An eventful day with Hoss and Scout

My husband, Mike, and I loaded up Hoss this morning and headed out for the Equestrian Center!  Hoss was not thrilled with riding alone in the trailer--took me a few minutes to convince him to stand alone quietly in the trailer so I could tie, and he whinnied as we left the farm, but was well mannered and stood well for tacking up as he was tied to the trailer.

  

Mike and I (and I think Hoss) had a great time exploring the trail around the canal. It was hot, so we quit after a little more than an hour. Hoss actually drank from the tank while we were there, and we all relaxed together before loading him. He did not want to stand alone in the trailer (again), so we got in and out several times, and he had to circle if he didn't willingly get in. We need to trailer him a lot more in general, and a lot more on his own! The big plus was that he wasn't an anxious sweaty wreak after trailering, and he was polite and quiet!

Later I trailered Scout over for his chiropractor appointment. His back is a lot better, only minor soreness in the sacral area, and a little in the withers. Dr. Deb Schlutz has showed me a couple of stretches, one of which I knew from Kim Cavanah. Stretching the rear leg forward and holding it for up to 30  seconds, then increasing the stretch (gently) as the leg permits has helped to release the over tight right hamstring at the same time as Dr. Schlutz has worked to free the lower back where it was caught down from the extreme bucking.

Scout should be able to be ridden again this next month!  I will need to keep up on the stretches and watch the arthritis in his left hock closely. We still have a lot of ground driving over poles etc. to work in to the schedule, but I'm elated!!  : - )

Hoss & Scout: Trailering

Today signals another step forward for me and Hoss, my husband's horse!  He loaded and traveled beautifully with Scout, my little Mustang. For me this was a great repeat of several weeks back, when Ben loaded Franky, and I loaded Hoss and took the two of them to the Indiana Equestrian Center.

Here's the video from that earlier ride:
Hoss at the Indiana Equestrian Center, April 2012

This time, however, I was on my own loading both horses and trailering over. I called my husband after Hoss loaded, delighted to tell him I was on my way with both horses, who had each loaded without hesitation!  This was terrific, as a week ago I'd easily loaded Hoss to take him to Roxboro Park, but I was so nervous about taking him alone, and driving to somewhere I was not familiar, that when I unloaded him to ride on the group ride, he was in a full sweat, very anxious, and quite a pill to tack up!  The ride went well, but I ended up with a stomach ache, and it took a good 30-45min to load him for the drive home! I learned that he will load and travel well if he can have confidence in me.

So, we've been working on the loading and standing in the trailer in the meantime, so that he will stand quietly while I tie, hook the butt rope, and close the trailer door. I got some good help from Ben once last week on communicating to him that I expect him to load, or he won't be standing outside the trailer getting rubbed--he will be working!  He isn't afraid of the trailer now, although he will feed off of my lack of confidence if I have any. Therefore I will work on trailering within my comfort range for awhile, and build up more confidence so I'm ready for the longer trips!

Enough said. We had a wonderful time and so did the horses!

OOps!!