| HORSIN' AROUND WITH WENDY behind the scenes Newsletter for Abrazos Adventure, the horse connection March 24, 2008 |
© Copyright March 2008 Wendy Toombs
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March 24 During the lesson today I learned a bit about Lil. The rider was up English and I wanted her to post. She forgot to take a whip to the arena
and I stuck one in my pocket. Interestingly we didn’t need it. I was watching and she didn’t seem to have a problem with Lil trotting. Observing her I
noticed that she started the posting motion while still in the walk as she was beginning to apply the cue package for the trot. Lil responded easily.
Thinking it out, Lil was being supplied with insistent forward motion from the rider prior to the cues. I believe this got her energy up to a point of
receptivity to the cues.
Another rider had issues with her balance. Her job was to focus on her horse (Shag who hasn’t been performing for riders) and see what changes in
her position would do for the ride. As I watched I saw Shag working in a willing manner and answering the cues quickly and easily. The rider was
totally focused on him and he does well with this type energy. I also pointed out that he slams his feet into the ground and even though he was going
slow it was banging the rider. I showed her some minor adjustments including holding her head up straight and she was amazed at the difference in
his way of going. Who knows, maybe all of us are opening up to listening to the horses.
March 25 S - Haven’t seen MW since our last get together. I really appreciate that she took off the halter. Oh, here she comes and it looks like I am
going out.
I found another small halter and although it wasn’t any thinner it was softer to manipulate. This will be my first time to put one on the kids. She met
me at her gate facing me as I went it. This is good. She let me rub her face before I put the halter on. There was no problem at all.
S – I liked the face rub – felt good. It wasn’t bad to have a halter back on.
I clipped the lead line on and decided to take her to the tie line first and take care of cleaning Newbie’s water tank. She was a bit impatient when I
hooked her up.
S – Not this again. I don’t like just standing here.
I finished cleaning and left the water running and went to get Smudge again. I took her out the little gate, which meant she had to walk on cement for
the first time. She was quite skeptical about that. She put the nose down and did lots of nose wiggle to check it out. She would then take a small step
forward and start over again.
S – This is new. I don’t like the smell here or the sounds. What are the mares looking at? What does MW want? What is that noise? Too much
going on. Oh, MW is asking me to pay attention and refocus. That’s better – take one thing at a time. OK, smells. Checked them out and nothing
threatening. The ground feels weird and makes a crazy sound. Well, I didn’t fall and it didn’t shake. The sound wasn’t loud. I can handle this. Take
another step, pause, collect my thoughts, go again, not too scary. Hum, MW doesn’t seem too worried about this, she is just quietly waiting for me to
get it together. She hasn’t yelled or jerked me around I feel more confident about this new stuff. Take a few more steps.
Oops – foot down – where did it go? Pull back – got it. Try the other one – down – back up – everything is working. There’s MW just standing
quietly. I guess it’s not so scary after all. Left foot down, right foot down, back feet coming and now we’re ready to go again.
I was very proud of Smudge – she worked herself through the newness and didn’t put me into harms way.
S – Now where are we going? What’s all that black stuff on the ground? Shadow? What’s that? I can step in it and nothing happens. Smells are
different here. MW listen to me, I’m a little nervous.
What is that white thing sticking up? I guess MW knows (she’s not scared) but I’m not sure. Sniff, sniff again, smells funny but it’s not coming after
me. What is that big thing on the ground? MW said something about metal water tank. We have to do some walking to go around it. OK, I’ll look in
but I don’t want to stay.
Turn my head, what’s on the ground? She said a tire? What’s that for? Look left – what’s a welder? You want me to put my nose on it? OK – let’s talk
about that. What’s this sticky out thing? It didn’t bite when I put my nose on it.
There is a lot of stuff here that is all new to me. She said trash trailer for the next one. I’m not sure I want to get close. It is a lot bigger than I am and
has funny looking and smelling stuff. OK, we’ll try the tip of the nose. Didn’t bite.
Now what? I smell food but it doesn’t look like my feed pile. What are those white boxes – what’s that machine – what’s that sound – nervous,
nervous, walking, walking. Try not to bump MW – walking, walking.
