The Uncatchable Number 257

Hmmm, that's an interesting title, says everyone who is currently reading this post. Who, the collective masses ask, is The Uncatchable Number 257?

She's a mare with a number instead of a name. She is a surrogate mare from an embryo transfer program, pregnant with a deceased mare's foal. She is half-wild, uncatchable, and unhandled. She kicks when you pick up her feet, she can't be haltered (and instead must live in one with a catch rope), and she flinches away from human touch. She is also absolutely drop dead gorgeous and a lovely mover... which you often get a good glimpse of while she is running away from you in the opposite direction.

And she's my current project. She is under my care and handling as of this past Wednesday.

Say WHAT?



Number 257 is not owned by me, obviously. She is property of an embryo transfer program somewhere in the area (more details coming when I get them). We know absolutely nothing about her except that she is pregnant with the foal of a mare who died a few months ago due to some sort of freak abdominal bleed out. She arrived at our facility shortly before I did, and is here until the foal is weaned. (Maybe by then they will want to find a new home for her... she would make an amazing eventer!). She only came with the name Number 257.... we've been calling her "Bay Girl." I've been granted permission to give her a new name... thank god! I don't know how old she is, what breed she is, or what her history is (although I am guessing some sort of Araby-TBy-something). One thing is clear however.... someone was very, very mean to her. When all you are to the world is a uterus, no one cares enough to handle you with any sort of care.

She lives outside in a halter with a catch rope. We took her halter off one time while she was in a stall... it took me quite a long time to get it back on again. Anything from her cheeks forward is off limits for human hands in her mind. I managed to somehow get my hand over her nose (which resulted in a lot of head tossing), and after she had backed up twice around the stall with me at her nose, she finally stopped and I somehow got the halter on. I think if I hadn't been the one feeding her for three months prior to this event, I would have never been able to even lay a hand on her, even in a stall.

And yet, there is so much promise and potential in there. She does crosstie, and she does tie (or well, she hasn't set back yet...). She stands (mostly) for grooming. She is jumpy when you move too fast, but there is never that rolling white of panic in her eye. In fact, I have yet to see her truthfully get panicky... I have yet to see white in her eye at all save for when I somewhat unceremoniously tossed the crownpiece of her rope halter over her neck when I was trying to halter her in the stall (she had stretched to the height of a small giraffe at this point). I can't really blame her for that... and even then, with a soothing word from me she stopped moving and didn't flail or panic even though she was squished into the corner of a stall with no escape. Behind the jumpiness is a sensible mind... even standing completely alone in the very scary pool barn (with filters running and everything), she never bothered to look at a thing, cry out for anyone, or squiggle unnecessarily. She deserves so much more than the life that she has been dealt.

She is very pregnant at this point in time (and we have no idea when she is due), so she isn't going to be doing anything strenuous anytime in the near future. But I intend on at least making her easy to catch and easy to handle... and get some basic groundwork in too. After the foal is here and after it is weaned.... well, we'll see! She has a VERY long way to go before she would EVER be ready for actual work, so I will have plenty to keep myself busy!


I don't know how long she will be under my care, but I think she at least deserves her own blog, don't you think? I think I'm going to call her Portia. She is such a feminine, pretty mare... she deserves a sexy name!


Just a few bad pictures of the sweetheart....





Such a pretty girl. The picture of her butt is of her brand (and her namesake)... simply the number 257. And the picture of her nosey is one I snapped when she actually walked up to me!!


More about what little I've done with her and what my plans are with her later.... as for right now, here is some Sophie eye-candy! (Or not... these are pictures of her taken this past week. She is very saggy and out of shape due to the fact that she has literally not even been handled for a few months!)









It is uncanny how much she looks like Metro. I mean look!




Although she is a definite improvement on his conformation. Not that she is anywhere near perfect, obviously, but she is far better put together than he was, bless his sweet heart.


Suggestions for the new Portia (or other name!) blog are welcome!

Marti Makes Progress

I've been making some small progress with Marti over the course of the week. At some point it occurred to me that I'm so used to working with a dominant horse (Gogo) that my body language probably screams I'm-The-Boss even when I am trying to be as passive as possible, and that this is probably what was scaring him to death. Horses read right through cover-ups every time, don't they. He could not possibly be a more opposite personality than Gogo. I've also been learning bits and pieces about his history, like how the workers at the place he's been at were so afraid of him that instead of leading him anywhere they just opened his stall and paddock and chased him to and from turnout every day, and how others have also tried to work with him and he's been equally as timid with all of them. He's really only known his momma and his stable his whole life, so getting completely removed from that is a BIG scary deal for sure.

