I finally got a new "old" horse trailer!!

Ugh this picture is awful.  It was so bright outside and all we had was a cell phone, but hey we're on our new trailer!

My husband and I have been looking for a new horse trailer for a long time because the one we have is too small for Chrome and has a few other features I just don't like (heavy ramp!).  My dad finally found one for us that a friend of his was selling and he gave us a good deal on it (it's nice to have such a well liked dad!).  It's definitely a fixer-upper, but that's fine because our truck broke down and hubby is having to replace the engine in it.  We also will have to get a gooseneck attachment.  For now it will just sit in the pasture so we can practice loading.

The previous owners used it for horses for a long time, but then they got rid of their horses and used it for cattle.  When they got a new trailer this one sat for a while (that's why it is rusted) before they finally decided to sell it.  It needs cleaned, sanded and repainted.  It has really good mats in it, but they need cleaned as well.  I want to pull them out and check the floor really well again even though it has already been checked (I'm really paranoid about floors).  A window needs replaced, but the tires are in really good condition, the lights and gooseneck work perfectly and the frame is still in great condition.  Most of it's problems are just cosmetic (everything rusts here in our humid climate....sigh).

The first thing I did after crawling all around in it was tie Chrome to it and brush him off.  Please forgive his filthy appearance.  He's been playing in the pond lately and the neem oil I use for his sweet itch makes everything stick to him.  He was curious about it and gave it the stink eye a couple of times, but you can see how relaxed he was.  I was so excited to see if he would load I forgot to get a picture of the tack room for you, but it has a tack room with bridle hooks and six saddle racks.  The gooseneck can be used for a mattress for camping or for hay storage.  There is an escape door in the front stall on the side and the back gate has a smaller gate for access to the rear stall.  The divider is missing, but I can get a new one.  I'll get better pictures when I can.

 After brushing I had him pose in front of it.

It looks so huge to me!!  I've never had anything other than the two horse straight load bumper pull that I don't like and I've had for over fifteen years lol.  I've also never had a gooseneck before, but I'm excited about it.  You can see the tack room door and the front stall escape door here.

 Chrome was relaxed (see his cocked hind leg?) while sniffing the thick rubber mats.

I'm going to feed him on it every day, so I put his bucket in the trailer.  He walked right on and started eating with no hesitation.  I was armed with sugar cubes and my clicker and didn't even need it!!  This is the first time in his entire life he's ever been on a step up trailer too.  I think he much prefers it over the ramp on our other trailer.

I made him leave his food to unload and reload several times, then I tried self loading him for the first time.  See the video below.

Direct Link for Video

I was SO proud of him!!  He walked right on with no hesitation.  I think he likes this trailer so much better.  The other one is too dark and closed in.  I love that the inside of this one is white.  It will help reflect heat as well.  The windows will let lots of air flow in too.  He will just have to wear his fly mask to protect his eyes.  Stock type horse trailers are very popular where I live because it gets extremely hot here.  If I could afford a closed in Sundowner with air conditioning I would totally do that, but this will work just fine for our short trips.

I'll keep you up to date on repairs and repainting and I'll definitely let you know when I haul him for the first time on it!  It might be a while though because we are still working on the truck.  I have to go now.  I miss you guys!!

Blog Hop: Hauling

Alanna from Pony Express asked us what truck/trailer we have and what we would like to have.  I've been trying to get out and get pictures of my truck and trailer, but I've been way too busy or the weather has been bad.  So I dug through my blog and found a couple of pictures.

Okay my trailer is an OLD two horse Thoroughbred trailer.  It is seven and a half feet tall (I think) and narrow with no divider (taken out before I bought it).  It is steel and heavy.  It was red and rusted when we bought it so we painted it gray and maroon.  The door on the front as you can see in the above picture doesn't even stay closed so a bungee cord holds it closed.  The plexi glass windows were broken out when we bought it.  We never replaced it because it gets sooooo hot here that air flow is more important I think.  The back is a ramp which is HEAVY and I hate it lol.  There are two upper doors that can be open, closed or removed.  I keep them on because Chrome doesn't know how to tie and I don't want him trying to jump over the ramp (he likes to ride backwards).

