's email from 11:51 pm last night...

At 10:30 Richard took Hunter (Rottweiler) out and came in saying "you have a horse loose" always a news item I can do without. He was in flip flops, I grabbed the flashlight and got into my boots fast. There Copy and Ace were, eating grass by the hitching rail. Richard was ahead of me and got the barn lights on, Ace ran for him and the barn. Copy went to Grey's window to flirt and let me catch her too. They had both insulators broken by Grey's stall and the web totally off and on the ground. Nobody hurt and all is well except Copy is coughing again tonight. Glad no one told Ace that when you get out you run like crazy everywhere you are never supposed to go.

The scene of the crime:

And their Accomplice:

The Showdown at the Not OK Corral

Over the summer, I spent two weeks take home pay on a used pipe round pen. Then, I spent about half that again to buy these rather ingenious Panel Caps to fill the joints and make it safe for Knucklehead who must always rear up and ride his mother around piggyback like a fool. I did all this so that Copy and Ace could have the benefit of grazing in the lush hayfield now that they have trampled down both of their run-ins. This gesture of kindness was pretty much wasted on the unappreciative horses. Well, at least on Copy.




Mom and I led Copy and Ace out to the hayfield. Acey was quite well behaved considering this was the longest walk away from the barn he's ever taken, and it was unknown territory. He sort of led me, but there was no biting, bolting, rearing or carrying on. He was as good as you can expect a young fella to be. Copy, on the other hand, shuffled through her deck of possible personalities and chose "Displeased Herd-Bound Crazymare". This was not helped by William P. who was so jealous seeing his two women walk off out of sight with other horses that he spent the entire time at his window calling for us all to come back.


Copy refused to settle in and graze. She ran the fence because she was suddenly way too far away from the barn, and her barnmates (who mostly don't like her anyway because of her persnickety attitude).




Ace, besides being influenced by Crazymare, was overjoyed at his new playpen with the wide open sky and wonderful view. He would have been running laps anyway.


I finally went in and caught Copy hoping that having her on a rope would settle her in and allow Ace to calm down. She did take a few bites, but told me that in her opinion, the grass here smelled funny. Ace, despite being excited about his new found freedom, and covered in flies since his mother's antics had stirred up and attracted every facefly for a mile, did do some grazing and explored his new "corral" and seemed to say it was OK by him.


After awhile Copy got impatient with me, and the funny smelling grass, and decided to get pushy, stomp around and paw. She did her best to express her opinion that this "corral" was beneath her dignity, not properly placed, and rather a waste of her valuable time. At this point, I was pretty fed up with Ms. Picky Pants. When I snapped her across the back with the lead rope to straighten her out, she threw her head way up and looked down her nose at me in her signature look of scandalised innocence which I find to be the single most entertaining expression I've ever seen on a horse. Even when I'm really really annoyed with her, which I really really was.

At least Ace enjoyed his romp.

Kerplunk!

Today Mom and I led Copy and Ace out to the paddock. He was being very cranky so I had a firm hold of the cheekpiece of his halter. We got in to the paddock, and he decided to try to bolt, but of course I had a firm hold. So, he decided to "throw a fit and fall back in it." I had such a good hold on him that when he reared up he lost his balance and went down, and I went down on top of him. Like Mom says... "better on top than underneath!" I was so pleased that his nasty, no-holds-barred attempt at getting away ended up in him crashing on his own that the dirt stains on my knees were almost worth it. They've been soaking in soft soap in the office sink for 2 hours, and I'm thinking it's not going to come out. I guess I'll have to keep some Lestoil in my barn bag!

Ticklish Little Devil

The other day when I was handling Ace, I realised he is pretty ticklish on his sides. So, today when he was having his tying lesson, I got a hand towel to groom him with. Talk about ticklish! He did his best impression of the Tasmanian Devil. I toweled down his side and under his belly. First he tried to reach around and bite, but I smacked his hiney. So, he took out his anger on the rope. Then I went across his flank, and between his hind legs, and the fun really started. First he crouched until his belly was only about a foot off the ground, then he commenced kicking. It's really difficult to grope a horse, and smack them around at the same time! I pushed him against the wall, put my arm over his back, and just polished away. He was kicking double time with first one hind leg then the other. Armed with the determination that this would be a lot less fun as he got bigger, and Bill Cosby's sage parenting advice ("I brought you into this world, and I can take you out") I polished until he gave in.

All the while, he was attacking the rope, and untying himself, or at least letting out more line. A couple of times he did rear up and fight the rope, just because he couldn't stand to be around me anymore, but I could tell he didn't think it would do him much good. After he submitted to the flanks, I started on the chest, which was just as bad, only closer to the biting end. And ended with the neck and face. Then I picked up each leg, and worked with his tail (which oddly enough, he doesn't mind at all).

After about 15 minutes, he had pretty much given up, but he was still pretty pissed off. I can tell you, if I had waited until he was a yearling or two year old to do some of this, he would have broken some stuff. When he was done, I unsnapped the rope, and pulled him away from the wall, telling him he was free to go. He immediately launched himself back to his mom where he shook off all the nasty human, then he came racing back to me, reared up to his fullest height to tell me just how happy he was to be free of me, than started a bucking and running fit as he worked off his frustrations.

Is there any better toy than an old juice bottle?

You Little Brat!

I have a nice purple, hoof shaped bruise on my thigh from a Baby Tantrum. Ace decided to create the rear~strike~kick~buck for when he is really upset. It takes about 2 seconds, and ends with him cowkicking while in mid-air. The first time he tried it he connected. I tanned his fanny for him with the lead rope. The second time he tried it (about 10 minutes later) I was well clear. I put him flat on the ground then gave him a lecture. He was willing to be a little better behaved at that point. Pretty soon he is going to be too big for those kinds of shenanigans!

