Our goal is
to keep our herd to 6 to ensure every horse can access shelter space when need
be. We also pick up poop daily so each horse creates a lot of work. When my dear friend Uli bought Fonzi, I
offered to let him (and Uli) stay until another potential project horse came my
way. Well, I had an opportunity in the Summer of 2018 and so it was time for
Fonzi to move. Uli took him to the boarding facility where her sister’s and husband’s
horses reside at Sandstone Coulee. We knew it would be a tougher environment for Uli and Fonzi because it was a mixed pasture of mares and geldings whereas our place is a gelding only zone.
Uli asked if
I would review her daily progress reports and offer feedback (i.e. “yes, that
was good” or “no, that was stupid”, or “try this instead”). Uli’s comments were
so funny and sincere, I simply had to share a
condensed version of her daily reports. Uli is German so if you don’t understand a word,
it is more than likely a “bad” word in German. I know this is long but it is an honest depiction of the ups and downs of a dedicated horse person's life in a less than ideal environment.
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 1
Got out there
at 6 a.m. and saw 3 big elk run across the field, shrouded in a little bit of
mist rising from the creek while the sun just came up over the hill….. good
start to the day!!
Fonzi
sneakily made his way a little closer to the girls while still keeping poor
Cayuse away from them. Little bugger! The mares still give Fonzi the evil
eye when he gets too close. Bitches!! Fortunately he only has a few
more bite marks but nothing serious, just missing hide.
Walked into
the field and Fonzi came trotting up to me. SO AWESOME!!! Then a mare
came from behind, shot right past me and drove him away. I hit her with
the end of my rope. Sorry, mare. Don’t mess with my boy when I’m
around!
Put the
halter on Fonzi and started some groundwork, which caused the rest of the herd
to leave toward the end of the field. This made Fonzi very agitated and
unfocused, so I followed them until we were close enough that he wasn’t so
stressed any more, and then started groundwork again. Initially he was
still very focused on the mares and not paying attention, but after a while he
relaxed and focused more on me. After half an hour he was licking and
chewing, and only occasionally glanced at the herd. I walked back and
forth with him and gradually a bit further away, and at first he was pushing
into my space, thinking he could push me more toward the herd, but I kept
wiggling him back and finally he was quite relaxed and respectful, and changed
direction with me on a loose rein every time I turned. Then I asked him to
back up and he lowered his head and backed up very softly….
HALLELUJAH!!! That was a good time to stop, I thought.
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 2
Is it ever
smoky out there today!! I could feel it in my lungs when I went out this
morning, so today we only practiced calm walking while keeping space between
him and me, and walking in circles with the stick on his back, also making sure
he does not push into my space. It went well, but I have a couple of
questions for you:
When we start
groundwork, he is very focused on the mares. After a while, he starts to
relax and focus on me, but he will still look over to the mares
frequently. When he does that, I’ve been giving him a tug on the rope to
bring his head back to me, and he refocuses for a while until he looks over
again. Is a tug sufficient, or should I give him a really good yank, or
just start moving his feet right away every time he looks over, with more
pressure? Just wondering what would tell him in the most clear way that
looking over to the mares is undesirable? Or should I not worry about it
at this point since he does pay attention to me again as soon as I ask him to
do something else?
Also, I’ve
been doing the groundwork a little bit away from the herd, thinking that
gradually I should be able to move further and further away with it. Then
the principle of making the space where he wants to be uncomfortable, and
making the space where he does not want to be a resting place occurred to me. Should
I do the groundwork closer to the herd and then move him away to let him
relax? Or would it not matter to do the groundwork closer to the herd in
an attempt to make it an “uncomfortable” space, since he will just go back
there anyways once I am gone?
Looking
forward to your thoughts!
And try not
to breathe outdoors today…. Haha!
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 3
Uli: Yay,
the horses are all by the shelter, I don’t need to walk all the way to the end
of the field!
