PENZANCE Equine Solutions

Rain, continued ...

2006-06-11T04:11:00.000-07:00

In between the rains I managed to catch this photo of a butterfly that landed on our White Lilac. I love photos like this! This butterfly just gorged itself on the wonderful nectar of all the blooms for a good 10 mins or more.

The rains, as ugly as they can be, just caused the flowers and trees to flourish! Our Azaleas were gorgeous this year! Even through the raindrops and, most times, the rain SHEETS!, the spring flowers bloomed, the trees blossomed, allergies ran rampant *grin* but all in all it seemed like a beautiful tropical jungle with color all around the farm.

Ahhhhh, the sweet day of getting new toys! 'Papa' John FINALLY got his tractor and couldn't wait to set it to work. More rain yesterday when it arrived but that was no deterrant (until he hit water just a foot below the surface of the ground level!) Our community service young man and John spent considerable time getting used to the new tractor. It certainly will help around this farm! There are plenty of rocks and stumps left to remove; new fencing to go in; the barn needs to be raised up and new footings and floors put down; paddocks to be cleaned and scraped and new ones built ... methinks the inside of the house will never be finished at this rate! *hahahaha*

Now, if the rains would only hold off for a few weeks ...

Rain, rain and more rain!

2006-06-11T03:46:00.000-07:00

Wooo Hoo! This blog is working again! Hurray! Couldn't post for the longest time cause I could never get past the part where they ask for your password! I changed the cookies setting in my puter so I guess that did the trick.

Have MUCH to tell! We've actually accomplished much in spite of the horrific rains we've had!

The photo above shows our newest helper making friends with Rusty. The young man is a community service worker here for awhile and he took right to Rusty and Rusty to him. They've become great pals! Even in spite of all the rain we've gotten. It's been hard work around here with all the mud and water but this young man has proven to be one hard worker. He's a great assest, so far, to PENZANCE! And, Rusty so enjoys his groomings and playtime with his new friend! The two of them do very well together.

The photo to the left is one of our regular working students exercising Winnie ... the little mare who foundered severly and perforated her Coffin Bones right down through her soles. (See www.barefoottrim.com fo r her story under Pathologies.)Well, she's back into work and play finally, in full force! She's can be a lively little gal (the mare but, yeah, the working student, too! *grin*) and has enjoyed her time of learning to be a horse again. For all the dullness when we first met she is really quite an animated mare! I think she may just like her life here at Penzance! She'll never have to wear a bit again and certainly, there will be no spurs or other nasties to make her "behave". We happen to like the horses around here to want to work and play. Would rather have a horse WANT to go out on the trail than one that "needs" to be forced by whip or spur or bits.

And here's our Tamilyn Rose with a saddle all girthed up and ready to ride. First time except for when she was first here and just a weanling. She didn't bat an eyelash ... merely stretched around to both sides, sniffed, then let out a big sigh and dropped her head! Now, hopefully the actual backing will be just as easy! She's just turned 3, though, so the backing won't happen right away. Maybe by the end of this season but she won't be ridden until next fall as she's going on 5 years old. She's a big girl and the temptation is certainly there but she's still got a whole lot of growing to do, yet!

Rather than push my luck on this blogger server I'm going to continue this update in another posting ... so, tune in to the next entry ... :)

AAADD

2006-04-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

Someone just sent this to me and I just had to post it. It is my life in a nutshell lately!
----------------------------------------
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder
Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.
So, I decide to put the bill! s back on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only 1 check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.
I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.
I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
- the car isn't washed
- the bills aren't paid
- there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
- the flowers don't have enough water,
- there is still only 1 check in my check book,
- I can't find the remote,
- I can't find my glasses,
- and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
Do me a favor. Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember who I've sent it to. Don't laugh -- if this isn! 't you yet, your day is coming!!
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FUN!

