summer_jackel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summer_jackel) wrote2009-04-21 11:54 am
summer_jackel) wrote2009-04-21 11:54 am
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Plenty of gratuitous cute baby horse shots. Education of various critters, including me.
Equinox continues to be cute. I can prove it with photos. Also, note how he's growing!
His current preferred game is to be shy, and then come up behind you to investigate when you are doing something else. He likes to nibble clothing, too, which is now something that needs to be gently stopped as soon as it happens. My training task is therefore to encourage his trust-building by letting him explore humans as much as he likes and never frightening him, while simultaneously teaching him that nibbling is not OK. So far, so good. Training really does start at birth, at least if you want to prevent the really dangerous ground vices. The main thing one needs to teach babies this young is to accept petting everywhere, which is going well so far. Equinox is not thrilled to have his poll or withers touched, but loves face and croup skritches. The cute makes my brain melt. Most importantly, he lets me pick his feet up.
Puppy Blue now heels and velcros beautifully, sits, stands and lays down and comes when called with about 80% accuracy. His stay is pretty decent, too. I was going to show him this month, but I had a scheduling conflict...soon, though! Sheeperdog intelligence and desire to be trained impresses me. His expression of solemn focus when working contrasts amusingly with the (literally!) bouncing energy he displays the rest of the time; he has reached that stage of young doghood where they have OMGSOMUCHENERGY all of the time. I could walk him ten times a day, and he would still want more. Boing!
Osbick Bird is no longer afraid at all of being moved around on a dowel, and now leaps happily onto it in his cage so I can take him out. He has stepped cautiously onto my gloved hand without biting, though this is definitely scarier for him. He'll sit on my knee comfortably. I'm very proud of the little guy! He does not add nearly as much unpleasant parrot noise to the house as I was afraid he would and is actually a rather polite and unobtrusive houseguest.
As for me, I put my newfound farriery skills to the test for the first time yesterday! I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I've been studying farrier skills for several months now. My teacher OK'd me, and I got the tools. I should mention that I'm trimming, not shoeing; my horses are almost always barefoot. This is usually healthier for the horse for a number of reasons; shoes tend to be necessary only when work is wearing down hooves faster than they grow. Anyway, the farrier thing is fascinating intellectually and isn't actually that difficult to do...intellectually. Physically, is it ever hard work! Working the rasps and such from that angle is a major upper body workout. However, I think I did a pretty good job for a first time. Bey and Dancer look nicely trimmed.
...and yeah, my first ever trim job was Bey, the Doompony. She needed it the most, and I guess I'm just a masochist. Bey is the source of much ill will directed towards me from various farriers, and now I more fully appreciate why. I'll say in praise of Bey that she actually behaved for me much better than she often does for farriers, and any mare with colt at side gets special dispensation for being bratty about her feet. Still.
Dancer gave me no trouble of any kind. For which he is made of awesome. I remember training him regarding feet in the first year of his life, doing things like holding them in farrier position for that length of time when he was still pretty little; I wanted to have him behave like I'd want if I was the farrier. Now that I AM the farrier, I have an enhanced understanding of what a good idea that actually was...
So, my back's a bit sore and I managed to scratch my forearms with the rasp in a couple places (need elbow-length leather work gloves) but: ponies trimmed, and yay new skill!
Now Pics.
This would be such a nice shot if it weren't for the blanket in the background.
awwwwwwwwwwww
flattering angle on Bey.
playing!
he has a bit of 'tude, to be sure.
Mother and son moving together and being pretty.
His current preferred game is to be shy, and then come up behind you to investigate when you are doing something else. He likes to nibble clothing, too, which is now something that needs to be gently stopped as soon as it happens. My training task is therefore to encourage his trust-building by letting him explore humans as much as he likes and never frightening him, while simultaneously teaching him that nibbling is not OK. So far, so good. Training really does start at birth, at least if you want to prevent the really dangerous ground vices. The main thing one needs to teach babies this young is to accept petting everywhere, which is going well so far. Equinox is not thrilled to have his poll or withers touched, but loves face and croup skritches. The cute makes my brain melt. Most importantly, he lets me pick his feet up.
Puppy Blue now heels and velcros beautifully, sits, stands and lays down and comes when called with about 80% accuracy. His stay is pretty decent, too. I was going to show him this month, but I had a scheduling conflict...soon, though! Sheeperdog intelligence and desire to be trained impresses me. His expression of solemn focus when working contrasts amusingly with the (literally!) bouncing energy he displays the rest of the time; he has reached that stage of young doghood where they have OMGSOMUCHENERGY all of the time. I could walk him ten times a day, and he would still want more. Boing!
Osbick Bird is no longer afraid at all of being moved around on a dowel, and now leaps happily onto it in his cage so I can take him out. He has stepped cautiously onto my gloved hand without biting, though this is definitely scarier for him. He'll sit on my knee comfortably. I'm very proud of the little guy! He does not add nearly as much unpleasant parrot noise to the house as I was afraid he would and is actually a rather polite and unobtrusive houseguest.
As for me, I put my newfound farriery skills to the test for the first time yesterday! I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I've been studying farrier skills for several months now. My teacher OK'd me, and I got the tools. I should mention that I'm trimming, not shoeing; my horses are almost always barefoot. This is usually healthier for the horse for a number of reasons; shoes tend to be necessary only when work is wearing down hooves faster than they grow. Anyway, the farrier thing is fascinating intellectually and isn't actually that difficult to do...intellectually. Physically, is it ever hard work! Working the rasps and such from that angle is a major upper body workout. However, I think I did a pretty good job for a first time. Bey and Dancer look nicely trimmed.
...and yeah, my first ever trim job was Bey, the Doompony. She needed it the most, and I guess I'm just a masochist. Bey is the source of much ill will directed towards me from various farriers, and now I more fully appreciate why. I'll say in praise of Bey that she actually behaved for me much better than she often does for farriers, and any mare with colt at side gets special dispensation for being bratty about her feet. Still.
Dancer gave me no trouble of any kind. For which he is made of awesome. I remember training him regarding feet in the first year of his life, doing things like holding them in farrier position for that length of time when he was still pretty little; I wanted to have him behave like I'd want if I was the farrier. Now that I AM the farrier, I have an enhanced understanding of what a good idea that actually was...
So, my back's a bit sore and I managed to scratch my forearms with the rasp in a couple places (need elbow-length leather work gloves) but: ponies trimmed, and yay new skill!
Now Pics.
This would be such a nice shot if it weren't for the blanket in the background.
awwwwwwwwwwww
flattering angle on Bey.
playing!
he has a bit of 'tude, to be sure.
Mother and son moving together and being pretty.
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