Of Shedding, Stalls, and SAD

For those who don't know (like me, 30 seconds ago), SAD can be a synonym for claustrophobia. I needed another s-word to keep with the alliteration I had going in the title. The more you know!

So! I didn't ride today, mostly because it was half icky and drizzly days aren't really conducive to trail riding or galloping across a field. I also felt bad, because I'd been riding a lot lately, and she still needs weight and lots of muscling & conditioning, so I don't want to overdo it. Besides - we still have a ton of work to do on the ground! So that's what we did today.

The first thing I noticed? No snuggles or walking up to me. I think she was annoyed that I hadn't come out to see her in three whole days. I apologized profusely and loved on her, and she finally relented and snuggled me back. But only a little.

See? Look at that grumpy face! Goodness.

And now I'm forgiven. Slightly. More once I click and she gets a carrot. ;)

So! We walk in and the snort-inducing chairs are still outside the row of stalls. My brave boss mare walked right up to them, looked at me, and dropped her nose into the seat of one. Good girl! Naturally, I clicked her and gave her treats. She was so cute; she kept switching chairs and kept nosing them. Eventually, though, I told her I wanted to move on and took her towards her stall.

She blanched a little bit, but after a minute or two I got her to walk in pretty easily. I've learned that once forward momentum is lost in horses who don't want to go somewhere, it's much, much harder to get it back. I mean - I already knew this - but I'm finding it evidenced more and more. So I started clicking her for paying attention to the stall and, when she wouldn't pay attention to it, I'd back her up to "reset" her, and walk her towards it again. 2-3 times of this and she walked right in! Then we walked out and back in, and she walked right in on the first try. Hooray for progress!

So I went about grooming her, and what do I find?

She's shedding. A LOT. She filled up my poor curry comb at least 3 times, and I didn't even groom her for that long! Gosh - no wonder she looked so raggedy in the field. I can't even leave her alone for three days without her looking like a misfit! I think she roughed herself up on purpose and started shedding so she'd look needy the next time I came out and I'd feel guilty.

So, the only problem with the stall I put her in is that there are horses on free reign throughout the property, and they like to come up and bother her through the stall bars. Naturally, being such a bossy girl, she pins her ears and makes nasty faces at them (but of course, never looks nasty at me or anything like that - just them!). They don't like this, but they keep being obnoxious. Come on, guys! She already hates stalls; don't annoy her! So I have to chase them off. They were being particularly annoying today, and they were actually making Reina nervous! I usually smack the concrete with my lead rope to get them moving, but Rei was just not having any of it today. I don't really know why, since I make that noise from outside her stall a lot to keep the other horses away.

But I noticed she was getting ready to practice some airs above ground. Like I said - no clue why today, of all days! But she was basically hopping and alternating between front/back hooves, like she was going into a mini levade. Actually, if I wasn't worried about her impatience/ scaredy-cat-ness, I would've been super impressed.

So I went in to calm her down.

And my goofball of a horse starts nodding her head like an idiot, trying to calm herself down. I start doing simple exercises with her to keep her mind busy, but it doesn't seem to work, so then I just break out the brushes again and go to town. I follow her when she twirls and click her for standing still and being patient. Silly horse. She got the idea, though, and soon calmed down and kept all four feet on the ground. She did yawn an awful lot, though ("MOOOOOM, standing still is BORINGGG!"). She's not the most patient horse ever, my Reina!

It was pretty funny, though - she'd hop (only going maybe 4 inches off the ground at a time) when I wasn't in her stall, when I was chasing horses. But as soon as I came back in, she'd stop, but she'd keep one or two hooves off the ground and just stand like that, all wiggly and like a coiled spring. It was humorous! I pet her and told her it was okay and eventually she'd put her hooves down. Goof.

Side note: she was never dangerous through all this. If she was, I wouldn't have stayed with her. But she was respectful of my space (I made her back up several times to ensure that) and she never freaked out when I was with her; she just got all shaky and scared. Poor girl. But she has to learn that nothing's going to eat her while she's in a stall. Otherwise, if we want to show, however will she learn to stay in a trailer or in a show stall without flipping out? No; this is very important.

So today, we worked on her claustrophobia. She got a lot better towards the end, I will say!

I tried letting her walk her nervousness off:

But it honestly didn't work. She was okay while outside, but then she didn't want to go back into the stall. It took me forever to convince her that she should. I reset her by backing and then walked her in a circle and then re-presented the stall to her. Eventually, she learned that if she didn't have anything to do with the stall, she:
(a) got walked around, and
(b) got no clicks (and therefore no treats!).

And, my friends, let me assure you... Reina does love her clicks and her treats. She's also inherently kinda stubborn and lazy, which I can't really blame her, because I'm the same way (good thing, too - she's met her match!). The good news is that she's not like that under saddle; just on the ground. Where the disconnect is there in her brain to make her so different... no clue! But in any case.

So, she finally went into the stall, and - oh goodness - I gave her a PEPPERMINT! Needless to say, she walked right on in once I took her out and re-presented it to her, and she got another peppermint. My horse loves peppermints. Loves them. Peppermints are how I made friends with her when I met her for the first time. I think she liked me before, but she was absolutely ready to go home with me once I brought out the peppermints. ;)

Awww!

Important lesson I learned today: my horse is 100% bribe-able! She'll do anything for a peppermint. I mean, she'll do a lot for carrots, mind you. But she'll do anything for a peppermint. She knows the difference: "good girl, that's right!" (a carrot) vs "YAY!!! That is EXCELLENT!! I'm so proud!!" (a peppermint!). I love peppermints because they make her breath smell yummy (and she's easy to manipulate when I have peppermints)!