2006-03-31T07:14:00.000-08:00

Well the following photos are going to show you how much fun teaching little (and big) critters can be! But first, a little recap before Rusty's photos ... remember, when he came in even the tiniest whisper of snowflakes blowing in his face scared the willies out of him. We couldn't go in the stall without him flying to the corner and turning his butt in defense. We couldn't pull our hands out of our pockets at a normal rate of speed/action because he'd fly away in panic. Nor could we approach him as in a normal course of events - we'd have to allow him to approach us with lots of encouragement. Well, that lasted for just a day or two. Remember the story about the chickens bustling on the other side of the fence and how he scampered away in fright? Well, now he guards their eggs and the sitting hen in the corner of his stall with no qualms at all. *grin* He's very careful to NOT step on an egg that has rolled from the nest and now I'm battling chicken poo on the edge of the stall walls cause they LOVE to roost right above Rusty's head! Yuk! Blechhhhhh! G-R-O-S-S!!! (I'd rather scoop pony poop than clean chicken poo anytime!)

Rusty has lots of visitors now ... he is the FIRST to be introduced to new people and other critters. He's gotten VERY curious and quite brave! If we forget to intro him to someone then he loudly lets us know by whinneying very loudly as a reminder that HE comes FIRST!

I also forgot to mention previously that Rusty is getting used to the chain saw, trees falling, 4-wheelers (next door) and more big, gigantic scary stuff!

Today's lesson included a blue tarp, a maraca and a pre-school tricycle without a little human on it. First we started with the tarp ... made it small and let Rusty investigate on his own when I asked him to target it. I then unfolded it and "grew it bigger". I eventually was able to rub the smaller sized (folded) tarp all over his body and he stook quite still in acceptance. He didn't quite like it when it was unfolded, full size and near him, tho, as in the picture of the grey horse with
the tarp drapped over her head. (Note: just a few years ago this mare's nickname was "killer" ... with good reason! Now, look at her. Even endures the most embarrassing pranks!)Then I targeted the maraca with him and then the tricycle. And then, we put the maraca on the open tarp on the ground and asked him to target it. Then added the tricycle! (see the photo at the top of the page). All of this was in a 1/2 hour time span. The last was to ask him to walk by the tricycle to get into his stall for supper. He marched right in, targeting it on the way and never blinked an eyelash! Today I'm going to do some situational teaching with him so he can learn to be brave regardless of the situation and what's around him. This is in contrast to yesterday's work where he focused on 'objects' and not 'situation'. I'll let y'all know how he does!

The photo to the left shows the same exercise being done with my 3 year old PMU filly. (Her "guardian", Dorian is 23 year old OTTB who is a HUGE wuss but was quite brave with all the "stuff" going on yesterday.) BTW ... this "little" filly is just turning 3 and is almost as tall as Dorian who stands 16.3 hh! Methinks I have a little filly giant on my hands! :)

All in all it was a wonderful day. Thank God for the sunshine and warm air! It's about time!
Post note: Wanted to add that the photos you see have the horses and pony unrestrained. This is how I like to work with them. It gives them choices to make ... Also, wanted to point out that they are touching their noses to the objects as I've requested with the cue word, "Rusty, Touch!" or "Tammy, Touch!" So, the horses learn english vocabulary during their lessons as well as physical cues. It is reported that studies have shown Equine can learn up to or more than 200 words! Of course, I think they're even smarter than that and believe the "teachers" ran out of vocab words for them! hahahaha.

2006-03-23T09:03:00.000-08:00

What a gorgeous day today is! The sun is high in the sky and the air is warm. Promises of warmer days to come. Misty and Tammy were enjoying a midday nap until I went out to shoot photos of them! Then they both woke up. It was nice to see the two lying down together. Misty usually, being the "alpha" doesn't allow anyone to get too close to her except Bub, the ole man you see standing "guard". Misty and Tammy are usually bickering and arguing about some deep issues but today, they both agreed - it's a good day for a nap.

