What An Afternoon!

Today I took the whole afternoon off of work, and Mom and I took Zorro and Onyx to Marj’s barn for a farrier visit and lesson.

Zorro and Onyx both trailered pretty easily, so that was a pleasant surprize. When we got to Marj’s place, I made a HUGE MISTAKE, resulting in a Trailer Incident… We unloaded Onyx easily, and mom went off to tie her up in the barn. Meanwhile I hooked up Zorro’s lead rope, got out the stick and string, and made other preparations for the upcoming farrier visit and lesson. Mom came back and we opened the back of the trailer and asked Zorro to back up and out of the trailer, as usual.

Poor Zorro started backing up like a champ, but unfortunately I had forgotten to unclip his trailer tie, so he was still hooked up to the trailer and couldn’t get out. Instead of realizing he was still restrained and walking forward again, Zorro threw a fit! This is pretty usual for him whenever he feels trapped. In all the commotion, I couldn’t get the trailer tie hook undone, and Zorro ended up breaking it off. He backed out of the trailer, and seemed pretty calm, but he was definitely a little scared and worried. At least he wasn’t injured or panicking!! He settled down after about 10 minutes of me petting him and talking gently to him.

I screwed up big time and I feel really bad about it. I was scared and upset, but I did my best to keep my cool. Horses are very sensitive to others’ emotions, especially the “leader’s” emotions. When a horse sees The Leader panicking, he assumes there might be a wolf or something, because The Leader wouldn’t be upset if there wasn’t something to be upset about, right? So even if the horse doesn’t see any wolves, he will panic because The Leader is panicking. If you (The Leader) remain calm, your horse should also be fairly calm. Hopefully one day Zorro will see that if I’m not panicking then he doesn’t need to panic, even something has gone wrong.

After that little incident, the farrier took a good look at Zorro’s legs and feet. He said there wasn’t anything wrong with Zorro, confirming what the vet had said. I was pretty sure that’s what he’d say, but it’s nice to get a second opinion. He then trimmed Zorro’s hooves, and what do you know? Zorro stood perfectly still for him, even when he picked up The Problem Foot. That little rascal! The farrier gave me some tips for getting Zorro to pick up his feet, and I’m going to start practicing every day. Eventually, we’ll get it down the same way we did with trailering.

Then it was time for a lesson with Marj! We lunged Zorro to make sure his feet weren’t sore from his trimming and to fully gain his attention. (There was a lot going on at the barn that day!) Then we saddled him up, and I got to ride him!!

We started off slow, just sort of plodding around the indoor area, letting Zorro and I get a feel for each other. After several minutes of walking, Marj had me bump him up into his Paso Fino gait. About the speed of a trot, but not bouncy at all! It is such a SMOOTH ride, and very comfortable even for an extended period of time. Zorro has an excellent gait, and is a joy to ride!

I rode him around the indoor arena and outside paddock for about an hour. It was a blast! But alas, I’m very out of shape, and my butt and thighs were starting to hurt, so I decided to call it quits for the day. Zorro is probably a little out of shape too, since I haven’t been riding him regularly. But he never complained! Just kept on going! He’s so sweet. After the ride I let him rest while I brushed him. For maybe the first time EVER, he stood very still for me while I groomed him. Usually he is looking around, shifting his weight, or wandering however far the tied rope will let him. But this time, he was very content to just stand there. He didn’t even care when a nearby filly started throwing a hissy fit!

Then it was time to trailer him (and Onyx) and go home. I was nervous about this, since the Trailor Incident earlier may have been traumatizing for him. But, thankfully, he got right on the trailer without any problems! I’m so proud of him!! Getting him off when we got him home was a little hairy though. He backed off very slowly, and tenitively, but he did back off without us having to get after him. I don’t blame him for being careful; for all he knew, I might have not unhooked him again! Better safe than sorry I guess. However, I have definitely learned my lesson, and I’m going to be more careful in the future.

All in all, it was a GREAT day with Zorro! A clean bill of health, an excellent riding lesson, and good trailering behavior!

