A bit of a scuffle

BG has needed to be encouraged down for her feeds but she has been good to catch once in her field shelter again for which I am grateful. Even one day when there was a bike leading against the shelter, the other owners around moving things and topping up water buckets next to us she was very good and had her head collar on. So I am relieved, although still not going to feel totally relaxed until Monday’s farrier meeting is over.

The farrier is due late morning, so a time I normally don’t catch BG. I am wondering whether to shut her in her field shelter for the morning so at least I know I will be able to get her. I haven’t ever done this before a farrier visit so I am umm-ing and arrr-ing over it. Oh for a pony that is a dream to catch. I will be working on catching her in the field again once Monday is over.

BG and P1 had a fight last night. I haven’t seen them do that for a while, they’ve been quite content with each other but last night they decided to kick off, showing each other their back legs in the air. Horses do fight, it is natural, and so long as they don’t do it in anger or viciously I don’t think there is a lot you can do about it. We do tell them off but that only has so much effect. P1 looked like he came away without a scratch but BG has had the skin broken in three places on her off-hind. It bled a bit but she luckily didn’t seem to be feeling it, and didn’t look stiff at all last night or this morning. It looked like it stayed quite clean over night too so hopefully it will clear up quickly.

Tentatively breathing a sigh of relief

Tuesday morning – head collar on first time
Tuesday evening – head collar on first time
Wednesday morning – nose into head collar, BG pulled back so I quickly put the lead rope across the entrance so she couldn’t escape and tried again – perfect.

I’m not sure how long to leave it before I attempt to get her in the field again, but with the farrier due soon I don’t want to do anything to jeopardise the small improvement we have made so far. BG needs to get her confidence up a little more.

I’m also relieved we have had a decent amount of rain that has softened the ground just a little. With this heat it is sure to dry out quickly though.

Lastly, a thank you to P1. A sheep from the next field had got through in the with ponies and was a little upset not being able to get back to its Mum. P1 looked intrigued as we tried herding him (the sheep) along the fence line to where we had opened the gate, and was actually a help getting the little sheep back home. P1 did duck under the lead rope on the field shelter entrance to check BG had finished her breakfast afterwards though. He seems to like being in the shelter, I think for the shade and a bit of peace from the flies. The other day he and P2 were in there together resting which was quite sweet. BG took a look but decided there wasn’t enough room for her too.

Slowly slowly

I don't write on here every day but want to do more regular updates now BG and I have a problem to overcome, so in future when she reverts again I can look back and see how quickly (or slowly) she overcame it. Also, any heart ache we had to go through, so I know there is hope no matter how hard it may seem at the time.

BG came in quite happily this morning, put her nose all the way in the head collar before pulling back and then turning away. We didn't have much time since we were on our way to work, so we quite quickly moved to the 'hold hoof, lead rope round neck, head collar on' method. She knew as soon as I touched her with the leap rope what was coming, and allowed us to do it all with hardly any protest. She certainly didn't get upset by us using that method for which I am very grateful. If she did get upset I would have to come up with something else and I think I am all out of ideas.

P1 didn't help matters this morning. He charged in to eat BG's breakfast, rubbed his neck on her shelter entrance which upsets BG when she is inside, and then went to snap at her when I lead her out. Again, I dropped the head collar on and off her nose before letting her go.

This evening BG came in happily, but saw the head collar and didn't even attempt to put her nose into it before turning away. I asked my husband to give me a hand and lifted her hoof up. He said I should try again but I said she wouldn't let me try again so soon after. Sometimes my husband is right though, second time lucky she was as good as gold and didn't even flinch when the head collar went on her nose.

I did a little bit in hand with her tonight, and led her over some poles too. I even lead her over a small jump. She saw it and you could see her brain processing it and thinking of the stride she needed to be on and she put in a beautiful effort.

Lets hope tomorrow the head collar goes on even more easily and we can be back on track (not catching in the field again, just the head collar on every time in her shelter again would be a start) by the end of the week.

No real improvement

So this morning I went up hoping BG would have forgotten about everything and have her head collar on in her shelter with no issues. Another part of me was thinking expect a fight.