OK I can let some air out. MW is asking me to walk away. Pressure relieving – feeling better – not nervous. Whew. Back to the tie line – aw come on.
Smudge did pretty good with her first time in scary territory. I put her back on the tie while I turned off water and checked other tanks. I decided to
stress her a little more then turn her out in the arena. I took her to check Cluie’s water supply and she said ‘hi’ to Cluie. We then turned toward the
mare’s pen and had an audience. Golly was the first to check her out and Lil was next. Mattie didn’t get a chance before Smudge had enough. She
and I went walking and went behind the barn. Copper was talking and so were mares. She did well with attention on me and responding to my
signals. We finished the trip around the barn and as a last item I led her between the trailer and round pen. She made just a little slip on keeping her
space and stopping when she should. She really did a super good job on her outs.
The day got exciting after this in a way that was not good. I was expecting Courtney with her horse for a lesson. About arrival time I answered the
phone to the frantic voice of mom, Jennie. I couldn’t make out what she was saying – I was in the arena and our good old wind was blowing 90 to
nuthin. I hurried to the barn (fast as an old lady can scurry) then heard her wanting me to come. I asked where she was and I received clear concise
directions but I still wasn’t too sure what was wrong. I did know it was bad.
I jumped in the truck and took off. When I approached their vehicle (about a mile and a half from my house) it was on the side of the road. I was
approaching it from the front and she and Courtney were standing outside by the trailer and I could see both trailer doors open. No horse feet on
the ground. Bad! I jammed on the brakes, jumped out and hurried toward the back of the trailer. Disaster. The mare was down on her side, head
twisted over her shoulder looking back, the right front pastern caught in the divider (this is 4 feet above the floor) and the right hind up over it too.
There was broken wood in the trailer and lots of bent metal. Of course while I am looking, she thrashed and more wood flew, she banged around.
Jennie was busy with her head stuck in the passenger door moving wood amongst thrashing feet. Courtney had the end of a limp lead line and was
in tears.
I took it all in and it didn’t look like any broken bones – human or horse. The mare was bleeding and had skinned spots and was in a badly stuck
position. Metal was continuing to bend and I figured that she might rearrange the trailer enough to get out of the predicament. I called Dan at work
and I wasn’t good about relaying information either I found out later. He thought Jennie had turned the trailer over. I told him she was down on her
side and he thought trailer – not horse inside trailer. (Gotta work on communication)
The mare finally got the feet out of the divider, which put her flat on her side in the bottom of the trailer. She was still twisted at the neck but in much
better position to work at standing. More wood flew about and then she was up. Jennie had the passenger door open (they are not very big) and she
was up with her head hanging out the door and the rest of her ready to try going through the small space. I went up and grabbed lead line, talked to
her and kept her in place. She was scared but not panicky. I had Jennie come over and hold the door close to her to minimize the open space.
Dan arrived and climbed into the trailer. There was a bent bar that was at the back of the mare’s neck and kind of keeping her from moving
backward. Dan broke it out, bent and moved some more stuff. I pitched the end of the lead line through so it could go out the opposite window and
had Courtney just hold it so we had it when needed. When things were as clear as possible Jennie and I worked on shoving the mare’s head back in
the door and Dan pulled from his side. It worked. We were all coordinated and she cooperated.
We now had her standing straight inside the trailer. She was on the opposite side from which she started. Dan had to make a few more adjustments
then asked her to back out. I had gone around ready to deal with fright. She backed out and looked around. Dan went to the house to get our stock
trailer so we could get her to somewhere. By the time he returned Bob (Courtney’s dad) had arrived. Courtney had called him and he had even less
information than I did.
While we waited for Dan I looked the mare over and the wounds appeared to be surface cuts and scrapes. There was one dripping blood but the
blood was clotting. Courtney had finally gotten her energy out of panic mode and I let her come back over and hold onto the horse. I have been
where they were with accidents and in the first ones since you don’t have any frame of reference all you see is devastation and probably dead
horse. I have seen enough accidents to be amazed at what can happen and the horse sustain little damage and heal up just fine. Jennie gathered
up pieces of trailer insides and put them in to haul them home.
