The ride was interesting with another couple of 'firsts' including wearing leg protection for the first time (said he couldn't walk with them on!) having a canter (had a scoot and then a hump after the first strike off but was OK after that) opening gates from the saddle (very good and obliging) and walking down the Terrifying Driveway of Dooooom! (self-explanatory). Lots of praise, lots of standing about doing nothing, lots of food rewards for particularly good efforts.
While schooling, I am continuing to keep the hand pressure very consistent but fairly light and elastic to discourage Fudge from shortening his neck and ducking behind the contact. He continued his weird little habit of creeping his neck down and then bumping into the reins and halting but actually got a little worse when I took a hard-line approach to this and anchored myself and gave him something more substantial to bump into. This caused him to start really snatching the rein in the downwards transitions as he was anticipating hurting his mouth but not really realising it was him hurting himself! So I changed my approach and started giving lavish rewards for smaller and gentler snatches, eventually phasing out the behaviour and getting a stable head and neck for trot-walk and walk-halt downwards transitions. This will continue to be my focus for the next few rides as the balance in the transitions can make a big difference to the rideability of the horse. We also did some work in sitting trot which is (luckily) very comfortable, and I practiced shaping the trot steps to become bigger and looser. He has a very regular tempo and doesn't often rush which is good for a horse with such an anxious personality.
He is very nice to ride with a light, mobile shoulder, a naturally straight neck and easy poll flexion to either side. He is also very willing and eager to please so although he is nervous and did a couple of very quick shies, they were easily controlled and he went right back to work again afterwards. I'll have to be careful not to get 'arena-bound' with this horse as he needs to learn to focus and trust his rider no matter what the situation.
Monday evening saw Fudge continuing to learn about the clippers and really starting to show his understanding of the clicker marking his immobility. I clipped both his hind legs with him standing rock solid, untied. Brilliant!
Then I tacked him up for lunging with cavesson, roller, Vienna reins and bridle. I've only lunged him loose in a round yard before so there were a few moments of indecision and miscommunication but mainly all very nice. He cantered neatly on each rein and only got above himself once but very promptly came back when I pulled on the lunge rein. He showed a few uneven steps on his near fore so I will see what the barefoot trimmer says when she comes to look at his hooves tomorrow afternoon.
Tuesday
The barefoot trimmer came today and cut a biggish bit out of the front of his near fore which looked like last year's seedy toe. Hopefully we've removed all the damaged tissue and it won't need treating but we will keep a close eye on it. The other toe was fine and all four hooves got the tick of approval, being described as 'very hard' and 'very well-shaped' so that's good to hear! She mentioned that he had a fair bit of dead sole on both forefeet but she left it on as he'll need it to protect his changing hoof shape. I hope now that his diet is improved his hoof, coat and hair condition will improve quickly too. He took a walk down the Terrifying Driveway and it wasn't too bad at all. While on the driveway we introduced the idea of crossing his hind legs in response to hand pressure at the girth and using the clicker made this process very easy as I only clicked for big lateral crossing steps and held off if he did a step-together-step or shuffle.
Wednesday
Some very good and some very bad experiences for poor little Fudge today. It started positively with some more clicker training to help him accept a spray bottle. His previous owner said he was petrified of sprays and he never used them so I knew this might take some time and equipped myself with some extra yummy treats. For a sprayer I chose leave-in human hair conditioner as the noise was very minimal. Nevertheless, the first time I gently sprayed his shoulder with it he went completely
beserk! Running back (I'd untied the lead rope first) then flinging his head right up. I just stayed calm and moved him back to the starting position and sprayed again. This time he flung his head up but didn't move his feet so I clicked and treated. He has already had 'standing still while weird stuff happens' captured with the clippers so I think he understood fairly quickly. I carried on with the other side of him, only spraying on his shoulder and neck, fairly 'safe' areas for him. The 'extinction burst' came several clicks and treats later when he tested what he'd learned and ran right back again and even did a tiny rear to tell me how upset he was feeling about it all. However, very quickly after that he totally calmed down about the spray and I ended up being able to spray him all over without him showing any signs of stress, he even took a mouthful of hay and munched it! Success! Will repeat tomorrow.
The next success happened in the arena, where I took him, bridled and with dressage whip in hand, to try some in-hand work. This was simply LOVELY. I soon had him soft in the rein and walking quietly and calmly around me, then accepting some hand pressure at the girth and crossing his hind legs like a champ. This easily turned into some shoulder-in along the rail and I think he enjoyed having a job to do as he showed no inclination to shy or be silly in the 'hot spots' of the arena.
After the in-hand work we went for a little walk and then I decided to pop him in the round yard to check how his trot looked after yesterday's hoof trim. I had seen his previous owner's idea of round-penning and I have no doubt this horse has been chased and frightened. So my resolution was to make round yard work low-stress and to try never to jump at him or frighten him to move him around. Unfortunately, after only a few circles he started to strongly object to going on the left rein, spinning outwards and stopping suddenly. I only had a dressage whip and even though I managed to touch him with it at the right time a few times, it wasn't enough to stop the persistent spinning. I solved the problem by getting 'big and bad' and using big gestures and quick body language to drive him around and prevent him turning in but after he'd accepted that and gone a few circles I soon stopped. I really don't think scaring or chasing should have any place in the training of this horse. After all, I want him to trust me and want to stay with me! So I think I will stick to lunging in the arena with whip, rein and contact. He showed absolutely no signs of spinning in when I lunged him on Monday so my gut instinct says he associates it with the round yard only.
The next bad thing occurred just after leaving the round yard when I was looking about for something to play with to do some more clicking and build his confidence back up. I chose to try to get him stepping onto and over a large truck tyre that was nearby but unfortunately the second time he (very confidently) put his foot on the tyre it went straight through the rubber and his hoof became trapped! All sorts of scary scenarios rushed through my head (including the image of a broken leg...) but after a little bit of worried dancing around, pulling the tyre a short distance, his hoof popped out and he stayed under control. A couple of targets, some clicks and treats and I called it a day!
Some good and some bad today but overall I was pleased with him. Less pleased with his dopey trainer, though! Goes to show that you need to have a plan and quit while you're ahead! Quite a nice photo below, you can see what a difference it makes having his mane squashed down by his rug! Much more civilised! He's a bit sweaty from the roller but you can see a few changes in his overall condition and shape, I think!
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