This is the only inside picture I can find.  I'll try to get new ones sometime.  It has a steel roof, wood walls (steel on the outside) and a wood floor that we replaced with rubber mats on it.  This picture doesn't show the ramp, but it's tall, wide and heavy.  No horse I've ever loaded on this trailer likes to walk on that ramp, although Chrome is used to it now.  I never want another ramp trailer!  As you can see in the above picture that's when I brought Chrome home as a five month old colt.... it's so narrow! Imagine a full grown horse fitting on there...  One that doesn't tie in a trailer and tries to spin circles the whole time you're driving... yeah not safe.  That's why I don't haul him unless it's necessary.  We are planning to build a storage unit in the trailer on one side so that it will act as a divider or second horse and keep Chrome on his own side.  Then I'll feel comfortable teaching him to tie in it.  Right now he can turn at an angle and if I tie it long enough that he can't sit against it, then he can get his head hung, but if I tie it short enough he can't get his head hung he can set back on the rope!!  I don't have pictures of the front, but you can sort of see behind him that there is a chest bar and there are bars between where two horses are supposed to have their heads so they can't get each other.  So if he's tied short enough he can't get his head twisted around.  He will hate it but he has to learn to haul like a grown up someday.  Sorry for the crappy pictures.

Anyway, I won't even go into our truck because I don't have pictures, but it's an older model Chevy diesel with dual tires.  It's a nice truck, but I do want to add a gooseneck and fix the air conditioning.  It's also a standard, which I can't drive so that sucks.... we have an automatic that I can drive, but it's not as powerful so I can't haul far with it.  I really need to learn to drive a standard.

The type of trailer that I would like is this...

This type of trailer is great for my area because of the air flow, but it's safer compared to a regular stock trailer because the sides down low are solid (a TON of people haul horses in cattle stock trailers around here.... scary).  The problem will probably be finding one tall enough.  I haven't decided if I want one of the slant load kind they make or just the standard stock on the inside.  The reason I want this kind is because the doors on the inside can be taken out so the horse can have the whole inside if they aren't used to being tied up (Chrome and donkey both don't tie in a trailer).  The standard stock type has a door across the middle so you could have one loose up front and one in the back.  That would be great for hauling Chrome and Zep together (right now I can only haul one at a time).  People tie in stock trailers all the time so once I've trained him to tie in one he could be tied no problem.

I've thought about it a lot and I just keep coming back to these.  Another reason I love stock trailers is because the guts can be removed and you can use it to haul anything from goats to furniture to lumber.  They are very versatile!

Well that's all I have I guess.  Thanks for the blog hop Alanna!

P.S.  I don't see a place to get the code for the link, but you can click here to see the post she made and to see who else has joined the blog hop.

P.P.S.  Some of you may be wondering why we bought the trailer we have in the first place... my dad actually traded something for it back in the 90s when I was a kid.... yeah we've had it that long!!!  We were very poor at the time and I was lucky to have a horse at all so I was happy with the trailer.  I also had a 14hh pony so it wasn't that bad of a trailer for her (and she knew how to tie lol).  Now I just feel like we've grown to the point where I need something more appropriate for Chrome.  :)

Some Questions Answered

Wow not a single comment on my previous post?  I must have been gone so long that everyone forgot about me!!  Anyway I had a couple of questions asked on the post before that I want to answer.  If you have any others just let me know.

Appy asked about how Zep did with the trip since he's still half wild.  He actually did really well!  We had him trapped in the round pen and backed the trailer up to it so we could make a shoot out of the panels.  He was nervous getting on the trailer because the truck was running and he could feel the vibration in the floor.  He climbed the ramp like he thought it was going to fall right out from under him.  Once he was on he was great though.  We pet him over the trailer door and fed him treats.  When we got to our new home we put them all in a small round pen for the first night since we hadn't shown them the fences yet and he walked right up to me for treats.  :) 

Faran did really awesome on the trailer!  He loaded right on then we realized we were using his rope halter so we took it off to put his regular one back on.  Then the silly horse turned around in the trailer!!!  He almost fell down because it's such a tight squeeze, but other than a small scrape above his eye he was fine.  We unloaded him, turned him around and he walked right back on.  He was fine once we had him tied up lol!!!

Chrome on the other hand did NOT want to load on the trailer.  He knew something was going on.  We were sort of on a tight schedule because I had to go back to work and I was nervous so I'm sure he picked up on that.  I almost got him on using the clicker, but finally had to give up and use a butt rope on him because we just ran out of time.  :(  I'm disappointed because he'd been doing so well with loading.... it's my fault though because I haven't worked on it in a while.  I will remedy that asap.  He rode fine although he was spinning circles in the trailer and he did sweat some.  Just something we have to work on.  They all made it free of injuries except for that tiny scrape on Faran, so I'm happy. 