Good
morning, everyone! Hi Fonzi! What a good boy! Nice job lowering the head
for me to tie the halter…. Hey, where are you girls going? You can stay
right here….. damn, they are heading to the end of the field.
Guess I’ll be walking anyways. Oh well.
Fonzi: Ah,
here comes the woman that brings me treats. I’ll go check her out.
Oh good, she’s got the apple treats again. I’ll let her put the halter
on. Wait, the girls are leaving. No, girls, stay here! It’s
all good here. She’ll only make me work, not you….. Damn, they are
heading to the end of the field. I want to follow them and keep an eye on
them so that casanova Cayuse doesn’t flirt with anyone in my absence. Oh
good, we’re heading that way, let’s go!
Uli: Fonzi,
don’t push into my space. We can follow these horses calmly.
I said
calmly. Back. (rope
wiggling)
Back!
(more energetic
rope wiggling)
Slap.
Sorry, had
to do that, I really mean it.
Fonzi: Let’s
walk faster, mom, I can see Cayuse ogling the roan!
Faster?
Faster?
Ouch!
Okay, not
faster.
Uli: Okay,
bud, here we are, let’s do a bit of groundwork right here by the mares.
Oh nice, you’re all relaxed, let’s walk away for a bit. You’re starting
to do the C pattern all by yourself… okay then, we can do that as we
walk. Send you to the left, take the hip and send you to the right….
Damn, the
end of the lead rope got all tangled around my leg, one second….
Okay,
carry on, send you to the right….
Tangled
again, shit. One second….
Take the
hip, send you to the left….
Oh no, now
I’ve got the end of the stick rope wrapped around the lead rope wrapped around
my leg…. one second, Fonzi…
What’s
going on here, there’s a knot, how did that get in there….. okay, got it,
on we go….
For f…..’s
sake, I am totally wrapped up in all these ropes and strings, why am I so
clumsy with my equipment this morning…
Fonzi: Hahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa…….
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 4
TGIF! This
morning went very well!!! The horses were hanging out by the shelter as
they usually do when I get there, so I went out and got Fonzi, who much to my
delight still comes walking up to me now – he hardly ever did that at your
place. Wonder what changed that, I’m still the one making him work…
insecurity about the new place? Not as many humans around during the
day? Or maybe he actually likes me? Could it be love?😊 I do suspect it’s because
Cayuse and Mistral always come to me for treats and he doesn’t want to miss
out. But whatever it is, it’s nice!
Once I
started doing groundwork with him, the herd left for the far end of the field
as usual, but this time I decided to just keep working with Fonzi by the
shelter. There is a patch of dirt in front of the shelter so I can
actually move his feet. The grass is wet in the morning so if I work with
him in the field, he slips on the grass quite a bit, but right in front of the
shelter is good. He was very unfocused at first because the herd went to
the far end where he could barely see them anymore, but after 30 minutes of
foot-hustling he was quite relaxed and only cast glances toward the far end
before he would focus on me again. I did feel like his sweet spot
today! Maybe I’ll go out again after work and this time take him all the
way to the round pen.
I feel like I
have to “up my game” so I can start riding him again. I very much miss my
arena mornings….
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 5-6
It is two days later, but I really wanted to recap my
experience with you and Fonzi on Days 5 and 6 as these were big milestone days
for me, and I think putting things in writing will help me remember, too. Although
Fonzi and I did make some progress over the past week, I still felt that
something was missing, that he didn’t fully trust me or feel safe with me away
from the herd, that I couldn’t find the right way to communicate with him, and
I wasn’t very confident about being able to improve things. But on Day 5,
after spending a couple of hours with you everything shifted back onto the
right track again!