So I changed my tactics. I am not insisting he come right to me if he wants to eat. I am not insisting he put his head in his halter before he gets his meals. These things were causing him to increasingly keep away from me, as it meant that every time I walked into the pasture I had an ulterior motive. What I am doing is holding his food bowl and waiting for him to come eat out of it while I have it, so that he associates me with something simple and full of comfort without the pressure of HAVING to do something, or using food as a bribe. Once he is there and eating, he gets lots of good rubs and scratches, and he seems to like that. He actually came to me directly tonight for food instead of backing away first. That being said, I had also enlisted the help of another weapon I didn't even realise I was holding: the owner. The owner had originally planning on staying away for awhile to try and get him to detatch a little from her, but she is honestly all he's really known, and she can get him to do pretty much anything. It's just other people that he has a problem with, and honestlty now that I know a little bit more about how other people handle him, can you blame him?

I re-released him into the wild with Gogo the day after I wrote about keeping him in a small pen. He was definitely not happy there, and while I originally thought it would make him easier to catch, it only made him more nervous. I said screw it, he's going back out, and out he went. At that point I let the owner know how bad he had been with the pulling back and getting away, and she offered to come out and see if being there would help him a little. She too had initial trouble catching him, but we soon figured out the real issue at hand... GOGO! She is incredibly possessive of humans in her field, and doesn't let other horses get near them unless she is bribed by food to go away. The owner couldn't get her to stop following her around, and he kept running away from both of them, so she had to put her up in a stall to just get her out of the way. Then she could catch him! Together we gave him a bath, which he desperately needed, and he was for the most part really well behaved, if not a bit jumpy. My hope was that I'd be able to finish his clip once his hair wasn't so thick and greasy, and the owner came back today to see if we could get it done. Of course, by this time I had totally killed every set of blades I had, so we struggled to get his front legs and head done. I gave up after that, and will try to finish his hind legs and belly tomorrow. I also hope to lunge him tomorrow, and maybe try on a surcingle and really loose sidereins to see how he reacts. He's on principle a hair fitter than he was when he first arrived already, simply from being out and running around on 15 acres all the time, but he's clearly still quite unfit so I want to be careful with what I do.

Today was definitely the first time he came TO me when I brought food to him, and didn't step back or run off while I was in the process of approaching and putting food into his bucket. Maybe after a few more 'hey-look-you-weren't-kidnapped!' sessions with his mother around for comfort, he'll start to get increasingly comfortable, and be able to be weaned off of her a little bit more. I don't want to rely on either her or food in order to catch him or be able to work with him, but Rome was not built in a day. The next time I hoof it into town (a 20 minute drive from the middle of nowhere where I live), I plan on picking up a clicker and trying that with him. Roundpenning is still an option, as I do have access to one, but I'll really need to read up more on technique before I give that one a go, or take a clinic on it. In principle I know what to do, but I've not ever roundpenned a horse beyond exercise. I've never had a horse NOT want to be with me before... this is a while new realm of training. Gogo comes running every time she hears or sees me, and she definitely doesn't ever leave my side when I'm out at liberty with her unless I insist on it. She puts her head on my chest and asks me rub her head for endless amounts of time whenever she wants a good snuggle. She follows me everywhere, even when she's just out grazing and I'm just out with her enjoying the sunset. I love that.

I think Marti will probably get to that point where he wants to be with me that much too. He really is a sweet guy, even with his issues.

Holy White Terror

Oh boy! Well I've finally seen the naughty side of Marti that his owner warned me about. I didn't quite realize the extent of it though... I have some serious work on my hands.