Making Progress

I made good progress with Zorro today. We practiced trailering again, and he went right on with the first attempt. We have been doing this now pretty much every day since last week, and he has been consistently going on with the first try. Excellent!! Hopefully he will never again forget how to trailer…

I also worked on gaining his attention, respect, and trust. I lunged him (lightly), stopped him, backed him, and held him still, several times… All without a lead rope or stick!! I did all of this using only my body language and a few voice commands. The only problem is, without a lead rope, he gets confused about which direction I want him to lunge. I’ll have to work on establishing a clear signal for which direction I want, and then practice that while also using the lead rope and stick to direct him.

After I was satisfied with his round pen work, it was time to groom, and pick feet. He has still been VERY adamant against picking up his front right foot, and today was no different. I got him to pick up the other three feet fairly easily, and I rewarded him with lots of praise and letting him rest. When we tried for the Problem Foot, he would lean with ALL his weight against me. I kept pushing him, prodding him, trying to convince him to shift his weight and let me pick up his hoof.

Even though he was cleared by the vet, there is still a possibility of a pain issue. We’re going to have a farrier check him out next week. He is still lunging fine and trotting and galloping on his own, but he REFUSES to lift that front right foot. Could be because it really hurts him for some reason.

We tried quite a few times, and rewarded him as best as we could for any effort. That way, if it’s a behavioral issue, we can work on it as soon as we find out for sure. When we were attempting to lift his foot, he did not react with any signs of anger or pain, he just leaned against us. He didn’t seem mad, hurt, or scared… just didn’t want to lift it up. Which is weird since he picks up his other three feet fairly easily.

Oh well. We made progress today and ended on a good note, and that’s all that matters to me.

Rain Rain Go Away

It has been raining for the past three days, so I have not made the trek out to The Farm. It just doesn’t seem worth it when the mud is so bad that I can’t lunge Zorro, let alone ride him. Grooming is sort of pointless because as soon as he’s out to pasture, he rolls in the mud!

Zorro and Onyx relax in the pasture.

I’m going to go out to see Zorro tomorrow. But, in the meantime, here is a fun picture post!!

My sister Britney loves Zorro too!

This is a cute picture of my little sister Britney with Zorro. She adores anything fuzzy, and Zorro is no exception! Britney and I both love kissing his cute little nose!

Onyx and Zorro hanging out in the paddock.

Here is one of several pictures of Zorro and Onyx together. They really were fast friends. They were sharing the paddock within 24 hours of Zorro’s arrival with no conflict. Onyx bosses Zorro around a lot, but he seems pretty ok with it. They both get buddy sour if they are taken away from each other…

Chuck the cow!

This is Chuck! He is a Holstein steer that my dad is raising him to sell off as beef some day. Poor Chuck shall one day be Chuck Roast! He serves as a bizarre pasture mate to Onyx and Zorro. The horses ignore him for the most part, but Zorro LOVES to chase Chuck around! Have you ever heard of a Paso Fino cow horse!?

Mom riding Onyx.

Here is a picture of mom riding Onyx. She is blind in one eye, and is really spooky because of it. Mom might have to sell her because we don’t think she is safe to ride any more. But, Onyx is a very comfortable ride when she’s not jumping at every twig and rock.

Our trailering rig.

This is our somewhat odd trailering rig. We have a 2000-something Chevy Astro Van pulling our two-horse trailer. The van can definitely handle pulling the trailer with two horses in it, but I’m sure it looks funny.

Zorro's Sire, LF Martillo de Magico

This is a picture of Zorro’s sire. That’s his father, for those of you who are not Horse People. He looks black, but is actually a dark bay. Isn’t he just adorable!? I see where Zorro gets his good looks from!

Zorro's Dam, Mimica Sin Par

This is a picture of Zorro’s dam. Yep, that’s his mom, non-Horse-People. Zorro’s coloring is very similar to hers.

Zorro grazing near the round pen.

And there’s the little guy himself! Eating, as usual. I miss him so much and I can’t wait to go visit him tomorrow! Hopefully I’ll have a good progress report to blog about…

It’s a Behavioral Issue! You’re in Trouble Now, Zorro!

