Spencer's New Life

Hi From Spencer

2010-05-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

Spencer is doing great these days! Looking good! Super friendly! Easy to halter and lead. Loves lots of attention and scratches. We still have a long ways to go on his feet, but he's sound and we have been working with him on ground driving and saddling. He's been a blast! And may have a new friend soon named Rudy!

Been awhile.

2010-02-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

Just playin'

Hi Spencer fans.

Just wanted to add a quick update since it's been awhile. Spencer is doing really well. Getting more and more respectful and gaining the weight. When I look back on picture of him last winter, he did get thin. He was getting all the hay he could eat, but he was moving around a lot more than probably he had in years being in with the other horses.

He is the BIG MAN ON CAMPUS. No one argues with Spencer except the newest little pony, Millie. She has a big fat crush on him.

He seems to enjoy playing agility games! All dressed up in his winter coat! I think this Summer, he'll be looking really nice.

Thanks for hanging in there, and I hope you check back soon. If you check the linked blog, Rainier Hoof Recovery, you'll see why I haven't updating you on Spencer.

Pat

Reply to Sandy

2009-10-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Sandy,

My email reply to you was being blocked and bounced back so responding here!:0)

Thank you so much for being a fan of Spencer's!

He's doing fine. I'm just focusing on his weight, he is NOT an easy keeper. He eats so much it's astonishing to me. While most the other horses are waddling around the pasture, I sometimes see his ribs if he moves just right. Ugh.

He's sound, although I don't know why. His feet need to be trimmed, although it's pretty amazing how well he maintains them on his own.

On my main blog, Hoofrecovery, I added a post about him conking me in the top of the head with his hind hoof while I was clipping the hair around his coronet band so I could get a better look at his overall hoof.

He didn't like the clippers, but he was standing for them okay. He showed is disapproval by bringing his hind hoof up to knock them away, but dummy me, my head was in his line of fire.

I still have a dent in the top of my head that's permanent!

I haven't worked on him since, mostly because I just haven't had time to get back out to work on him but I have him on my calendar.

He's really a good boy, he was just so ignored and abused for most of his young life, it's like working with a 2000 lb yearling.

That can be pretty dangerous!

A friend is going to start coming on Sundays to help me work with him using the clicker training method. I've done that with him and that's how I got him cooperative with one front leg, but she's had years of training practice using the clicker so I'm hoping she'll give me some new ideas.

Thank you again for asking about

Spencer

2009-09-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

Here is Spencer doing what he does best. Eating!

He eats more than nearly all my other horses combined. I separate him usually from the rest the herd so he can eat in peace, (this is not where he lives, it's a paddock where he can eat hay (by the wheelbarrow load) and back out he goes on the 8 acre field or the 3 acre field we use to give the main pasture a rest for a few days. He doesn't live on dirt as some have suggested on another blog (fugly) that recently linked to this one.

By the way, thank you Kathy for your kind words. I appreciate what you said and that you linked to Spencer and regenerated some interest in him. I've just had a lot on my plate lately. On my main blog, hoofrecovery.blogspot.com I share a story about a recent injury that Spencer inflicted on me and well, I feel pretty lucky to be sitting here typing and lying not in a vegetative state in the hospital right now.

While we are on the subject of drafts, I'd really like to know why it seems okay to lop the tail bones of young draft show horses and it's still happening although few drafts are being used for farming as in the old days. I think cutting the end of a horse's spine (the tailbone) is one of the cruelist acts man carries out on horses, yet, we don't hear much about it. I'm so glad it wasn't done to Spencer. At least he didn't have to go through that horrific process.

Spencer's front feet have been trimmed a few times now and he's really maintaining all four of his feet pretty well. He ruptured a huge abscess out of one front foot a few months ago and that has finally grown out enough to snap the dead wall off. You'd have to know how abscesses progress to know what I mean by that, but suffice to say, he's growing out new hooves.

His weight is looking better I think. He dropped some weight after he came here. At which time he was gelded, and spent a couple months recovering from that, and he had his teeth floated by an Equine Dentist. Both procedures combined totaled just under $1000. Free horses? No such thing.

I believe that he lost some weight for those reasons and because after he was gelded, we pastured him with other horses. He became part of a herd for the first time in his life and he was/is constantly on the move. Also good for his feet!

