Playtime . . . again!

After a false start at spring (mud season -ewww!) we are back into winter with another 4-6" of snow. After putting fresh shavings in the stalls today Sassy decided to take off with the empty shavings bag, which Bucky quickly claimed as his own. And boy did he have fun! Video here.

So we keep impatiently waiting for spring . . . Bucky is learning some valuable lessons in respect from our mini mare Sassy. She gives him the occasional kick when he nibbles her too much or plays too rough.

Is winter over yet?

Winter is tough! We don't have an indoor or really many places with even good footing. So I am trying to find exercises to keep Bucky in shape and also mentally stimulated. So far we have settled for yielding from pressure work on halter and from the ground, he can do a nice turn on the haunches and turn on the forehand!

I get on him about once a week when the weather allows and work on walk-halt-walk transitions and bending. Thats about it . . . I'm thinking about trailering him to an indoor to see how he is . . .should be fun!

In the meantime Sassy is a little pest, chasing our old mare around and jumping over the divider between paddocks(yes she jumps about 3" without any problems . . . ) when I try to put her in with Bucky. She is slowly adjusting to life with Bucky.

I love watching Bucky do quick turns and sliding stops as he plays in the paddock, he has such amazing athleticism and potential. I can't wait for spring!

New friend?

We just adopted another pony from Spring Hill Rescue, she is a 4 1/2 year old pinto shetland we named "Sassafrass". I was hoping she could be Bucky's new friend . . . we introduced her to our old mare Lady first.

Lady LOVES Sassy . . .

Sassy is not so thrilled with meeting Bucky . . . we'll see how it goes after she settles in!

To see more available ponies from Spring Hill check out our photos here.

Happy New Year!

Bucky is really enjoying the snow! Althought the cold, wet weather has put a damper on some of our riding / training, I am still working with Bucky as much as I can. He is learning to accept the bridle much better now and I have been able to long line him without any problems. The footing is not good so we have been doing ground work and walking primarily.

I am also hoping to teach Bucky to bow this winter and *someday* would like to teach him the spanish walk. He is very clever and I think would pick up on it quickly. He gets bored and invents games of his own if I don't work with him regularly (like removing his own blanket, or hide the feedpan . . .).

We have started the introduction to bow by getting him to lift and hold up a forefoot on command . . . so I tell him "foot" and gently tap the near fetlock, once he picks it up - he gets a treat or scratch. He is doing it and holding the foot up on command but its still inconsistent. I tried to show my farrier as I thought she'd appreciate it, but he was distracted and wouldn't comply.

Bucky after sedation to have his teeth floated.

We have also continued to work on Bucky's teeth, he had his wolf teeth pulled a few months ago and is losing a few premolar caps. He is eating primarily just hay now without any problems and even had to be put on a diet as he was a little chubby. Our previously skinny boy is now an easy keeper! I should also mention that Bucky has been great for me for all his veterinary work. He is good for shots and deworming, we have used lots of positive reinforcement and he has been great for blood draws, shots and teeth, although with the level of dental care he needs sedation is required.

A common sight at our house . . . pink pony noses looking for treats or attention . . .

She blames ALL her grey hairs on Bucky!

Lady was feeling left out, this is our 30 year old Morab mare Lady Byrd, who is much less thrilled with Bucky than we are. She thought her retirement would be peaceful! I have had her for 19 years and she was my childhood show pony. She has cushing's and arthritis, so her only job now is the occasional pony ride. For the most part we have Bucky & Lady in side by side seperate paddocks and stalls, but I sometimes catch them socializing over the fence and turn them out together for supervised playtime.

We recently learned that Spring Hill, the rescue we got Bucky from, has recently received about 30 ponies / horses from a neglect case and is need of donations, hay, and foster homes in VT. I am trying to figure out ways we can help . . . http://www.springhillrescue.com/ for more information. It breaks my heart to think of these poor horses this winter and I wish I had room to foster a few!

Fall 2008: More adventures . . .

Bucky is enjoying the mud and getting fuzzy again in preparation for winter and I pulled his mane to keep him from resembling a wild Mustang . . . Like most grooming, he was very good for this and didn't seem to mind at all. He just loves the attention!

Training continues and we were lucky enough to have our neighbors let us use their riding ring as our paddocks became very muddy and uneven. Heidi came over for our first trip over to the ring. Getting there involves crossing a very large wide open hayfield. Bucky was very good, he snorted and pranced a little, but behaved himself on the leadline. Once in the new ring he seemed to settle in okay, we did some ground work and eventually I got on him. He was a little excited, but really tried to behave except for biting the stirrup (and almost tipping us over!) after a one rein stop.

After all the progress we had made at home, I was a little disappointed that he was not better behaved, but I have to keep reminding myself - he's only 3 years old! Mentally he seems like a very young horse and we have no need to rush his training. He continues to do better in his halter than with a bridle / bit on, but we're working on that as well.

Summer 2008: Playtime!

So as we continued to work at getting Bucky going under saddle, we can't help but notice - this horse has an amazing play-drive. He plays with *everything*! He has the usual likit's and jolly balls that he plays with on a daily basis, along with anything else moveable in his paddock. It is not unusual to have to hunt for his feed pan (in Lady's paddock) and his jolly ball (in the hay field) on any give day. He will also play with tarps, kiddie pools, blankets, grain bags - anything left in his paddock.

We also bought him a large "yoga" ball to herd / play with. I was hopeful this would give us a good foundation for cattle work someday. He certainly liked it, he also destroys them frequently so can't be left unsupervised with a large ball. You can see video of him playing with his ball at these links (its pretty amazing): bucky playing ball one and two.

May 2008: Bucky's Big Adventure . . .

So with Heidi's blessing I decided to take Bucky to a Jon Ensign "colt starting" clinic in Guilford, VT. Laurie Bayer (of Starfish Farm) and I made plans to load Bucky onto her trailer early in the morning to make sure we would get to the clinic in time. Although Laurie had graciously trailered Bucky home for us the previous summer, neither of us knew how he would trailer. I practiced walking Bucky through all the scary places I could think of in our yard, over and under tarps and sheets, building his confidence. The big morning arrived, and after having my share of trailer-shy showhorses growing up I think I was more nervous than Bucky. But he loaded like a pro - stopped, looked inside and then walked right on.

At the clinic Bucky was a star, we had worked on most of the groundwork already and he was great. Being a very sensitive horse though and a little "forgetful" at times, it helped to desensitize him again all over to the flag and ropes. Sometimes I start to think, "Bucky we've done this 10 zillion times, aren't you over it?" I asked Jon about this and he said, "You just have to keep doing it." I once told Sonny I thought it took about 27 times to get Bucky used to something and he laughed. Sometimes when he sees me headed to the barn with one of our training aids (flag, hula hoop, tarp, etc) he'll ask me what # time it is.

Wow, a real cowboy! Jon and Bucky, look how attentive he is!

Bucky really struggled with the plastic bag near his legs, but we continue to work at that. He was great for saddling and even basic riding in the roundpen. He learned to "bump the fence" easily and will siddle right up to it for desensization exercises and mounting. Its a great exercise because you can get the horse used to scary stuff (tossing a rope for example) at riding height without getting thrown off.

Bucky stayed at Heidi's overnight and was very well behaved, but we missed him at home! (Well Sonny and I did, maybe not Lady Byrd). Bucky had a great first-time-away-from-home experience thanks to a great group of horse people. And for me it was a great experience and showed me that Bucky actually has lots of potential as a riding horse.