Unfortunetly it doesn't take much to please me when it comes to horses. I don't expect them to be able to jump 2 feet, do fancy dressage moves, or be a trick horse. All I really expect is good ground manners, nice disposition, and to pretend to like that I am there with them.
To my delight today I got just that from the horses, well mostly from Rollo and Desi. I was having trouble with grooming the horses and picking their feet out. I know they were just testing me but it was starting to get to me, so I talked with my boss and asked her if I was doing anything wrong, she showed me what she does and it was pretty identical to what I do, and she says it's not me, they are just testing me. I know that Desi had two abcesses on her front feet so that could be one reason why she detests getting her feet picked so much, but as for the other horses I couldn't think of a real reason.
Today I changed my approach to grooming. I did my daily things (spread out hay, feed Legend, sweep) and then I went to groom. Usually I just groom in the paddock, away from the other horses, but the horse I was grooming always seemed distracted (even with hay). So today I had the BRILLIANT idea (mostly because it has been raining and the paddock was yucky) that I would just groom outside of the paddock, but still tie the horse the fence. Outside of the paddock is a nice stone mixture (not sure of exacts) and it was very nice looking and welcoming compared to the mucky and wet pasture.
I couldn't wait to try out my new plan. I first decided I would groom Rollo. She is looking better, her coat is slightly more shiny and I saw that some of her scars had tiny hairs growing, YAY! I have started apply aloe heal to her scrapes daily. I lightly curried her, the scars don't seem to bug her but I didn't want to disrupt any hair growth (that is just my simple mind thinking) and brushed her. She was perfect, stood there munching on hay enjoying life. I read her binder that we have in the barn and I read that she doesn't like her feet being picked (story of my life haha) but she has showed some progress. Today I just worked on getting the mud off her hoof itself and didn't pick up her feet or pick them out. She didn't mind me getting the mud off and I think on Monday I will try picking up her feet. I also brushed her mane and tail and she looked so awesome after I was done. Of course she got many treats for being such a delightful horse, and she does need to put some weight on. I am really hoping I will be able to ride her one day.
Desi was next, I like to groom her as often as I can because we are working on her ground manners. She did a fantastic job also! Again, I tied her outside of the paddock and she munched on hay very contently while I groomed her and only moved to shift her weight. Desi has been one of the horses that has given me some of the hardest time with picking feet. But today, she was almost perfect! There was only one time where she took her hoof out of my hand, it was her back one and I believe it was because I was trying to get a rock out. Other then that she didn't resist to me picking up her feet at all and stood perfectly still!
I was so ecstatic after this! It seemed like my hard work, along with some of the other employees, was paying off! I consider myself very lucky to be working where I am working. Sure there are some things that could make it better, but I walk to work every morning with a grin on my face, loving the fact that I get to go see the horses I enjoy so much!
I need to get a camera so I can take some pictures so you guys can see these wonderful horses.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
Oh my gosh almost forgot! I found out that Rollo is Mr P's mother!! *squeel*
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