Saintly babysitter

Ben and Goggles swapped spots last week before my husband and I took a week long trip to AZ, see the WW post about things he jumped in the GY's field. I scratched Terranova because Ben's feet were still sore from his pads, but I thought maybe Ben could get a few training rides while I was out of town. He only sorta cooperated with that plan, he was foot sore until Thursday when JT left to go to Terranova. Ah well. Meanwhile Giggles was thriving at the GY's. He became BFFs with the same older guy that Ben adores. He also asserted himself reasonably well and ended up going out with the whole herd pretty quickly. I really feel like the additional turnout is super helpful to him. He seems more mellow than he had at JT's. 

When I got back to town, we went for a walk around the hay field down the street that is GORGEOUS right now. He is actually a bit more of a pest than Ben while ponying, I think he eventually wants to challenge the older gelding for a higher spot in the herd. But he's not quite sure how to go about it. So I had to keep him better in check or else he would get obnoxious and then get a more stern reprimand. Ms GY's horse deserves an entire bag of carrots for putting up with my two goofballs. 

It was so cool watching Gogs figure things out by example. He wanted to spook at the trash can, but his babysitter was so not excited by it that he put his head down and went back to sauntering along. Same with the trampoline and flags in the hay field. He also was SUCH a good boy while I was grooming him pre-ponying - everyone else got turned out and he was alone in the barn. He did not seem to care at all. We were also working on cross ties for the first time - the GY's barn has a narrow wooden platform that the horses stand on while cross-tied. Everyone gets used to it, but it isn't the most straightforward thing for a baby horse. But he was very, very good. I did set him up for success and put him in a stall with hay while I grabbed the bridle for his buddy and my helmet. He just ate though, no calling or staring longingly out towards the other horses. Pretty impressive, sir! 

Such a cute face!!

The next day we worked some on lunging. We wandered around the arena first to ensure we weren't trying to learn how to lunge while also spooking at the scary side of the arena. He gave a few shits, but not many. He walked a few quick circles around me and then sniffed some things and found grass to eat amongst the horse eating poles, standards, and letters. Next step was the surcingle in the cross ties. He was wanting to back away from me anytime I walked beside him to groom him or to put the surcingle and pad on, so we paused to address that. His reaction to tension on the cross ties was... Nothing. Not pulling back more and not moving forward to release the tension, so I introduced the idea of stepping forward to relieve the pressure. He picked up on it really quickly. Lunging he was super for, he's starting to understand woah without turning in. He's still fairly sure tracking right is not a thing and always tries to go left again instead, but he can be convinced more and more easily each time. We only trotted to the right, he tried pulling back to the barn twice but with less conviction each time. I should've quit with just walk and woah, but we did still end on a good note with a relaxed walk and woah. This was certainly his first time lunging without the aid of the round pen and he was really super! 

Afterwards, he got hosed and played in the hose for the first time. He's gotten markedly better about hosing each time we do it. I still haven't gotten anywhere near his face though, the good nozzle isn't working right now so I have no way of easing him in to it. Post-hosing I did ask for a few more step over from the "leg" aid that we started a while ago. He ended up overdoing it in an effort to get the treat I was using and kind of spinning in circles away from me while still not understanding the leg aid. 

Plan is to keep Gogs at the GY's through the Ocala Eventing Festival towards the end of April so that Ben and I have the easiest access to lessons, training rides, and XC schooling on our somewhat abbreviated prep schedule. Then we'll see about swapping them back. I'm going to try to get Gogs back down to JT's a couple of times for some training rides during that time. But he was somewhat reluctant to load on the trailer by himself to leave JT's whereas he had hopped right on when I practiced loading him next to Ben. So I'm only going to trailer him WITH a buddy for the next few months to make sure it is all positive experiences while he's learning about the life of a performance horse. 

Feeling Zen

Ben and I went to the Chi institute again on Thursday. This was the first time we'd been on the first day of the course. I requested the same TA as last time and Ben immediately cuddled up to her. I shared that it was partially her scan of him that made me get him scoped. She was pleased to hear that things lined up from the eastern diagnostics to western. It was also an equine only group, so the students had a more whole horse approach with lots of practical questions. The other groups we've demoed for have been closer to their exam and therefore more focused on nailing down the points they were going to be tested on. This group included an equine surgeon, a sports medicine specialist, a vet student, and a few others. Ben was a bit more up and distracted to start the day. He was staring at cows in the distance and generally just a bit fussier than he has been. Totally manageable and he still was being a ham, but kind of reflective of how I've been perceiving his mental state since Rocking Horse. 

Helping out

Going with the ulcers and his reported spooky behavior (reported by me lol), he was diagnosed with a heart blood deficiency and stomach yin deficiency. This meant he got some new points including several calming points on his face. Things along midline pointing caudally are supposed to be calming. They used the 1/2" needles for it and like last time, those needles were allowed to stay in for the trailer ride home. 

The next day, napping in the cross ties. Before I told her anything, Ms. GY asked what he had had done because he was standing around the field with a dopey, relaxed look on his face. COOL!!

He was really pretty sensitive to the points on his back this time, possibly local soreness, so definitely something I need to keep an eye on in the future. 

In other "keeping Ben feeling Zen" news, I took the noseband off his bridle to see if it made him less insanely itchy at the end of rides. It hasn't, but the noseband isn't needed and with his jewel browband, I think he looks a bit like a western pony and I find it adorable!

We also did another trail ride with him as the ponied horse. He did get a bit more uppity with his saintly pasture mate at certain points, so I think next time we'll venture off our safe loop and out into the spookier areas of the neighborhood to broaden his horizons and keep him focused on more than harassing his friend.