6th August, 2016 Really Going Somewhere

Honey was such a good girl for her session this morning, and even took her first pee under saddle. It's a signifies quite a degree of trust in the rider from a sensitive mare.

A first for Iona too, trotting with a rider for the first time.

A long drive from one end of the Forest to Stonehenge and beyond this afternoon to work with Archie who is worried about being loaded.

He's going to be travelling with a full width breast bar and breech bar but I do wish manufacturers would think about the ease with which you can load the horse and put the bar up when it won't move flush to the ramp. Fortunately Archie seems to be well aware of it is - up or down!

Clockwise from top left: Introducing the three click system, waiting quietly inside the trailer, backing out calmly. mock bar, running foot, and real bar being put in place.

A dog called Possum!

"The pictures were all excellent. Being a bloke I have just sussed out the reason for using clicker rewards as they do not convey any emotion whereas if I talk he can assess my emotional state. Glad you liked Archie...I think we achieved a lot during today’s session. Thank you - We can see a way forward with your help in making a stressful experience more acceptable. PS Excellent report." RJ

5th August, 2016 Magic Moments

Migration of ponies at Longcross Plain this morning, all making their way to the pond and then into the shade of the trees.

Nelly and Blue and their maypole colours were amongst them.

I was en route to work with Magic and students, Sarah and Amanda on the "Handling the Dumped Shetland cross Welsh Pony Course". Little Magic has fallen on her feet having been dumped in the drive of her 'owners' drive pitifully thin with horribly overgrown hooves. The state of her feet meant she had to be haltered urgently and she was tied up to have them done. Sadly, all of that, and her original treatment at the hands of whoever dumped her,  does mean she has made up her mind that she doesn't want to be touched, especially around her face.

We made a great start today and both students did really well using a combination of No Fear, No Force techniques and clicker training. We'll see what effect this has had next Thursday when I am due to go back for a second course.

We were treated to cake and the company of Ferris the Jack Russell, and Shetland Ponies Chiffon and Ziggy.

"I learned so much and feel really lucky to have had the chance to be a part of it." AR 

4th August, 2016 Jemima Calling!

Hi, it's Jemima here, reporting on my two weeks work experience with Sarah - seriously I haven't squished her, in fact she is doing the typing. I came because I wanted to learn techniques for calming and restraining horses undergoing veterinary treatment and I thought I would benefit from the experience of thinking like a horse.

This is what a healthy horse's stomach looks like. No signs of ulceration. This shows the squamous and non-squamous sections of the stomach, with a pool of acid at the bottom.

And a healthy pylorus section: the exit of the stomach

To start the day, today, we went to see Honey and we had the vet out to check her for gastric ulcers. Luckily there weren't any but it does mean that Sandra is still investigating the problem and she is going to start looking to see if it relates to hormonal problems or problems with Honey's ovaries.

Sarah: This is what the Verderers' Court looks like in session.

Next stop, we went to see the Verderers to get some collars for Nelly, Blue and Pie (who is very cute). We met loads of nice people who Sarah knew and talked about Grass Sickness with Sam which we learned a lot about. We put our heads round the door of the Verderers' Court which was grand but being restored so we couldn't go all the way in.

After that we went to the a feed and tack shop to collect barley rings and pony nuts which she will be using with Magic tomorrow. We met a really cool statue wearing sunglasses. Perhaps he had uveitis! We also went to the garage to pick up ginger nuts for Henrietta!

We went the scenic route back to Fritham...

Back up at the farm, Henry was sound! So everybody was really happy. We poo-picked and then we took Henrietta and Jack out for a walk in the Forest. I was in charge of Jack but we didn't get lost or bitten by a snake.

I have really enjoyed my two weeks (she told me to say that!) because I have learned lots and lots and I feel that if I have this knowledge it will really benefit me for when I become a vet. In particular I have learned about clicker and how it can be used in so many situations, pressure and release, and about breathing and thinking about the situation and then thinking how can we do this without stressing the horse further. I have learned loads of techniques for getting a horse on a trailer which will be really useful if I was called out to a horse that needed to go to a veterinary hospital in a trailer or horsebox.

"It has been a real pleasure to have Jemima working with me. She has a deep and genuine interest in horses and some real experience behind her from having her own at home and competing regularly. Rather like Zoe and Zelda, the ponies, there is no 'no' in her and she has been a real help, as well as being reliable and safe around the place. Considering that she is just 13, she's amazing." Sarah x

3rd August, 2016 Also Available in Orange

It seems I am to be forgiven for yesterday's veterinary intervention and with a promise that I wouldn't actually try to do anything with her feet today, Henrietta was happy to let me touch her and to rub her better where the needle went in. She is still very lame and not that enamoured with the pain killers so I am hoping that the infection will find its way out very soon. I find it hard to leave her to it but I am damned if I do, and damned if I don't and she is under veterinary supervision.