Marti is a very, very big boy. When Marti is scared, Marti runs in the opposite direction with all haste. Marti also pulls back when tied if he wants to leave. I had seen a bit of this when I went to put on his blanket the first day. He shot backwards like a cannon, but I stopped him after a few hops. 'Ah ok,' I thought. 'I see what she means.' I've been able to do some work with him, which I will elaborate on a little bit later, but he was so amazingly hairy, out of shape and nervous that he worked himself into a total lather every single time. After one of these lathering sessions when he WALKED for 30 minutes, I attempted to hose him off, and he pulled back from where he was tied. He was tied with a nylong hater and strong line to a pipe fence, so he was unable to get away, and he stopped as soon as he figured it out. Hmmmmm. 'Ok, I HAVE to clip him,' I thought. Marti had another freakout prior to beginning his clip when a motorcycle came down the road. He lost it and shot backwards at high speed again, but yet again I stopped him. The actual body clip itself was a total disaster. I had no idea that underneath his ridiculously thick coat, an impenetrable layer of filth existed, and my clippers just stuck in his hair and refused to cut. This was a totally stupid error on my part.... I refuse to clip other people's dirty horses, so WHY did I bother clipping mine? It was awful. Worst clip job I've ever done. And it's not even done yet! After two torturous hours, I finally just gave up, and decided I'd bathe him today and then finish the clip tonight. I'm embarassed by how horrible the clip is. That horse has more lines than I-35. (And you guys know I pride myself on my awesome clip jobs.)

He pulled back twice when I was clipping him, both times when I got up near the top of his head. (He has a clipped bridlepath, so I don't think he's scared of it!) Having anticipated a potential problem, and having watched how he pulled back on purpose two days prior, I tied him with a trailer tie and a nylong halter - unbreakable. If he were to get away, I'd never catch him... and if he is pulling back on purpose, that habit needs to stop NOW. He cannot keep doing it. I don't want him to get hurt, but there is a larger risk of him getting hurt if he gets loose, so it's a risk I have to take. He did stop after the second pullback, thankfully. My problems were not over there, however. Once we got back into the field, I brought out supper and moved in to feed the two. Marti has actually been SHARING a feed bowl with Gogo whenever I can't chase him away from her, and TAKING HER BOWL FROM HER, which is mind-blowing to me considering what a nasty piece of work she is to other horses. Because of this, I had him with a halter and chain still, and fed her first. Marti, of course, moved to sneak in and take a bite, and I turned around to back him up. He bolted backwards at high speed, and once agan I stopped him, but then I decided to back him up an additional step. At that, he absolutely lost it, wheeled on one foot, and galloped away, with me hanging on to him, chain and all. He galloped right through a stud chain with my weight dragging on him. I had no choice but to let go.

But I had the upper hand. I had two things to hold over his head: Gogo and food. I fed Gogo, which upset him, and waited to see if he would come to me for his dinner. He did not, so I took it and fed part of it to Gogo, handful by handful. He still refused to come over even though he watched intently the whole time, so I then took Gogo away from him. Finally, he decided that he REALLY would like to be caught, and let me lead him back over to his dinner and remove his halter. I stood for awhile petting and scratching him, but I am sure my body language was electric. I was not amused.

Today was no improvement. At lunchtime, I came home with the intention of bathing him so I could finishing clipping him this evening. His filth just wasn't going to allow for anything else, so I set up all my bathing stuff and opted to bathe him in his field in case he pulled back and got away during his bath. I tied him in his rope halter and lead, as opposed to his nylon halter and lead, and apparently this was a mistake. I watched his mother bathe him and spray him in the face, so I was surprised to see that he totally freaked the moment I picked up the hose and ran it over his legs. He pulled back once and stopped, then twice and stopped. Then he pulled a third time, and really put his weight into it, fully sitting down and staying taut on the rope until something finally has to give - the lead. He sat fully down, awkwardly stood back up, and took off. There was clearly no catching him after this, so I packed up my bathing stuff, took away the snack I brought for him, and took Gogo away also. He was not happy about this, and screamed his head off, but would not come to me, so I left him alone for awhile. I had to go back to work, so I had to turn Gogo back out, but I clearly needed a new tactic. I will not get on a horse who is a struggle to catch. If he doesn't want to be near me, then I can't trust him to be a willing partner just yet. And if he dumps me, I'll never see him again.

So this evening? He still wouldn't come near me, so I brought a chair, a book, and a bag of Chex Mix, and just sat down and read. Gogo, of course, immediately mugged me for Chex Mix, and probably ate about as much as I did of it. This intrigued Marti, whose curiosity and food drive finally overcame him. We all shared some Chex Mix for awhile, and they both finally lost interest after it was gone and wandered away. I brought out dinner, fed them both, and Marti finally let me catch him and take his halter off.


