Val 3/27 (AM)

Val (Valentino) arrived this past weekend with some fanfare. He's taken the last two days to settle in, and in typical young colt fashion (he's 2 1/2 ) is trying to jump stall doors, run people over, knock people out who go into his stall (unintentionally--he simply doesn't acknowledge you exist). He has MAJOR space issues and crowds you, steps on you, mugs you for food, and generally doesn't acknowledge the fact he needs to respect a person's space at all, pinning them against stall walls/doors etc. He's so distracted by what's around him and so focused on what HE wants that you're just not in the equation. Tied, he's wonderful. Loose in his stall, he's a nightmare to get a halter on or handle without nipping, back up, get his attention, or generally try to work with until he's tied. Walking with him (leading) he's got a habit of surging forward and just circling to have his handler catch up (fixed that quick! He stops on a dime now :-) with a "whoa...." and a soft/loose lead line. Standing patiently in hand will be another hurdle :-)

In his defense, his owner has always tied him to work with him, so he simply doesn't know any different/better. He also has NEVER traveled away from home for this long and is generally stressed out and completely out of his element. He also was stallkept for 2 days prior to arrival due to his extreme feathering and the deluge of rain we got during that time. Lastly, he's YOUNG and full of testosterone and has also never been around mares before and (even though he's in quarantine) has to walk down the driveway to the quarantine paddock past pregnant mares and is across the driveway from the Filly Field. So, he has LOTS of challenges to deal with and reasons for a complete lack of focus. There also isn't a BIT of malice in his behavior. He's just being a teenage kid with a complete lack of respect for a person's space, with an occassional head-toss thrown in for good measure. He doesn't try to pin you to be mean---he doesn't even TRY to pin you. He just wants to stick his head out of the stall door and you're in the way. So sorry for you. It's not that he has any aggression (lots of play with the nipping, but it's not aggressive--just playful), he simply DOESN'T acknowledge that a person in the way is something to step around or away from .

The first couple days after arrival, especially with a young horse, we let them settle into a routine. Unfortunately, he's used to much more turnout than he got due to the wet pasture and the heavy feathering. The pasture is now starting to dry out (and we have to hose him after bringing him in daily! WOW that's some feather!) but he was only able to get out for an hour Saturday and 4 hours Sunday. Needless to say, he's a handful because of it.

This morning was a great difference. He's slowly settled in over Mon (no longer crying for friends, eating quietly in his stall, no pacing, etc) but was still rushing the stall door and pinning people trying to get out/get to food.

I went to halter him to go out and he actually STEPPED AWAY from the door. He backed up when I told him to. I almost fell over. I praised him heavily (and then he got all excited like a labrador retriever and got pushy....LOL!) I put the halter on him and he was a little better, but trying to put the halter over his ears he nearly knocks you over by trying to rub his ears on your hand. He's a very itchy creature and thinks people are scratching machines to serve him. So, (as expected) I worked with him for a few minutes on taking the halter off and putting it on bunches of times. He stayed AWAY from me (didn't try to walk on top of me, crush me against the door etc) for the first time. He did get a bit excited when Lyric walked by to switch quarantine pastures with him and lost his focus, trying to run to the stall door and see what was going on, but I kept him away, blocked him at every avenue and he actually stayed his distance (repeatedly trying to cross the invisible line I gave him in his stall, but listened when I told him "back"). As a reward, I let him walk up and he didn't press against the door too badly and backed away again when I asked.

Seems like small progress, but it's a 100% difference from his behavior in the first couple days. His goal for this week is to learn the gaps in his "non-tied" ground manners and to start working on some very basic handling. His first official training session is tonight, but he's been getting worked on constantly since he arrived :-) Tonight will likely be the beginning of standing/grooming/braid wrapping, along with some general leadline manners all around the farm.