Emily The Vet came today, and she poked and rubbed his legs and lunged Zorro to determine if he had any pain or lameness in his front legs. The verdict is that there is NOTHING wrong with his legs or shoulders. So his behavior is a result of “teenage angst” or something, not pain. I’m relieved, but also annoyed that he’s gotten away with misbehaving. Emily suggested that the next time he sees a farrier to make sure the farrier gets a GOOD look at his feet. We were able to pick his hooves today with very little drama, so I think with more practice he will get better.

Zorro (and Onyx) are due for hoof trimming in late October or early November, so Mom and I will probably ask Loren The Farrier to stop by after one of his monthly visits to Wellgreen Farm.

Also, Emily says that Zorro’s “mole” near is eye is probably just a scar from a previous injury. He has all kinds of nicks and bumps from rubbing and playing around, so I’m not surprised! I’ll keep an eye on it to make absolutely sure it’s not getting bigger or anything.

Now that we knew Zorro wasn’t in pain, it was time to practice trailering some more. I just can’t figure out why he would suddenly be so difficult to trailer after he had been making such awesome progress with it. We had him down to stepping into the trailer on the first or second try! Yesterday we spent THREE HOURS trying to get him on with absolutely no luck.

Today, the ground was a lot drier so I wasn’t afraid to lunge him when he misbehaved. I decided not to feed him until after working on trailering, so I was free to use plenty of grain to entice him onto the trailer. We spent about an hour leading him up to the trailer, pulling firmly on his lead rope to encourage him to step forward into the trailer, only to have him rear, and then lunging him as punishment, then leading him to the trailer again. I think we did about 4 or 5 rounds of this. He did not even care that his dinner was sitting there waiting for him in the trailer! Then, suddenly, it was like a lightbulb went on. It was like he realized, “OH! You guys want me to actually go INTO the trailer? Why didn’t you just say so?” And with that, Zorro just waltzed on in and started happily munching on his oats, as if he’s trailered a million times before. I have no idea what finally flipped his switch, or what turned him off in the first place, but thank god we triumphed and got him on the trailer.

Since I don’t want him to EVER AGAIN forget how to load in the trailer, I decided to repeat this exercise. First I let him eat and relax and bask in praise while standing in the trailer for about five or ten minutes. Then, I jiggled his lead rope and told him to back up. I ended up having to jerk him around a little, since he still struggles with the backing command. I got him to back off the trailer, praised him a bunch, and we dilly-dallied around the paddock for a while. After about 5 minutes of chillin’ in the paddock, I led him to the trailer again. Once I tugged on his lead rope breezed right into the trailer! Easy peasy! So of course he received more grain and praises. Then we repeated this for a total of 4 successful trailer loads, with each one being easier than the previous. However, I’m not fooled into thinking he’s a little trailer-loading machine; I’m going to continue to practice this with him. Maybe even every day I go out to The Farm!

At that point, it was getting late, and Zorro had worked enough with all the lunging he did today. So it was time for grooming… and the rest of his dinner. Since he was eating while I was brushing him, it was a little chaotic, but we got it done. Then it was time for Dreaded Hoof Picking. I waited for him to finish eating, then tied him up in his stall. I started off with the non-drama-causing left front foot instead of the fit-causing right front hoof. He remained calm and still for the front left foot! And then both hind feet! And then… his right front leg grew roots or something and I could not get him to lift it for me. Here we go again! I wasn’t afraid to bully him a bit since his legs were NOT in pain after all. I got him to lift the foot a couple of times, but he squirmed and stomped and I couldn’t pick it properly. I did the other three feet again just to make sure he hadn’t simply checked out for the day. Nope, he lifted his three other feet just fine. So I wrestled up his Problem Foot two more times before giving up. Since hoof picking is a very important part of horse care, I’ll have to figure out a good way to convince him to lift up his Problem Front Right Foot.

Especially before the farrier comes! It’s embarrassing to present a farrier with a Problem Footed horse!