As soon as you saw me start the groundwork, you realized I
was putting too much pressure on Fonzi. This was me thinking that I had to
move his feet with energy and determination to be recognized as his leader,
while Fonzi is such a sensitive horse and so respectful that all it takes a
slight turn and shift of my body. As soon as you demonstrated this in your
calm, relaxed way, he relaxed, and after just a little bit of quiet groundwork
he was so willing to walk away from the rest of the herd, it was amazing. It
was so nice to take him up to the round pen and he only whinnied once for the
herd. I also loved how he stuck with us when we took him off the lead rope
to practice the walking C-turns with you being my horse, us wanting Fonzi to
move away and he wanted to stay right there with us. It was great to see
how you went about the trailer loading so calmly and only escalated the
pressure a little bit when he started to escalate, which brought him right back
down - that was a great lesson. Thank you so much for an awesome
afternoon, for making it so much fun, for your patience when I am overthinking
things or get tangled in my equipment, and for pointing out that the technique
doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s the goal that I need to focus on.
Fast forward to Sunday morning, Day 6. Putting what I
learned yesterday to the test! And man, did it ever work! I started
out by the shelter like we did yesterday, calmly moved his front end and his
hips with very little pressure, then walked up to the waterer and when he
passed me I wiggled him back or sent him over and moved his hip to get him back
in the right position. Cayuse and one of the mares came with us, but even
with them walking around us, we calmly did our little walking exercises and
then left through the gate to go up to the round pen…. no problem! I
wanted to yodel I was so happy! He only whinnied once in the round pen but
otherwise was really focused and connected, so we headed over to the
trailer. A bit more heavy breathing and curious looking around on the way
there, but no serious attempt to pass me, yay! And the trailer was very
fun, he was quite willing to go in, and after going in and backing him out a
few times I tried to extend the time we stayed in. After about 10 minutes
or so he was very relaxed in there, I moved his hips all the way over to the
wall and we had an apple. When he seemed really comfortable I called it a
day and let him graze a bit, then took him back to the pasture. Since he
walked so calmly I thought I’d go a little further so we walked past the gate
and past all the other horses in the field, just being happy to walk with each
other. That was a true sweet spot moment!! I turned around halfway
down the field because I wanted it to be a nice experience all the way through,
and on the way back to the gate we walked really slow, then fast, then stopped,
walked fast and so on, it was very fun. I had such a fabulous afternoon
just doing these small things with him, but doing them well and in tune with
him, and everything felt calm and soft.
So that’s my progress report for Day 6! It was
awesome, thank you so much for spending the time with me on Saturday and
getting me straightened out again…. I get a little confused at times without my
periodical Tovie fix.
To be continued……
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 7
Morning mist
was hovering silently over the wet field and tiny tendrils of steam rose from the
horses’ backs as they stood in the cover of the shelter looking out at the
gentle rain. A tender-eyed deer with a fawn still in his spotted coat
slowly walked down the hill and crossed the pasture, pausing here and there to
nibble at some tender shoots of grass. There were no sounds, other than
the dripping of the rain and an owl hooting wistfully in the distance. An
otherworldly peace had descended over the coulee and it felt as if the world
was holding its breath for a brief moment in time….
……
……
…..
BECAUSE I
WASN’T THERE!
I woke up
around 4:30 and it was raining beautifully in Okotoks, so I changed my alarm
clock from 5:15 to 6:15 and went back to bed.
The end.
Hee hee….
I will go out
tonight instead and hook up the trailer again and practice more trailer
loading. I guess my next task will be to close the divider once he is in
comfortably, but it’s a bit tricky because if it is not tied with the bungee
cord, it will fall closed on its own, so I have to kind of hold it open while I
load him and then close it. Picture me, leading Fonzi in with my left
hand, driving him with my right, and holding the divider with my left foot
while balancing on the other. I think that’s a yoga pose….. the
“hovering duck” or something? If you have nothing better to do, you are of
course always most welcome to join me for an evening of horse play in the
coulee…. 😊 I know you’ve got plenty to do, just thought I’d
mention it…..
I want to
take Fonzi on a walk along the other side of the creek where we ride, and one
of these days I’ll saddle him up and see how he does trying to ride out, but it
would be way nicer to ride with someone who has patience and lets me work
through any issues we may face, rather than riding the first time with an
impatient man.
