Sorry for not posting lately. Too many things going on right now in my life. Working from sun up, to late into the night. Having some issues with my right knee and left elbow (both old injuries that have flared up) that have made working with Sonny a bit challenging for me. But slowly but surely, we are moving forward. Im sure in the hands of someone else he would be much farther along, but I am happy with our progress. Hes a good horse who has learned to think and trust. Had a situation with Sonny yesterday that made me thankful for ground work with this boy. I had just finished giving Sonny a bath. He was tied loosely to a rail. My son was getting ready to leave and I had to grab something from my truck before Austin headed out. As we were talking, we turned to notice that Sonny was walking backwards, trying to get free so he could roll. Sonny hit the end of the 12 line, and the rope got stuck. Being focused on wanting to roll, he now had enough slack that he started to paw and spin, preparing to lay down but he had now wrapped the line around a rear leg. So vision this; Haltered horse, end of lead tied to rail, center part of lead around back foot. Everything at that point tightened on him, and he went down, hard. He started to panic. To think people intentionally tie horses down like that to break them is beyond me. Anyway, as I approached, I began talking to him, telling him he was a good boy, and to stay. He listened, and stopped thrashing. I couldnt get the lead to release from the tie ring, I tried to untie his halter but the way it was pulled tight from his head to his back leg there was no give in it. At this point, I needed him to lay all the way down on his side. This is a big deal because this horse rarely lays down. And certainly has not done so when Im around. While kneeling next to him, I put my right hand on his withers and was rubbing him gentling telling him it was okay, to trust me and let me help him. Then literally, with only my pointer and middle finger of my left hand, began lightly tapping his neck, asking him to lay down. Since he is sensitive to pressure and release, I hoped he would figure out what I wanted. He quickly did. He then laid there quietly as I got him free of the lead rope. Once up, I checked him everywhere, no injuries. I swear he looked right into my eyes and said, thanks. After a couple minutes of loving on him, walking him around, checking all was good, I put him back on the tie rail, tied him hard this time so he couldnt back up and walked away. I did this because I think when we dont make a big deal out of things, our horses realize it. I wanted him to go right back to where he was supposed to be waiting for me. Now, all that aside, I felt bad that I forgotten that he was tied loosely when I walked away the first time. Lesson learned. Thank goodness it all turned out well. Hes a pretty special horse.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 01:37:27 +0000
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