Chrome was acting weird on his left hind leg before he ever got on the trailer.  He was acting like he pulled a muscle in his stifle again.  He was much better by that evening and the next day as you saw by the bucking pictures, so I'm just watching him closely.  He will need to start doing some work to strengthen his stifles soon on hills or with cavaletti.

Mango Momma asked if we would be seeing goats again soon..... I hope so!!  I miss Jasmine so much and have even entertained thoughts of trying to get her back, but I don't know if I can.... if I can't we will probably end up with a few just to help keep the brush eaten back because there are areas in the pasture that get covered up in briars and honeysuckle.  We shall see what happens in time.  :)

Check back tomorrow and I'll have more cute pictures. 

Chrome's First Trailer Freak Out - Video

First I'll mention that everyone is okay! And second . . . I got it on video haha.

I decided to work on Chrome's trailer loading since it's such a nice day and I get off work in the afternoon on the weekends. I wanted to get a video so I could show you all what his comfort level is on the trailer since I was asking earlier in the week about this.

So here is a video of us working on loading . . .

Edited to add: I forgot to mention in the beginning of this first video I was spraying iodine on his incisions from his gelding/castration. I included it just to show how awesome he is with being medicated. Everyone I talked to about him (including the vet) was like no don't use the hose, don't medicate, don't pick hay out of the incisions because you'll most likely get kicked . . . I was like, uh, okay. In the video you'll see why I was skeptical LOL. He was totally unconcerned. As I stand back up something by the road startled him. That's like the biggest spook I've seen in a year from him lol. ;D


We worked on more than this video shows, but my batteries died. After I changed the batteries I set the camera back up and got this . . .


Sorry there is no sound. I messed up something in the video editor and didn't feel like going back to fix it after going through all of the effort of uploading it. Here is what happened. This is an older trailer and I had noticed before that one of the old tie rings was broken, but I didn't think much of it because he couldn't cut himself on it where it was placed. Now I'm wishing I'd gotten it cut off lol.

Somehow when I gathered the rope in my hand I must have made a knot in it. Once he was in I dropped the rope because I always just let it feed back out when I ask him to back out of the trailer. I've never had a problem with it before. In the video the knot managed to get hung in the old tie ring when he started to back out (how does this bizarre crap happen??). When he felt the tension in the rope he panicked (we haven't worked on tying in the trailer yet - and no I won't be tying him in a rope halter). I couldn't get the rope loose with his weight on it because I had to pull it toward me to get the knot out of the ring. We finally managed to get him to step forward enough to get the halter off and I eventually managed to get the rope loose while he grazed nearby.

I'll be getting that ring removed ASAP! I didn't want to end the session on a bad note so I worked with him some more. Unfortunately I totally forgot to turn the camera back on. At first I had to click him for every step into the trailer, but within five minutes he was walking on again. I practiced putting very light pressure on his halter until he stepped forward then I would release the pressure and click/treat. I quickly got him stepping forward off the pressure. I've always let him walk on by himself so that was the first time he'd ever felt resistance on the trailer. :( Oh well, no harm done and hopefully since he wasn't hurt this just reinforces his trust in me although I'm sure it didn't help his comfort level on the trailer. Everyone please use this as a reminder to check your trailer carefully for anything your horse can hurt himself on.

I'm hoping this was just us getting all of the bad out of the way right off the bat lol. It shook me up pretty bad, but I'm going to keep working on trailer loading with him (once I have the ring removed), but I'll be more careful with the rope from now on. So, what do you think? He did pretty good considering the circumstances right? And notice at the end how he turned around? He does that in the trailer while it's moving! That's why I have to start tying him, although I'm definitely not looking forward to it now haha!!

Edited to add a video I took a few hours after the above incident . . .


Such a good boy! How many horses totally panic like than and then walk right back on a couple of hours later? I'm so proud of him.

Chrome Update - A Question About Trailers & Hauling

First an update on Chrome's gelding/castration. He still feels fantastic and the best news is that today was the first day that he had no swelling and no filling in his sheath. Yay!! The bad news is that while his right incision looks great, his left is still pretty open and I can see puss forming in it. It's not draining, but I can definitely see it so I guess there is some infection going on. The frustrating part is that the vet wasn't in today so I have to wait until tomorrow to call him and I can't give antibiotics for seven days because we will be out of town for a couple of days and my only friend I trust to give them has a broken arm . . . so I'm going to see if the vet will let us do another shot of penicillin. I wish I could just reschedule my plans, but work won't let me switch vacation days once they're made. So frustrating and stressful!! I'm just happy that he's still acting like he feels good and it's not swollen anymore. I'll just talk to the vet tomorrow and see what I need to do.