Dandy Lion Days

Ace is your typical toddler. You can do anything with him when he's napping, or just after a nap. When he needs a nap, he's a brat. At his age, he's very busy. And when he isn't busy, he's napping. He's very easy to work around when he's sleepy. It's a great time to put the halter on.

Oh... you want me to get UP now?

Mom picks grass for Copy and Ace each day. She keeps it in a cooler in the barn for distribution. Talk about spoiled!

Today, she also pulled a big dandelion out of her garden and gave it to Ace as a toy.

Want some?

Every picture I took today he had his tail straight up in the air! Just look at this natural tail carriage!

Yes, every picture!

THE END

Patience... the best medicine

Ace is a very manageable, well behaved little guy. Today he got his first dose of worm medicine per vet instructions. The schedule is 6 weeks, then again in 30 days, then again in 30 days with the usual ingredient rotation. He gets such a small dose, I wouldn't be suprised if he didn't notice it all. He came in from being out all day, and laid flat out for a nap. Mom went in and held him down a little, and I skooshed the little dose of wormer in the side of his mouth. He looked up a bit, and then put his head back down to continue his nap. A little later on, he noticed he had something gooey in his cheek, but didn't seem to mind much.

After his nap, we practiced farrier work. His hooves are growing, and will need a trim when the farrier is here next. I'm no farrier, my responsibility is to train him for the farrier. So, I got the hoof knife and the tickley old rasp and took a little edge off the toes of all four while Mom held him by his halter. He has already gotten to the point where he will have the next leg ready for me, just like Momma. He didn't seem to notice the rasping at all.

Ace loves his ball. Actually, it's Grey's ball, but we all take turns and share. He is so hard to catch in mid-air. This activity deserves a video clip, but it was too dark inside. Anyway, I couldn't really tell what I got until I got home and blew up the photos. He has some moves that would rival Beckham...

Name Pending

I sent in Ace's registration application today, and await the DNA kit which will involve pulling some tail hairs. I'm sure he will enjoy that.

I'm afraid our little Acey has gone through another growth spurt, and has finally passed that "Awwww isn't he cute" stage, and has landed firmly in the "when is he going to outgrow this" stage. I haven't been to the barn for four days, and he is noticeably larger and plainer. He sure can put his head up, but he also spends a lot of time rambling around at a flat gallop, and the rest of the time trying to express his opinion.

We went through our usual routine of leading and picking up feet. He knows when he is caught and submits willingly, but he did not want to do what I wanted to do today. He really wanted to bite, but knew better, so spent a lot of time snapping randomly at the tail end of the lead rope. He stood "tied" to the telephone pole without complaint, and went for a walk around the drive without Mom.

He really does handle pretty well compared to some we've had, and seems still convinced that I can pick him up and drop him if I really want to. I spoke to our vet/dentist the other night when she called with my gelding's blood test, and she said she and her helper were still talking about how well I held him in the stall while Copy was having her teeth floated. I said that was gratifying to hear, since I still have the bruises.

Rough-housing

Ace has reached the age where he really needs a little brother to play horse with. He would love to wrestle with me, and quite frankly, at his size, it's tempting. It's also very cute when he grabs my shirt and tugs, and it's hard to reply to any of his attempts to engage the human species in his idea of fun with a "No" and a finger flick. But, I'm very aware of how fast he's growing and how un-fun it would get to be in a few weeks. So we play a little tag and he has some toys and that's it.

He really has the routine down. He is full of mischief, but he halters and leads like a grown up, only wrestles a little over picking up feet, and is friendly and easy to catch. And oh so CUTE. I like to take his little face in my hands and smooch his nose, and he looks up at the sky or ceiling all dreamy like as if he is just so smitten with his own cuteness. Then he goes back to trying to chew Copy's ear off, or pulling her mane. She is such a good Mommy, but I can tell she keep an eye open for when I have him distracted long enough that she can get in a good roll without being trampled.

More Baby Wrangling

No pictures today. I've had my hands full. The horse dentist came today to do everyone, which included Copy. The vet/dentist sounded a little skeptical about trying to do teeth on a broodmare with a suckling, but we talked her into it promising that Copy is a model citizen, and that my baby wrangling skills are excellent.

She opted to float Copy's teeth in the stall with me holding Ace for the half hour it was expected to take. The vet's helper coached me on the best way to pin him against the wall so he wasn't scampering all over the place. You grab the root of the tail from the underside, wrap your other arm around the neck, put your knee under their belly and lean against them.

He really wasn't too bad, thanks to his daily handling, but half an hour is a long time for a baby to stay out of trouble with two strangers (who are friends he has not yet met) in the stall doing interesting things. He launched himself a few times getting a few feet of air under all four feet (I know this because he was at my eye level, and I'm 5'9"). I scraped a knuckle. I'm pretty sure I felt a bruise somewhere on my right side, which I will find later. And I have a tight spot in the left side of my lower back.

They noted that Ace is a mischievious little boy, that he wasn't any too happy with me, and that he is guaranteed to be a handful as he grows up. We put Copy and Ace in the round pen for Copy to sober up. He was so frustrated that his mom wouldn't move (poor Copy) and I saw him rear up, grab her withers in his teeth, and start prying, trying to get a reaction out of her. When I left the barn, Copy was pretty alert, moving around, and starting to tell him to knock it off. What he really needed about then was a kick in the slats, but she is a very patient mommy.

Hey Kid...Get Outta my Hair

Ace has taken up mane chewing. I brushed Copy's mane out then rubbed some Irish Spring into it. I'm going to see if they have a liquid form because it isn't easy to get in there. I think someone needs some toys. Or a giant teething ring.