I wasn’t too sure the mare would load when we brought our trailer. We prepared everything and took her over. I had Dan take her lead rope since
his energy was not in the accident mode of the family and I stood behind to ‘shoosh’ her in. She put a foot in then backed out. Dan told her it would
be easier for her to get in then to follow the trailer to our house. She got in next offer. Our convoy got started and finished at our house.
I found out Dan didn’t have to go back to work (we had the trailer hitched to his car) so we stayed hitched, pulled some pain medicine and headed
for their house. Before loading Dan took out our divider in the front and we just left her loose in the whole trailer. She rode okay going home.
After unloading, I gave her a shot of pain medicine and they got out their first aid kit. Jennie used a turkey baster filled with water to flush out a cut
on the inside of her right front leg and on her right hock. After cleaning up the front it looked like the cut was down to bone. I made the second call of
the day to my vet’s office to let them know what I was seeing and get advice. They recommended wrapping the cut so we did.
I discussing what happened just before the mare went down in the trailer we could not find a single event that caused it. Courtney said that she was
a fussy rider and they both said she was fidgeting from the time she got in today. After they turned on the road a gust of wind may have hit it just
right when her feet were not planted and she went down. Who knows but it definitely was not due to bad driving.
Definitely not the lesson that we planned for the day. From what I could see I believe the mare will be fine. She will be sore for a time but I don’t think
there is lasting damage. I will give it this, she had a really good attitude through all this. A lot of them would have tried to run off after getting out of
the trailer. She was calm about the shot and taking care of the wounds too. Excitement like this I can do without.
The first picture shows the front of the trailer. She had her right front hoof caught in the bars that are bent. The second photo shows the damage
inside the trailer. Ty was lying on her left side, rear end at the back of the trailer, right front hoof in the air caught in the bars at the front, right hind in
the air caught on the divider at the back and other two feet on the floor extended to the right side. She would kick and struggle, rest then start all
over. The stack of wood on the floor is what she kicked loose while she was down. That is Ty on the right. The picture was taken a few days after the
accident. Looks pretty good and of course very innocent.
and I stuck one in my pocket. Interestingly we didn’t need it. I was watching and she didn’t seem to have a problem with Lil trotting. Observing her I
noticed that she started the posting motion while still in the walk as she was beginning to apply the cue package for the trot. Lil responded easily.
Thinking it out, Lil was being supplied with insistent forward motion from the rider prior to the cues. I believe this got her energy up to a point of
receptivity to the cues.
Another rider had issues with her balance. Her job was to focus on her horse (Shag who hasn’t been performing for riders) and see what changes in
her position would do for the ride. As I watched I saw Shag working in a willing manner and answering the cues quickly and easily. The rider was
totally focused on him and he does well with this type energy. I also pointed out that he slams his feet into the ground and even though he was going
slow it was banging the rider. I showed her some minor adjustments including holding her head up straight and she was amazed at the difference in
his way of going. Who knows, maybe all of us are opening up to listening to the horses.
March 25 S - Haven’t seen MW since our last get together. I really appreciate that she took off the halter. Oh, here she comes and it looks like I am
going out.
I found another small halter and although it wasn’t any thinner it was softer to manipulate. This will be my first time to put one on the kids. She met
me at her gate facing me as I went it. This is good. She let me rub her face before I put the halter on. There was no problem at all.
S – I liked the face rub – felt good. It wasn’t bad to have a halter back on.
I clipped the lead line on and decided to take her to the tie line first and take care of cleaning Newbie’s water tank. She was a bit impatient when I
hooked her up.
S – Not this again. I don’t like just standing here.
I finished cleaning and left the water running and went to get Smudge again. I took her out the little gate, which meant she had to walk on cement for
the first time. She was quite skeptical about that. She put the nose down and did lots of nose wiggle to check it out. She would then take a small step
forward and start over again.
