First Ride on Dollar

Dollar has been a continual surprise since that first day we went to pick him up. He was a bit thin when he first arrived, not to mention at 4, he is still a youngster with loads of energy. Initially we kept him in a paddock next to Magic while the other boys got comfortable having him around. Once the "boys" settled into having him around, and I was certain I would have no trouble catching him, it was time to turn him loose.

Jack has been having troubles with his digestive track over the past couple of years and so he hasn't been keeping the weight on as is typical for "fat" Jack. Because he and Dollar could both use the extra groceries, we turned them out to pasture together. Every couple of days, we would put a different horse out with Dollar until they eventually became one herd. I notice he does receive the occasional bite so I'm guessing he is a bit cheeky with the other "boys" but overall they seem quite relaxed together.

He has taken to my training program very well and the only thing he still struggles with is standing still - he can be fidgety when tied for grooming, trimming, saddling, and mounting - yes mounting.

Dollar has accepted everything I've asked of him so well, I decided to ride him today in the round pen. I likely would have ridden him sooner, however, the wet weather has turned everything to mud at our place. Gord freshly rototilled the round pen for me, and it has dried up enough to have decent footing. It took a bit of work to have Dollar stand at the mounting block but once he figured it out, he calmly allowed me to stand in the stirrup and lean over his body, rubbing him all over. Once he did that well on both sides, I felt confident about getting on. I just allowed him to walk around, gently turning him to see how willing he was and felt no resistance at all.

The cool thing about all this is that Gord was still using the tractor to rototill a rolling spot for the "boys" in the field. Dollar wasn't worried about the tractor in the least.

Very soon, we will be searching for a forever home for Dollar. He is a very special horse that deserves to find a very special person.

Tovie and Dollar

Pleasant Surprise

Despite the lousy rainy weather, I was excited to spend the afternoon with Dollar just checking out where he was at. Much to my surprise, he came right over to be caught, haltered like a pro, led to the barn quietly, tied quietly, and then stood quietly while I gave him a thorough grooming. The grooming process is a great way to evaluate any touchy spots a horse may have. He didn't have any - even lowered his head without resistance when asked. He does need a little work on holding up his feet for longer periods of time, but it won't be a problem to trim him when he needs it.

When the other horses left the barn, we brought out all our scary toys; tarp, ball, bag of tin cans, stick & strong, pool noodles, hoola hoop - everything I could think of. Nothing phased this boy - in fact he was wonderfully playful and curious. Obviously, his previous owner did a lot of great work and it was a huge relief to discover he wasn't as bad off as I thought he was yesterday. In fact yesterday I was thinking "what have I got myself into" and today I'm thinking Dollar is going to be a ton of fun.

Not knowing much about the American Saddlebred as a breed, I've been doing some reading. To me, his confirmation and personality are classic characteristics of the breed. To watch him in the field is spectacular as has the most beautiful floating trot and canter that should be an absolute dream to ride.

Based on my observation over these two days; here is my early opinion of why the relationship with his previous owner didn't work out. As I mentioned yesterday, Dollar just turned 4 in early May. He is highly intelligent, and has obviously had some great work done with him. Firstly, I don't think a young inexperienced horse of any breed is good for a beginner, but from what I am learning about the American Saddlebred, definitely not a great breed for beginners. They have a strong influence of thoroughbred blood, making them spirited and sensitive. Combine that with his tender young age and it would be easy to make a mistake when handling. I think Dollar learned to get big and scary and then he didn't have to do what he didn't want to do. Because his big scary behavior doesn't bother me, I just insist that he does what I am asking, and he kinda goes - OK. Often those reactions become habitual and so it can take quite a bit of work to help them unlearn to react with undesirable behavior. Prior to re-homing Dollar, he will need to be exposed to many different situations to ensure he is safe.

He is definitely going to be more fun to play with than I initially thought.

Tovie

Maestro's Trubador (aka Dollar)

Dollar (formerly Trooper), is a beautiful registered, chestnut Saddle bred, who just turned 4 on May 8th, and has changed owners 4 times. My first encounter with Trooper was several months ago, when his well intentioned owner realized she did not have enough experience for such a young; and she called me for help. We had a couple of sessions and while she was already familiar with clicker training for dogs, she discovered the power of clicker training for horses. Based on this, she took boarded him with a local clicker trainer for a couple of months; and took lessons. However, after two months, his behaviour was still unpredictable, occasionally scary, and potentially dangerous. That is when I received the next call for help. This time his owner asked me to take the horse, train him, and then find him a suitable forever home.
Since this was going to be fresh start for this horse, I decided to rename him and chose the name Dollar, the amount I paid for him.

I gave the owner the following two options to consider:

She brings her horse to me for two months of training at my going rate, continuing to pay vet bills, farrier, and deworming, as necessary. If after two months, she decides she truly isn't the right person for him, I give her 1/2 her money back and continue working with him or re-home to recover my costs.

She sells the horse to me for $1.00 and when I feel he is ready to re-home, she gets first dibs on him for the cost she would have paid me for training. However, if she still doesn't think she is the right person for him, I sell him to recover my time and costs, or keep him (don't tell Gord I said this).