Prior to coming here, he was always alone and had no reason to move around much so it was easier to keep his weight on, plus he was a bulked up muscled stallion. That all makes a huge difference I think.

I personally don't like draft horses to look like plow horses so I don't like to see him overweight like so many of them are. Especially if it's a draft a person plans on riding. Which I really hope to do someday. Would I like to see him carrying more weight than he is now? Yes, I would, as well as some muscling on his hind quarters, but we are working on that and he's still a young guy, so no rush really.

Do drafts necessarily eat more than an average horse? Probably not in all cases, but in his case, yes! Absolutely. And he probably will until he gets to a weight he can maintain. Yes, he get dewormed and vaccinated regularly.

His feet have been a very slow process, mainly due to a lack of time to commit to him lately, but we have been trimming his fronts.

Keep in mind please, that the trims that I've done on his feet are the first trims he's ever had done. His gone through 6 years of life with his hooves completely untouched. I've had him for his 7th year and have focused mainly on rehabbing his personality so I can get to his feet to help him and I'm getting criticized (by those commenting on fugly) for not going fast enough? That's ironic.

I have 16 other equines and a full time profession and horses that come and go here that I work with rehabbing their feet - see fixingwisky.blogspot.com for an example of that. We also just wrapped up filming of my DVD - Basic Barefoot Trimming. Look for it to come out in the next few months.

I wish I had more time for him, but I don't feel too guilty as he's happier here than he's ever been in his life. He's a friendly, good boy now. Not a big, dangerous, mean-spirited draft stallion whose life was about to be terminated.

If anyone who believes they can do better with his feet than I have, you are more than welcome to come work with him as long as you do not abuse him in any way, and see if you can do better.

I welcome the help. Just keep in mind, he's adept at launching a kick with his hind leg the length of his body and he does it with as much force as a truck speeding along at about 80 miles an hour.

Am I exaggerating? Does it matter? Any takers?

I want to express my sincere gratitude to those of you who haven't passed judgement on my care of Spencer, but rather, have been nothing but supportive. You are all awesome!

pat

Spencer Today

2009-09-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry for not updating this blog. Spencer is doing fine. I haven't made much progress with his feet however. I've just been so overwhelmingly busy trimming outside horses, and working on my upcoming hoof trimming DVD, and caring for a rehab horse that just came in a couple weeks ago, Wisky. I got 2 of my boys trimmed today and I'm heading out to work on Spencer now. I just came in for some lunch.

Thank you for your interest and I'll update this post with some pictures asap!

Pat

SWEEEEET SUCCESS!

2009-06-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

You will never guess what happened today!

I invited Spencer into the paddock to go to work. I had lots of enticements, carrots, Winnie's cookies and sweet feed. All his favorite things!

I explained to him what we were going to work on...again. The same thing we've worked on for a number of hours. It has been baby steps, but he's made some small improvements with each session.

His devoted fans watched and gave him encouragement. They were shouting in their silent horsie way, "You can do this!" (Not really, they were complaining, I think, that they don't get all that cool stuff just for picking up their feet.)

Once again, we went to work. First I made the request. Which is normally followed by a quick peek of the bottom of his foot. I would reward each new try, but would ask for more, each time. He started getting it. He's so smart!

I really didn't expect to get what he offered today! No way! But this was closer to the hoof stand than we've gotten yet. Could it happen? Is there any chance he will set his big ol' ugly foot in that stand? Not likely, he hasn't even come close before.

But wait!

What's this!

It's in!

CHECK

THIS

OUT!

This hoof hasn't been touched since June, 2008. When I got the call to come trim a draft horse with terrible abscesses. He was drugged and it took two of us to hold his hoof on the stand. We got the job done, for what it was worth. But seriously, trimming a doped up one-ton, unhandled, draft stallion was probably one of the dumber things I've done in my trimming career.

Our first nip! I'm so excited.

I so wanted this to happen just the way it did. We had considered sedating him and laying him down just to get the job done. It would have been a huge ordeal and even though it might have gotten him trimmed and possibly without injury to me, I knew that he wouldn't have learned anything.