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 8
As you
probably tell from my ecstatic phone message, I had an awesome session with
Fonzi in the morning. It made such a huge, huge difference going about
things quietly and softly right from the beginning. He was such a Rockstar, and
such a joy to play with. And when we walked past the other horses along
the gravel road, he was so calm and quiet, it made me cry again…..
what would I ever do without you!! Can I write a post for your website or
for your blog? I just want people to know how awesome you are and what a
tremendous difference you can make in someone’s relationship with their
horse. The world needs more Tovie!
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 9
Houston, we
have a problem!
Fonzi is in
love!
And it’s not
me that he is in love with!
Damn!!!!
Good morning,
by the way! 😊
So, yesterday
evening I went out to the coulee right after work, but I made a big
mistake. Two mistakes. First, Chris very kindly offered to wait for
me so we could have a more relaxed dinner when I got back. While it was
very sweet of him, it also made me feel rushed, which was not good. Second
mistake: I focused too much on one thing, the trailer loading, rather
than helping Fonzi become calm and focused first.
Okay, so here
is me, wanting to get things done. I have a limited amount of time because
a hungry husband is waiting. Should have told him to eat without me, but
how can I do that when he wants to spend time with me….. argh!! Dilemma!!! Anyway,
when I get to the coulee I see that Fonzi meanwhile has fallen in love with the
little mare. Ignorante Schlampe!!! The grouping is now: Mistral
and two mares, Fonzi and one mare, and poor Cayuse by himself. Fortunately
Fonzi still comes up to me when I come with the halter. Yay! See
that, Schlampe??!! So we started doing our little exercises with very
little pressure, and that went well, but every time I tried to walk toward the
water trough and away from the herd, he would start trotting ahead and around
me rather than walking calmly, and looking back at his girlfriend. So I
wiggled him back or did the C pattern, but his attention kept drifting away and
he would stop and look back at the mare. Then we did our exercises by the
water trough, nice and calm, me trying to not pull on his head, to keep a loose
rein, and to just focus on the walking. He did settle down a bit more but
not as nicely as he did on Saturday and Sunday. I decided to skip the round pen
and head to the trailer. Probably mistake number three, ey? I was
able to load him in and out, and he would stand calmly in the trailer for a few
seconds, but every time I lifted my hand to try and wrap the lead rope, he
started backing out. I could ask him to come forward again before he
stepped all the way out, but I was not able to get him to stand for me to wrap
the rope. And of course every time he backed out of the trailer, he would
turn right away and look back toward the field.
Same thing
this morning. He came up to me quite happily, yay, (see that,
Schlampe??!!), but as soon as we started to leave his girlfriend, he
would get very worried about her. I spent my time out there just walking
in the field, trying to get him to walk calmly with me away from the
herd. Didn’t make much progress…… big sigh! Feel like after our
awesome weekend we took a step back last night and this morning.
Okay, so my
thoughts are:
a) I
didn’t have enough time to work with him. If I had spent more time, I
might have been able to get him to worry less about being away from the
Schlampe.b) I
was too focused on one goal – the trailer loading – when I should have decided
that we have to accomplish calm walking first, and if we have time we could
have worked on the trailer but if not, not to worry about it.c) Should
I have put more pressure on him to try and achieve better relaxation and focus?
Looking
forward to hearing your thoughts!
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 10
Well, at
least I recognize what the problem was. I have to become better at being
present with Fonzi. I tried to, but I think I was once more too focused on
the goal than on the horse. It is a bit hard, knowing what we had
accomplished at your place and now starting almost from scratch again. And
of course wanting to be able to load him into the trailer nicely and calmly on
Friday evening does add pressure. I feel like I should make more
progress. But if I just let go of my lofty goals and focus on the basics,
we’ll get there again. I have to stop thinking “I know you can do this, Fonzi,
we’ve done it in the past” and think instead “where are you at, buddy, at this
moment in time, are you with me”, and if not, try different strategies to get
him there.
