Bumps in the Road

I guess the politically correct description of this past week would be "interesting."

Things started out well enough. On Saturday, I trailered up to Pittsboro, where I had the privelege of meeting one of my fellow Makeover trainers, Jim Thomas. He kindly volunteered to do Eli's first trim, so we loaded up and made the one hour drive up to his place. One of the things I look forward to the most during this competition is meeting other trainers and mustang enthusiasts, and my morning at Jim's was a treat. I enjoyed meeting his herd, seeing his barn (I was taking notes - he had a great setup), and hearing what he had to say. Eli was a bit testy that day, so the trim was an exercise in patience, but Jim was up to the task. He trims his own horses, and if I hadn't been so foggy-headed from the weird sinus thing I had going on, I would've thought to pick his brain about barefoot trimming - maybe next time we get together.

After Saturday, my opportunities to work with Eli dwindled for a few days. I had issues arranging for daycare for the week, so my only free time was in the evenings after Jace got home from work. Thunderstorms popped up on Tuesday evening - another opportunity lost. By Wednesday evening, Eli was full of himself. I intended to ride, but as I did a few exercises with him on the ground in the roundpen, it was obvious he needed to move his feet a bit first. I let him loose to free lunge in a couple of circles, and when I swung my rope at him to send him off at one point, he turned into the roundpen panel, reared, and hooked his feet over the top in an attempt to jump over. One foot slid into the space between the panels and he was hung. I could only watch in horror and get out of the way to let whatever was going to happen, happen. Amazingly, he didn't panic once he realized that there was no way he was going to get himself loose, just stood there and waited while I unhooked the nearby panels from each other to free him. He ran around for a few minutes, then let me catch him to assess the damage - several abrasions, but he trotted out sound. I did a few easy ground exercises to get his attention and end on a good note, then doctored his wounds and turned him out for the night.

The next morning he had swelling and heat above his ankle and was grade 1 lame. Hydrotherapy, Bute and a sweat wrap were my chosen treatment, and of course, no riding. This morning I reassessed him - swelling is a little better, but he's still slightly off. I palpated the soft tissues and couldn't make him flinch except when touching the raw abrasions, so I'm hoping he's just a bit bruised and will be back to normal in a few days. In the meantime, I've been taking him on walks and showing him every scary thing I can think of.

Since I've had all this time to do groundwork, Eli's been very good at showing me the holes in his training so far. I tend to be too quick to tighten up on the lead when I don't get the response from him that I want, and I tend to forget to ask for things with the lightest aid before moving up to something stronger. The result in Eli - he tends to overreact to my corrections. I've noticed several examples of this in the last week, so I'm making a concerted effort to be softer and more creative with Eli as we work. This horse is incredibly clever, and although very eager to be with people, he REALLY takes it personally when you get your emotions up. Although it's been a rough week, Eli's teaching me some important lessons. I just hope that I can do right by him in return, and give him a good base of training to build upon.

On a lighter note, I decided that his newly trimmed hooves warrented a tidy mane to match. So I cut off all the longer, scraggly stuff, and now his mane is much more uniform in length. I still need to pull it to make it look really nice, but he already looks much more handsome. I am SO bad about getting pictures, so I have none to post of his new locks, or of his hoof trimming adventures, but I'll try to get some soon.