So BG came down to her shelter as good as gold, but would she have the head collar on - no! One look at it and her hind quarters swung round. It is really weird, she will let you make more of a fuss up around her head than usual, but turns away at the slightest sight of the head collar.

I tried the patience approach, I tried the ignoring her and leaving her to it for a bit approach. Eventually, as she was letting me stoke her without an issue I used a lead rein to rub her over her shoulder and up round her neck. She hadn't seen me pick it up but I was expecting a protest as I looped it over her neck, she was as good as gold though. Then my husband held the rope whilst I put her head collar on. Perfect. She didn't pull back when she saw it, her ears didn't go back when the nose part went on. It makes you wonder what all the fuss was about originally.

Since the head collar was on we finally got to give her her breakfast, then let her eat it in peace whilst I topped up the water buckets. Next thing we know P1 was in there eating it instead of BG!

Tonight we used BG's food bowl to tempt her down to her shelter. In she went good as gold. Headed over the her food bowl, putting her nose straight in her head collar....then a car door slammed and she spun round and out the shelter. We got her back in but would she let us anywhere near her whilst we had her head collar on us - no.

In the early days with her last owner she had once had to the have the farrier hold her hoof whilst her owner put her head collar on. I always thought I would never do this as I could imagine her getting very upset and trying to pull away, I also thought it could be quite dangerous. Tonight though the head collar wasn't working, she wouldn't let me get near her with the leap rope. So I showed my husband how to hold her hoof and I put the lead rope round her neck. We took it slowly, and she never tried to pull away or get upset so I don't think it was such a bad method.

My husband then tried holding her by the lead rope whilst I went to get the head collar. This time she did get upset and spun round so that my husband couldn't hold her. We got her back, calmed her down and the I held her whilst he approached her with the head collar. She wasn't as good as this morning, she was still very wary of it, but we got it on without any real upset, even with something banging the side of the shelter just as the nose part went on.

I lunged her once she'd had her tea, then took her back to her shelter before letting her go, to slip the head collar on and off her nose to try and show her it wasn't scary.

Tomorrow morning could be interesting, she might well be going without her breakfast as I can't spend hours up there, I'll need to get to work.

And it all goes wrong

Not last night. Last night BG was perfect. I caught her, she had her tea and usual checks etc. and then I lunged her. She moved nicely on her bad rein, she is up to twenty minutes of lunging now, I was just doing ten or fifteen minutes when I was first getting her back into it. The line on her side, must be the bottom of her rib cage, is now visible in trot again so she must be dropping a bit of weight.

We put out a pole which BG wasn't too keen on the look of originally, since she had seen it being carried out. Once I got her going over it happily we put a tyre under the outside end to lift it up, she moved beautifully. She really picked her trot up over it. I could see where the saying poetry in motion comes from. I had such a big smile on my face last night. She'd also let me take her head collar off and put the new one on with no issues.

Then came this morning. BG saw us arrive and started to make her way down for her breakfast. I went to meet her half way carrying both the head collar and lead rope, which I had done the other night with no issues. Her nose went in the head collar just as the lead rope catch chinked against my boot. BG flew backwards, taking the head collar part of the way with her before it feel off, and she trotted back up the field to join P1 and P2.

I feel so guilty, she was coming down as good as gold and I spoilt it by letting the lead rope catch chink. Still, I didn't think it would cause as much of an issue as it did. We couldn't catch her, and had an appointment to make, so she went without her breakfast and we went back up after our appointment.

She still didn't like the look of the head collar in the field, but in trying to catch her I herded her into her field shelter. Even when in there it took half an hour to get the head collar on her.

Tonight was similar. Couldn't get it on her in the field, she did poke her nose towards it a couple of times, then turn and walk away. Eventually I got her herded down to the field shelter, but in there she wasn't having any of it. Whenever she caught sight of it she would swing her hind legs round to face me. A couple of times she edged her nose towards it, then her ears pinned back and she'd swing round.

So what do you do in this situation? Turn her away without her tea, but then she won't see the benefit of coming to us and into her shelter. Give her her tea and then she will learn she can have it without having had her head collar on.

The strange thing was she let me put fly repellent on her, even up round her ears which she doesn't normally like, with no problems, it was just the head collar she had a problem with.

