23rd June 2010

All the horses are coming on a treat. Glimmer and Taj Mahili no longer need to be moved into the smaller catch pen to be caught and remained with the rest of their little herd in the corral whilst we put head collars on the horses for the morning session.  Second lead lines have been added to the head collars to teach the horses to lead from both sides and accept contact on both sides of the body.  Chunking each step down into small exercises enables you to see at which point the horse becomes unsure of what he is being asked to do and when the second line was attached to Glimmer’s head collar, she initially became a little stuck.  This is where the wand work is important as the handlers can stroke the horse gently all over the body to relax the horse and give him better body awareness enabling the horse to move calmly out of the freeze reflex without exploding.

All the horses can now be stroked all over their body with wands and are also thoroughly enjoying the benefits of body work. Some of the mud has been removed from the Canadian horses and work has begun on their manes and tails too. Yesterday Glimmer was unable to be touched on the right side of her body with the hand so I wrapped a body wrap around the button end of the wand and showed Glimmer’s group how to roll this down her neck and chest. This is a neat step between stroking with the wands and direct hand contact and it worked a treat as we were able to roll the soft bandaged end of the wand all over her body.

We were also able to put full body wraps on the horses having started first with a single length tied loosely around the base of the neck before progressing.  A second wrap was then attached to the neck piece and taken around the heart girth area to accustom the horse to wearing first a surcingle and later a girth. As the body wraps are stretchy they move as the horse breathes and prevent the horse from panicking when he feels something around his ribs which can happen if horses are introduced to a girth too quickly. A back piece is added later and this can be extremely beneficial for horses that are nervous about movement behind them. Body wraps also improve proprioception and body awareness and aid balance as a result. They also teach a horse to become accustomed to the sensation of something on his body such as a saddle pad and rugs and reduce the chances of the horse becoming startled when he feels long lines (or driving lines) along his barrel as he advances with the ground work.

It is sweltering here in the mountains and the civilised early evening drinks and nibbles that are laid on every day are much appreciated.  With so many horses going through the clinic we are all working really hard but enjoying every moment and I can’t believe that we are already half way through the week.  The Canadian horses are almost catching up with the Bitterroot youngsters and it is truly amazing to see how much can be achieved in such a short space of time with patience, understanding and an open mind.

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