17th May, 2009 Starters stopped sort of

Unfortunately Rosie has developed a foot abscess so we have had to stop a week early. She's now tucked up in bed with some sort of moon boot on her near fore. She doesn't seem to mind and is a lot happier now that the infection has been released by the (no doubt expensive) Sunday vet. At the same time we have been having saddle trouble with Fern and short of opening a saddle library are stuck for the time being. She's happy in her work anyway so I can concentrate on traffic training for this last week and plan to take her down the track by the A31 to look at the juggernauts.

I started clicker training with Jack today in the hope of persuading him that the headcollar is not to be feared and he can cope with seeing something out of both eyes at the same time. By the end of just one session he was accepting the touch of the headcollar and the flat strap against his cheek and behind his ear. He was also coming up to ask me about the headcollar. Please cross your fingers that I can get somewhere with this special little horse.