Fw: Re: Introduction

2012-11-28 Thread Rovena Kessinger 
This message is from: Rovena Kessinger ro_k...@yahoo.com


#yiv1988381887 p {margin:0;}



HI!  So glad you adopted your fjord and a mule...I love both breeds.  
Names?
 
The mule's name is Odi.  The fjord's name was Oli--just random that they had
rhyming names, but I couldn't keep them straight, and Odi couldn't tell the
difference (it didn't help I used the wrong name half the time.)  Since Odi
knew his name, I kept his the same, and have been calling the fjord Bam-Bam. 
I guess that's his name now lol, since he knows it.  It was just one of
several nicknames I had for him while I was thinking of a name, but it
stuck.  (Better than Butter-Butt, I guess, which was one of the other
ones.)  His personality is very much Bam-Bam right now (he kicked me in the
shins twice (not very hard) when I turned my attention away from him
momentarily and he thought I should still be looking at him), but he's getting
better all the time.
 
   I have a 9 yo mare and yes, they are very smart...and mine is food
motivated so if you know clicker training, there are people doing that with
them.   There are a couple of sites on facebook...Norwegian
Fjords...Fjords   one of the women there is sharing what she is doing with a
clicker.   There is also some good stuff on youtube.   I recall seeing a
video of someone at mule rescue getting an appy mule to go into a wash
stall...it was really cool!!
 
Yes, CT is great.  I think I am following the woman on facebook; Life with
Oden?  And yes, they are both definitely food-motivated.  That was the
amazing part; I thought dogs were food-motivated, but there are things dogs
like better than food sometimes.  I don't think there is anything those
horses like better!
 
Soph recently gave pony rides to small children and even let them lead her
around.  I have to watch the treats, because she gets very pushy...has pulled
tabs off my barn coat.  I get after her and she acts sullen...for a while 
LOL  She seems to be sensitive to correction once she understands what you
want.
 
With CT, the first thing you train them (any animal, not just horses) is not
to mug you for treats.  So it takes care of that problem.
 
I have a western trainer helping me with her.   She was pretty green a year
ago... he loves working with her.  She is very smart and happy to work.
 
That's good to hear.  Yea these two guys come running when they see me.  I
don't think they think it is work, lol. 
 
Good luck!   Keep us up to date with your progress.   Beth and Soph

Beth, Bob, the Corgis and the Fjord
 
Thanks for the welcome! 
 
 



From: Rovena Kessinger ro_k...@yahoo.com
To: fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 7:47:50 PM
Subject: Introduction

This message is from: Rovena Kessinger ro_k...@yahoo.com


Hi everybody.� I hope I am posting to this list the right way.

I have a four year old fjord gelding that I got from a horse rescue.� He
was
left there after two owners gave up on him.� I have had him for about two
months.� He has had minimal training, and I don't think any of it stuck.

I am new to horses.� I learned about clicker-training last year with a
problem
dog, and that worked so well, it gave me confidence to try it on a new
species. It's going really well.� He was VERY pushy and domineering at
first,
and I was rather stupid and probably put myself in danger, I realize now that
I know more, but it turned out OK, and he has made a huge amount of
progress.�
So, now that I know better, and he is better, it's all good.

He is incredibly smart, and not scared of anything.� I have a mule that I
do
CT with too.� The reason that I picked those two out of all the horses was
that they always came to the gate to greet me when I got there, and the one
left in the field always watched me as I worked with the other one, obviously
wanting to be in on it.� So I couldn't leave either behind.� The mule is
12.�
He is much more well-trained than the fjord, but also a lot more suspicious
and spooky. So they both need a lot of work.� Somebody told me that mules
and
fjords are a lot alike, so it made sense what happened with those two.� I
thought those two made the other horses seem like sheep in comparison.

Anyway, I found this list, and thought it would be interesting to see what
other people are doing with their fjords.� My immediate issue with mine is
his
hooves.� I want to keep him barefoot, and I think from what I read that is
how
most fjords are.� A farrier came just to trim, but my horse wouldn't let
the
guy get near him.� So I am trying to desensitize him to having his feet
handled.� I can touch all of them now, but haven't picked them up yet.�
I'm
sure we'll get there, but after that, I don't know a good barefoot trimmer in
my area.� He obviously needs something done, so I was going to let the
farrier
just trim him, despite the fact he doesn't seem to now anything special about
barefoot trimming.�

Fw: Re: Introduction

2012-11-28 Thread Rovena Kessinger 
This message is from: Rovena Kessinger ro_k...@yahoo.com


Hi Cindy!  I've been following you and Oden with interest since you are using
CT too and Oden is way ahead of Bam-Bam.
 
Luckily, I can touch him all over with my hands and with stuff, he doesn't
mind that.  I have been using umbrella, tarp, plastic bags, metal pans, etc.
to desensitize Odi the mule, who is very wary and suspicious of anything new,
and then I do it with Bam-Bam too, and he doesn't care.  He watches Odi, who
has to work up to doing it slowly, and then when it's his turn he runs over
and starts touching things and stomping on things, so he can get CT too. 
Actually he broke out of his halter which I must not have tied well when he
was tied up yesterday to come touch the umbrella, lol.  And I can touch his
legs and his hooves fine.
 
However, when I try to pick up his foot, he either doesn't move it, or
he jerks it away and slams it back down.  I am just CT for any tiny bit of
progress at this point.   It's hard to catch that time that it's up before
it's slammed back down again.  Surely he's had his hooves worked on at some
point, but it's like he has no idea what I am trying to do.  Maybe he thinks I
want him to move his foot over.
 