Clearly, we have some MAJOR issues to work on. 1) He has no interest in being with humans. 2) He doesn't like to be caught. 3) He pulls back HARD. 4) He is scared of his own shadow. I think the root of this is his nervousness, and his distrust and dislike of people. He is waiting for boogiemen to jump out and eat him, and right now he sees me in two lights: food bringer, and scary bathing/clipping/riding lady. He needs to trust me, and learn to like me and want to be with me. When he learns to trust me, he will learn that scary situations are ok because I will say that they are.

But clearly we have to go back to square one: groundwork. I was lucky enough to be contacted by a Parelli representative about a month ago when I mentioned wanting to try playing some Parelli games with Gogo, and they sent me the Getting Started video which covers the basic Seven Games and the basics of Horsenality and the zones of the body. I am not one who ever bought into any of the natural horsemanship guys simply because some of them really do look like complete highway robbers waiting to sell their overpriced wares to any bumbling idiot who came along looking for an answer (you can only train in MY lead, halter and stick, only $3999.99 plus tax and shipping and handling!), but I have to admit that there is something to giving them a try. Good training is good training, no matter what school you subscribe to, but this horse flinches every time I touch him anywhere. He needs to be desensitized, stat. And THEN we will think about riding. I am going to Parelli the SNOT out of him, and pair it with the clicker. No more spoiling him with treats.... those days are over.



I am pretty sure I can get him turned around. It's just going to take some time. Trust you me, if there ever is serious risk to either one of us then he will go to someone more capable than myself. I'm not a trainer and I am not getting myself killed over something like this. Honestly though, Gogo dished it out something terrible when he was his age too. He is only five after all.

But he sure is darn cute for a total devil child.... and he and Gogo are totally in love:




Did you ever think you'd see the day when the naughty spotlight wasn't on Gogo? Me neither!

Marti's Here!

First of all, thanks to everyone to sent their condolances about the horse we lost on Thursday. Not sure that anyone really wants to hear how totally gruesome her death was... but I do sort of want to write about it to get it off my chest, so I might just do it. Thank god Future Hubs spent the night with me last night, or else I might not have been able to sleep at all. The night before I for sure couldn't sleep because of what I saw behind my eyelids whenever I closed them. The barn still reeks of dead horse and her body's been gone for two days. Ugh.

Anyway. On a WAY WAY better note, Marti has arrived safe and sound!




His owner brought him to me on Friday and managed to hold herself together and not cry too hard! She said that this must be what sending your kid off to college feels like. She has had him since he was a weanling, and he is now approaching six, so I agree! We weren't sure what he would think about his new digs, seeing as he has lived at just one barn since he was a baby, but Gogo also lived at the same farm where she was born until she was 5, and she was great when I took her off property. They could not have more different personalities though... he is every bit the timid, lower-ranking gentle giant that she is the overly confident, self-assured bossmare. She has confidence oozing out her ears and you have to make sure she knows her place in the herd - beneath YOU. He desperately looks for a leader and practically begs you to be his.

To our surprise, he walked right off the trailer and hopped right into his stall no problem! Shortly after that, we turned him out in the roundpen, and then let him meet Gogo. She of course gave him the snake eyes, but he immediately backed right down. After a careful introduction, we let them go out together. There was a bit of galloping, which I wasn't too happy about, but it was shortlived and they soon settled in to grazing. They ate their dinner near each other without fuss, and today they spent a large part of their day grazing side by side. Despite how horribly racist Gogo seems to be sometimes, I think she genuinely likes the company, and had been tolerating him REALLY well.

Learning about a new horse is always an interesting and fun process. He is very, very shy around people he doesn't know, but he responds well to me, so I think it will just be a matter of letting him get to know me better before he really trusts me. Besides his lack of confidence and shyness, he does have a few issues to work on - namely being a little hard to catch and skittery about his blanket. His owner says that not long ago he had an incident with his blanket, which involved him taking off with his blanket still half on and tearing it all up. When I went to put his blankie on last night, he bolted backwards and tried to get away. I did have a chain on him, thankfully, so I managed to stop him, but I am sure he would have gotten away from me if he hadn't had one on. He is a BIG boy. As for the catching, it's hit and miss right now. I can get him every time, but it takes a bit of trickery and bribery for the moment. I am sure that once he realizes that I am his friend that he will come to me religiously, but as for now he likes to turn and walk away. If you follow him, he runs every time. But if you pretend to leave, or go take 'his' cookies to Gogo, he comes trotting right back. He just doesn't know or trust me yet, but he will. Regular play and groundwork will make that better.

