Dino update for xmas eve: Today he and I played with free schooling over a small raised pole. We have had him walk and trot over poles on the ground a couple times, but this was a first time trying actually free schooling over a pole that was raised in any way. I put it up at just one end, like half a low cross rail. I had him walk over a few times. He was his usual quick learning self and seemed happy so I asked for trot. He was quite quick about figuring out I wanted him to trot over it – especially when he found out I would give him a treat for doing it successfully 😉 At one point, when he didn’t instantly get a treat for trotting over (I did want him to continue on at least a stride or two first before stopping for treats 😉 ) he decided the thing to do was turn around and trot *back* over it in the other direction, and then look at me clearly saying “look! I’m twice as clever, You should *definitely* give me a treat for that now! ” He did get a treat for that, since the point today was mostly to make sure he thought free schooling over obstacles was a fun thing to do. Though a bit later in the session I did get him working around me nicely doing a couple laps in a row over the pole before stopping for praise and treats.

At one point when he walked up to it he apparently decided to see if knocking it down was a fun thing to do. He stuck one front leg front over it then pulled it down with that leg, bumping himself on the other front leg with the pole in the process. He looked very aggrieved about that! I told him “that’s right Dino, knocking the pole down isn’t fun ‘cos it bumps you when you do that!” ( I was letting him investigate it a bit at that point) He also gave a try cantering at it a couple times (his choice to canter! I wasn’t asking for him to do so.), but then when he got a stride out kind of went, “Oh hang on, not entirely sure I know what to do with my legs over that thing at canter. Back to trot then!” and trotted over instead. He really does forget how many legs he has sometimes…
Dino: ” OK, so I’ve got 8 legs, right? or was that 5? 3??? But if it’s 3 then what’s this leftover one? Oh, hang on 4! I have 4 legs! ummm, but where do they all go?”
Meg or Ruth: “Yes Dino, you have 4 legs, One. At. Each. Corner.”
Other times he’s beautifully balanced and sometimes he can pull off quite the airs above ground (just ask Ruth)

Watching him today I think trotting over raised poles will do wonders for his proprioception. He really had to think about picking up each leg in turn in the correct order :laugh:

When I dragged the pole out to set it up, he was snorting a bit in worry at the pole as I dragged it . (He was loose to mooch about and follow me if he liked at that point while I did set up). By the time we finished playtime with the pole, he was completely unconcerned about me dragging the pole to put it away.

So, I think a Dino update is overdue! We’ve had 10 weeks of baby horse joy so far and I think he’s petty much settled in. In my last update we had just started getting him under saddle and we having a problem with mounting – I’m happy to say that he’s now totally cool about this and stands like a rock by the mounting block, regardless of how long I spend faffing about ‘cos I just got cramp or forgot to put my gloves on. He’s getting used to standing around while we faff about generally actually which is a good, ‘cos this will be a feature of his life :-[

Pics are compulsory I know so here he is with M this morning:

Milestones achieved since mid-November include:
– the shoes came off 😀 And it’s made a huge difference to his gait actually, he’s moving much more lightly than before, and the thrush he had going on cleared up almost instantly so that’s awesome too
– we conquered the mounting block and he’s being much more consistent under saddle. Still only walking and trotting but his balance is improving all the time and he’s much more confident about carrying a rider
– we had our first hack out with M riding Pico and me riding Dino down the bridle path on Monday. Dino was pretty unbalanced going down the hills but they were both excellent and it was really nice to be able to ride them both at the same time
– he’s really chilled about hanging around in the yard, being tacked up, untacked, left milling about while we mess around with boots and nattering and generally an *extremely* well mannered young man about the yard. He can be brat-ish when worked – he tends to get to a point at which he feels he’s done enough and then pulls faces when asked to keep going but it’s all face-pulling and a little barging and then he gives in so that’s fine really.
– he really is the most *gorgeous* colour. Really. I know everyone thinks their horse is the prettiest in the world but mine really is beautiful. And he’s growing a proper mane now. He is going to be soooooo pretty when his mane is as full as his tail :wub:
– he is still the mouthiest beast in the world. He will pick *anything* up left lying within reach! So far he has destroyed the plastic cover that was protecting the fire hydrant outside his box from the elements and not infrequently throws brushes over my head if I leave them in reach when picking out his back feet! :rofl: So we’re teaching him to ‘drop’. Pretty much like I used to teach my dog :laugh:
– in less good milestones he’s had his first bout of mud fever so he’s been in this week. Pretty much everyone on the yard has had some (including Pico!) so it’s no surprise and we were on the look out for it so he only got a mild case but it is annoying. He’s been pretty good about being stuck in after a slightly exuberante episode of galloping around me on the lunge on Saturday :doh:

We’ve been continuing to work him a lot on the long lines, and also free-schooling, which is really helping him remember how many legs he’s got (although, he frequently forgets which is quite cute). Here’s some video from this morning of him working with M – you can see the difference between his balance now and on the earlier vids (click through my YouTube files if you’re curious!). I had planned to get some footage of him under saddle today but got distracted. I’ll try and get some next week.

So that’s us up to date I think. Our next goals are to try and develop a bit of left bend and keep working on getting him to bring his butt under him a bit. We’ve got ‘back’ well established on the lines now, and almost working under saddle – next steps are working on rein back to trot a bit and maybe some more giravlota type stuff. He can step ‘over’ quite well now.

And so he doesn’t feel forgotten here is M and Pico this morning, with His Legginess displaying his new Baker rug:

Ain’t they cute? 🙂