> Oh, I'm sorry - for all three of you. Poor Scooter - don't you hate it when > you find some evidence that your horse has been treated badly at some point. > Nothing makes me madder. But, if there is any silver lining to this, isn't > it a good sign that he came to you when he broke loose? That encourages me > that he trusts you and looks to you to help him. You can build from that.
Boy I remember this. Hreggur used to explode when I first had the farrier out. I would spend hours clicker training him just myself, and working with his feet. I always warned the farrier that if he felt the sligthest movement, to get out of the way. Hreggur never kicked him, he just bolted away. Man...I remember being dragged across the paddock. For some reason it never occurs to me to let go of the rope. I think I still have scars on my hands. That's one of the reaons I always wear gloves when I'm working with the horses now. My hands are just too tender to put up with weeks of blisters after an incident. Hreggur finally got the idea. It was about a year after he came to live here when we finally had a successful non-eventful trim. Both the farrier and I breathed a sigh of relief. We felt we had reached a real milestone with him. After that, he was always the best behaved with the farrier and eventually with the vet. He was always wary, and I had to make sure I was starting him right in the eye while holding him for the vet or farrier...but it was worth it to get him manageble. Today, I really missed him. He was a good old sort about teaching Gusti to pony. I'm not sure Elska would be as forgiving. Wanda