My husband said he is sure she is just being stubborn because she is in season (we took her for a walk along the lanes in the morning and she was squirting on the way home). I always knew she would revert at some point rather than keep being a dream to catch, but I am very annoyed that I created the issue by letting the lead rope chink.

Still, a fortnight of being able to catch her isn't bad, and I have a video of catching her one night so I know it wasn't a dream and I have something to work towards again. Typical she is being a pain now I have the farrier booked in though.

Rain!

I was so glad to see some rain yesterday. It cooled the air, kept some of the flies away, softened the ground, got some moisture on BG’s hooves and will hopefully help the grass to grow.

Our field has not really recovered from winter. The farrier described it as a desert. The vet, after sedating BG, said she shouldn’t eat for half an hour, then took one look at our grazing and said that I’d probably be fine to turn her out in our field though. The ponies are all doing quite well on it though, I need to get some weight off BG and P2’s owner said he needs to loose some too. The only one doing okay is P1 who is exercised the most but never seems to have to worry about his weight.

I would love to fence off a section of the field to let it recover. We have tried this in the past but it doesn’t work. P1 has a fantastic jump on him, and he will always get into the section of the field that is fenced off. Normally he jumps cleanly, but sometimes he will bring some of the fence down, and then they all get through and the fencing needs sorting out. P2 also walks under the fence and it doesn’t seem to make any difference if it is electrocuted or not. I am very lucky, BG behaves herself and stays where she should be, but that doesn’t help much when she is in with the other two.

BG was stood by the gate as we arrived last night, with P1 and his owners. I thought I would catch BG straight away but she took one look at me as if to say ‘you haven’t had time to make my tea yet why would I want to be caught’, and then turned her back and trotted up the field to scare P2 away. I followed thinking ‘oh no, this will be a forty minute job to catch her tonight’, but she stood there, stepping back a little bit a couple of times, and let me catch her.

She had an easy night of it. Once I had sorted her out and picked out her hooves (first time I have had to do that for a while, the ground is so dry they have been clean for weeks) I just did a little bit of in-hand with her, leading her over some poles.

A little down

I have been lunging BG most nights recently (although she does have at least one day off a week) but felt I needed to do something else with her so she didn’t get bored. It was a long time since I put the saddle on her so I thought I would take that up.

BG was in a very amenable mood. I put the head collar on in the field, once P1 had stopped shunting her round with his head and given us a bit of space, and she walked down to her shelter as good as gold beside me without me leading her. She ate her tea, I checked her over, gave her a quick brush and a little bit of fly repellent in the main places. Then I put on her new head collar (she still won’t have it on first, I have to put the old one on then the new one over the top and remove the old one) and coiled up her lunge line. She goes through phases of seeing me doing this (the lunge line) and hiding in the back of her shelter, or not being fussed at all by it.

I tied her up to saddle her and she wasn’t overly happy to see the saddle but let me put it on without too many issues. I went to lead her out and was very impressed as she moved all the way to the door before planting herself. So my husband led her and I went and stood in the shelter with the lunge whip. I don’t have to use it, just stand there with it and she moves out the door as quick as she can.

We walked her round with her saddle on. She walked wonky, still looking over her right-shoulder to where one slipped over in the past and swinging her hind quarters round to turn towards home.

I watched her walking along, it makes me wonder if it is hurting her, if the girth is too tight and pinching, but then I have had her relaxing with the saddle on, and even bending to lunge with it on in the past, so I don’t think it is the saddle. I checked the girth and I don’t think it was that either. I guess she is still scared of it potentially slipping off, and we just need to persevere. She got a fly on her belly that she was trying to shudder off, and that scared her when she did that and felt the saddle on her so we used that point to call it a day, with just a couple of final leading her in, and straight out, of her field shelter.

I thought she might run off once we let her go to escape us and the scary saddle. She stood with her head resting on the gate where P1 and P2 had left to go on a hack, and let me make a fuss of her, so she can’t hold it against me too much. Plus, she was perfect to catch this morning too, so hopefully it hasn’t damaged her trust in me. We’ll see what she is like tonight. It does make me feel sad that she still hasn’t got used to the saddle though.