I considered using ace on him, which is how I trimmed this hoof last year. But even that only works on some horses. I'm thinking we just got lucky last year. He was in a new environment and had just gotten the you-know-what beat out of him by another stallion. You can still see some of the marks on his body from that beating now that he's in his summer coat.

Since he's been here, I've focused mainly on this one foot. I figured if we could get this one done, the other hooves would come faster because he would understand the task.

And the amazing part to me was that when I give him the cue to lift his foot, a gentle squeeze of his chestnut, his foot pops right up! He’s so cooperative once he gets it!

Some of you may wonder how is it that an old lady could get such a thrill out of seeing the bottom of a draft horse's foot.

Well, I can't really explain it. All I know is that we just have 3 more to go!:0)

Stay tuned.

Spencer's Coming and Goings

2009-05-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

Spencer roaming around the field on an early spring day.

I was just sitting here at my computer looking for pictures to upload for Spencer’s blog. I came across some pictures that I took when he first came here, this time last year. I noticed that his body has changed a lot.

He had a very bold look to him to him when he came here. It’s been a year since we had him gelded, and well, his thick studdy neck is gone and his entire body seems to have relaxed.
Spencer the Stallion.

Spencer the Gelding.

He lost some weight over the winter, probably a bit too much. But feeding a draft horse has given me a better understanding of what it must be like to feed an elephant.

Grazing with my little buddy.

The weight is coming back on and I just can’t begin to describe how much his personality has changed.

I sometimes feel like I’m Sally Fields when she made that infamous speech as she accepted her award at the Oscars. “He likes me! He really, really likes me!”

When I look back on how Spencer behaved when he arrived. He was so distrusting and always trying to show us what his big ol’ body was capable of.

His ears would pin when we entered his space and his head would go up and he turn that giant head in a way that reminded me of a bull ready charge at me any minute. I sometimes expected him to start pawing and flames to shoot out of his nose any minute.

I know that I put too much pressure on him at times like this, but his eyes could get such a hard, steely look to them. I don’t see those eyes very often anymore.

For me now, his eyes are soft and questioning. His eyes only get hard when he sees someone he feels he can’t trust, which is nearly everyone else, but he’s getting better.

I sack him out with friends who stop by. For some reason, they look at me as if I’m nuts when I ask, “Do you want to go out and scratch Spencer’s butt!”

It’s taken a great deal of time, and grooming, but we’re getting there. I still think about how he was untouched for 2 years because no one could get near him. And yet, he’ll follow me all over the pasture and into the paddock for grain and scratches. He lowers his head so I can put the halter on him without stretching. He's careful where he places his big feet to avoid mine, thank goodness.

We are still battling the a terrible case a of lice that he arrived with. Just when I thought I had that taken care, I notice him scratching. Just last week, I lifted his thick mane and discovered there were nits hiding under it.

So as I was trying to get the powder in and around his forelock and he raised his head and bumped the can, white powder went everywhere. All over me and his whole head was covered. When he opened his big brown eyes through the white powder, I have no idea what he was thinking, but probably something like, “That was not cool.”

The biggest change in him is when we are standing close to each other, he will sometimes rest his head gently against my body.

The first time I felt him do that, it was so unexpected, I got all teary eyed. Even as think about him letting his guard so much to get that close to me…oh boy, it gets to me…as I type this! Gosh, I’m so sappy.

But that was a gesture that was so very out-of-character for Spencer. You know your friendly, trusting horses that come up and put their heads against you expecting you to scratch and pet them, it's not such a big deal really.

Then there are the spoiled horses who put their head against you and kind of nudge you to give them a treat. Or worse, the pushy horses, who head butt you to give up the snacks...now!

But for this horse so leary of humans, it was as if he forgot himself for a moment. When I felt his head as he laid it so softly against my side, it startled me at first. It was such a gesture of trust and friendliness that I stiffened, and he felt that and his head quickly left me as if he’d felt he’d done something wrong.

He’s done it several times since. He’s finally let his guard down enough with this human to let me know that I’m okay in his world and I'm no longer startled by it, so he knows it's okay.

He’s not overbearing or pushy, he just is telling me something that he’s never told anyone before. I believe he’s saying, “I think I trust you now…I really, really trust you.” (Sniff...see!)