This first week, I plan on just doing groundwork and some light lunging in order to start the relationship off on the right foot. He has only been ridden once or twice a week for a long time, so he's very out of shape. Today I lunged him in my cavesson - it actually FITS but it is on the last hole of everything - and he was super. I was impressed with his behavior because I brought both him and Gogo over to my house and lunged in my pasture, and he didn't bat an eye. He stood rock solid while I groomed him, and he made me laugh when I put on my Nunn Finer boots that I won with Gogo at Groton House (which also fit!) because he couldn't figure out what the Velcro noise was. I'm not sure that he's ever worn boots before! He was really quite good with the lunging, and stayed right on his circle without pulling. He did stop dead once or twice and looked at me, but he figured out pretty quickly that I'd send him right back out on his way, so he stopped that. He also for the life of him could NOT figure out how to canter. I'm not sure that he knows how to canter on the lunge, so I will have to ask his owner. He clearly knows how to lunge in general though! I don't plan on cantering a big huge youngster like him on the lunge much anyway. He doesn't need it, and it's not good for him. He is not strong enough or balanced enough for that yet. And he is VERY out of shape... our lunge session was for 20 minutes with 6-7 minutes of trot in each direction, and he was very sweaty and puffing at the end of it. I am going to have to hound Stacey and Daun for conditioning tips for the big guys. Metro was a BIG guy but for sure Marti is BIGGER.

I've been nothing but impressed with his demeanor so far. The little issues he has shown me so far are simple and will be easy to correct. His owner made it clear that he can be a little devil sometimes, but that it's all fear based instead of attitude based. I haven't seen that side of him yet, but I am sure I will! I can't wait for it to stay light late into the evening... I want to trailer out and go on some TRAIL RIDES!

Bareback Hacks and In-Hand Attacks!

As planned, I have spent the past week hacking out around the property at a walk, slowly and gradually introducing different footing and little hills now that Gogo's legs are strong enough to do so. To add a little flavor to the mix, I've ridden every single day bareback. Her first time out of the arena... and I'm going bareback? And... I'm not using Ace anymore?

You heard right!

What is this world coming to??

I am actually not surprised by this fact at all, but all it seems my little princess needed in order to keep four on the floor was to do something different besides ride round and round in an arena every day. Gogo is not, nor has she ever been, an indoor horse. Every year around March or so, after two or three months of indoor riding, Gogo boycotts the whole idea and pitches royal fits until we go to ride outside again. This seems to now have transferred to the outdoor too, for the time being. I think she's honestly just sick and tired of the same old boring rehab routine, and I really can't say that I blame her. I am too! I have to say though, Gogo is the only horse I've ever met that does NOT enjoy a set routine. She is better and more relaxed at shows when everything is new and fresh, gets surly if we do the same thing too many days in a row, and goes like ears-pricked gangbusters the moment I shake up her routine a little bit. I guess she is just weird.

We were both a little weary after months of rehab work. Now that we've been cleared to start gradually returning to regular work, it's time for a little fun. The plan was to start riding around the farm property a little bit every day this week, introducing different footings in five-minute increments every day. Monday was 10 minutes, Tuesday 15, Wednesday 20, etc, all the way to Saturday which is supposed to be 35. This is all at the walk, and for added fun, all bareback. For all I've needed to Ace her every ride for the last three months, I knew that once we left the arena, she'd be fine, even without tack. And I wasn't dissapointed. Gogo's has her attitude cranked up to 11, and not only has she been nonstop bright-eyed and cheerful all day long in her stall, she's also had a horrible snotty attitude in the grooming stall, demanding my attention non-stop and lording over her space like it is her kingdom. One moment, she is doe-eyed for my boss' 6 year-old boy who loves to pet her and brush her, standing perfectly still with her head low for him to kiss her nose. The next, she is lunging at passing horses while standing in the crossties, puffing herself out in all directions as if to say, "back OFF, this is MY grooming stall and MY pampering time!" She won't do this if I am standing there with her, but god forbid if I have moved away to momentarily attend to something else. Then she is dancing, snarling at the other horses, and swatting a front foot at the errant barn cat who mistakenly wandered too close. She normally loves cats, but yes, she did in fact pitch a right fit when I went from brushing her to bending over to pet the barn cat for a moment. Suddenly, I saw flying front hooves as she barged forward, ears pinned and steam shooting out her ears. My god! Take it easy your Highness! I will return to dote on you momentarily! (This is why we work on manners so very often. I have a feeling if I let her get away with things, it might turn ugly pretty quickly.)