S – This is new. I don’t like the smell here or the sounds. What are the mares looking at? What does MW want? What is that noise? Too much
going on. Oh, MW is asking me to pay attention and refocus. That’s better – take one thing at a time. OK, smells. Checked them out and nothing
threatening. The ground feels weird and makes a crazy sound. Well, I didn’t fall and it didn’t shake. The sound wasn’t loud. I can handle this. Take
another step, pause, collect my thoughts, go again, not too scary. Hum, MW doesn’t seem too worried about this, she is just quietly waiting for me to
get it together. She hasn’t yelled or jerked me around I feel more confident about this new stuff. Take a few more steps.
Oops – foot down – where did it go? Pull back – got it. Try the other one – down – back up – everything is working. There’s MW just standing
quietly. I guess it’s not so scary after all. Left foot down, right foot down, back feet coming and now we’re ready to go again.
I was very proud of Smudge – she worked herself through the newness and didn’t put me into harms way.
S – Now where are we going? What’s all that black stuff on the ground? Shadow? What’s that? I can step in it and nothing happens. Smells are
different here. MW listen to me, I’m a little nervous.
What is that white thing sticking up? I guess MW knows (she’s not scared) but I’m not sure. Sniff, sniff again, smells funny but it’s not coming after
me. What is that big thing on the ground? MW said something about metal water tank. We have to do some walking to go around it. OK, I’ll look in
but I don’t want to stay.
Turn my head, what’s on the ground? She said a tire? What’s that for? Look left – what’s a welder? You want me to put my nose on it? OK – let’s talk
about that. What’s this sticky out thing? It didn’t bite when I put my nose on it.
There is a lot of stuff here that is all new to me. She said trash trailer for the next one. I’m not sure I want to get close. It is a lot bigger than I am and
has funny looking and smelling stuff. OK, we’ll try the tip of the nose. Didn’t bite.
Now what? I smell food but it doesn’t look like my feed pile. What are those white boxes – what’s that machine – what’s that sound – nervous,
nervous, walking, walking. Try not to bump MW – walking, walking.
OK I can let some air out. MW is asking me to walk away. Pressure relieving – feeling better – not nervous. Whew. Back to the tie line – aw come on.
Smudge did pretty good with her first time in scary territory. I put her back on the tie while I turned off water and checked other tanks. I decided to
stress her a little more then turn her out in the arena. I took her to check Cluie’s water supply and she said ‘hi’ to Cluie. We then turned toward the
mare’s pen and had an audience. Golly was the first to check her out and Lil was next. Mattie didn’t get a chance before Smudge had enough. She
and I went walking and went behind the barn. Copper was talking and so were mares. She did well with attention on me and responding to my
signals. We finished the trip around the barn and as a last item I led her between the trailer and round pen. She made just a little slip on keeping her
space and stopping when she should. She really did a super good job on her outs.
The day got exciting after this in a way that was not good. I was expecting Courtney with her horse for a lesson. About arrival time I answered the
phone to the frantic voice of mom, Jennie. I couldn’t make out what she was saying – I was in the arena and our good old wind was blowing 90 to
nuthin. I hurried to the barn (fast as an old lady can scurry) then heard her wanting me to come. I asked where she was and I received clear concise
directions but I still wasn’t too sure what was wrong. I did know it was bad.
I jumped in the truck and took off. When I approached their vehicle (about a mile and a half from my house) it was on the side of the road. I was
approaching it from the front and she and Courtney were standing outside by the trailer and I could see both trailer doors open. No horse feet on
the ground. Bad! I jammed on the brakes, jumped out and hurried toward the back of the trailer. Disaster. The mare was down on her side, head
twisted over her shoulder looking back, the right front pastern caught in the divider (this is 4 feet above the floor) and the right hind up over it too.
There was broken wood in the trailer and lots of bent metal. Of course while I am looking, she thrashed and more wood flew, she banged around.
Jennie was busy with her head stuck in the passenger door moving wood amongst thrashing feet. Courtney had the end of a limp lead line and was
in tears.