I will have the saddle fitter out again to check the fit, but I need to get BG at least a bit happier under the saddle first or there will be nothing for the fitter to see and BG might attempt the run them down like last time if she gets upset.

Mounting block fear

I was a little surprised last night by how tense the mounting block (just a plastic stool) made BG. I know she doesn’t like it but when I first stood on it her ears went straight back, her head went right up in the air to pull back and her body tensed. I just stood on it, got on and off it, and my husband led her round me in all different directions trying to get her to see it was nothing to be scared off.

The last time I used it to get on her was the time I fell off, so I need to get her used to it again. I want her to be happy with it (and me stood on it) in the open field. I could try putting her in a corner and getting on her that way so she has no where to run, but I have a feeling that would cause more harm than good. It would be a case of the hedge behind her, field shelter on one side, husband stood in front and me on the other side. I know she wouldn’t intentionally hurt either of us but if she took a fright at it I could see her running right through one of us to get away, and that wouldn’t do any of us any good.

Still, I was a little surprised by just how shocked her reaction was. I have stood on it in the field shelter with her since the falling off incident; one time she was perfect, the other time not so good. She must have an inferiority complex and not like anyone to be stood higher than her.

P1 and P2’s owner just passed the mounting block into the field shelter whilst I was grooming BG and her eyes widened with fear and she moved to the back of the shelter. I don’t quite get why she is this fearful of it.

I forgot to ask P1 and P2’s owner if BG was being friendly to them in the field. She wouldn’t let them approach her in her field shelter though after the mounting block appearing, so maybe she isn’t becoming overly friendly with everyone.

BG was a super-star being caught again and I was very proud of her since I thought she might play up with other people around and things going on. She was brilliant, it’s a pity the others didn’t notice, I could have had a proud owner moment.

Still can't quite believe it

Every night since my last post, and some mornings too, I have been approaching BG in the field, carrying her head collar, and catching her. I haven’t been taking the food bowl with me. The longest it has taken is one night when I had to follow her for seven minutes when she kept turning her back on me. This morning she even lifted her head and walked towards me and stuck her nose forward into her head collar! I think I am in shock.

A couple of nights P1 has been grazing close beside her (he is still head butting her to push her round the field and ensure he has her attention) so she has put her nose in the head collar, then pulled back a little unsure before letting me do it on the second attempt. It has been quite windy too and she has still been a super-star.

It seems so unreal that she lets me catch her. I almost want someone else to try to see if I need to fear strangers being able to catch her, but then I don’t want to break the good run we are on at the moment. Maybe I will ask P1 and P2’s owner if she is letting them approach her in the field now.

This morning was the first time I haven’t given her a treat once I caught her. I am hoping catching becomes part of every day life rather than a rare occasion, in which case I don’t want to always be giving treats. I am still waiting for her to revert, but in the mean time I am enjoying it and part of me is wondering if this is a dream, or whether someone has secretly sedated her. She now needs to keep it up a couple of weeks longer, until after the next farrier’s visit.

Still smiling

So I am still smiling as BG has again been a dream to catch. She seems very placid at the moment. I am sure it won’t last and I will be tearing my hair out again struggling to get her head collar on even in her shelter, or even getting her to come near me. I need to keep a level head and not become complacent whilst she is being such a perfect little pony.

Last night I went up to her in the field with her bowl of food and head collar. She didn’t really start to approach me so it was more on my terms than hers compared to some times. When I got close unfortunately P1 decided to join in. He has been herding BG round the field by head butting her side, poor girl isn’t getting any peace at the moment. So to get away from P1 I picked up the bowl and moved forward, poor BG gave me such a confused look as if to say ‘I thought you wanted to catch me, I am stood here so perfectly and then you moved away from me’. Luckily she did then follow me and P1 kept his distance long enough for me to head collar BG (nose in first time) and lead her in for food.

She then had a lunge and a bit of leading in-hand going over the poles laid out in the field.

This morning BG was standing guard whilst P1 and P2 had a sleep, which is quite unusual as BG normally seems to make one of them take the look out post. She saw us but made no move to come in until I had sorted myself out (hung up lead ropes, got her breakfast and watered it down), and then she begun to amble down. Some days you just get a feeling about the sort of mood BG will be in, this morning that feeling told me she would be okay to approach with the head collar and no food. So I did. She looked at me at first as if to say what are you doing, then let me put the head collar over her nose. First time she pulled back, second time it went on with no hesitation, then I had to quickly do it up as she was getting irritated by a fly on her side.

