4th April 2009

We took Charlot's winter rug off yesterday - he was easy to catch whilst calm and happy for one of us to undo the straps under his belly, legs and chest, whilst another held his head-collar. What a change!

Charlot is not looking too bad after a fairly harsh Shetland winter having lived out 24/7 on only grass and silage if it snowed. Settled in the herd with friends, I let them into a newer pasture, which everyone was very enthusiastic about. We removed 2 Icelandics and 2 Shetlands and he doesn't seem to miss them or look for them at all. It is nice to see him take things in his stride.

So what next? I suppose when the grass really starts to grow, we will move Charlot up to the fields nearer the indoor school and restart his training. That should be interesting. I wonder if he will remember how it all deteriorated last year. He has been with us a whole year now and I can see a difference in his attitude, his take on life and his whole demeanour - he is far less nervous and has adopted the curious calm attitude of the Icelandics, which is a good way to go. Long may it last!

So......here we go again!

18th February 2009

Today, Jo and I went to change Charlot's rug. It has been trashed a little by his friends and some fairly rough games. One cross-strap was swinging down so Jo marched up to him, bunged on his headcollar with rope and took off the old rug. This involved her moving her hands around his back legs and under his belly to unclip various straps. I stood in the sidelines with my camera ready to help if required but, no, Jo managed to take off the rug and put on a new(er) one with absolutely no problems at all. He took it all in his stride as if he had rugs changed every day. What a pro! This time last year, he was still in a field in France so he has come along way since then.

We looked at his weight and he has a lovely thick coat and he is spot on for this time of year. Not too fat (like some Shetlands and Icelandics we know), appears calm and settled. We chatted with everyone, spending lots of time just relaxing with them. It was a lovely afternoon, peaceful, therapeutic and with absolutely no hassle from any of the lads.

I was interested to know how old Charlot is. We think he may be younger than we thought. He still has his baby teeth and so maybe we were asking too much of him last year as he was only a green youngster. I think he will be a slow to mature but his nature is changing, and that was very obvious today. He seemed completely unphased by the general rug flapping, straps moving and Jo resting on him!

I remain hopeful about this lad and his outcome. It will obviously take time but he is mellowing every day but having said that, we didn't try to pick up his back legs! Too muddy, was our excuse!

17th February 2009

It has been quite a while for various reasons, the main one being my back operation and subsequently being confined to barracks.

Anyway, today we are heading towards my 6 week anniversary and so I decided to take the dogs for a walk down to Finnigert, where the horses are.

They have had a good winter, no one is thin and Charlot's rug is standing up well to the rigours of Shetland pony playing and general wear and tear. He managed to get stuck in one part of the field and ended up relying on a human being to sort out the problem, ie help him jump the burn. Winnie (Icelandic/Fjord mare) showed him, jumping to and fro endlessly in front of him but he could not get the plot at all. With the help of Jo, he managed this huge feat and had to have a good 30 minute rough game with Jackson afterwards, the Shetland, to make up for his "loneliness". Idiot! It was good though that he didn't panic and just waited for human help to arrive.

So, today, armed with my camcorder that can also take the world's worst photos too, I went and talked to my chaps. It was so good to see them and everyone looked well and pleased to see me too. They all came charging down for a good snog and general scratch. Charlot is definitely part of the gang, both Shetland and Icelandic which is nice to see. He let me kiss his nose and joined in like everyone else. He has lost his summer stand-offishness (is that a word?) and that can only be good.

He has the most amazing winter coat too - a regular fluff ball, like the Shetlands and has lost no weight this winter, despite some fairly hefty snow last week. No one has been short of rations, though, and the whole gang have been regularly moved about Finnigert into different long grassed fields all winter or had unlimited silage. Everyone was in a very good mood and appeared relaxed. I did not feel nervous or worried about my safety at all. Although, I am not very steady on my legs, there was always an Icelandic to hang onto if needs be.