I took it all in and it didn’t look like any broken bones – human or horse. The mare was bleeding and had skinned spots and was in a badly stuck
position. Metal was continuing to bend and I figured that she might rearrange the trailer enough to get out of the predicament. I called Dan at work
and I wasn’t good about relaying information either I found out later. He thought Jennie had turned the trailer over. I told him she was down on her
side and he thought trailer – not horse inside trailer. (Gotta work on communication)
The mare finally got the feet out of the divider, which put her flat on her side in the bottom of the trailer. She was still twisted at the neck but in much
better position to work at standing. More wood flew about and then she was up. Jennie had the passenger door open (they are not very big) and she
was up with her head hanging out the door and the rest of her ready to try going through the small space. I went up and grabbed lead line, talked to
her and kept her in place. She was scared but not panicky. I had Jennie come over and hold the door close to her to minimize the open space.
Dan arrived and climbed into the trailer. There was a bent bar that was at the back of the mare’s neck and kind of keeping her from moving
backward. Dan broke it out, bent and moved some more stuff. I pitched the end of the lead line through so it could go out the opposite window and
had Courtney just hold it so we had it when needed. When things were as clear as possible Jennie and I worked on shoving the mare’s head back in
the door and Dan pulled from his side. It worked. We were all coordinated and she cooperated.
We now had her standing straight inside the trailer. She was on the opposite side from which she started. Dan had to make a few more adjustments
then asked her to back out. I had gone around ready to deal with fright. She backed out and looked around. Dan went to the house to get our stock
trailer so we could get her to somewhere. By the time he returned Bob (Courtney’s dad) had arrived. Courtney had called him and he had even less
information than I did.
While we waited for Dan I looked the mare over and the wounds appeared to be surface cuts and scrapes. There was one dripping blood but the
blood was clotting. Courtney had finally gotten her energy out of panic mode and I let her come back over and hold onto the horse. I have been
where they were with accidents and in the first ones since you don’t have any frame of reference all you see is devastation and probably dead
horse. I have seen enough accidents to be amazed at what can happen and the horse sustain little damage and heal up just fine. Jennie gathered
up pieces of trailer insides and put them in to haul them home.
I wasn’t too sure the mare would load when we brought our trailer. We prepared everything and took her over. I had Dan take her lead rope since
his energy was not in the accident mode of the family and I stood behind to ‘shoosh’ her in. She put a foot in then backed out. Dan told her it would
be easier for her to get in then to follow the trailer to our house. She got in next offer. Our convoy got started and finished at our house.
I found out Dan didn’t have to go back to work (we had the trailer hitched to his car) so we stayed hitched, pulled some pain medicine and headed
for their house. Before loading Dan took out our divider in the front and we just left her loose in the whole trailer. She rode okay going home.
After unloading, I gave her a shot of pain medicine and they got out their first aid kit. Jennie used a turkey baster filled with water to flush out a cut
on the inside of her right front leg and on her right hock. After cleaning up the front it looked like the cut was down to bone. I made the second call of
the day to my vet’s office to let them know what I was seeing and get advice. They recommended wrapping the cut so we did.
I discussing what happened just before the mare went down in the trailer we could not find a single event that caused it. Courtney said that she was
a fussy rider and they both said she was fidgeting from the time she got in today. After they turned on the road a gust of wind may have hit it just
right when her feet were not planted and she went down. Who knows but it definitely was not due to bad driving.
Definitely not the lesson that we planned for the day. From what I could see I believe the mare will be fine. She will be sore for a time but I don’t think
there is lasting damage. I will give it this, she had a really good attitude through all this. A lot of them would have tried to run off after getting out of
the trailer. She was calm about the shot and taking care of the wounds too. Excitement like this I can do without.
The first picture shows the front of the trailer. She had her right front hoof caught in the bars that are bent. The second photo shows the damage
inside the trailer. Ty was lying on her left side, rear end at the back of the trailer, right front hoof in the air caught in the bars at the front, right hind in
the air caught on the divider at the back and other two feet on the floor extended to the right side. She would kick and struggle, rest then start all
over. The stack of wood on the floor is what she kicked loose while she was down. That is Ty on the right. The picture was taken a few days after the
accident. Looks pretty good and of course very innocent.
Offering family, children and adult recreation to Portales, Cannon AFB, Clovis New Mexico.