My other question is in regards to hauling. Chrome loads well at home, but he gets very stressed during the trailer ride. He almost always is sweating no matter how cold it is when we get to our destination. I don't want him that stressed about hauling. He also is very difficult to reload when we're not at home. I can't leave the back doors open because right now I'm hauling loose (he's never been tied in a trailer) and he acts like he wants to jump out. It's an enclosed two horse bumper pull, but it does have narrow windows running the length of it that used to have plexi glass and are now open because it broke, which is why I think he likes to turn around (no divider) because he can see. The front where the head goes is completely enclosed except for a couple of ventilation holes. That has to be scary for a horse. I do plan to eventually teach him to tie in a trailer using one of those slider tie rings so that if he ever fell or totally panicked the rope would pull through and not hang him up. So any suggestions on getting him more comfortable in the trailer??

I also would like to buy a head bumber for him in case he ever reared or hit his head (he loads and unloads calmly, but I don't know what he does on the trailer when it's moving - wish I had a camera lol), but I've never bought one before. I've held off a while because I though they were expensive, but I finally looked and some are as cheap at $10, however I know with a lot of things you get what you pay for. So any experience with cheap versus expensive? Any dos or don'ts? Brands? Any advice at all I'm very appreciative of. :)

Chrome's Walk + Clicker Training

Picture taken August 2011

On tonight’s walk we had so much fun. I decided to walk back and forth in front of the house because I didn’t want to miss my husband leaving for class. I took Chrome's target so we could work on trotting since that's really good for the incision. When I went into the house to get his treats and target I was looking for the clicker and he actually followed me into the house with his flanks about even with the doorway lol. Luckily his hooves didn’t mess up the floor.

So we worked on walking, trotting, halts and lowering his head. He did great. He was getting excited and being kind of bratty, but I don’t care because it means he feels good and he wasn’t being ugly or dangerous. He was really into the trotting because he was following the target. The only problem I had with that is that he was getting a little ahead of me about thirty percent of the time and he was biting at the target about ninety percent of the time. Dude has some jaws on him lol.

With the halts I was swinging the target to his chest to get a quick halt and he did well, except for biting at it (which was cute because of the curled neck) and he was lifting one or other of his front legs. Too cute. Maybe it won’t be hard to teach him to do the Spanish Walk and rear (way, way in the future) by targeting his knees to the target. :D

With the head lowering he offers it on his own at the walk and at the trot I hold the target low so that he reaches down. Toward the end of the walk I had the target under my arm and he wasn’t offering to lower his head like he usually does so I reached up and squeezed his crest (top of his neck) and he lowered it!! He did it several times so I know it wasn’t a fluke.

When we were done I led him back to the house and put up his target and treats. Then I led him toward the pasture. This is the most exciting part, he actually pulled me over to the horse trailer!! We have to pass it on our way to the pasture. He hung his head over the ramp like he wanted to load so I lowered it. He immediately walked halfway on with no hesitation and looked at me like he was waiting for his treat. Stupid me had already put them in the house but I praised him vocally. Then he started playing with the bedding in the floor of the trailer. I finally asked him to back off and let him graze a little. I was so excited! He obviously does not associate the trailer with going to the vet and being in pain. Thank goodness!! :D

Disappointed

I had plans to take Chrome to his first horse show, just to walk around and experience the sights and sounds of a boarding barn, but we didn't get to go. We made the necessary repairs to the trailer yesterday and got up early this morning to take him. He loaded perfectly onto the trailer (I was so PROUD) and stood still while my husband raised the ramp and secured it. I fed him treats while my husband went to get the doors that we forgot to put back on the top. I don't have a halter that's safe for tying so I normally haul Chrome loose and he's acted like he wants to jump out so we always haul with the top doors closed. I'm going to get a safe halter (can't tie in a rope halter) and one of those quick release bungee ties so we can start teaching him to haul tied. I'm just worried because it doesn't have a center divider so he can easily set back against it and panic. If there was a center divider his butt would hit the back of the trailer and he wouldn't be able to sit back against the halter . . . we will just have to see.