I won’t be
able to play with him at all tomorrow. It will be a tough day….. 😊
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 12
Fonzi here….
my mom said she’s too busy this morning to write a report so I get to do
it. I didn’t see her yesterday cuz she had a very busy day and today she
is pretty tired but it was nice that she came out to play with me anyways. My
buddies and I were all by the water because we were locked up overnight, so at
least she didn’t have far to walk. And I did come up to her right away
when she showed up, which made her very happy. I always forget she puts
the halter on and makes me do stuff…… But she also said it was good because my
girlfriend is in heat. I’m not sure what that means or what’s going on but
my girlfriend puts her tail up in the air and turns her butt to me and acts
really weird. I think she wants me to do something but I can’t remember
what that was. Women – so confusing!
So my buddies
all went down the hill toward the gate and I couldn’t see them anymore, but
that was okay. My mom was very calm and purposeful this morning, so I decided
it was fine to hang out with her. I think she was just tired. We
walked around by the waterer for a while and she asked me to back up and move
my feet, and I only got a little bit distracted. Once in a while I tried
to pass her but she wiggled me back quite firmly so I gave up on that. And I
did not whinny once! Then we got startled because Phil showed up. He
must have heard my mom’s car and wanted to check what was going on. He
said he thought it was just us but wanted to make sure because they had some
tools stolen. My mom told me later that she was quite embarrassed because
she doesn’t wash her face or comb her hair in the morning when she comes to see
me, cause it’s just us and she gets clean in the office, so she said she
probably looked like shit. I don’t think she did, I mean, she’s not brown
or anything, although her hair looked a bit like a bird’s nest……
Anyways, it was nice doing things with her, and then she took me on a walk out
the gate and past all the trailers down the gravel road, which I really
liked. It was nice to have an adventure and I forgot all about the other
horses. Then I tried to eat some grass because I hadn’t had breakfast yet
and she got after me. Then we walked back and she put me back in with my
buddies and gave me an apple, and then she let us all run out into the
field. It was a very good morning.
Love,
Fonzi
Dear Fonzi,
I am very happy you made things easy for your mom this morning.
She has been getting a bit worried that you will end up liking that slutty mare
more than her – especially after all the work she has done to earn your trust
and your respect. Very glad to hear you don’t remember what to do when that
slut winks her hiney at you. Me and The Boys are super excited to see you
tomorrow. Hopefully you will be a good boy and load nicely into the trailer
because I have a lot to do to get everything ready for the clinic Saturday
morning. However, if you find her loading skills suck, tell her to give me a
call and I’ll pop over and help you get in the trailer. Perhaps it will be
easier for you to know that Mistral or Cayuse are coming with you and that you
will get to visit with your old buddies.
Anyway, dear boy, stop teasing that poor mare because we
both know how much you love your mom.
Love,
Auntie Tovie
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 15
What a nice
change to have a smoke-free morning!! It also helped to get a bit more
light in the morning as the days are getting shorter and it’s now a bit gloomy
out there at 6 am…. I think my coulee mornings are going to come to an
end soon, unless I bring a big head lamp!
The horses
were all at the far end of the field this morning, the little buggers. I
walked out there with the very unrealistic hope that Fonzi would come running
up to me as soon as he saw me, whinnying and wanting to hang out with me…..
alas…. I have not surpassed the Ignorant Slut in the order of friends
yet. Hmmm. Reality check. Can’t really expect him to give up grazing
and hanging out with the herd that willingly for someone who wants to take him
away from his buddies after just one weekend of heavy-duty bonding. Okay,
more work is needed. I do feel, however, that maybe I understand him
better and that we are connecting better, I just have to figure out how to
convince him that he is okay coming with me and leaving the herd. So, we just
worked out in the field by the other horses. I wanted him to follow
without passing me, walking in circles. He was very good going toward the
mares, but did speed up to pass me going away from them. I pushed him
into a bigger circle with my hip when he sped up so he had to cover more ground
and was only beside me rather than passing me. That worked quite well and
in the end he was just walking rather than trotting when we headed away from
the mares. I take that as a small success. Not as good as I had hoped
but not a total failure either. I couldn’t think of anything else to do
because the grass is too slippery with dew to hustle his feet out there. Do you
think I should have just headed for the shelter area where there is dry dirt,
making him do C patterns until we got there, and then hustle his feet?
