Post by Zoe RA on Nov 3, 2009 14:33:54 GMT 1
There is nothing like those beautiful, crisp, Autumn days where the leaves are multi coloured, and the smell of damp earth and fallen chestnuts rises up to meet you. And to day was NOTHING like those beautiful Autumn days etc etc etc
But in between the torrential rain I worked with "Black Jack", the 5 year old Irish Draft X, and his novice owner. She has had him now for 6 weeks, and before that he was in his previous home for 3 months, before which he came over from Ireland. Oh the number of times I hear "he came over from Ireland and ..................."!
"Novice owner " I hear you cry. "With a FIVE year old ". Yep, I'm afraid so. Bought from a lady who we now suspect as a dealer who assured my owner that Jack was the perfect confidence giving horse, and ideal for a nervous novice. Yep, right ............................
Jack, it has to be said, really is a very sweet chap, and very honest. He tries his heart out, and is a sensitive little soul, but his owner, who really is lovely, is the same, and so their relationship, which had been quite good when he first arrived, has begun to spiral down fast - to the point that she has been really scared to pick his feet out recently, and is very worried about brushing him.
I suspect he has ulcers as he is VERY unhappy about having his flanks touched, and is worse on his right side. "You can do anything with me, but just DON'T touch my flanks, ok I said DON'T TOUCH them!! OK ". And this includes brushing him, putting his saddle on, or even just standing next to him and running your hand down them. His reaction is quite violent, and has included waving a back leg at worst, or just the ear pinning and skittering away that he did with me. Even if it isn't ulcers the cause obviously needs addressing, so to this end the vet will be coming out asap to scope him and generally check him over.
Understandably, this has seriously knocked his owners confidence, which in turn has knocked Jack's confidence. We talked about ways of helping her not project her anxiety on to Jack, and how she must give herself lots of little brakes when she is working with him so that she doesn't ever feel that she is out of her comfort zone. We also talked about how alike she and Jack are at the moment, and how she is going to have to be the grown-up in their relationship. She needs to school herself to not react if he moves suddenly, but to just stay with him (tucked in as close as she can so as to avoid a foot should it be waved if she has inadvertently provoked that reaction) until he calms down, then to tell him he is a good boy and walk away so she can regain her own composure.
But the good news is that today we worked gently for a couple of hours on his owner picking up his feet safely, general leading, and backing through the L shape. He is a lovely responsive little chap, and even though I had initially said to his owner that it was not a good combination and that she should be prepared to sell him to a more experienced home if things don't work out, I think they will be fine together. I am going back on Thursday to take them for a walk on the common so that they can continue to learn together whilst we await the vet.
They have a good instructor teaching them under saddle (no more riding until he has been checked out though), and I will be helping them on the ground, so once the physical has been checked out, watch this space ;D
But in between the torrential rain I worked with "Black Jack", the 5 year old Irish Draft X, and his novice owner. She has had him now for 6 weeks, and before that he was in his previous home for 3 months, before which he came over from Ireland. Oh the number of times I hear "he came over from Ireland and ..................."!
"Novice owner " I hear you cry. "With a FIVE year old ". Yep, I'm afraid so. Bought from a lady who we now suspect as a dealer who assured my owner that Jack was the perfect confidence giving horse, and ideal for a nervous novice. Yep, right ............................
Jack, it has to be said, really is a very sweet chap, and very honest. He tries his heart out, and is a sensitive little soul, but his owner, who really is lovely, is the same, and so their relationship, which had been quite good when he first arrived, has begun to spiral down fast - to the point that she has been really scared to pick his feet out recently, and is very worried about brushing him.
I suspect he has ulcers as he is VERY unhappy about having his flanks touched, and is worse on his right side. "You can do anything with me, but just DON'T touch my flanks, ok I said DON'T TOUCH them!! OK ". And this includes brushing him, putting his saddle on, or even just standing next to him and running your hand down them. His reaction is quite violent, and has included waving a back leg at worst, or just the ear pinning and skittering away that he did with me. Even if it isn't ulcers the cause obviously needs addressing, so to this end the vet will be coming out asap to scope him and generally check him over.
Understandably, this has seriously knocked his owners confidence, which in turn has knocked Jack's confidence. We talked about ways of helping her not project her anxiety on to Jack, and how she must give herself lots of little brakes when she is working with him so that she doesn't ever feel that she is out of her comfort zone. We also talked about how alike she and Jack are at the moment, and how she is going to have to be the grown-up in their relationship. She needs to school herself to not react if he moves suddenly, but to just stay with him (tucked in as close as she can so as to avoid a foot should it be waved if she has inadvertently provoked that reaction) until he calms down, then to tell him he is a good boy and walk away so she can regain her own composure.
But the good news is that today we worked gently for a couple of hours on his owner picking up his feet safely, general leading, and backing through the L shape. He is a lovely responsive little chap, and even though I had initially said to his owner that it was not a good combination and that she should be prepared to sell him to a more experienced home if things don't work out, I think they will be fine together. I am going back on Thursday to take them for a walk on the common so that they can continue to learn together whilst we await the vet.
They have a good instructor teaching them under saddle (no more riding until he has been checked out though), and I will be helping them on the ground, so once the physical has been checked out, watch this space ;D