I've written about it plenty of times before - we know she gets a wicked big ego and a 'tude when she's feeling great, so secretly I love it. When she's sweet and loving, something is wrong. When you can practically taste her hugely inflated self-opinion when you walk in the barn, all is right in the world.

Hacking out bareback has been the ridiculously fun part. It's not all been games and fun this week though. Bettina showed up early for a different lesson on Monday, and came to seek me out, saying, "I thought you might like to work on your mare some more, so I came early!" No freaking way. I need to go buy her a nice bottle of wine! She showed me a few more exercises, namely using both reins to move Gogo in a square. At the end of the square when I go to turn her, she is to do something akin to a turn on the forehand, rotating her hindquarters out to the new edge of the square. This is very difficult to do... I am having a hard time figuring out how to hold both reins and the whip so as not to confuse her! The lesson went well, and we continued to work on moving her laterally back and forth, stretching down and sideways at the same time. I still left the lesson feeling a little confused, as there is so much to absorb and my brain just doesn't work that fact. I want to strengthen and supple her on the ground as much as I safely can, so as per Bettina's instruction, I decided in addition to my bareback hacking, I would add in-hand work before riding every other day.

WELL. Wednesday wasn't really our day for in-hand stuff, even though I did my best. I really just think we're both still a little too green at this to do anything more complicated than the simplest of exercises that Bettina showed me, because Gogo pitched a right fit and bucked when I rapped her a little too hard with my whip on her haunches. I never see Bettina's horses confused, and I never see her get after them aggressively, and here I was both simultaneously confusing my horse and accidentally using my whip too much, which I am sure she percieved as an aggressive move on my part. I went back and did the most basic of lateral movements, which she is understanding well (and I am also understanding well), then did a little more regular groundwork with her on top of it. This seemed to put her head back in a good place, and I went ahead and hopped on bareback afterwards for our hack. Interestingly enough, when walking up tiny hills, her back rounded up so amazingly that it felt like I was literally sitting on top of a barrel. Her spine dissapeared underneath all that muscle! I've never felt that with her bareback before, ever. Perhaps related to the groundwork? Maybe! The next day when I hacked without the groundwork, it felt similar while going up the same tiny hill but not quite as startlingly amazing. Yesterday, when I went back to do more in-hand work, I made a serious effort to make sure I was as clear as possible, and we were both thankfully much better. There is so much to be learned - I clearly need more work with Bettina! And once again, I felt her back really LIFT and carry me up little inclines, and down them as well. She marched around the farm like there was no tomorrow, feeling very confident after actually making sense of the in-hand work we did.



We also tackled the little bridge for the first time yesterday. She didn't want to go near it at first, but when I got off and led her over it, she followed right away the first time. When I hopped back on, she proceeded to walk confidfently back and forth over it twice, as if to say, "psh, I knew it wasn't a bit deal."






It's been such a fun week. And on top of all of that, her legs are ice cold and beautiful every morning, even without wraps. That's what I like to see!

Bettina Drummond Clinic 8/21/10

I had the opportunity last weekend to participate in a clinic at our farm with Bettina Drummond, a classical dressage rider and trainer who follows the French method of training, the primary goal of which is to obtain ultimate lightness, balance and harmony between horse and rider. She studied under Nuno Oliveira for 17 years, and is considered internationally as an expert on in-hand work. Through some miracle of workings, she is based very close to our farm, and is there quite often during the week, bringing horses to us on and off for work in the indoor during the winter (and the occasional sale horse she wants my boss to jump during the summer!). Since the entire time I've been at the farm, Gogo has not been able to participate in a lesson with her (which I so desperately wanted to do), but she had been at the farm quite a lot recently working with Coco, one of my boss' horses who came to us with serious mystery tightness and lameness. The work in hand she has done with him in just a few weeks has had a totally transforming effect on him, so when Gogo got the go-ahead from Dr. C to gently proceed into full work again, I jumped at the chance to do an in-hand session too.