A boy has to keep warm somehow so there was a good bit of grooming to do before we went out riding today...

En route we saw some Canadian Geese being fed at Eyeworth Pond, my ponies fraternising with cows at Longcross, and a big group of ponies at the pond on Fritham Plain. Bella is now an ordinary riding horse although when she gets tired she would be happy to be released exactly where she is.

Pie is doing well with his little herd of mares. The mare in the background is still feeding her three year old filly, putting paid to the myth that mares will wean their foals naturally in less than a year.

This afternoon's work entailed training a gorgeous six year old PRE cross Connemara to load, or rather to stand on the ramp. In his old home he was loaded onto a step-up trailer and on one occasion had leapt the ramp of a lorry when being unloaded.

Whilst he would put a foot on the pallet, it wasn't strong enough for him to walk over, and there was no way he was going to walk over the tarpaulin. I was left with little option but to work with the ramp itself which was quite steep but safe.

Even with the addition of clickered treats, Brio wasn't prepared to attempt the ramp...

...and so, having remembered to put some front boots on him, we began to close the panels down to encourage him to at least engage with it.

Having dithered at the edge for a little while...

...he finally plucked up the courage to put his front feet onto the ramp whereupon I took any pressure off him, gave him plenty of clickered rewards, and allowed him to relax and realise that he was fine.

He grew more confident with each repetition and the panels could be drawn back...

...and it was he who volunteered his back feet.

2nd August, 2016 Boob Job

Having not seen beautiful BB for a fair few months it was good to hear from Kathryn that she has come such a long way with her ridden work out on the Forest and during lessons. BB seems very content in her new yard at Arniss where she has plenty of turnout, lots of space and the company of a big herd.

Today I had been called out for three specific problems: BB's refusal to be touched around her teats; to accept fly cream in her ears; and cream on her face.

A mare's teats can be ultra-sensitive particularly in a maiden mare that has not fed a foal. Witness the problems encountered by breeders with first time mothers unable to tolerate their foal drinking from them, squealing or kicking out when the foal approaches the bag. Some of this is the tension of milk production, and some is the intensity of feeling in the teats themselves.

My first job was to create a predictable pattern, not going directly to her teats but putting a flat hand against the inside of her back leg and then the back of my hand against her teats. I waited at this stage until she stopped kicking out at me or moving away and then took my hand away. Finally I sought a way of touching her teats that she would find pleasant - imitating a foal, I gently squeezed her teats and then moved my fingers downwards a little. This had the effect of sending her into a blissful trance. Once this was established she allowed me to approach many times and seemed to welcome it. I could handle her teats clean around them.

For her ears I used my often repeated technique of holding a flat hand covered in cream (at hand temperature) next to her ear and waited for her to press the rim of her ear against my hand. There is no need to push cream into the ear as it will find its own way in time. She did in fact let me rub the inside of her ears to about 3 inches down but I take great care to rub only outwards so that any debris is ejected outwards.

By the end of this putting cream on her face was pretty easy. I just needed to give her a little rub, put the cream on, and then give her another little rub. Rubbing helps to take the sensation away.

Rotating the ear is a great way of making friends with them.

Not such a successful afternoon but it wasn't for want of trying. Push had come to shove with Henry exhibiting all the signs of a foot abscess necessitating a visit from the vet. I gave her some Sedalin before Beth arrived and Beth very cleverly gave her a good dose of intra-muscular sedative when she arrived, far from an easy job. Neither really made a difference to Henrietta's demeanour so that an intra-venous injection of sedative was out of the question. Without sedation it would be impossible for anyone to test her feet or release the abscess.  We have agreed that we will have to wait for the abscess to resolve itself and to give Henrietta Danilon to take the pain away in the meantime.

1st August, 2016 Squeaky Feet

I'd left it a bit late to find my Forest ponies ready for the farrier today. For the last two days they have been hiding from the heat and the insects in a shade of trees at Longcross but of course today dawned much cooler and fresher and they were nowhere to be seen.

I felt like Phoebe in Friends when she said that squeaky shoes made her think, "Not, not, mine, not, not, mine" as I scanned all the ponies that I could see. Some were the wrong colour and much too short...

... others were the right size but dapple grey instead of blue roan.

Going out on foot Jemima and I found them about a mile away from home...

...caught them and brought them back.

Much easier at the other end of their visit when with neat feet, new reflective collars and hi-vis streamers, they could just be let out of the gate to find their own way back to their friends.