Anyway as soon as the doors went up and closed Chrome turned around to see what was going on (yes he still fits to turn around in a two horse straight load). He turned back around because I was at the front of the trailer with the door open. Then he proceeded to poop in the trailer, which he's never done before. He pooped three more times before we left the driveway. As we were driving we could feel him turn around two more times which made me really nervous. What if he tripped and fell? We remembered that we forgot to check the air pressure in the tires so we stopped at a gas station when we got to town. When I went to check on Chrome he was drenched in sweat. I'm talking about it looked like someone had poured a bucket of water over him. It was early in the morning, but already very, very muggy. So I decided to take him home. I figured it was a decent hauling experience, he didn't get hurt, who cares if we didn't get to go to the show. I was glad later that we didn't get to go when I found out the high for today was 103F with a heat index of 115F because of the humidity. Good grief!!!!

So we took him home and I unloaded him. There was not a dry spot on the floor of the trailer. I can't believe how much he sweated and pooped. Poor guy. As soon as it cools off, since we have a truck with an automatic transmission, I'm going to learn to pull the trailer and start taking him on short trips to get him used to hauling so he isn't so nervous. I hosed him off twice and let him graze a bit. I was happy that he even let me run water over his muzzle and cheeks. I didn't get his eyes or ears because I don't want to teach him to pull his head back. I'm disappointed that we didn't get to go, but so proud of how well my boy did. I think the difference, aside from the insane heat, is that Faran was neighing at him and that got him excited. Normally there isn't anyone neighing so he's cool going for a ride. I hope he calms down again. He'd also been playing with Faran and Zep all morning while we prepped so he was already a little hot.

I worked with him tonight on yielding his forequarters and he did great!! The first couple of times he still moved his rear legs, so it was more of a sidepass, but I was clicking before a rear hoof actually moved so by the end of the session he was stepping over with just his front hoof. We've only got one step so far, but he does it off of such light pressure! I barely use any pressure at all. I'll slowly fade out the right hand until he's moving his shoulders with just my left hand on his ribs, then I'll ask for more steps. When he's doing that in a full circle I'm going to teach him to move his haunches over with pressure where my heel would be instead of on his hip. When he's doing both really well separately (on both sides) I'll press both places at once for a sidepass. Then when he's under saddle he'll already know the cues from knee or heel pressure, or both. :D It's going to be a long process, but totally worth it. I love how maneuverable he is considering the pony I grew up with had no clue how to move body parts under saddle (or even her shoulders on the ground). Chrome is so smart!

I also did Chase the Tiger again and he did great. He was so full of himself this evening. He was even bronco bucking when he galloped up from the pasture. He's really understanding that I want him to play and is offering GORGEOUS trots and pretty canters easily. He likes to strike at it with his front hooves too. The only weird thing I'm going to have to work on is that when I click and stop moving the handkerchief (Tiger) he runs over it, stops and gives an impressive kick with one hind leg . . . every time. I'm not even rewarding that part, but it's becoming a habit already. I think instead of leaving the Tiger on the ground when I click I'm going to raise the whip so it lifts off the ground. Then maybe he'll quit kicking. I don't want him to learn that it's a good thing.

I also tried working on having him put his hoof on a hoof stand, but he was being uncooperative so I let it go. I think I'm going to build a pedestal out of an old tractor tire and work with that first. He just doesn't understand putting his hoof on something. I did accidentally teach him to paw though lol! I don't really want him to do it right now though because the ground is so hard and he stomps his hoof hard. I don't want to damage his hooves or joints so I'll move on to something else and come back to that when it rains (which we haven't had in a couple of months). It'll be easy to teach him to count at least. :D

Well, sorry this got so long. If you made it to the end, thanks for reading!!

What a stressful day and poor Chrome!!

Wow. What a stressful day! I went out to work with Chrome. First I asked him to pick up and hold his front hooves and rest the toes of his rear hooves. He did great so I moved on to working on the trailer. He followed me on and stood still while I pet him all over the shoulder, side and hip. Next I asked him to back out and then we approached it together again. This time I stopped and he went on by himself. He only went halfway, but I didn't care. I was excited!

I walked onto the trailer to give him his treat and then he stepped forward and put his head in the stall all by himself. I'm so proud of him for figuring it out. It won't be long before he's loading fully by himself. :)

On the second or third time on I noticed what looked like blood on his hock. I backed him out and looked closer. It looked like a puncture wound. I took him to the yard to show my husband. He immediately noticed it was swollen (how did I miss that?) and said we had to take him to the vet. I was worried because we hadn't been working on loading long and I didn't think he was ready.

