Farrier

The farrier came this morning to trim all the horses' hooves.  I don't know if she noticed, (After all, she only sees them once every 6 or 8 weeks!) but Dad & I saw a huge improvement in their behavior!  Not that they are ever bad for the farrier, but apparently they could have been better, and today they proved it.  One of the things that Chris Cox talked about in that clinic a few weeks ago, was not micro-managing your horse during vet & farrier visits.  We're so worried about them behaving, that we don't let them breathe and then they get all worked up, which is exactly what we didn't want, and yet it was a self-fulfilling prophesy.  

Now that I've learned to leave their heads alone, I just kept the lead rope in my hands, but with no tension whatsoever, and they all stood quietly and looked around, without moving a muscle while she worked with their feet.  It was AMAZING!!  I was so proud of them.  In the past, I would have kept pulling their heads back and telling them "Whoa!" all the time, whether they needed it or not.  Just to make sure that they knew.  Of course they know - I need to give my horses a whole lot more credit, I guess!!

Before she arrived I worked for a while with Lily.  Then, I dropped the lead rope on the ground and she stood still while I walked over to the tack room and got some grooming tools.  You could totally see in her eye that she was expecting me to take her somewhere when I returned, but I didn't, I just started brushing out her mane.  She stood there quietly while I combed and braided it.  After about 10 minutes she did test me and started to walk off, but I simply grabbed the lead rope and disengaged her hindquarters a few times.  She figured out really quickly that it was much easier just to stand still and be patient.  Dad couldn't believe it, especially since he was working nearby with the chain saw - a wonderful test!