Oh, his feet…

...we work at getting him to pick up his feet as often as I have time and energy. He’s starting to get it. Clicking has helped some. But it’s going to take time. While he maintains them on his own as he has been since he was born. The more I work with him, the more I’m convinced that other than me, when we aced him just before he came to live here, he’s never had his feet touched.

A special treat - grazing on the playfield.

Well, that's about it for now. I hope to put up some pictures soon of his newly trimmed hooves, but don't hold your breath! It's likely going to take some good drugs, for him and for me:0)

HOW DO YOU EAT A DRAFT HORSE?

2009-03-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

Spencer gets worried about the people around him and at times he is jumpy, angry and intimidating. I continue to wonder why a horse would behave this way.

Sometimes you just have to try to get inside the head of an animal like him to try to figure him out and help him to become a safe, member of equine society.

I finally came to grips with the fact that I have no idea of what Spencer’s past really was like. I’ve heard things…but have no way of knowing how much of what I’ve heard is fact or fiction. I’m only certain of his last two years before coming here.

We know that he was young stallion who after being loose and living alone in a paddock for 2 years, untouched, was caught after being chased for 3 hours in 90 degree heat and running on a severly abscessing hoof. (This was after several other failed attempts to catch him had taken place during those two years.)

After he gave up and allowed himeself to be haltered, he was hauled to a new location where he was put in with, and brutalized by, another stallion who was protecting his mares who were in the same small field with them. The assault seemed to go on and on with Spencer being cornered many times with no where to run.

In fact, the clash between the two stallions was so horrific neighbors finally called police to the scene. That's how bad it was and that's how bad he looked afterwards. I thought it was awesome that the neighbors intervened on a horse's behalf. The idea for putting him in with that stallion was to teach him a lesson about who was the boss.

Several months later, we adopted him. And I think I finally figured out why he gets so belligerent sometimes. I believe he thinks we might do the same thing that other stallion did to him. And that humans before us did to him. He's anticipating the worst and he's simply protecting himself.

Self preservation! I get that. If fact, I figure, he believes we just want to kill him and eat him!

After all, bottom line, when our horses get worried, isn’t that a common concern of all prey/herd animals? And to add to their concern, I’m pretty sure horses know they taste good.

So after enduring the winter weather for the past few months, I was finally able to do some things with Spencer this weekend. We played the 7 games, we worked on hoof handling, (yes, still working on that) and then I decided to go looking for my clickers. And I found them!

Spencer LOVES treats so he LOVES the clicker! You may recall from an earlier post, when he first came here, he would not take treats from my hand. He would turn his head away when offered food from my hand. He’s been hit, I’m pretty sure, and it took watching Forrest take carrots from me to understand that I wasn’t going to hurt him for taking food from my hand.

When I would offer carrots to Forrest, Spencer would put his nose on the carrot and follow it all the way into Forrest’s mouth. It was the funniest thing to watch and Forrest was like, “What the heck are you doing, Man? Sniffing my carrot? Go sniff your own carrot!” (Amazing how similar their blazes are. So tornado like.)

Then when he realized treats were okay, it was the way he took the treats from me that was worrisome. He’d suddenly reach out with his mouth open, teeth-bared and snap the treat away…before he could get hit, I imagine, but I was careful about my fingers.

So while I was working with the clicker last weekend, I happned to take note of how gentle and gracious he’d become at taking treats from me. He was slow and thoughtful and careful about my fingers. If he felt my fingers against his lips, I could feel him avoid them even if it meant the treat might be dropped. That is why, I believe in hand feeding horses. They need to know “how” to take offerings from human hands because one day a small child might be the one offering from their little hands. There was a day that would have been a dangerous situation with Spencer.

I was so impressed with the changes in him, after I thought about how far we’ve come. He really is starting to remind me of an big old teddy bear. Who still kicks out from time to time and won’t pick up his feet for me to trim yet. But hey, we’re making progress.

Spencer is hanging out in his loafing shed on a rainy afternoon.

I got up on the fence for this shot. A site I don't see very often - his top!

So how do you eat a draft horse?

One bite at a time!

Spencer Day-to-Day

2009-02-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

What's Spencer been up to lately? I'm frequently asked that question in emails and it makes my heart swell that so many people care about him.