So while my husband got the truck ready I went to load Chrome onto the trailer. I didn't want to hook up the truck or pull it out of the pasture because I was afraid he'd get too amped to load. Chrome walked right onto the trailer and my friend (who was visiting) lifted the ramp. Chrome raised his head and stepped back with one foot, but I asked him to step forward and he did. Once the ramp was secured I took the rope from his halter because I'm not comfortable tying in a trailer. He immediately turned around to face the rear. I was shocked he could still turn around in it. I thought he was too big now.

He was putting his chest against the ramp so I immediately closed the upper doors in case he decided to bail out. We hooked the truck up to the trailer and pulled it out into the yard to check the air in the tires. Chrome started spinning fast circles in the trailer so I yelled at my husband to stop and opened the front door to calm him down. After that he seemed calmer. I think he panicked because the cedar trees by the gate rub against the roof of the trailer. I'm going to have someone help me cut them down.

When we put air in the tires Chrome jumped at the sound it makes when you take the chuck away from the valve stem. He didn't panic though. I stayed with him the whole time with the front door open and gave him treats.

Once the tires were aired up we hit the road with our friend following in his car because the attachment for the lights on the trailer was broken (I wish we'd fixed that sooner) and we didn't want someone to rear end the trailer. Halfway to the vet clinic the truck died in the middle of a road at a traffic light. I'm not good with trucks, but it had something to do with the alternator draining the battery or something. We haven't had the money to fix it because of my husband's injury, but now that our tax money is here we will definitely be getting that fixed! My friend jumped the car and we pulled into a nearby park and then he and my husband went to get a new battery since we didn't have time to recharge the old one. That was expensive, but while they were there they grabbed the stuff to fix the lights too. :) While I was waiting with Chrome he stood perfectly still and wouldn't move. I think he was terrified.

So anyway we got to the vet clinic an hour late for our appointment. The receptionist said we would have to leave him there because of lunch breaks. I was freaking out because I had to be at work in an hour and a half and I didn't want to leave him there with strangers. What if something happened while he was there? She said he would be there for at least two hours. I reluctantly agreed, on the verge of tears and went back outside to Chrome.

I was shocked when the vet showed up to look at him. I guess the receptionist told him I was upset. I was so relieved I wouldn't have to leave Chrome there. The thought of leaving him had me on the verge of a panic attack. I guess I'm a little overprotective. :) The vet started looking at the wound and I told him he doesn't normally kick but since he was hurt and scared that I wasn't promising anything. He looked at it for a minute and then asked me to put him in the stocks. Chrome was a little nervous about going in, but he didn't put up a fight. When the vet latched the butt bar Chrome started yoyoing between me and the bar. I managed to get him still and calm quickly and then put up the front bar.

Oh and did I mention there was a mare and her two week old foal (so cute!) in the pen about five feet behind him? :) He neighed at her when we first got there, but calmed down quickly. I'm glad his hormones didn't kick in or anything. Once in the stocks the vet cleaned the wound and decided to shave his hock to see if there were any other punctures. Chrome didn't even bat an eyelash at the clippers even though he's never seen any. I was so proud. Thankfully the vet didn't find any other wounds.

The vet said that since he wasn't favoring the leg that it's unlikely that he punctured the joint capsule. He told me to keep an eye on it and if he comes up lame to immediately bring him back in because an infection in the joint is very serious. He gave me antibiotics and bute for the swelling. He also gave Chrome a tetanus shot because I'm not sure if he ever got one. We also had blood drawn for his coggins since we were there and he was due. Might as well save an office visit. :) Chrome didn't react to the first shot in the right side of his neck, flinched at the one in the left side and raised his head, but didn't react to having his blood drawn even though the vet had to dig for a vein because of new needles they'd just gotten that he wasn't fond of (he went and got an old one after a half minute of trying). What a good boy.

We let Chrome out of the stocks and showed off his smile and then went back to the trailer. He hesitated and the vet pushed on his haunches which made him more resistant, but he did go on quickly. I was so proud of him! I was expecting a fight since he knew what was in store. I love clicker training! He was nervous, but he knew it would be okay.

When we got home I unloaded him and turned him out in the pasture. He immediately set out for the lease land where he started stuffing his face with green grass. I don't blame him considering how much he pooped in the trailer (a sign of nervousness and stress). I'm so proud of my boy for being so brave and cooperative. He made a bad situation bearable when it could have been so much worse. Unfortunately this set back means I probably won't get him gelded this spring. :( At least that gives us a lot of time to work on hauling as soon as we replace the stupid alternator in the truck. So everyone please think healthy, uninfected thoughts for Chrome and if you're willing send him some get well prayers. I'm praying that it doesn't get infected. This was a blow to the checkbook, although it wasn't as horrible as I was expecting. Anyway below are the pictures.