Of course, Misty placed herself too close to the barn wall to have a good roll for herself but Tammy didn't think twice. A wonderful smudge in the dirt and up she got to see if I was bearing food gifts along with my camera.

Here the whole gang is just hangin' out.

While Crackers and Cider just kind of wonder what's going on and beg to have THEIR pictures taken, too! Will get Rusty, Amahl and the rest of the gang later ...

2006-03-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we stepped up Rusty's play and training a bit. He has finally come to the point where he's "shy" but not overreactive to strangers and new objects. Thus, Rusty met the pool noodle yesterday! A bright, lime green noodle that is longer than he is (but certainly not as wide!)

I had worked with Tammy for a bit already with Rusty intently watching from his paddock. So he had already seen Tammy accept the noodle and the hula-hoop that makes all sorts of funny noise! There were also new people around yesterday who had, of course, been introduced to Rusty and he accepted all with curious sniffs and just a wee wiggle of the lips on the hands to see how they tasted. No teeth and no indications of using the teeth. He allowed his head to be scruffled and his withers to be scritched by strangers! What a good pony! :) He was curious about the pool noodle at first but his first instinct was to back away. But then I asked him to "touch" and he tentatively came up and, quick as a wink, touched it with his nose then backed up a step! Cutie pie! He got his alfalfa pellet for a reward for being so brave. At the end of maybe 4 or 5 minutes I was scratching his head, his rump, his belly, his legs all over with the noodle while he stood quietly and calmly. The end of this session culminated with me waving the noodle around him wildly and bumping it off his back. What a brave little troll he is! He got a small handful of alfalfa pellets for that and a big hug! Today, we'll introduce the tambourine and umbrella! One at a time. Hopefully, I can get someone to take some photos while we do this today! Then I'll post them here.

Progress

2006-02-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

Well, Rusty is doing fabulously. He's facing me consistently 100% of the time; coming TO me when frightened; lowering his head for scritches and hugs; allows me to pull, tug, poke and pry in his ears, hold his head, rub all over his body, pull his tail, lift his hooves and still follows me everywhere until I tell him it's OK to go eat, play, drink, whatever. He comes right to the front of the stall and backs up just one step or two so I can enter. His ears remain forward and he is quite comfortable with Matilda sitting on her eggs in the corner of his stall! :) Very careful not to step on her or the eggs. He's just been acutely attentive to me and very quick to respond. Does his sidepassing VERY nicely in concordance with *my* feet ... and backs up when I do. He also is yielding his forequarters for me very well. I think he understands "leadership" thoroughly! He's also waiting very patiently for me to give him the "go ahead" to leave his stall and go out to the paddock. He doesn't rush the stall door nor does he run away. He stands, patiently, until I turn aside and say, "OK! You may go out, now." and off he trots to his hay pile. He's also good to wait until I put his feed down. Will wait about 3 feet back from me and stand still until I tell him its Ok to come eat. He's learned ALOT in the past couple of weeks. This week coming we'll pull out some scary things (umbrellas, tambourines, shiny pom-poms, etc. and teach him how to deal with those types of pony-devouring items.

He did prove his athleticism on Wednesday! He is in a paddock with a 4 rail fence that is 6 ft. tall. He knocked the 2nd from the top rail off and JUMPED over the bottom two rails to get out to the larger part of the paddock! Wise little guy, he is ... *LOL* Just for visuals, the highest rail he jumped over is as high as his croup. So, he's got some good abilities for a little munchkin! But, when I called him to come to me from wayyy down back, he trotted right up and then followed me back into his usual area. What a good troll pony he is!

So, that's the update for now. Will post again after we learn how to relax around noisy, shiny, flappy things.

:)

BIG breakthrough today!