Well, with the weather being yucky and the days short, and me busy as heck, poor Spencer has been kind of bored. My niece says he reminds her of a woolly mammoth right now, with his fuzzy winter coat on.

But Rich and I have promised ourselves that we are going to start working with him at least every other day to get him safer and cooperative, especially, with his feet.

Last week, I was able to get a gigantic front foot up on my stand long enough to clean it and take 2 nips. WOW! That was exciting! It was our first time!

But then for the past few weeks he's been nursing abscesses. First, he was lame on his left front, and as soon as that foot started feeling better, another abscess in his right foot decided to surface.

I wanted to make him feel better by offering him some bute. I stood next to him with with a syringe full of bute mixed with applesauce, but each time I tried to get him to open up, by putting my fingers into the side of his mouth, he'd smush his lips tight and lift his head way out of my reach.

He's the kind of horse who really seems to understand when you look into his eye and try to reason with him, as weird as that may sound to some, even to me. But it works, so I explained to him that I was trying to help him feel better and needed his cooperation.

His response was to press his big ol' head against my chest, letting me know that he'd like to oblige, but he was feeling bad enough, he just didn't want anything yucky squirted into his mouth. Please.

He's so great at communicating his feelings. I don't get how his past owners couldn't see that in him and were so cruel to him at times causing him to become billigerent and mean.

So his grain was laced with applesauce and bute for a few days, which he didn't mind, and the abscesses soon ruptured and he was walking better almost instantly.

The first thing I noticed about Spencer when he came here was that I never saw him laying down. Ever! But the pain in his feet caused him to get off of them often. It was really good to see him laying down actually, even if it was because his feet hurt. I think a horse who can't lay down is just always on guard and always a bit stressed and that's not good for anyone.

(Spencer is taking a load off his painful feet while his gal Pearl, normally nearly white, watches over him.)

So after he was moving better, we decided to get back to working on trimming his feet, when I asked for him to set a foot up on my stand, he said NOPE!

So we are going to forget about trimming and get cooperation and just work with him, which will help with all other aspects of his behavior. This is a horse that needs handled frequently or he easily reverts back to his old ways.

For instance as I was brushing him, when my brush would get near his flank area he'd launch a big old Belgian draft horse kick. Thank goodness, this isn't a typical behavior for most drafts, or there would be lots of draft horse owners' dead bodies found lying near their horses.

Rich, who lost his left hand in an accident, is practicing PNH with Spencer which was great to see. Spencer was really trying for him even though we have to work on Rich's tool handling. (To give a perspective of Spencer's size, Rich is 6' 5". And at times, he enjoys coming off as intimidating as Spencer does!)

When you're working on the tool handling for the first time, it's not easy to handle the rope, stick and string with two hands, let alone one-handed. But when we work together, I can help Rich out with the stick while he deals only with the rope. We'll work it out.

Spencer is a great project horse for Rich. They are both my big guys!

Spencer in Miniature!

2009-01-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

One foggy morning, I went outside to feed the horses. I looked out at the herd and I didn't see Spencer. I saw a horse that looked like Spencer, but he seemed smaller than the other horses.

I looked and looked. Were my eye deceiving me? Did I need new glasses? How could this be?

As I got closer, I could see that Spencer was about the size of a Shetland pony. Very cute and easy to manage. I thought of all the benefits of this new size. Less hay! Smaller poop piles!

I could trim his feet without getting killed! Yea!

But I missed the Big Spencer! I was sad and started to cry.

I cried so hard, my eyelids filled with tears until I thought they would burst. I could hear someone in the distance "Open your eyes! Open your eyes!"

So I did! And I realized I was dreaming.

This is Buster. A new pony that I brought home last week against my husband's better judgement of course! I had been looking for one for my granddaughter and I found this little guy on Craig's list. He looked so much like my big guy, I had to have him. He's very sweet and easy for kids to handle even though he's only 4 years old. And he's NOT a rescue! How about that!

I had you going for bit there though...didn't I?

The Thrill is Gone, Baby. And so is the snow!

2009-01-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

Spencer is really glad the snow is gone.

So is Sophie.

The dogs loved it!

Especially Mae!

The snow made Cricket's foundered feet feel better. She liked it.

But we're glad it's gone and it hasn't been raining for a few days. In fact, the sun was out today and that was nice.