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 18
What a
beautiful morning!! And I couldn’t go to the coulee… bummer! I was
out yesterday after work, though, and practiced more arousal
management… 😊
I thought I
would add a bit of a challenge and go to the round pen, and we managed to get
there mostly calm and quiet. Fonzi still wanted to pass me a few times and
we just did some moving of the hip or the front end, and once we were in the
paddock by the old chicken barn I could use that wall to cut him off. With
a bit more moving of his feet and stopping and relaxing we walked up there
quite nicely. I took the halter off in the round pen and he followed me
around right away. It was actually quite funny, he would get distracted
and stop to eat grass or to look for the other horses and I would keep walking,
and after a couple of seconds he would rush to catch up to me. In the end
we walked around the round pen very calm and connected and had a lovely
time. I would have totally ridden him at that point if I had brought my
helmet. Next time!
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 20
I went out to
the coulee yesterday afternoon and brought Fonzi up to the round pen. He
still tried to pass me but this time rather than walking on and doing the C
pattern, I stopped and sent him back to where he was supposed to be, making
sure I didn’t yield any space, then I took another step but stopped again each
time he tried to pass. I think after a while he realized that he was doing
all the work while I mostly stood still, and he got bored with it and started
to stay behind me much better. Yay! Once in a while he still sped up
but by then I was next to the fence and I could block him. We made our way
to the round pen mostly calm, and in the round pen he got a bit excited and
started calling to the mares but I took his halter off and asked him to follow
me, and that calmed him down quite quickly. Then I put his bitless bridle
on and took him over to my improvised mounting block. There was a black
tub outside the round pen that I turned over and stepped on to heave my carcass
up on Fonzi. Fortunately nobody was watching because during my first
attempt he wasn't standing right next to the tub, so when I swung my leg over
him he took a tiny step sideways but it was enough for me to shift my weight on
the darn tub and tip it over. I wasn't far enough up on him to pull myself
up, so I did a kind of vertical splits and then very ungraciously tumbled onto
the ground. I am certain I heard Fonzi laugh! Anyways, we had a very nice
little bareback ride in the round pen. Next time I’ll go into the paddock that
the round pen is in, that will give us more ground to work with. And this
morning when I led him from the mares to the water trough he followed me very
politely a couple steps behind me. He stopped a few times to look back at
the mares but I just waited for him to think about it and after a little while
he calmly walked on. That was the best walk away from the mares we were
able to do so far. They were all hanging out by the shelter so I’m sure it
helped that they were close, but I think he’s also getting used to the
situation. Just wish I had more light in the morning, it’s disappearing
quickly! But what a nice morning, I saw pink clouds, deer walking through
the field and a pretty little skunk. Fortunately the skunk was not
interested in me, haha.
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 24
We had a very
calm little ride yesterday, it was great. I took Fonzi into the round pen
first for a bit and then we rode down the gravel road to the cattle guard and
back. I would have liked to go across the train tracks to the trails but
there was a train parked there and we couldn’t cross it. Fonzi did very
well, he stopped to look back at the mares a few times but then he calmly
walked on and followed Mistral. He was really ouchy on the gravel so I’m
hoping it’s just because he hasn’t been on any hard surfaces all summer and not
because of too much grass. The grass shouldn’t have much sugar left in it by
now, should it? Anyway, I will just talk to Chris briefly tonight to make sure
we don’t have any plans for the September 30 weekend and then I’ll register for
the cowboy challenge.
