I’m always a little bit skeptical when every ad I read for a horse for sale says he “clips, loads, and ties.” I know horses, and I know they don’t all do it that easily.

With Ace, I’ve got two out of the three.

He Loads

Ace had been standing out in a pasture for two years before he came into my life. Dave went to pick him up and bring him to the barn, and he walked right on to the trailer like he did it every day of his life.

He Clips

Last night I pulled out the clippers for the first time. I just couldn’t take the 4-inch hairs growing out of Ace’s chin any more. I let him have a good sniff and rubbed his nose and face all over with the clippers off. He was a little concerned, but let me do it. I turned them on, and he just stared at the little buzzing things. I held them there in front of his face, and he inched his nose closer and closer until he touched them. It tickled of course, making him jump just a little. He took a good look, and when he didn’t give me more than a concerned look, I went at the whiskers on his nose. He jerked his nose a bit when they touched him, but his feet never moved and he was pretty good about letting me clip his muzzle. Ace took a nap as I spent some time clipping under his chin, and even the long hairs down his neck.

I was very pleased with how well he behaved for his first clipping session. I didn’t want to push my luck too much, so I left his ears for another day. He likes to have his ears rubbed and wasn’t too worried about the clippers, so I think he’ll be OK.

And he looks so much better! Check out these before and afters of my winter hairy beast:

I should have done this ages ago.

He’s Ties? Eh, Not So Much.

Ace is a little iffy about being tied. As long as all is quiet and I’m just grooming and there’s nothing to excite or scare him, he stands like an angel. But if something out of the ordinary happens and he starts to panic, he loses his head. It happened twice early on. No bigee, I always tie with slip knots so I let him loose as soon as he pulled back or reared, and he immediately calmed down. We worked up slowly to being tied in a stall and he’s been good for months.

Last week, something spooked him. He jerked his head up and caught the end of the rope. He jerked his head down (giving to the pressure, good boy!). But in doing so, he conked his nose on the wall, which I’m sure sent him over the edge. He then pulled back and started rearing, flailing his legs. Dave was in the stall with him and managed to get him untied, which caused him to settle.

But in the process, he caught the inside of his left front leg with a flying hoof and cut and bruised himself but good. He didn’t seem to do any major damage, but boy was he sore! The cut just below his knee was bleeding, but not deep enough to need stitches or anything. I cold hosed it, covered it with ointment and gauze, and wrapped him up in stable bandages for the night. The next morning there was heat and swelling just around the cut, but the rest of his leg was slim and cool. He was still really lame though.

He spent the next few days wrapped up and on stall rest so he didn’t stress it. By Sunday morning the heat and swelling was completely gone and the cut was healing up. He was starting walk more soundly also.

Of course, Ace did this the night before I left for Equine Affaire. I did his initial treatment that night and the following morning, and then had to survive on twice daily updates from Dave. Dave took great care of him while I was gone.

I finally got to go see him for myself last night, and was glad to see he was much better. He’s still a little off, but not that noticeably unless you really know him. My best indicator that it still hurts is actually watching his face rather than his movement. He’s super expressive.

So, he’s definitely sound enough to be turned out again, but not ready to be ridden just yet.

And now we have something new to focus on: learning to tie.