He does do this thing when I'm not CT fast enough for him where he picks up
his front foot and waves it around.  I'm always worried he's going to paw/kick
forward, since he has done that before, but that was under different
circumstances.  I wonder if I should CT that to start, since his foot is way
in the air then.  That's an idea, I guess.  I haven't noticed if it's always
the same foot or not, like if he is left or right-hooved.  (Or horses left or
right-hooved?)
 
Thanks!  That gives me an idea.   Nice to see you here. :)

--- On Wed, 11/28/12, Cindy B Giovanetti cin...@ipi.org wrote:


From: Cindy B Giovanetti cin...@ipi.org
Subject: Re: Introduction
To: fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 2:30 PM


This message is from: Cindy B Giovanetti cin...@ipi.org


Ro, since I know you're doing clicker training, the way to approach this
is to break it into the smallest possible steps.

If it were me, I would probably get a carrot stick (so I could stand back
until I was sure whether he was going to kick out).  Take the time to make
sure he's comfortable with your stroking him with the stick.  Then, see if
you can rub his flank with the stick.  If so, click and treat for that.
Then, gradually, start running the stick down his leg.  Click and treat
for that.  Continue that until you are sure he won't kick at the stick.

Then repeat the exercise with your hand, clicking for him staying calm as
you touch his flank, his leg, his ankle, and then, finally, his hoof.

You'll need to repeat this on each hoof.

Finally, you'll try to pick a hoof up.  At first, click and treat even if
he just shifts his weight off the hoof you want.  In the end, you won't
click until you can hold the hoof quietly in your hand.

I am working on this with Oden right now, although Oden doesn't have
issues with having his hooves touched.  I'll try to get a video of it.  I
actually tried -- with you in mind -- just a few minutes ago; but I was
working by myself, and there was no way to hold the camera, the hoof, the
clicker, and everything else.  LOL!  I had to give up!  But I'll try again
when I can get my photographer (my 15YO son) to come out with me.

Cindy

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Fw: Re: Introduction

2012-11-28 Thread Rovena Kessinger 
This message is from: Rovena Kessinger ro_k...@yahoo.com


Hi Mary.  This is what happened.  I held Odi the mule, while Bam-Bam was tied
up and watching.  (That was probably a mistake; he always watches stuff that's
going on.)  The farrier did Odi's front hooves fine (he doesn't need much
work, it just took a few minutes).  Then he went for his back hooves, and Odi
didn't like that and started moving around.  Before I really knew what was
happening, he had a rope out and was going to use it somehow on his back
feet.  Odi freaked out and wasn't having any of that, and the farrier said,
He's been hog-tied before, and gave up on him.  That was annoying to me,
because I didn't know he was going to do something traumatic to Odi. 
 
When he started with Odi, he didn't introduce himself or go slowly, just had
me hold him and went at his feet.  So after that, I got Bam-Bam, and the
farrier couldn't even get near him, he went wild when the farrier started got
close to us.  He didn't rear, but he was jumping all around and it was hard
for me to hold onto.  The farrier was like, OK, no way, and he turned around
and left.  The Bam-Bam was fine.  Bam-Bam just didn't want that bad guy
carrying torture-implements (for all he knew) getting close to him.
 
So, I can see that mistakes that were made.  Strange man holding strange
tools, he sees the man do something bad to Odi, then the man goes at him like
a predator, I haven't been lifting his hooves, etc.  My fault.
 
Oh good, thanks so much for that link.  I'll check it out.  The state of his
hooves are my main worry with him.  I've tried several leads but nothing has
panned out yet.  I need to get him more comfortable first anyway, I guess.
 
 
--- On Wed, 11/28/12, Mary Ofjord ma...@boreal.org wrote:


From: Mary Ofjord ma...@boreal.org
Subject: Re: Introduction
To: fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 9:27 AM


This message is from: Mary Ofjord ma...@boreal.org


The mule is 12.  He is much more well-trained than the fjord, but also a lot
more suspicious
 and spooky. So they both need a lot of work. Somebody told me that mules
and
 fjords are a lot alike, so it made sense what happened with those two. I
 thought those two made the other horses seem like sheep in comparison.

We have a mule and five Fjords. And yes, the mule and Fjords have
similarities, such as needing to understand if it benefits them to do
something, then convinicing them to do so.


A farrier came just to trim, but my horse wouldn't let the
 guy get near him. So I am trying to desensitize him to having his feet
 handled. I can touch all of them now, but haven't picked them up yet.

If this horse has had problems in the past, he may be wary of farriers.  How
did he approach your horse?
Did he let the horse sniff him, and did he 'introduce' himself to the horse,
or did he just go in and grab a leg and
start to trim?  Most farriers come in smelling like other horses, and
sometimes that will make a horse suspicious.


I am in northern Wisconsin (Rhinelander). If anybody
 knows a good trimmer near me, especially for a fjord and any special needs
 they may have, I would appreciate if you let me know.

All our animals are barefoot and have been for several years.  We do
occasionally use boots - Cavallo Sport are my choice.
Here's a link to the Wisconsin Association for the Advancement of Natural
Horse Care Practices:

http://www.aanhcp.net/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=140Itemid
=121

Good luck in your search for a Natural Hoof Care Practitioner.

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