2006-02-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

Well, today Rusty had a big breakthrough. First of all, he finally got to go out to "his" paddock at liberty on Saturday. I had been only letting him out while I was there simply because of the other horses; not necessarily because of Rusty. I wanted to be sure that everyone would be used to one another and no one would attempt to go through fencing etc. All was fine. My 2 year old filly and Rusty seem to have hit it off - they spend most of the days staring at each other. I'm sure Rusty is wistfully thinking about what a nice little gal she is not even realizing that he's about as tall as her hock and there's no WAY he would be able to "service" her! *LOL* It was quite obvious that she was very curious about the little troll pony. But, today, Rusty behaved quite wonderfully through a scary situation. Not having seen the rooster and the chickens before, they had gotten behind the fencing of Rusty's paddock and for some reason they were rustled suddenly out of the brush with quite the raucous fluttering. Rusty took off in gallop for about 15 feet then whirled around and trotted right back up to me! Dropped his head (yes! The self-relaxation works even for troll ponies!) then stepped up for his "treat". I gave him a few pellets of Alfalfa and then proceeded to wrap my arms right around his little head. He leaned right into me instead of running away. This is the first time he willing leaned into me! We stayed like that for maybe 45 seconds and then he lifted his head and wanted to play a bit. I am so proud of this little guy. He was so brave and he did exactly what I had hoped he would learn ... look to 'me' for his safety instead of seeing me as a frightening human. Seems like he's settling right in here at Penzance.

New Projects

2006-02-16T05:32:00.000-08:00

Well, once again Penzance will start a new project this spring. Besides the PPL Pony Academy, we'll begin to take in throw-away horses who merely need hoof and health and emotional attention to become special, healthy horses to make little girls and boys' dreams come true. This will serve two purposes: to begin to record, formally, with veterinary verification, remediations of hooves that have foundered, navicular, or otherwise deemed to be "too far gone" for recovery by traditional means and 2. to give the horse a 2nd chance with a loving, caring family for life. We'll be doing this one or two horses at a time as space allows. Our recovery and rehab spaces are still available for horses transitioning from shod to barefoot or those who need special attention that owners may not have the time to give and as of this writing we have a waiting list for training boarders.

Continuing farm improvements include new fencing this spring, more trails and woods clearing and possible barn relocation and reconstruction. The acquisition of a tractor is 1st on our list - (know of any used ones for sale?) and a space for a trailer to store hay is definitely needed. Picking up one ton at a time is getting most tiring as well as expensive considering the time and gas to get 3 or 4 ton a month as we go through it.

Clinics this year will include week-end 2-day Natural Hoofcare or Progressive Partnership clinics with tent camping here on PENZANCE or motel/campground stays in neighboring facilities for clinic students. One day clinics are also on the schedule. The 10 week course for Natural Hoofcare is on hold at this time pending time and energy constraints. Last summer brought in a good number of hoofcare emergencies that needed weekend and evening focus in addition to the regular clientele and trying to juggle everything became exhausting. It *is* good to have at least one day off a week or month. (or even in 2 months!)

We're excited here with the new projects coming up and its nice to be planning them while the snow is on the ground and weather is miserable. We're so looking forward to not having to haul buckets upon buckets of hot water to the tubs that are 400 feet in the woods! or, breaking up the ice with sledge hammers every morning! All this while dressed in 5 layers of clothing just to keep warm. I'm partial to shorts and T-shirts with sneakers for daily attire while working on farm! One *can* dream, right? *grin* I'm still dreaming of moving back to Florida. Soon! Tomorrow? This week? In reality ... retirement isn't that far off and what we do here at Penzance is easily picked up somewhere else. (where its warm!)

Online courses continue with great success. Our "mini courses" begin in March. Those will be fun! Be sure to pass the word on if you know of anyone who might be interested. Check out the schedule on the Penzance page "Online Courses".

Well, hungry critters are lining up at the fenceline waiting for their morning hay toss. Onward and forward ... always.