It was so nice to get out and about. I have been stuck indoors for far too long.

1st December 2008

Just to say that Charlot has been moved away from the house to his winter quarters, along with the big guys, 2 pregnant Shetland mares and his new best friend, Merkisayre Jackson (small, little black sweetie).

We have decided to give him some time off. We do this sometimes with our youngsters, ie work with them in the spring/summer/autumn, then turn them away for the winter and re-start them again in the spring. It is a training practice popular with Icelandic trainers and one that we sometimes use.

Charlot seems to be going backwards in his training. I was looking at photos of him happily having has his back feet trimmed in the school, with someone holding him. He was calm and co-operative then but now he uses for target practice and that is not fair on any of us.

Weather and back permitting, I will go up and take some photos to show everyone that he is happy in his huge field, with his friends and plenty of grass. He has a rug on and is maintaining his weight.

12th November 2008

Well, another day - new strategy. To ignore Charlot and just work with his friends so that he can see they are not being killed by picking up their back feet!

We approached his back leg and he aimed as usual. Then we tried running a looped rope up and down the leg. We picked up the front leg using this rope and he was happy about that. We approached the back and he lamped out, bang! and we managed to get the rope around (you need a heavy rope) his back leg and ran it up and down like on this YouTube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdfSQ_f0bA8

Surprisingly, we were quite successful. Just did the one back leg, gave him some food and left it at that. I think we need to look more into this back leg rope thing abit more - I wish that video had spent more time on the back legs rather than the fronts!

8th November 2008

I caught Charlot easily, though he was hiding beside his new best mate (Jackson). Eggwub has been sold and moved south so Charlot has had to team up with another Shetland. Luckily Jackson loves me and believes every word I say so when Charlot was turning away from being caught, Jackson came up and I fed him the ponynut intended for Charlot instead. That caught Charlot's attention and he turned back to me, I popped on the headcollar and gave him the ponynut.

Leading into the school on a windy morning was achieved with no additional help. He walked in, was tied up next to others and we started the clicker training to pick up his feet. This time Jo had a hoof-pick so that we could actually achieve something. Charlot was not very helpful and while quite successful with the back, he actually lashed out with his back leg before we had even mentioned what we were going to do. We won eventually through patience, an infinite supply of pony-nuts and the clicker. Not our best day, by any means.

I think we might get Jackson in and line them all up, picking up everyone's feet and showing him that no one else is having this hissy fit about it and it is an everyday occurrence in their lives. He might catch on if he watches his friend.

Why can't this horse be easy? I am trying hard not to lose faith in him, to be honest. We have had him only 6 months, I know, but you would think he might have got the plot a bit more. No one has murdered him yet....... could someone tell him that? Picking feet up is a very basic skill and one we are failing at!

No photos coz and I can't click, feed and photo at the same time. Sorry.

5th November 2008

Clicker training again.... and again..... and again...!

Got the herd up, caught Charlot and tied him up in the school with a few Shetlands for company.

With me on the front end with the clicker and a pocketful of pony nuts and Jo with the four potential missiles (ie legs), I clicked and fed merrily away for good results while Jo picked up all four feet and did a tiny bit more.

This time, she ran her hand down each leg about 6 inches at a time, said "click", I would click and feed Charlot 2 pony nuts, then she would keep going downwards, 6" at a time, with the appropriate click and feed 2 nuts if he stood still. Then, when Jo had got the whole hoof up in the air, I clicked repetitively and fed Charlot a whole handful of nuts. Jo handled the foot for as long as he would let her and then she put it down for him, not letting him grab it away, kick out or plant it down again. We were in control. It was a quiet, efficient working environment and Charlot behaved allowing us to pick up each foot in this way.

Success, big kiss and another handful of nuts, I led him outside, took off the head-collar, kissed a few more hairy noses and went back to working with the Muppets! (little dun 37" geldings who we have had since foals!).

Mission achieved.