Snowy Days

2008-12-17T12:19:00.000-08:00

This is Patch! I think you've met him on my blogs before. Well, HE is at the top of my poop list right now.

He's my escape ar-teest.

See the loafing shed and paddock behind him? He frequently checks the door to that paddock with his muzzle, trying to slide it sideways. Once out, he'll even go to the stall door right beside it, and slide that door open to check for any goodies that might be in there, or to let the resident horse out. Currently, Cricket the foundered horse is in there and even with the door open, she's not going anywhere.

I'm forgetful! And go in and out that paddock door often. Sometimes he does get lucky and finds that I've forgotten to latch it. He got lucky the other night just before we went to bed. It was bitterly cold out. Of course.

The dogs were barking their heads off and Rich went out to see what was up. There were a couple donkey's in the front yard headed for the road. All the others where headed down the dead-end (thank goodness) road. The 3 P's - Pearl, Peach, Patch, the two mini mules, Trudy and Mouse, and Harley the moxy mini horse, with Spencer bringing up the rear.

They looked like a little parade of breeds, sort of. I wish I had gotten a picture. It was pretty cute to see little Harley's tiny rump swinging as he clip-clopped down the road next to Spencer's great big rump bumping along.

Rich and I jumped in the gator and went in hot pursuit after the little group of escapees.

When they heard us closing in on them, they turned off the road and went frolicking around in the neighbor's yard whinnying "Whoo hoo!" to each other. There was snow on the ground and they were slipping and sliding, bucking and farting and in general having an "Equines on the loose party!" Except Spencer. He just seemed confused.

But when they realized their escape wouldn't produce any greener grass for them, they turned to the alfalfa in the back of the gator and followed us home.

That was Spencer’s first escape. When he initially came here to live, I had nightmares of him getting out - a giant, agressive stallion, tearing around the neighborhood, kicking and biting all the little children who ran out to greet the big horsy.

Well, it’s finally happened, but he’s no longer a stallion and it was after dark so no kids running around, thankfully. He is still unruly at times, but a friendlier giant than before. He seemed unsure about why they were all traipsing down the road without a human in the around, so he just kind of followed Pearl's lead, the psycho Arab.

Rich’s comment was, “Oh good, two skitsos (sp) running around loose together. That’s great.” He sees the positive side of most situations like that:0)

Well, that was then. Today, everyone is safe and sound and enclosed.

(Pearl and Spencer are a couple now.)

This is Spencer’s feeding station. He is fed separately from the other horses normally because he has different nutritional requirements (he eats a hell of a lot more than the others) and he is a bully at feeding time.

This is a good plan for him also because he is very claustrophobic and has issues with going through narrow passage ways. If he has to go between two objects (the squeeze game for Parellites) he freaks out a bit and moves very fast and sometimes slides or trips over his hind feet.

(This is the paddock doorway that Spencer has to come through to get to his food and the one they all left through on that exciting evening.)

He’s a big uncoordinated boy. Is that a draft thing? He’s not real nimble on his feet when he has to move quickly. Forrest is half Clydesdale and he actually moves with the skills of a talented quarter horse, but then his not as big boned as Spencer either.

Anyway, we’ve been having fun in the Winter Wonderland, we call, the Rainier Hoof Recovery Center!

Quiet Times

2008-12-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

Spencer, just hanging out.

Not much to report with Spencer these days. I’ve been super busy and our grandkids were visiting over Thanksgiving weekend. (Did you notice the mini mule tucked under Spencer's neck in the photo? That's Minnie Mouse. There is a story about her on my website. She's quite a gal! She came here over a year ago with similar personality issues that Spencer has! An after shot of Mouse is on the homepage.)

Spencer has had a few human visitors and has tried to nip each one. One lady was smart and offered him a couple treats and he thought she was okay after that.

Since I haven’t had time to play with him much lately, he reverted back a bit to that nippy boy with the bad attitude that he came here with. I swear, you really have to stay with these horses that come with emotional baggage. Just when you feel like you’re making huge progress, they let you know that their past experiences are always just under the surface.

Still, I know we’ve made progress!