Our First Lesson

Today I had a lesson scheduled with Marj to learn how to gain trust and respect from Zorro, as well as some basic ground work. I wasn’t nervous about the lesson, but I was nervous about how we would get Zorro there. It took us TWO hours to load him the first time we did it, and that was WITH Marj’s help. This time, we would be on our own…

So, Britney, Daniel, Mom, Dad, Mike, and I all gathered around the trailer. First we put Onyx in, which took about 30 seconds. Hard to believe it used to take 45 minutes to get her on! Then I got Zorro and led him over to the trailer. He walked right up to it and even stuck his head in without hesitation. But he refused to go any further!

We lunged him, pulled on him, pushed on him, lifted his front legs, everything. He still would not budge. Sometimes he would through a fit and back away from the trailer, yanking as hard as he could. I got a few scrapes and bruises trying to pull back! We didn’t want to let him “win” by misbehaving, but at the same time we were nervous that he would hurt himself or one of us.

After about 40 minutes of this, we left a rather desperate and frustrated voice mail on Marj’s cell phone. We decided to give it ONE last try. We lifted his front feet onto the trailer and Mike, Mom, and Dad lifted and pushed his butt towards the trailer. Then he finally stumbled in to the trailer! We showered him with praise, pettings, and even gave him some grain.

When we finally got to the lesson, Zorro unloaded rather easily and was eager to explore the new surroundings. Marj has maybe two dozen horses, including several Paso Finos! Zorro was very interested in meeting everyone; but alas, we had work to do.

I learned the basics of lunging. How to tell the horse to go and how to tell him to stop. Basically, you point in the direction you want him to run, and if he doesn’t go, you wave a stick-and-string at him. If he still hasn’t gone after three seconds of waving, you whack him on the neck with the stick-and-string.

Regarding whacking: It’s tough to do to a horse you love, but it’s not cruel. It’s sort of the equivalent of horses biting and kicking each other to establish dominance. A little pain is necessary for you to gain respect. As long as you only whack when he’s naughty and you reward him when he’s good, you’re not being cruel. You’re just establishing who’s boss. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hit Zorro… I don’t want to hurt him, but I also don’t want him to treat me like a doormat. It’s better for everyone if he respects me and obeys me.

So the first time I tried lunging Zorro at the lesson, he wouldn’t move so I whacked him. He was very quick to get going after that! I didn’t have to whack Zorro again for the rest of the lesson. That one whack made him realize I wasn’t going to let him get away with being naughty. I lunged him several times, in both directions, with relative ease! I fumbled with the lead rope and stick-and-string several times, which often resulted in me accidentally asking him to stop. With practice, I’ll get better at it.

Mom had quite a bit of trouble with Onyx during her lesson. I was practicing with Zorro at the time, so I didn’t see much. But I did see a lot of whip swinging and dust flying. Eventually Richard took the reins (there were no literal reins, this is just a horse pun) and REALLY worked on Onyx. He was quite rough with her, but by the end of it, Onyx was as docile as a kitten. Wow!

After the lesson, Marj helped me give Zorro a bath. We washed his really icky mane with coconut shampoo! He looks soooo much better! Plus we worked on his hose-tolerance skills and patience with standing tied. After initial resistance, he was pretty well behaved during the process.

After the bath, I decided to ask Marj for advice on how to get him to pick up his feet. In the past, it’s been a battle for every foot just to get him to lift it long enough for me to pretend to pick his hoof. It was taking me a good twenty minutes! And I wasn’t even ACTUALLY picking his hooves! But, when I went to demonstrate to Marj, Zorro picked his foot RIGHT UP. The first time I asked!! This is very exciting progress! But I did feel a little silly in front of Marj…

Then it was time to load Onyx and Zorro to take them home. Again, Onyx practically floated onto the trailer. But Zorro was another story. It took a lot of pushing, pulling, and some manhandling from Richard, we got Zorro on the trailer after about half an hour. The best part is that he eventually stepped in on his own volition! We finally convinced him that the trailer is a happy place! This is a good sign; he will be easier and easier to trailer each time.

All in all, Zorro and I had a great day and we made a lot of progress!!

I’ve Got A Challenge On My Hands

Zorro has eaten up so much of my time! It’s a 30 minute drive out to my parents’ farm, so just driving to see him takes away an hour from my day, even before I spend any time with him. Plus I’ve been spending time shopping for tack and other accessories, trying to arrange lessons, etc. I love him so much so I really enjoy actually being with Zorro, but the extraneous time-suckers are a little frustrating.

