May 20, 2013

Sometimes in this blog I mention that a pony was licking and chewing and refer to it as a good thing.  When a pony is learning they often lick their lips, or chew.  Its a good sign that they are digesting and thinking through the situation.  Yawning is similar but is also a bit debated.  Some feel that it is a sign of stress or distress.  Some feel that it is a release of stress and decision to relax.  Both are basically saying the same thing.  The horse is stressed and releasing some of that stress.

All normal and positive behaviors.

May 19, 2013

We spent a lot of time with Linus this weekend, and his progress shows it.  Such a smart pony.

On Saturday Rich spent about two hours with Linus.  It went very well.  he brushed him, picked his hooves, tacked him up and did some ground work.  Rich also briefly climbed on and I led him around on Linus for a few minutes.

Rich reinforced his Saturday work with Linus on Sunday, and again groomed him, picked his hooves up, tacked him up and lunged him.

Linus is an affectionate pony and he nuzzled Rich, waffled his neck and face, and rested his head on Rich’s shoulder quite a bit.

We watched Linus chew and lick as he thought and yawn as he digested and worked through the stress of all this new trust.   He looked to both of us quite a bit for reassurance, and eagerly accepted our good boys. 

We discovered he is afraid of the rasp, so I will spend some time working through this until I am able to rasp his hooves, and then have Rich give it a try with him.  Hopefully this will make it a little easier for the ferrier next time he is out.

I also mounted up and took Linus for a brief ride both Saturday and Sunday.  He was excellent.  Rich held a lunge line, and I worked Linus around him at a walk, working on woe, and walk-on.  I felt that his balance had improved since the last time I was on him, and he seemed a lot more comfortable with weight on him.

I am really excited to have Linus coming along.  It is so rewarding to see how quickly he improves and how eager he is to please.

And now, here are a bunch of photos from this weekend.

Rich brushing Linus

Rich picking up Linus’s hooves

Rich brushing Linus’s tail

un oh, here comes the saddle.

hum, that saddle looks like trouble

or maybe its the evil fluffy pad!

Yep, that just happened

the saddle is not that bad. lick lick.

Linus loving on Rich

Linus moving on Rich some more

Rich hand feeding Linus.

Time to do Saturday’s work all over again.

At the end of Sunday’s ride.

May 17, 2013

My friend Lydia recently mentioned that she enjoys working with greenies and was looking for a project to get into this summer, so I asked if she wanted to come meet Linus.

Today she came out and we played with ponies.

She took Simon for a spin and I took note of her solid equitation, which is not justified in my iPhone pictures.  But boy don’t Lydia and Simon look cute together.

After Simon got a little exercise Lydia spent some time getting to know Linus.  He was a little cautious but also very interested in her. She took him for a walk around the field, and then did some basic ground work, moving around him, and letting him get accustomed to her.  This by itself was fantastic for Linus.

And Lydia continued on and mounted while I held the lead line.  Linus took a few minor hops, which Lydia took in stride, and he quickly smoothed out and settled into a polite forward walk.

Linus put on his “I got this” face.

After a few laps around we called it good for the day, and ended on a fantastic note.

It was very pleasing to see Linus take to Lydia, and show trust in her.  We both agreed he will make a one-person-pony in time, with a strong bond and level of trust.  He certainly does not have a mean streak, and is eager to please.  He is also a quick learner, and listens attentively.  But he does need a lot of work, including building of confidence and working through his fear issues.

Lydia had a good time and is going to continue to come out and put in some more elbow grease with Linus.  With some team work between myself, Lydia and Rich, Linus’s education is getting well under way.

Yea!

such a sweet pony

Yea!

Linus is not the most photogenic pony.

May 15, 2013

Several people have asked me what color Linus is.  And honestly, I am not completely sure.  When I got him he had a winter coat, which tends to be a little different than a summer coat, and often lighter in color.  He clearly has some roaning, but it was not clear to what degree.  up close it appears to be red roaning, but from afar it sort of looks like blue roaning.  he also had some blue in the to pof his mane, which might have been throwing me off.  To complicate things, he often has grass, mud or poo marks on him, making it harder to determine what color his marks are, and also, what is an actual natural mark and what is a stain.  Complicated.

I also confess that I am not a very observant person.  Particularly when it comes to color.  I suppose I do not store my memories in full color.  For example, unless someone has strikingly white-blonde hair, or fire engine red locks, I probably will not be able to recall what their hair color is.

Now that Linus has mostly shedded out, his patches are a bit darker.  But since he still has grass, dirt and poo marks on him, so I decided ti was best to give him a bath and then take a good look at him close up.

Mind you this was Linus’s first bath.  He did very well.  he was a little unsure of the hose, but he actually liked the water hitting him, and quickly stuck his head into the spray.  After a few minutes, chewing and licking his lips and deciding that the hose was not going to kill him, he stood happily, ground tied, while I worked away scrubbing and cleaning him up.

I determined that YES, as was pretty much apparent before the bath, Linus is a paint.  he is primarily white, which patches of red roan.  His roan does vary in darkness, and is heavily muted with white.  His patches are not clear and well defined and sort of blend away into his white.  They are also awkwardly shaped.  He also has a blaze and some blue in the top of his mane.

This led me to Google horse colors to determine if there is an actual name for a red roan paint.  No success.

So if anyone happens to know of a fancy name for a red roan paint, I am all ears.

pre-bath: grass stains on his front leg and shoulder and one near his stifle.

pre-bath: this side was pretty clean.

wet and freshly scrubbed. you can see how his roan patches are odd and the darkness is varying.

Freshly washed, and still damp. His roan patch sort of fades into his white on this side.

The roan patch under his neck is easy to see. Its wet and freshly washed here and the skin shows through nicely.

still wet, his roan patches are uneven here. The small black marks on his flank are little nicks.