I had to get after him a couple times for agression, and I lost ground in the trust department for a few days. This is a horse who is very sensitive, yet kind of a bully. He gets sad, he pouts, holds a grudge, his emotions are so incredibly human-like. I guess it's true for all animals though, if you pay attention and notice them. But most especially dogs and horses probably because they live so close to us. Bird people say the same about them, and I've seen it with my sister's birds.

Anyway, as soon as we spend more time with each other again, I’ll take pictures and keep you posted.

Just feeding him these days and keeping weight on that ginormous ribcage has been challenging. I have to feed him so much more than the others it’s just amazing. He’s like feeding 3 or 4 normal sized horses.

Oh, Rich finally got around to fixing the fence rail that Spencer kicked out a while back because of this!

Boomer got his big ol' head is stuck in the fence! He's lucky I found him a soon as I did because his fuzzy little butt was exposed for any of the other horses to take a crack at...excuse the pun.

Boomer likes to stick his head were it doesn’t belong. If we put fence panels up he constantly rearranges them which drives me nuts!

More soon! I promise! Thanks for staying with us.

Pat

The Spencinator On Video

2008-11-01T22:28:00.001-07:00

I apologize for not posting anything about the Spenster in awhile. I get busy and get behind on the blogs. Not too much exciting news to report. He's been spending some leisure time lately, just hanging out with the other horses and feeling more comfortable with his "normal-horse" life. Oddly, he and Forrest (the one horse who is nearly his same size) are not getting along all that well lately, but they are pastured together with almost all the other equines now. The two of them got into a big hindleg confrontation which seemed to end in mutual respect for each other. Amazing to see two such big horses battling it out. It didn't last but a half minute, but the noise was deafening! I wish I would have had my camera! But I was screaming at them to STOP! STOP! STOP! Like I was going to put a stop to those two big boys going at it. It's something they had to get through and now they are being civil to each other. Spencer is so sweet and cordial to the other smaller geldings. He allows them to move him out of his food without a ruckus, unless he's really hungry. He's a bit of a chauvinist with the mares though. Mares don't get the same tender courtesy as the geldings. Go figure. Anyway, I took a couple videos a few days ago when I was out in the pasture goofing around with the camera. Do you remember that Spencer ran untouched in a field for 2 years because no one could catch him? I didn't mean to be a smartass in this video, but I guess I kind of am. I'm such a dork in this, but I still had to show you. I just can't help wondering why he was so challenging in the past. You can hear my hubby and our neighbor, Jim, working on the fences. They've been doing an awesome job.

Yes, his front foot was bothering him when I took this. I think he has another abscess brewing. But I'm still not making much headway with hoof handling. I figure if we work on it a bit every few days (that's all the time I get for him) and while we work on other things, the hooves and the trust that goes with allowing me to work on his hooves will come together. For now, he's maintaining his feet on his own as he always has. If his hooves ever were trimmed in the past, as I were told they were on a regular basis, he had to have been forced into cooperating, because he offers no cooperation willingly. So either most of what happened in his past was completely fabricated, or I don't want to guess what they put this guy through to get him to cooperate. On another note! Do you remember how I couldn't get near him while he ate his food? He would try to bite and kick me. Check this out? This boy is an eating machine! You can see, I'm still a bit jumpy around him at times. But he's getting SO MUCH BETTER!

Is that Trigger?

2008-10-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well, the big guy has been really busy for the past few days. I have so much to fill you in on and so many pictures to share!
So he had been behaving like a pretty bad boy. The last post was about busting the fence and my concerns about working with him while he’s eating.

The fence rail he kicked out when I touched him on the shoulder while he was eating. Dude! (And I don't say "Dude" very often, but...) Dude! I'm so thankful I was not on his side of the fence when he reacted!
And he also did THIS when he got into a fight with Forrest during which he gave Forrest a big fat hock!

So for the last 4 days, we've been busy! I worked with him on the food issues, and using a suggestion from Kacy, (thank you so much) I brought a wheelbarrow load of hay and grain into the arena then brought him in with me and we both came upon the food together!

The things I did to work up to that and then taking him to the food, made a huge difference in his eating behavior.

And we did some ground work! This tarp was very scary at first!

You can kind of see how bad his feet still are. We worked on picking up his feet as well. He's making some progress. I'm certain he's never had his hooves trimmed in his life. He has no clue as to how to pick up his hooves. He's like a baby whose never had his hooves handled before.