On Sunday, I tried giving Zorro a bath because he has a lot of grimy build up on his mane and neck especially. In order to get him within reach of a hose, I took him behind the barn, which was out Onyx’s sight. She freaked out!! She started galloping around the paddock, whinnying and neighing and stomping and making a huge scene. This made Zorro REALLY anxious, so he started pacing and stomping, trying to go find
Onyx. Since I had him on a lead rope and I’m trying to train him to have better manners, I tried to hold him still. At some point I decided it wasn’t worth it to fight with him, so I got Onyx and tied her up nearby. Everyone then calmed down right away. Hmm, sounds like we are a little buddy sour…

I ended up just rinsing his chest and front legs because he was really scared of the hose. To familiarize and desensitize him, I let him sniff the hose and running water, which led him start drinking from the hose. So cute! But we’ll have to work on getting him used to bathing.

Last night it took 6 people 2 hours to get Zorro into the trailer. (The six people were me, mom, dad, Mike, Daniel, and Marj.) There was a lot of lunging, pulling, foot-planting, and rearing. It was extremely frustrating, but I didn’t want to give up because that would let Zorro win and just make it harder to trailer-train him. I’m really glad we stuck with it, and we did eventually get him on the trailer!

A certified horse trainer was there, which is good. She is Marj of Wellgreen Farm, my parents’ neighbor, and she raises Paso Fino horses so I trust her with Zorro. She says he is a good-looking horse, with a lot of stamina and intelligence. Yay! Too bad that means he’s a brat who tries to outsmart us and resists what we try to do to him. With work, he should be good in the show ring some day…

A New Mom

Oh my God! With Zorro I feel like I have a new baby! I mean, yes he is my baby, but I feel like I have a human infant! Constantly worrying about him, wondering what he’s up to when I’m not around, and cooing all over him like a new mom.

My adorable Baby Zo!

I have like 100 stupid cutesy-wootsy nicknames for him, including but not limited to: ZoZo, Zoie, Bubba, Baby Zo, and Little Z. Not only do I go over to my parents’ farm to visit him every day for 1-3 hours, but I call my mom 3 times a day to ask how he is doing. This isn’t completely unreasonable as he has been a little colicky…

Colic is the leading cause of premature death for horses, and about 10% of horses who get it die from it. I don’t think Zorro has full-fledged colic, but he definitely has some symptoms: occasional (but not excessive) lying down, biting and kicking his belly, bad diarrhea… Even if he has colic, it’s very mild and will probably go away on its own, if we care for him correctly. I know the cause is his change in environment and diet. Stress contributes to it too probably. Last night I was literally sobbing with worry, but it sounds like he is doing MUCH better today. I am going over there to check on him after work.

He acts like a toddler too! If he doesn’t get his way, he’ll paw at the ground or push his head into me or pull back on his lead rope. Typical 3-year-old testing his boundaries! He needs to learn some manners and I need to learn how to make him behave. With lessons and practice, we will both get better.

Part of the reason he looks young is because he has a baby face. So cute!! Paso Finos have small heads with big eyes, so he’ll probably still have a baby face even when he is fully grown (not until age 7). He is also only 14ish hands, and he’ll be 15+ hands when he is fully grown. As a Paso Fino, his feet are also tiny and delicate-looking.

Zorro has seriously had a huge impact on my life in only 4 days! I’m constantly worrying about him, always looking forward to the next time I’ll see him, and every moment being so excited to have him in my life! I’ve always wanted a horse, yet I never knew how truly happy having one would make me.

Zorro exploring his new paddock

Zorro Arrives!!

Zorro steps off the trailer and onto The Farm!

Zorro arrived last night at about 7:00pm. The seller, Linda, arrived with her friend Shelley. Zorro was in Linda’s HUGE trailer with a “babysitter” mare named Tootsie.

We are both a little awestruck.

We unloaded Zorro and Tootsie, lead Zorro around a little, and let him take in his new surroundings. I was a grinning fool the entire time.

Look how pretty he is!

