We all do it, all us horsewomen bloggers have to talk about our horse’s manure habits from time to time. And after reading quite a few poo posts, I can’t believe I’m giving in and doing one of my own. I never thought that would happen on my blog. But here it is …

I’ve gotten up close and personal with Ace’s poop this week, as Dave and Tracie are on vacation and I’m responsible for animal care while they are gone. Sure I’ve cleaned his stall before, but it hasn’t been day in and day out. And here’s what I’ve discovered:

• He poops like a gelding. Great, big, honkin’ piles. Not like the dainty, neat little ones I’ve been picking up from the girls.
• He poops on the edge of his stall. He’s pretty neat, and keeps his piles on the edges where he we won’t step in it.
• He poops in his water bucket. On purpose. Dave had just finished cleaning his stall once when Ace backed up to his bucket, lifted his tail, and let loose. I discovered that he did it today. So gross.

Doing full care for my horse is fun, because every single time he sees me he nickers. It’s this deep wuffling nicker that melts my heart. And he does it. Every. Time. I thought at first it was just cause he wanted food. But he can have a couple of flakes of hay and still nicker at me with his mouth full every time I come into the barn.

That’s the fun part of taking care of my horse myself. The not fun part is all the other animals, when I’ve had to deal with some health issues. Classic is the 24-year-old thoroughbred mare who has arthritis in her hocks. I’ve had some trouble with her lying down and not having the strength to get back up. We have to provide some extra motivation (a small cattle prod) and pull on her tail to rotate her back end up so she can get her legs underneath her. Once, we almost couldn’t get her up and it was worrying. But she’s been fine since. It’s been a challenge, but one I’ve been able to deal with and work through this week. Fortunately, when Dave and Tracie come back they will also bring back the two young Foxtrotter geldings, who help keep Classic on her feet and whose absence we think is contributing to why she’s going down so often. But the week is almost over, she seems stronger, so I think we’re out of the water.

Because I’ve been spending the last week taking care of 3 horses, 11 cats, and 2 dogs on top of a full-time job and my regular activities, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to work with Ace. I pulled him out to do some groundwork tonight for the first time in a few days, and was amazed at how well he did. So far, he doesn’t usually respond to visual cues well; he needs a little bit of pressure to understand what to do. But tonight, as soon as I wagged my finger at him to ask him to back up … he backed up! Usually, this is the game we fight on the most. He usually needs me to swing the rope with my whole arm before he’ll respond. And a little wagging finger did it! It wasn’t a fluke, because I tried it twice more and he did it every time. Ace is one smart cookie, that’s for sure.

In our Parelli ground work, he does very well with the Friendly, Porcupine, Circle, and Driving games. He’s ok with Yo-Yo. And we still don’t get much Sideways.He’ll do it a few steps moving to the right, but won’t do it at all to the left yet. Still, that’s pretty good for just one month of work!

Taking it easy Wednesday and Thursday paid off, as I’m on the up side of being sick. I’ve still got a bit of a cough, but I was able to spend some good time with Ace this weekend.

Friday night I was still kinda sick, so I just went out to visit, brush him, and give him some cookies. Saturday we got in a little bit of groundwork, but not long because I ended up teaching a riding lesson for the little girl of a friend of Dave and Tracie’s first. It had been three days since Ace and I had done any work, and boy did it show. He forgot a lot of what he knew, wasn’t very focused, and tested me a lot more. We worked through a few little tests (I won of course), and called it a day on a high note.

Yesterday’s work was apparently enough to knock the rust off and we had an incredible session today. He was paying attention to me, doing what I asked with very little provocation, was very relaxed, and even did some new elements with very little coaxing. It was so much fun!

Groundwork is not really my forte. It’s not something I’ve had much experience with outside of basic leading, grooming, clipping, tacking, etc skills. Fortunately me for me, Dave (my friend with whom I’m boarding Ace), is very very good with groundwork. He uses the Parelli method and it has been very successful with their two young horses.

Now, I’m not typically one to get into stuff that is so “commercial.” I have a bad habit of avoiding things just because they are popular, which isn’t really a legitimate excuse at all. But I’m willing to try just about anything that seems to be in the best interest of me and my horse. I might not become a Parelli evangelist and tell everyone I meet that they just have to try it. But for me, it works.

I haven’t watched the DVDs and I haven’t bought the equipment (but that’s mainly just because I’m using Dave and Tracie’s). What I know, I’ve learned from Dave. He’s great at the skills and he’s a good teacher, and I tend to learn by doing any way. So much of it is common good horse sense put into a language and system that is easy to learn and easy to implement. And that’s a great thing! Here are the benefits I’ve seen so far for me and Ace:

1. We are learning to trust and respect each other.
2. My very jumpy horse didn’t bat an eye today when I randomly did some jumping jacks a foot away from his face.
3. He is learning to pay attention to me and look to me for direction.
4. We’ve crossed the communication barrier and are establishing a common language.
5. Ace is learning to move away from appropriate pressure and turn on the forehand and hindquarters.
6. He’s finally getting used to having me work on either side of him. At first he did everything he could to keep me on his left.
7. We’ve established some building blocks for lunging and use the “Circle Game” to start some trotwork which he desperately needs to gain muscle.
8. I’m spending lots of time on the ground with my horse and we are getting to know each other.
9. I’m learning Ace’s personality: how he learns, how he responds when he doesn’t know what I want, where his hang ups are.
10. We are establishing a method of working together that isn’t too firm or too soft. He knows I’ll be gentle and ask nicely first, and if he doesn’t give it to me it’s going to become uncomfortable until he does.
11. I’ve discovered what a smart, willing-to-please horse I have.
12. I can touch him all over with my hand, a stick, and rope. Now we have to try weirder things until nothing phases him.
13. He’s learning to trust me and I’m learning to trust him.
14. He likes it; he enjoys the attention and is always looking at me with a bright eye and ears up wondering what’s next.
15. I like it; it’s so much fun to ask my horse for something and see him respond so willing because he knows exactly what I want.

Sure there are plenty of ways to accomplish these goals; the Parelli method is just one of them. For me, it’s nice to have a system and a way of thinking about things that is so concrete and easy to do. And I make modifications here and there based on what Ace is telling me and what I think will work best for us based on my experience. The most important thing is that my horse likes it and I do too … and we are working together!