I'll be honest - when I first met Bettina, she scared me to death. Around here, Bettina's word is law. Those of you in the area will all agree with me when I say she has more knowledge and understanding of the horse in her pinky finger than probably all of us reading this right now combined, and that knowledge is palpable when she walks into a room. She commands respect, and she reads people like she reads horses. I felt like a child when I first met her and I was starting my big new scary job - she could see right through me! And she wasn't about to take anybody's crap either. She has a way with stallions like I've never seen, and let me tell you her studs don't even put an ear towards a squatting, peeing mare when she is working with them. Over time, I seem to have somehow earned her respect and friendship, even though I still don't understand quite how it happened. I guess with all her intuition she can see that I'm still just a kid learning the ropes of life, genuine in my efforts to do the very best job that I can, and I think that's a respectable thing.

The work we've been doing with Coco over the past few weeks started with a bopper. That's right, a crop with a round plastic-covered foam ball on the end of it, about the size of a ping-poing ball. A bopper! We bopped him all over his body, tapping all his major groups of muscles with the rhythm of a metronome, searching for weaknesses. The point of this, Bettina explained to me, was that horses with serious physical or mental damage (and people, for that matter) stop linking their right and left brains when severely traumatized. Even just by tapping the forehead on either side back and forth, the neurons will start to correctly fire back and forth, cross-linking back to their original function. Apparently dissections have also been done with horses who have had serious hind-end or back trauma, and you can inject joints, rest them, or do whatever else you want, but those horses will go lame again if they go back to work because their muscles atrophy and fail - they're not getting the proper signals from the brain. This method is similar to Endo-tapping I believe, but I don't think they're quite the same thing. When bopping Coco, we discovered how seriously fidgety he was on certain spots of his body, and that when he'd relax, one ear would start swinging in time to the bopping, the ear on the same side of the body. Over time, he stopped being so reactive to those spots as he started to reconnect and heal, and both ears would start swinging together - both sides were firing together again. Bop your mare, Bettina told me. See what you find.

Bop, bop, bop. Gogo's immediate reaction in her stall without a halter was to look at me curiously, then literally swing her butt at me when I bopped her in front of her withers, which was simultaneously not surprising but also not acceptable and not something she's ever really done before (save for one outstanding time). On went the halter, on went the bopping. She showed definite sensitivity where her neck connects to her withers on both sides, which is exactly where she holds all her tension. The second time I bopped her, she was much better about that area, but she showed more sensitivity over her back. Interesting! I plan on continuing to bop her in more of the Endo-tapping way, to encourage relaxation. You never know what it might continue to show, and it might be a first warning method for something brewing.

For the clinic, no bopping was done. Instead, we outfitted Gogo in her bridle, polos and bells, and did a series of small bits of lateral work. Bettina was quick to point out the fact that her right shoulder (specifically how she moves her elbow) is a point of weakness, and she would rather back away from whip tapping than move the elbow sideways. Using the whip and one hand on the reins right below the bit, I moved Gogo down the rail laterally in both directions, trying to achieve an even crossover and a quiet lateral response to the whip.





We also played around a little bit with holding both reins, one in each hand, and doing shoulder-in and haunches-in down the rail, switching back around to bend the horse left and right while going forward. It was impossibly hard to understand and extremely difficult to handle two reins and a whip and a slightly confused mare while walking backwards, but every time we were both confused, Bettina had me stretch her and walk her forward to diffuse the potential brewing bomb.




It was hard! I know I will need lots of practice at it. But the entire point of it is to achieve balance on both sides of her body while simultaneously strengthening her hind end while ALSO simultaneously working her kinks out for future under saddle work, so it's worth it to learn and understand. Amazingly, after our session, Bettina offered it to me for nothing, thanking me for all I had done for her. I couldn't believe it! The clients all spent the day remarking on how beautiful the facility looked, all our guests raved about what a nice establishment I had running, my boss thanked me for all my hard work, and Bettina's gracious offer on top of all of that was the icing on the cake. It was such a good day!



And of course, since it was high time for it, even though it was a cloudy day we took the opportunity to get our Seasonal Conformation Shots since she was so clean. She looks GREAT!





I like how she is standing like a total goof in the last shot. Compare to June. Even her expression is better. She doesn't look as amazingly sexy as she did last October, when she was still racing fit, but you know. She'll get there, someday!

Groundwork A Go-Go

Gogo and I messing around and doing, um, some really bad groundwork. And quelle horreur! She was not even groomed. Enjoy the crooked halts and shavings tail!