Stable Training Week 2

'Mr F' now is relaxed standing outside the stables and the tack room without me holding on to his rein.

He willingly stands there, at liberty, (usually lead rein flung over his shoulders) and waits for me to get done what I have to get done. I learnt early on that he is much calmer if he is free. Basically to do something or to wait at his free will because I ask him to do so by dropping the lead rein on the floor in front of him. 

When tacking up or when attending his hooves, he is never tied up. If he starts fidgeting, something's up and its my job to find out what. It's another way of communication between the two of us. The only time I do tie him up is if there are other horses near him in a small yard. But at the new place this is no longer an issue as we have so much space, it's wonderful!

I prepared the stable by picking some of his poo from the field and spreading it on the straw. This may seem odd but there is a reason and it goes back to when he was stabled after his injury (double hip fracture). For certainly 2 months 'Mr F' wasn't allowed to roll or lie down but I also didn't want to cross tie him as that would have made him very unruly. Left to his own devises, with stable companion, he was very calm but I recall one morning when swapped all his soiled shavings with a thick layer of new shavings, while he was eating. As soon as he had done with his food, he began the examine the floor and made all the motions of going down to roll! I rang the 'Suzie' (the vet) in panic, what should I do? Apparently, I was to put some of his soiled shavings back so he would have his own scent in the stable. This would stop him from rolling. And it did! 

Using this information now I put some of his droppings from the field on top of the layer of straw in his new stable. Hopefully it would help him accepting it a little quicker.

The floor of the stables is concrete with added texture. This is covered with a thick layer of straw. I hung up a haynet full with fresh tasty haylage and next to it I hung up his favourite treat, a grass block - compacted forage without any sugar or additives. It was his main 'friend' during recovery time and it kept him busy at day and night. Each compartment also had a self-refilling water trough at the back.

Surprisingly, 'Mr F' followed me inside the first time, albeit walking very gingerly, breathing heavily and being quite on edge, his nose on the ground examining everything, especially his poo! I left his head collar with lead rope on so that I had some control in case he started pacing around dangerously (for himself, not me).

When 'Mr F' is not quite sure about something he wants to make eye contact with me. 'Hey, I am not coping with this, can we leave?' If I don't react he will start nudging me. 'Come on, lets get outta here!' If I don't make eye contact however, he leaves me alone and tries to come to terms with things. It took me this long to realise that me directly looking at him often stopped us from progressing because he learnt that I would react to his behaviour, usually in his favour. 

Honestly, I learn everyday with 'Mr F', or any other horse for that matter. Their communication is so subtle and they are masters at observation and reading our body language. It fascinates me again and again and I am truly grateful for being able to spend time among these beings.

While 'Mr F' was having a look around in the stable I busied myself with something so as to make him think that we are in this stable for a reason and I deliberately didn't look at him. All the while leaving the stable gate open so that he realised it wasn't going to lock  him in.

We did this for several days. Remaining inside a little longer each time. Sometimes I would brush him, sometimes I would towel his feet dry. He had to understand that there is a purpose for being in the stable and that it wasn't some form of torture. The aim was to reach a point where i could attend to his hooves without him fidgeting and walking away. I made one attempt the fourth time we were inside the stable but he wasn't relaxed enough and yanked his front leg out of my grip, lifting it high and right over the middle bar of the stable gate! 'Oh no!! Stay calm, stay calm.' I thought. Meanwhile 'Mr F' realised he was stuck and tried to pull his leg off the gate but there was no way he could without lifting it and he couldn't do that either as it was already as high as he could possible lift it. 'It's OK chick, let me sort it.' I said calmly. He faced me with a worried look but calmed immediately as I held on to his front leg, beginning to lift it up (I am glad that I am strong despite my small build) and slowly freeing it. 'Phew!!' No injuries, no tendon damaged. Gosh how stupid! I should have thought of this straight away. The bottom two gaps of the metal gates separating the compartments are covered with a grid, but the top two gaps are not. I needed to fit some board so that no matter what he did, he could not get his foot / leg stuck. 

The following morning I explained to 'Mandy' what happened and asked if I could fit some board to the gate later this week as soon as I had gotten hold of some. To my surprise, I found the stable gates fitted with boards when I returned in the evening! Wonderful!

Appart from the 'getting the leg stuck' incident, 'Mr F' has been progressing well.

Next phase: shutting the stable gate, locking us in.