Sandstone Coulee – Day 26
Dawn in the
coulee, all is quiet, except the horses.
Mistral:
“Hey Fonz, here comes your woman!”
Fonzi:
“Huh? I’m eating.”
Mistral:
“I can see her, she has a halter and a stick. I think she means business,
har har har….”
Fonzi:
“Shit! I just woke up, I haven’t even finished my breakfast yet!”
Mare 1 (in a
sing-song voice): “Fonzi has to work now, Fonzi has to work now….”
Fonzi:
“Shut up!”
Mare 2: “Poor
Fonzi-Baby, we’ll wave you good-bye… ”
Fonzi:
“Shut up, or I’ll bite you!”
Cayuse:
“Don’t worry, Fonzi, I’ll look after the girls while you are gone.”
(Sniggering…)
Fonzi:
“No!!! Don’t you dare touch them, you lecherous old goat!”
Mare 3:
“I’ll miss you, Fonzi!”
Fonzi:
“Hi Mom! Okay, you can groom me for a little bit but I’m not
leaving here willingly. I wish you would stop tugging on that rope,
though. Oh well, let me think about it….. maybe I’ll come for a
little bit. I’ll pretend I’m behind you and then I’ll sneak by you on the
right, that’s a fun game…... Oops, what was that? Mom, that
stick hit the ground really hard, that could have been me! I’ll just see
if I can pass you on the left….. hey, watch it! You almost hit
me! I’ll run over to the other side, maybe I can get you all tangled in
your stuff and I can pass you now……. damn, you didn’t get tangled. I’ll
try one more time…… man, this is way too much work!
Guess I’ll just stand here where you want me. But I’m not
done yet, mom, just so you know!
…..
(15 minutes later)
…..
Okay, mom, if
you really insist, I’ll just stay behind you and make sure you don’t have to
whack that rope any more with your stick. I hate you,
stick!!!
But it’s kind
of nice to walk behind my mom and she’s telling me what a good boy I am and we’re
both all happy. I bet I’ll get some treats when we’re done!!
And then it
was all quiet in the coulee again.
Sandstone
Coulee – Day 28
Almost forgot
my coulee report, it was a busy day. Nothing happened this morning
because it was very frosty and slippery, so the Fonz and I just hung out for a
while, and played a little game where I would take a step forward, he would
follow, then I would square my shoulders and take a step backward, trying to
tell him with body language only that he should take a step backward too, then
one to the left, one to the right, and start over. I had to wiggle the
rope a few times to encourage him to step back but overall he did quite well
following my steps, and we both had a nice, peaceful time. It’s cold out
there at 6:30 am!! Winter is coming!
Finally
– its Spring again
It’s Fonzi
here. I haven’t seen you in so long, can you come visit me some
time? I miss you. I was thinking of you this weekend and I just
wanted to say that I am very grateful for all the stuff you taught my mom cause
it really helped us yesterday. You see, we went for a trail ride in the
coulee on Saturday with Uncle Chris and that obnoxious Cayuse horse who always
tries to hang out with my girlfriends, and I wasn’t a very good boy but it
wasn’t really my fault. First of all, Uncle Chris is always in such a
hurry and my mom didn’t make enough time to do good groundwork with me, and I
could tell she felt rushed so I thought I gotta be on the lookout for danger because
she wasn’t paying attention. Then we got to the big culvert in the creek and I
stepped over okay, but Cayuse didn’t want to, and he got all upset and then
Uncle Chris got more impatient and by the time Cayuse finally jumped over it, I
was all upset! And then the wind was blowing so strong it scared me a bit
because I thought there were dangerous things hiding in all the moving
stuff…… so I really wanted to get back to the barn and my mom couldn’t do
much with me on the narrow trail so she stepped off me and walked me for quite
a while, and I kept trotting past her trying to tell her I really needed to get
back to the barn and I just couldn’t calm down for a long time. I was okay when
she rode me on the way back but the way out wasn’t so good…. I was
very sorry but I just couldn’t help it. Sigh.