I don’t need the head collar on to lead her in at the moment, once it is on I let go and she walks down beside me. It is just to get her used to being caught in different areas as one day I will need to catch her to lead her. I just can’t believe how well she has taken it recently. It is as if she is telling me it has never been an issue; but I know it has, hours of struggling to teach her it won’t hurt to have it on and months (even years) of her not letting you even approach her in the field, head collar or not, tell me that.

Oh, and another good note – it has rained! Still need some more rain though.

Happy

I am very happy with BG at the moment. She has been allowing me to put her head collar on in the field again, and not just a few metres from the field shelter, but right up in the top section. This morning we woke the three ponies up as they lay along the top hedge. BG saw us and stood up but didn’t venture down towards us. I went up with her food bowl, a treat (Apple Crunchies – you can smell them a mile off) and her head collar.

I put the bowl down, she wasn’t interested, looked at it but started munching the grass. I moved closer and showed her the head collar, she started to edge away. Then she thought, hmmmm, it’s breakfast time, I better start heading down the field to my shelter. I cut her off part way down and again held the head collar out. She put her nose in and let me do it up with no fuss at all. Then I gave her the treat and led her down to eat in her shelter (so I could apply the fly spray etc.). By led her down I started to, then let go and just let her walk beside me.

Many people I am sure will tell me I did this all wrong. I should have forced her to have the head collar on at the first time of asking, so that I am the dominant one she will obey, and not her being in charge. My theory is I don’t want to force her to do anything and upset her (okay, I will make sure she has the head collar on, but it might be in her shelter where she is happier rather than me forcing it on in the field). I would rather she accepts it in her own time, thus learning it is nothing to be feared, and build up her confidence so in future she won’t try to evade it because she will know there is nothing to fear. I know I am not the dominant one, but I don’t feel she is either, I think it is more equal on both sides at the moment. Maybe that is wrong, but that is the way that is slowly working for us now, and I am not after a quick fix. I am aiming to make her happy and confident and trusting.

Last night the first three times she put her nose in the head collar she pulled back in shock. Then she seemed to say I have my tea in my field shelter and started to head down. I just moved a little way then stood again and made her come to me to have her head collar on, which she did that time perfectly.

She seems to have a very clear sense of what is ‘proper’ these last few days. That is, ‘I am always fed in my shelter, that is where I shall be fed this time too’. The other morning P1 was in the shade in the shelter (they use it in summer to shade, but never in winter to get out of the elements) and BG just stood there at the entrance, ignoring the bowl of food I put down, until I evicted P1 and took BG in to eat.

I lunged BG yesterday morning before it got too hot and she went really nicely. I put the saddle on her on Saturday night and she did her stubborn refusing to move. I had to get my long-suffering husband to lead her whilst I just held the lunge whip beside her to encourage her. I think it will take the two of us to get her past this hurdle, if I try on my own I think it could be a long, frustrating process that might almost do more harm than good. With the encouragement (me just holding it!) of the lunge whip she went straight out. Do that a few more times just to teach her it isn’t scary and hopefully we will be another step forward.

Another little update

I have to confess (again) that I have been having a quiet week with BG. The ground is rock solid at the moment so I am limited with any work I can do with her in the field. Instead it has been the little things that have made up this week, and spending time just stood with BG giving her cuddles (not that she is an especially cuddly horse – she tolerates it).

She has had her head collar on twice in the field this week. This morning P1 was in her field shelter trying to itch his neck on the door entrance so I popped BG’s food bowl in the field and she had her head collar on without the slightest hesitation. She was even trying to put her head in it before I was ready for her. I think it might be something to do with the fact she was a little confused and wanted to make sure she wasn’t missing out.

I had to put P1’s head collar on this morning. He is due a farrier visit and his owner couldn’t make it up so I was asked to pop it on ready, so he wouldn’t have to have it on whilst in the field for too long. Luckily he was in a very obliging mood and I put it on with no issues. I did that first though and BG watched me walk straight past her and sort him out before sorting out her breakfast. She was a little confused by it all, and even let out a very faint whinny with a flutter of her nostrils to remind me she was there. BG is not a very vocal horse. She has been better about being pleased to see us recently which is nice though, so I think she just felt a little left out.