Looks painful huh? He's not favoring the leg though and although he picked his foot up when the vet was mashing on it he didn't kick, dance away or act like it was horribly painful. I think he has a high pain tolerance though. Anyway keep him in your thoughts.

Trailer Training & Write Up on the Video

Okay. Here's the deal on the video I posted yesterday. When I brought Chrome up for training he was being very cooperative. He did fantastic up until we started working on back lifts. I started out doing it with him standing untied and he tried walking off so I tied him up. By the time the kick happened I'd done four or five back lifts (he's used to doing one or two a day), so he was not happy. Back lifts are like sit ups for us, so if he's not used to using his back and stomach if can get very tiring and difficult very quickly.

I was so focused on getting the video right that I wasn't paying attention to his body language and what he was trying to tell me. So it was completely my fault that he . . . threatened me. He didn't really kick. I think he was just lifting his leg to warn me and it happened to bump my shin because I was standing close. I've never seen him kick. Ever. But he does lift his leg to warn the donkey to back off, he lifted it toward the possum he encountered, etc. I really think that's what happened. I realize it was my fault and could have been avoided if I'd been paying attention. I have to remind myself that he is green and he needs 100% of my attention when we're working together. :) So no videos for a while lol.

I wanted to mention that in my video I said you can stand to the side while doing back lifts if you're afraid your horse might kick, but I want to withdraw that. If you think your horse might kick just don't do back lifts. Work on respect and desensitizing first. Standing directly behind the horse and very close is probably safest because there is no power behind the kick (whereas if you stood two feet away there is a lot of power). Horses can kick to the side too (very powerfully) so that can be a dangerous place to stand as well if your horse has the tendency to kick.

Anyway, things turned out okay. Chrome and I both learned something. I worked with him today on the trailer because I felt the need for a change of pace. He did so fantastic!

He walked right on and I clicked a couple of times for standing there with his head in the stall. Then I opened and closed the front door a few times. Then I started petting his head, neck, shoulder until I was standing in the trailer instead of between the head stalls. He came out a couple of times to see what I was doing and then walked back up and put his head right back in. When I quit I was standing by his flank. :) Then I asked him to back off with my hand on his chest. I want him to learn to stand there until I ask him to back up. I didn’t work on any noise or the other doors this time because my husband wasn’t there to help. I think Chrome did awesome. Of course I’ll have to eventually train him to stand on the other side of the trailer too, but for now I'm just worried about getting him comfortable enough to get to the vet.

I’m hoping that I can eventually walk off the trailer and all around it with him on there and eventually maybe I can teach him to load by himself. Just have to be slow, slow steps. Lots and lots of work to do on it. It's already getting hot and ticks are out bad already so I don't know if it's too late to get him gelded this spring. :( I don't think I'll have him ready for another couple of weeks at least and I just don't know if it's worth it to shove him on there, scare him and have to start all over again. We'll just have to see what happens.

Clicker & Trailer Work

I started out working on the trailer. Chrome walked right on, but left his left rear leg on the ramp. My husband tried tapping the hoof to have him put it on the trailer, but it startled Chrome so I let him leave it off. That did make me realize though that I'm going to have to work on touching him all over while he's standing on the trailer. Just another step in our desensitizing.

We spent some time tapping on the inside and outside of the trailer. I opened and closed the front door. Last I had my husband gently swinging the rear top doors (ramp raises up, then two doors close across the top) back and forth, but not latching them. He backed up (front feet never went off the trailer) when the upper door went past halfway closed, but I got him standing on the trailer comfortably with the door about halfway closed. We will keep working on that. As far as the trailer work goes we still have a lot to work on, but he's getting more comfortable with it.

Next I worked on lateral flexion. For some reason that I cannot explain I went to his left side and asked him to flex to the right using the rope as a cue . . . um yeah. What was I thinking? We haven't worked on that. He was confused, backing up, etc. I finally managed to get a tiny flex and clicked it. Then I went to his right side and asked for left flexes which he did perfectly for a tickle or rope cue. Then I went back to his left and asked for a right flex with a tickle. After he did that a couple of times I started picking up the rope and tickling. By the time I quit he was flexing for a rope cue (with an occasional tickle if he seemed confused).