Needless to say, she chose option two but was grateful to have been offered the choice of keeping him.

Gord and I went to pick him up today. That is when I discovered Dollar flies back and rears when he does not want to do something you are asking. It gave me the impression that he has learned to get big and scary so people will leave him alone. I also learned he cannot be tied, and when under saddle, he will simply lay down. Aside from that, I did find him to be curious and friendly; and not particularly reactive.

I spent a good hour doing intensive ground work exercises with Dollar until he relaxed enough for loading but it worked, he walked right in. Knowing that he does not tie well, we used a very strong bungee trailer tie and this proved very effective. It had some give but relieved pressure instantly when he wasn't resisting. He trailered exceptionally well and has settled happily in the paddock next to Magic.

For those of you interested in following Dollar’s progress, I will post his progress as we go.

Tovie & Dollar

Home Sweet Home

After our whirl wind trip - 6 countries in 5 weeks - throughout Afrika (their spelling), and visiting with friends in Dubai, there really is nothing quite like being home. Mark and Sherri looked after everything so well, I worried, our critters didn't even miss us, but they were all happy to see us and we readjusted to our routine very quickly. I never quite understood jet lag until experiencing it first hand. I'd say it took a good couple of weeks to get back to our "clock". The spring time change was helpful; instead of waking up at 4:30 am, it started waking up at 5:30 am. It didn't help that I caught a nasty cold soon upon arriving home.

As you know from my previous blog, our first stop was Egypt. From there we headed to the Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania and spent 6 days on safari. Starting at Lake Manyara, then to the Serengeti for a few days, and finishing off with a visit to the Ngorongoro Crater. We had close encounters with nearly 200 species of birds and animals, thanks to our guide, Kimaro. Our next stop after Tanzania was Rwanda to meet up with our friends Jerry & Oraysha, and visit with the wild gorilla. Unfortunately Rwanda is best known for its horrific genocide less than 20 years ago. The government has done an amazing job of rebuilding and it is an extremely well run, clean, safe country.

Our guide, Francois, led us to Group #9, the Sabyinyo Group. This group of wild gorilla is famous because their leader Guhonda, is the largest and oldest wild silverback in the world. Francois has been guiding folks to this group since 1984. His intimate relationship with the Sabyinyo group is infamous and he really made our visit extra special. His ability to "speak" gorilla came in handy as he beckoned a youngster to come within a few feet of us.

Our next stop was Zambia to visit the spectacular Victoria Falls. We had a couple of down days there and decided to visit an animal refuge that has habituated young elephants, lions and cheetah to humans. After going on an elephant trail ride for an hour, we went for a cuddle and walk with two year old lions and then went to cuddle and walk with 3 young cheetah. To be touching and walking with these magnificent animals was beyond thrilling.

From Zambia, we headed to Botswana, the catalyst for going to Afrika in the first place. We were flown to Macatoo camp for a 5 day horseback safari. All I can say is WOW. Most of the horses were thoroughbred or thoroughbred crosses, although there were a few other breeds. These horses were well cared for and other than having very hard mouths, they were very safe as we galloped alongside several giraffe and rode amongst a herd of 32 elephant. Our guides told us that it can take up to 6 months of working with new horses to ensure they are safe around wildlife.

Finally, we finished up with a few days in the fascinating city of Dubai to visit Ron and Carol. They live in a beautiful apartment on one of the man-made palm islands. I was glad to be in their winter because the temperatures were moderate in the low 20C range. I can't imagine the 40C temperatures they get in the summer - no thanks for me.

It was a fantastic trip and I am happy to have been able to experience so much but I have to say, we live in a beautiful part of the world, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Karibu from Tovie & Gord

On Holidays Part 1

We begin our African adventure. It was a long drawn out affair to get here; 1.5 hour flight to Seattle, 10 hour wait for our departure to Dubai, 14 hour flight from Seattle to Dubai, airport shuttle to hotel in Dubai for a few hours shut eye before hopping on another 3.5 hour flight from Dubai to Cairo. Once we arrived in Cairo, we were greeted by Mamoud who briefed us on our upcoming itinerary and then delivered us to the local regional airport for yet another 1.5 hour flight for our arrival in Luxor.
We were greeted in Luxor by another friendly representative of Lion Dog Safari named Ahmed, who delivered us to the beautiful Steigenberger Nile Palace Hotel. Here we enjoyed the only authentic Thai cuisine in Luxor; and a peaceful night sleep. The following morning Ahmed introduced us to the guide who would navigate us through the next part of our journey; touring around Luxor and the 5 day river cruise down the Nile.
Ayman is a University educated man with a wife and beautiful baby girl named, Ereni. We have found Ayman to be wonderful company and very passionate about the political situation Egypt is currently facing under the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood. Ayman also proved to be extremely resourceful when Gord’s backpack caved under the weight of all his electronics and broke a strap, and then again, when he was able to get Gord hooked up with Internet while we are in Egypt. While this country seems quite behind in many respects, Gord has ended up with a better internet connection than we have at home – go figure.
Yesterday we spent the morning visiting the tombs at the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, and the temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the status of Colissi of Menmon. Ayman then took us to a factory where we got to watch them hand carve all kinds of authentic artwork on genuine stone. I picked out a lovely Onyx pot for my collection and a hand carved Sand stone tablet with beautiful colours. The weather is quite lovely at around 20C, however Ayman finds it cold, as it is their winter here.
We then boarded our ship, the Crown Jewel, where we enjoyed lunch and relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon. After dinner, there was a cheesy belly dancing show and Ayman confirmed that belly dancing is not considered a respectable profession in Egypt.
After the show, we met up with Ayman and he took us for a walk downtown to Luxor. The weather was pleasant and it is Saturday night, and so there were many people on the street. It is an entirely different world here and it was fascinating to see the local people doing what the local people do. Considering the political challenges Egyptians are facing, they seem to be amazingly happy as we watched them dancing and laughing on the street.
There is no social support for poor people here and it was very hard for me to see a young mother with her infant child, begging in the street - absolutely heartbreaking.
In a society that does not look after their poor people well, animals do not fare well here. It has been so hard to see the horses and donkeys pulling carriages and carts through crazy traffic; that appear starving and are obviously lame. I just want to do TTouch on them and bring them to a sweet grassy field.