But yesterday
I did really good! My mom and her sister and another lady named Allison
came out to ride me and Cayuse and Mistral, and my mom came early and took me
into the round pen and gave me a good beating. Just kidding, haha. She
did make me work quite hard, though, I was huffing and puffing because I am a
bit out of shape. Don’t tell the mares, that would be embarrassing because
they find me very studly. But when we started to ride I knew my mom was
paying attention and she was in charge, so I could be all calm and happy. I
only tried to turn around a couple of times but we started out along the road
and my mom convinced me with that hip moving thing that I was okay, and I
was. It was just us three girls riding and we were all having a really
good time. Clyde came along too but he is a good trail dog and knows how
to keep his distance from us, so I wasn’t worried about him. We even
encountered puppies!! There is a house where they had 6 or 7 chocolate lab
puppies in the yard and four of the fat little buggers climbed through the
fence and came to see us. They started trying to nip at our heels but we
all did very good, nobody spooked or kicked. Then their owner came and called
them back, so they were safe. They were very cute but very high
energy. We rode all the way to the highway and through a big field and
across the tracks and back on the other side, and a train came by but it didn’t
bother us at all. And when we got back we all got a nice grooming with the
massage gloves and we loved it. So I’m very glad you taught my mom this
groundwork stuff, it’s all I needed.
Bye Auntie
Tovie, love you lots!
Your
Fonzi
Finally
Spring Again – After Another Move
6:00 a.m.,
at the barn.
Fonzi: Look, here comes the red
car. That’s mom!
Aria: Oh yes, oh yes, do you think
we’ll get treats?
Cayuse: Yummm…..
Uli:
Hello kids, how are you this morning!
Fonzi: I’m good, mom. Can you
bring out some hay?
Aria: I’m good, too, Miss
Uli. I’m really pretty, look how I can toss my mane. Can I have hay,
too?
Cayuse: Yummm…..
Uli:
Okay, you three musketeers, we’ll have a little play time. Come over here,
you three. You too, Cayuse, don’t worry, Fonzi is not going to pick on
you. You can stand on the other side of Aria.
Fonzi: Cayuse, you just don’t get
it, stand in a line!
Cayuse: I’m coming, I’m coming!
Aria: Look how pretty I can stand,
Miss Uli!
Uli:
Okay, that’s really good. Now don’t move.
Fonzi: Cayuse, you idiot, you took a
step and now you’re going to get sent back. You’re making us all look
stupid!
Cayuse: Sorry, I just couldn’t help
it….
Aria: Look how pretty my feet are,
Miss Uli!
Uli:
Very good, you’ve been great, now I’m coming over to give you each a
treat. No picking on each other!
Fonzi: Thank you, mom. That was
easy.
Cayuse: Can I have two? Or three? Or
four?
Fonzi: Cayuse, you’re such a pig.
Aria: Look how pretty I can eat my
treat, Miss Uli!
Uli:
Okay, let’s do it again. This time I’m going further away. Don’t
follow me, you stay where you are.
Fonzi: Piece of cake.
Cayuse: The treats are moving further
away from us, I’m not liking it!! I sure hope she’s coming back?
Aria: My neck looks so pretty when
I stretch it far out, Miss Uli!
Uli:
That’s excellent, I’m coming back with the treats now, but I don’t want you to
step towards me. Then we’ll do it again, but I’ll go even further away.
Fonzi: Wow, that was really
easy. It only took us two minutes to train her to bring us treats and walk
back and forth and back and forth while we just stand here and lift a foot once
in a while to give her some sense of accomplishment. She’s so easy to
train.
Cayuse: Yup. That’s why we keep
her around.
Aria: Yup. And she thinks I’m
pretty!
😊
And all was
well at the barn….
While I hated to see Uli and Fonzi move on, Uli said it was really good for because she had to up her game and has made their relationship stronger than ever!
