Thursday, September 22, 2011

22nd September, 2011 Animal Magic

Donkey!!!!

Ponies -  they're alright...

Small Indian pony...?

Head lowering for a clickered treat

What's your name and where you from?

Today I was delighted to be asked by Amanda Barton to act as a second pair of eyes as to why her beuatiful Warmblood should be so worried about other animals. This is a horse that stands absolutely calmly next to a cattle grid as traffic streams across it. She is fine while the other animals are still and close by but if she sees them move quickly in the distance and then disappear out of sight she becomes excited and upset. We have now combined our thoughts and she's going to make a few little changes to see if they help. After that, we have a Plan B to look forward to.

"Mag was fab this morning.  I marched out until I got a stitch and she walked past loads of horses. They were not running around like yesterday but we saw loads and the herd with the miniatures was on the move again.  She was about 75% better than yesterday. The most interesting thing was that when she saw the pony that she sniffed yesterday in the distance she licked and chewed right away and put her head right down.  She was pretty much totally fine for the whole of the rest of the walk after that. We went twice as far as yesterday as she was doing so well."AB (23rd September, 2011)

Off this afternoon to do a mass foothandling on Puck and his sisters as it won't be long before the farrier visits. Puck was also long reined for the first time and did very well.