Next I worked on back lifts. The first one he did a small lift. The second one I must have had uneven pressure because he dropped his right hip, resting his toe on the ground. Um. That was weird. I clicked for it and probably shouldn't have because I was cueing a specific behavior. Oh well. I did a few more back lifts with even pressure and he did okay. The lifts were small, but that's okay. I think my fingers just aren't enough pressure. We will keep working on it.

Next I tapped his right rear fetlock with my toe and he picked up his leg and rested his toe on the ground!! On the first try! I was so excited. What a good boy. I did it two or three more times and he did it perfect every time. He finally understands it. Next I'll have to work on his left rear hoof. :)

After that I worked on head lowering with a light squeeze midway down his crest on both sides. He did really well, although a couple of times he seemed confused, but I think that's because I was cueing too far down his neck (too close to the withers). Now that I've established a new cue I'll have to work on getting his head all the way to the ground and duration. It will come with time.

I also worked on rubbing his face. The first time I rubbed his forehead he tried lowering his head, flexing and backing up. When he finally stood still without moving his head I clicked. After that I was able to rub his forehead and poll without him moving. Yay Chrome! Next I'll work on ears and after that I'll work on his muzzle.

After that I had him back a few times with me standing at his shoulder, facing forward, from both sides. He did three steps each time easily. I'll have to work on adding distance. Then I asked him to pick up both front hooves once. He did well.

Last I worked on something new. I want to teach him to walk in a circle around me from me simply lifting my hand and pointing in the direction I want him to take. This will eventually be used for lunging, loading in a trailer or walking through a gate ahead of me. I started on his right side. I stood at his shoulder a couple of feet away from him and held up my right arm. He thought he was supposed to stand still because that's what I usually have him doing, but eventually he reached out to sniff my hand, but couldn't reach without moving his feet. I tried clucking and then swung my left arm in the air and he finally walked forward. I clicked and treated. I held my right arm up again, nothing, clucked, nothing, swung my left arm by his haunches and he stepped forward. After a couple of tries he was walking forward for a point and cluck, no swinging (didn't have a whip with me btw).

Then I switched sides. It didn't take him long at all to figure it out for a point and cluck. Eventually I plan to have him walking on for just the point. :) The only thing I don't think I like is that when I click he faces me . . . that could cause problems eventually with lunging and ground driving. I'll probably worry about that when I start asking for a whoa. The click ends the behavior. He's being rewarded for walking, not for facing me. :)

I was going to work on voice cues for walk on and whoa (with me leading him), but I was running out of treats and it was getting dark. I was happy with how the session went overall. I wasn't going to work with Zeppelin because my toe was hurting and I was almost out of treats, but he started following me as I was leaving the pasture. It was cute and showed trust so I clicked and gave him some tiny pieces of treats. Then I pet his right cheek, clicked and held out a handful of tiny pieces and treat dust . . . and he bit down on my finger really hard! Ouch! He didn't mean to. I had the angle of my hand wrong and let my fingers curl trying not to drop the tiny pieces. When he bit me I yelped. It scared him and he shied away. My finger was hurting bad enough that I just ignored him and hobbled to the house as fast as my painful foot allowed to put my finger under cold water to numb it. :( I didn't mean to scare him. He didn't mean to bite me. I think I'm going to take a break training him until my toe is better. I'm so scared of it getting stepped on that I'm not able to position myself correctly for treat delivery. Sigh.

Anyway, sorry to end the post on a downer note, but I thought I would mention it. I'm still super proud of how Chrome did. He started out sort of distracted, but he was really focused and sweet toward the end. I think he's definitely gaining some patience. :) That's all for today. Sorry no pictures.

Short Trailer & Clicker Sessions

I worked with Chrome on the trailer because it was cold and my toe was hurting. It gave me a chance to just stand still and I was behind the front bars so no chance it could get stepped on. He walked right on. I don't click for anything but standing with all four inside the trailer now. I clicked/treated for standing there with his head between the bars (there are bars that keep two horses faces away from each other). Then I started tapping on the front door and front of the trailer. I clicked for him not reacting to the sound. Then I started pulling the front door closed. His head popped up when I did that but within moments I had him relaxed again and with the front door shut. :) Good boy! I backed him off the trailer and fed him his breakfast. I figured that was a good stopping point.

Next I worked with Zeppelin. I stayed on his good side (left) and just worked on touching his flank a little. He flinched the first time, but he was fine the next time. I didn't do much because there is only so much I can do with this stupid toe. Just feeding makes it hurt so bad I have to lay down again. Sigh. It's itching though so I guess it's healing. :)