Ticking Along- Quaid Update

 I realise that I've been a little quiet on the Quaid front and figured an update would be good.  

hello my peeps

The most important thing is that he continues to be sound. Before we went to the obstacle clinic  the farrier was out and shod both of them. Quaid no longer needed the medical plate. Instead he put on a leather pad and put a gel substance in between to make sure no rocks get in and cause more damage. The farrier told me that if he didn't know the history he would be tempted to cut out the opening and let it heal. As you can see it's growing towards the toe. He had to take off a lot of sole because he's been leaving it to let it fill in. 

healing nicely. You may recall that the original hole
was right in front of the point of the frog. 

I'd like to transition him back to barefoot when the hole is healed. My farrier said 'check with your vet'. Which I will but if the hole is gone I'm not sure why not. 

The other good news is that he's acting more like his old self. Not as guarded as before. Although the first time I gave him a bite of apple he spat it out. I'm pretty sure he thought I was trying to sneak some medicine. And he was a little more difficult to deworm.  By 'difficult' I mean I had to do a little manoeuvring in his stall before I could deworm him without a halter. 

I've been working him fairly regularly. Right before the show he went onto the back burner so I could work with Carmen. But now that the show is over we can resume normal programming. He likes to have things done with him even if he doesn't like everything I do right away. 

As a gelding he has a habit of picking everything up in his mouth. If it's a flappy thing he ends up scaring himself. I had made a note of that but hadn't really tackled it. Until one day he came into the barn to visit me while I was doing chores and picked up my jacket that I had absentmindedly put on the stall door. I heard the commotion and saw him with his jaw clamped on beginning to panic a bit ( just in case you don't know- horses that are scared clamp their jaws tight so he couldn't let go of the thing that was scaring him). Carmen came and looked at him and said 'nope, I'm out' and left. He ran out into the paddock and dropped the jacket in a big muddy puddle and stomped it for good measure as he ran off. *sigh*

As I picked up the dripping jacket I decided it was time to tackle it. So I've been working with an old saddle pad and allowing him to play with it. He can't hurt himself with it and I don't care if it gets ripped. I've hung it around his stall and have started taking it up to the ring. It really didn't take long for him to stop caring. 

Quaid: I am so brave

After he gets used to this I'm going to see if I can teach him to pick it up and give it to me. That could be a useful trick. 

I try to mix up the sessions with old and new but not repeat the same session over and over. Instead I might work on ground driving one day and then carrying a saddle another.  He's doing really well with the ground driving. Despite my lack of skill in this area. I've started to set up cones and poles so I can practice actually steering. 

Right now the reins are fastened to the rings on his rope halter. The problem is that the nose of the halter is so loose I think I'm losing the fine tuning. I will start with them on the bit soon but I want to work a bit more with him understanding bit pressure first. 

We've also been working on teaching him to pony. He's doing okay with it.

here Julia is practicing with ponying

 Recently he started to bite at Carmen so that has needed some correction before things get ugly. I've noticed overall that he's a bit more saucy with her in the field. He'll be like 'Imma  bite you'. Carmen remains unimpressed and simply pins an ear or cocks a leg at him 'come at me skippy. Let's see what happens'  and he backs off.  

I was doing it the other day and tried to change directions and he got very upset at being on the 'outside' and moved to be on the inside. I want him to be able to stay on one side so we stopped and thought for a bit. I then had Julia lead him beside us on the left, first on the inside and then on the outside when we changed direction. I could see the wheels turning. I then asked for the lead back and off we went. My goal would be to take him out on the trail ponying with Carmen but we need to work out the kinks in the ring first. 

This is where experienced trainers may be rolling their eyes at me and for good reason. But I don't have the budget to send him for 6 months, even if I wanted to. His good nature makes it easier to stop and think things through. 

The other day was a practice with the saddle day. I put it on up in the ring. He really doesn't mind it going on and the girth tightening. When I ask him to move out on the lunge you can see him thinking it through and trying to figure out how to move with this on. He's not moving as free but he isn't objecting either. After a bit I lowered the stirrups so that they bounced against his side. He was, again, curious but not worried. After working on the lunge I brought him over to practice lining up to the block. He does well with this. I then began to put weight in the stirrup and lean over his back. He was to all appearances, bored. He didn't even fidget. 

I am happy with how things are going. I know that the vet says to wait to start him. He's looking a lot more mature so I may rethink this in the fall. 

Me: Hey Quaid please pose for a conformation shot
Quaid: fine, but I will hold my lead line. Safety first