PENZANCE Equine Solutions: PPL Pony Academy

2006-02-14T04:09:00.000-08:00

Personal Ponies LTD: PPL

PPL Pony Academy

2006-02-14T03:38:00.000-08:00

Well, the PPL Pony Academy has officially begun with the arrival of "Rusty". Rusty is a UK Miniature Pony. A scared little pony standing just around 34" high, he came to PENZANCE to learn how to live life without being aggressively frightened all the time. After all, a "proper" Personal Ponies Ltd. pony can't be running around kicking out at humans and biting the hands that feed him! So, what better way to christen our new Pony Academy than with a frightened little pony who is just aching to be loved and hugged?

He arrived without fanfare; a bit nervous but very subdued. No aggression exhibited and Crackers and Cider met him with soft eyes and squishy nostrils. There's something to be said about little, squishy pony nostrils. Especially with 3 sets of them all smooshed together in greetings! Being only 2 years old and just recently gelded, Rusty is a bit cocky but in that "little boy" way. He met the big horses, too, with nothing more than a curious sniff and wonder. As we ventured down back, the goats and the chickens all appropriately welcomed Rusty with their various voices loud in welcome. A bit intimidated by Flak, the duck, Rusty was not so eager to meet the funny feathered critters or those with the big horns coming out of their heads! So, we continued to his paddock without any insistence on meeting ALL the Penzance farm family.

The lower part of the paddock is sheer ice from rains that froze solid. The dead leaves and pine needles lent a bit of traction for crossing the slippery terrain but Rusty wasn't too sure about it at all. What normally takes maybe 45 seconds to cross took probably 10 mins as we encouraged the little bugger to follow us without donning ice skates. He finally made it! All the while we "helped" him overcome his fear with positive reinforcement using tiny alfalfa pellets for his rewards. Being briefly previously introduced to our progressive reinforcement teachings Rusty understood what our "Good!" bridges meant - and the small treats for his rewards were enough impetus to keep trying. How brave he was. The next hurdle was the stall inside the BIG barn with the BIG horses just outside the gate in the aisleway. Being just about as tall as the TB's knees, Rusty was quite the picture standing just outside the barn's back door while 2 of the biggest horses pressed up on the center barrier to get a sniff of this little troll. But, keeping the energy pathways open for him, one step would reap a "good!" and a pellet. We made it into the stall, one step at a time, where there was a humungous pile of fresh hay waiting for him next to his bucket of cool, fresh water. He immediately sniffed the water and took a sip, took a nibble on the hay, then circled the stall several times before picking JUST the right spot on which to pee and mark his place.

Yesterday morning after the big blizzard, Rusty was calm and cute in his big stall. A full sized horse stall gives a miniature pony, smaller than some dogs, plenty of room in which to play. When I opened the back of the barn, Rusty quite anxiously wanted "out" as he repeatedly reared up so he could see over the stall door. I decided that this was not desirable, impromptu behavior so why not take advantage and teach the cue for the rear? Rusty would rear, I'd point my two fingers upward and tell him, "UP!" then Good! and treat. Took about 4 times of shaping this before he would take his cue ... two fingers up, "Rusty, up!" and up he'd go while I told him "Good!", then he'd bounce back down onto all 4 hooves and get his reward. No more rearing after that unless he was asked! He's a smart pony ... and going to be a wonderful student. We've had one nipping incident at which time I became a VERY big human and chastized him by chasing him away from me. He immediately swung to face me and dropped his head down. "Good!". Treat. He's not offered to spin and kick or otherwise exhibit any fear responses ... we'll see how well it lasts. The behaviors may return when he's a bit more acclimated to Penzance but, on the other hand, if he's taught that his good behaviors reap him his "bridge word" and his "treat" then perhaps this behavior will be long forgotten before it even has a chance to take root here.

Welcome to PENZANCES 2006 Journal

2006-02-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome! I hope to have many positive, thought provoking conversations here with Horse Enthusiasts from all over the world. Please feel free to leave comments, questions or replies to ongoing discussions here!