I finally got her into the stall for good, and decided that she would have to ride out her claustrophobia, because I wasn't going to reward her indirectly for her bad behavior. In the stall she stayed. The longer she stayed, the more I reinforced stillness and calmness, the better she got. And I finished grooming her, yay!

Don't let her longing face fool you; she's 

not an actual prisoner. Drama queen.

"Why are you walking away? You're the one with 

the carrots... get back here!"

She was looking much better once I was through with her. She got clicked throughout for good behavior, and we're almost entirely over her girthiness. She got a little pissy once or twice, but it was fleeting and she'd just toss her head and look grumpy and I wouldn't stop what I was doing or pay her any mind at all, and she stopped, and I'd click. She did that once more before she got the picture - she really doesn't like to be ignored, you know!

So, whatever the reason she was so uppity earlier, she learned today that I'm not going to coddle her anymore. I want her to feel safe and secure, yes, but I'm also not going to be intimidated into letting her loose and never stalling her just because she doesn't like it. She knows darn well I'm not going to do anything to hurt her - I've only ever taken care of her - so she needs to just knock it off. I reward good behavior frequently, so she's learning that relaxing not only feels good, but earns treats!

I think, perhaps, something bad may have happened to her in a stall, as I've said before. BUT, I also think that Rei is far too smart for her own good. Maybe this was why she was never raced. I think she's absolutely smart enough to make the connection between her mini airs above ground and getting out of work or being stalled. I could easily see her outsmarting a previous owner somewhere who didn't know any better, or maybe was too timid. I got your number, Reina! Either that, or she really just gets super nervous because of her previous experiences. (Or maybe a bit of both?) Either way, I'm here to help her through it, and we made great progress today!

And, the great thing about the way she freaks out is that when she does it under saddle, it's soooo easy to ride through! She doesn't go anywhere! I've ridden it once or twice (once before I got her, and once before I started clicker training under saddle), and it's when she panics or gets confused or scared - this is her default "ahhh! I want out!!" behavior. It's awesome because it's not really rearing, bucking, or bolting - it's just hopping. Hopping I can deal with. I mean, of course, it needs to go, but that'll come in time. For now, it's one of the easiest things to deal with. Really!

I think I'm going to have to learn dressage, though. I mean - geez - waste talent like hers? Not a chance. ;)

More good news! That's a picture of her back. Her rain rot is healing! I can see the new little hairs sprouting. Huzzah!! It only took FOREVER, but I don't even think they're sensitive anymore (she doesn't flinch when I brush over them) and they're overall looking much, much better! Soon they'll be gone completely, and this will please me greatly.

Overall, it was a very good day! We bonded and I got to make her all shiny. I brushed out her mane, tail, and forelock while she ate dinner. She was so, so good when I brought her food in - usually she makes a dive for it, with her nose all up in my business. But not today! She even backed up when I entered with it, and stayed about a foot or two away while I poured it into her bucket. I had to look at her sternly once, but she backed up and stayed back until I said "okay!" and moved aside for her to eat. I was really proud! Usually when I feed her I feel like a defensive soccer player - move, countermove - until she backs up and leaves me be for even a moment... then I let her have it. But she was all politeness today! Maybe because I emphasized manners all day? Who knows. But yay!

And I couldn't help but notice how much better her weight is looking. I know it's not much yet, but my curry comb doesn't knock over her ribs anymore - I can actually brush her with a little bit of padding between my brush and her bones. When I first got her, I only used my soft brush on her because I was so scared I was going to hurt her otherwise. But now, I can groom and not feel like I'm just rubbing her skin into her bones. Yay!

So I put her collar back on (stupid, stupid habit) and walked her back out to her pasture. She's such a pretty girl! And we've gotten so far. Long way to go, of course, but... still. I can't even say how proud of our progress I am!

Yes, she looks sweet, but this was right after she bossed

poor old Comanche away from the hay bale!

Bossiness is one of my horse's favorite pass times, apparently!

So I learned today that Rei and I should definitely work on ground tying, standing, and patience in general. I also need to teach her targeting; some of the clicker basics, she simply doesn't know. I have no excuse for this! Well, actually, at first, she just did not understand the idea of targeting. She was too polite to bump anything with her nose. But now that she understands she's allowed to interact with her world? I have no excuse. I started teaching her to target my little plastic cone today, but with the patience lessons and standing for grooming, I ran out of carrot bits before we could get targeting down with any consistency!

She snuggled me more before I let her go; it made me happy. I don't think I was her favorite person ever today; probably because she got some tough love and I didn't let her out of her stall or give in to her pouting. Chi and I have a trail riding date for tomorrow afternoon, though, so I'm sure Reina will forgive me when we go out to brave the trail again.

Honestly? After my adrenaline-filled visit to her on Monday, with the galloping and the beautiful day and the introduction of rope burn to my hand, today was kind of a disappointment! It was cloudy and drizzly and kind of icky by the time I got out to the barn, and Reina wasn't all loving at first. But it was all worth it to instill some confidence in her (even if I have to be the bad guy for a day!) and work on basic manners (which, although not thrilling, are still very important!).

We can't race the wind every day... and I did really notice things that are much improved - girthiness, standing for grooming, her weight, her coat, her mane/tail, and she just looks healthy and happy overall. I must remember this; I'm proud of us!