Tovie

Happy 2103!

Contrary to popular superstition, 13 has always felt like a lucky number for me, so I am very excited to be entering 2013.

While 2012 was filled with amazing horse encounters and experiences, it ended with great sadness on New Year's Eve, when my beloved kitty Clover died unexpectedly. Clover's little buddy Goblin is still looking for him and missing their daily wrestling matches. Clover was the best farm kitty and greeted everyone with hugs and purrs. He was always sitting in the driveway when we arrived home, no matter how long we had been away. Perhaps he was guarding the property, or he somehow knew we were coming and was waiting to greet us. If we were outside, Clover was always nearby waiting for any opportunity to be petted or treated. There is a huge hole on the farm without that big beautiful orange tabby cat.

You are greatly missed,
Tovie & Goblin

Finding the Right Horse

Having fun with our horses, versus being frustrated and scared, completely depends on finding the right horse and developing our skills as horse handlers.

While having a horse that is very well trained can definitely help you develop your skills, even the best trained horse can easily digress to the level of an inexperienced handler. My criteria for choosing the right horse, is finding a horse that truly wants to be with you. This connection is difficult to convey to first time horse buyers. In a perfect world, every first time horse buyer would be matched with a horse they connect with; and has received adequate training and a temperament to fill in for any lack of expertise.

It could be said that purchasing a horse is similar to getting married. You will appreciate the one you marry far more if you date a few others first. On the other hand, if you rush into marrying the first person who comes along, you may not appreciate them if they are great, and if they turn out to be not so great - you will spend a lifetime trying to develop and/or improve the relationship.

Shopping for that first horse takes patience. Often the excitment of finally making your dream of horse ownership come true can blind folks to reality. Not much different than rushing into marriage while still infatuated, or because it is easier than letting go. Again, just like marriage, the more difficult the horse, the greater opportunity for learning and growing. The problem with this is that folks getting started with horses later in life are not bouncing as well when they hit the dirt.

When students seek my assistance to purchase their first horse, I encourage them to meet and try out several horses before they ask my opinion. As with everything about horses, this too has become a learning experience for me. More often than not, by the time I meet the horse, the decision has pretty much been made. This means I am really going out to see if there are any obvious concerns about the horse. However, it has become clear that even when everything seems to be going well, a bad match can still happen.

For example, one of my students bought a lovely, quiet mare who didn't show any cause for concern during the 3 visits prior to sealing the deal. However, it turned out this mare had lived most of her life alone, and had therefore not developed adequate social skills when exposed to other horses. While her aggression towards other horses is understandable, this is a problem that poses real danger to anyone riding near her.

Another example; a student who purchased a lovely morgan cross. This horse seemed to be a perfect fit for a beginner, age, exerpience and temperament. However, after being brought home, this horse started to act out under saddle. When a thorough check of saddle fit and extensive ground work didn't fix the problem, the horse was sent back to the original owner. Upon arrival, the disgruntled seller saddled him up and off he went without a hiccup. Clearly, it wasn't an issue of a dishonest horse dealer. This man had personally trained and ridden this horse for 10 years and had never seen him act up under saddle. Needless to say, he redeemed his reputation when he was able to demonstrate the horse was good - for him.

On the flip side, I do a lot of work at Dare 2 Dream Horse Rescue, teaching beginners who are considering purchasing their first horse. My initial reaction was; beginners should not be starting out with young horses. However, after 2 years of observation, it is remarkable to see that the majority of these partnerships are working out extremely well. Folks volunteer at D2D, grooming and handling the horses, often in a very minimal way. What Brenda and Henry are very good at, is noticing when a strong bond developes between the horse and a volunteer, and then helping them nurture that bond.

I firmly believe the trusting relationship we have with a horse has a huge impact on the success of that partnership; and to me success means safety.

Happy horse shopping (or should I say dating)!

Tovie and the "Boys"