Having said she isn’t very vocal P1 came back the other day in the horse box and let out a massive ‘Hello’ call to her and P2, and BG gave a very faint whinny back. I think she likes her field companions, which is nice as she can sometimes seem a very independent little girl.

They have sheep for company in the field next door now. They have all had a look but none of them seem too bothered by them.

BG has not only seemed pleased to see us but she has been walking out better on her lead rein too. On a long lead rein she has been walking beautifully with no attempt to trot round in circles. The rope has been kept slack and she has behaved very calmly.

The only other thing to maybe note this week is that last night BG was eating her tea in her field shelter whilst I was cleaning out the water buckets. I felt a movement behind me and turned to see a P1 bottom just vanishing under the leap rope (over the entrance to the field shelter). He went straight in to have BG’s tea. Poor BG looked very surprised.

Prophet's thumb print

So I have gone back over some of the photos of BG from last summer and can faintly see that the dent in her neck was there. It seems slightly less pronouced than the other day now, but it is there, and my thumb fits in the groove almost perfectly.

The photo below isn't that great, but I have been looking at other people's photos on the internet and it looks like other people's images of a 'Prophet's thumb print'.



The common story around these marks seems to be that they are lucky, some people say horses with them make good jumpers. I like the way this sentence sums it up: 'A widespread belief tells of how any horse that has a groove in its neck is to be treasured and treated with great respect...', that is BG, she deserves to be treasured and treated with great respect.

The story is that horses with this mark are descended from one of five broodmares owned by the Prophet Mohammed.

The suggested science behind the mark is that the horse, as a foal in the womb, presses up against the muscles with their hooves and it causes this mark. It looks like a weakness to me in the neck, but it is comforting to read that lots of horses have them with no issues.

I must admit, I don't need a mark on BG's neck to show me how special she is and that she should be treasured.

A little update

So we think BG might have been in season the other day – which is why P1 wouldn’t leave her alone. I’m very lucky that BG in season doesn’t differ from BG the rest of the time. You hear about people whose mares turn into monsters whilst in season. BG might have a tiny bit of discharge at her rear end, but that is it, her temperament remains consistent.

She has been reasonably good about coming in for her breakfast/ tea recently too, which makes life so much easier. She even came in the other day when I took a stranger up to meet her. Then last night P2 was being saddled in the field shelter so I put the head collar on BG in the field. It went over her nose – she pulled back in shock. Then she let me put it over her nose and do it up the second time with no issues.

I was a little miffed the other day though. BG meandered her way down the field when we gave her her tea. She was in no hurry to come down though. We sorted her out, turned her back out and then P1 and P2’s owner came up. They rustled a bag and BG rushed over to see them - why isn’t she that happy to see me? It might have something to do with the apples in the bag. I try not to give BG too many treats, she is putting on weight and I don’t like her to have too much sugar. I don’t want to kick up a fuss either so I will monitor her condition. I have mentioned she is starting to put on weight.

On the good news side she is now sound in walk. She does still look a little short in trot. I have lunged her a couple of times, just briefly in walk and a tiny trot to monitor her movement. Other than that I have done some in hand work with her. She is still trying to run round us in circles when we lead her away from the field shelter so even more work needed there. The odd thing is I led her out on a long lead rope this morning and she walked beautifully, no rushing at all. I think she must know when we are aiming to do something with her and when we are just turning her out.

I have kept up with brushing water on her hooves twice a day in the dry weather. She has also rubbed a tiny patch up by her ear so I have been applying Sudocream to that.

Interestingly she has a dent in her neck. I noticed it before her vets visit the other week. It is on the left side of her neck, I am struggling to remember whether it has been there in the past. A vague memory wants me to say yes, it’s always been there, but I think I will need to go through my old photos to find out. It just looks a little worrying, as looks suggest she will be weaker on that part of her neck. It looks a lot like ‘Prophet’s thumb print’ from what I have seen on-line….I will need to investigate further.