Linda was kind enough to saddle up Zorro for me (with her tack, I don’t have any yet) and we went on a quick ride around the 13 acres of The Farm. Riding him again made me fall in love ALL over again, and I was definitely on Cloud 9!

Our second ride together!

Linda and Shelley stayed over for the night, and we shared lots of stories about horses, trail riding, and life. I know I am just a silly girl with crazy horse dreams compared to these women, who have years of experience and success with owning, training, and showing horses. Some day I will be at their level…

This morning, Linda saddled both up both Zorro AND Onyx, and Mom and I had our first ride together around the paddock! Can’t wait to hit the trails!!

Off we go!

I think we are going to be very happy together!

Taking the Plunge

I’ve had absolutely NO luck with horse shopping. Mom and I have ridden several potential horses, but nothing has even almost been the right pick for us. I was worried I’d fall in love with every horse I saw, but the truth is only one horse won my heart…

On Friday night, my mom bought a horse at an auction. Onyx, a 12 year old Tennessee Walker mare. I’m going over to The Farm tonight to meet mom’s new horse. I was a little put-off because, suddenly, she has a horse and I am on my own to get one for myself. I guess she was probably frustrated that I was being so picky, so she took matters into her own hands.

Remember that horse who stole my heart? Last night, I bought Zorro!!! It was a bit of an impulse decision, but I have really been thinking about him for a whole month now. I haven’t been able to find any horse that even came close to impressing me, and I’m sick of shopping! Even if he turns out to be a bad fit for me, he is a valuable horse, and gaited horses are in fairly high demand.

Linda (the seller) is delivering him 200+ miles to The Farm! That is super nice since Mom and I don’t really have experience trailering and hauling horses. I get him on Friday, Sept 4th. I CAN’T WAIT!! I’m partially thinking, “OMG what did I just do!?” but also “OMG ZORRO IS MINE!! YAY!!!!”

Now that I’m actually getting a horse, I’m going to start saving as much money as I can for horse stuff. Here is a list of stuff that needs to be paid for:

• $100 a month for boarding him at my parents’ farm (includes feed)
• $500+ a year for vet/farrier bills (varies if there are injuries or illness)
• $100 a year for deworming medicine
• $25-50 per riding lesson for me (probably once or twice a week)
• $80 for riding boots (already bought, lol)
• $40 for a good riding helmet (safety first!)
• $25 for a few pairs of jeans from goodwill that I can muck up
• $300-1000 for STARTER saddle and bridle
• $25 for halter and lead rope
• $50 for grooming supplies

And that’s just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head. I was
very well aware of all of these costs before I ever started shopping for
the actual horse. I’ve decided that since I make pretty good money, I’m
not planning on having kids, and I need to spend my money on SOMETHING,
it might as well be a horse. I’ve wanted once since I was 5 years old. I
don’t want to wait until retirement like my mom to enjoy this. So, I
regret nothing!

Can’t wait to see Zorro again!!

Meeting Zorro

Mom and I looked at two horses the other day while we were in Michigan. We found a farm that had a few dozen Paso Fino horses, several of which were for sale. After we test drove a few broodmares (nice horses, but not right for us), we met Zorro and his half-sister Addy. They are both sweet horses; calm and well-behaved too. Zorro especially was affectionate to me. He insisted on standing RIGHT next to me and he often nuzzled me and rubbed his face on my arm. Such a sweetheart!!

Time to test drive Zorro

The seller, Linda (wearing red in the above pic), took mom and I on a trail ride to test drive Addy and Zorro. Mom rode Addy and I rode Zorro. I got him to go into his Special Paso Fino Gait, even though I had NEVER done that on any horse before!! The fact that he was so willing is a great sign. My mom really liked Addy, but I didn’t ride her, so I don’t really know what kind of ride she is.

Isn't he cute!?

So why haven’t we bought these two sweetie-pies? Well, first of all they are $4000 each, but I’m sure we can talk that down to $3000-$3500 each if we buy both and pay cash. Second, they are only 3 years old! This means they have only been ridden the last 6 months or so, and they still need a lot of
training. I don’t know if Mom and I are cut out for the job, especially
because we are newbies.