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!