LOOK...where I'm standing! Woo hoo!!

I'm so excited to be taking a picture from this angle. He's like, "I will allow it this once." What a pill.

Really, I've discovered that he enjoys being fussed over. Initially, I couldn't get close to him with a brush in my hand. He acted like it was a weapon. Isn't that sad! And NUTS! Now he loves it. I'd like to think that when he was a baby, someone pampered him a little bit and the memory of that is returning. (making stuff up in my head again...)

I spent some time brushing him and working on his horribly tangled tail. He seemed to like that. His trust meter is really climbing! I'm so proud of him.

We were doing so well, that I figured we need to take it to the next level and what else could I do than pull out Forrest's draft saddle to see what he thought about that. He can buck!

What's this?
You think you're going to put it where?

The pad is accepted without much fuss.
Now how the heck do I get this heavy thing, clear up there? (His hind leg looks relaxed doesn't it? I wonder... :0)

It wasn't easy, but I got the heavy saddle on his back. I carried it around on my head for awhile, trying to figure it out, then I had to stand on a mounting block to git r' done. Now all I have to do is attach the girth on and cinch up!
Trigger...on steriods!

Here he is, all cinched up! The bucking fest is over. (Sorry no pictures of that, I was busy saving my life.) He just got a little excited. Then I let him hang out and eat hay with the saddle on. He got comfortable with it. Then he became frightened of it when I went to take it off. It fits really well, but taking it off took some imagination to get done safely. For that, once again, I put a fence between us. It's not that he's so much worse than other horses when he gets reactive in situations like this, just so much bigger when he does react. It's like avoiding an earthquake! You can't really!=0) So it's best not to be find yourself in the same region when it happens.

I've been worried about his teeth so last night, our friends from Performance Equine Dentistry stopped in on their way home to give my big buddy a once over. Dick and Kathy Vetter are awesome. They even gave me a deduction as a donation toward Spencer's rehabilitation.

It was getting dark by the time we got started. Spencer was pretty good, but not the easiest patient Dick has done, or the biggest (but we had to work on him outside their clinic trailer) Even after he was sleepy, he was a bit of a giant snapping turtle. We'll work on his behavior with others. So far, he can only handle one human at a time.

I told Dick he deserved an award for getting this guy done. He said, "No, you deserve an award if you can make a good horse out of this guy." Thanks Dick! I will.

I've heard that horses won't purposely hurt people they like. I think it's better to say, horses won't purposely hurt people they trust. I'm getting the feeling that he no longer wants to hurt me. Once we get past that, then we can really go to work on somethings.

It will take time to let him know that all humans can be trusted. He just had some bad luck with a few in the past. I keep saying, he seems like such an unhandled horse, but I know also that he was handled, but over-handled when he was.

He just doesn't trust people and is so accustomed to being bad when he didn't have a studchain on his face and being good when he did because of the amount of pain that could be inflicted on him if he stepped out of line.

That's the horse I met, a few months ago. I've only used a rope halter on him. I was leading him back to the pasture today and it was like leading a tame pony. I flashed back on the enraged bull elephant that I was leading (with 2 leadropes) from the stall to the paddock early on. What a difference!

So this afternoon, I brushed his tail completely out! While he was eating!

Friends who have met Spencer and who know how lazy I can be, and who saw that his tail was one thick mat when I brought him home, threatened to shoot me if I cut if off! Still, I thought about it.

But I didn't. I spent several hours on it and well, it was so worth it...don't you think?

Back out with his friends! What a moose!

Thanks everyone for your support and suggestions! As you can see, I listen to each one and find what works!

Focus on the Good Stuff!

2008-10-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

So a few posts ago, I exposed a comment that wasn't very nice. I did that because I wanted that rude person to know that I wasn’t the only one who could see how mean-spirited he/she is. That was a negative thing for me to do. I get one mean comment and put it out there for all to read and comment on.

Why am I not highlighting one of the many gracious, positive, kind-hearted and thoughtful comments? Those are the comments that are way more meaningful and helpful to me.

All the wonderful comments sent to my blog touch me in a special way and I’m so flattered that some of you take the time to tell me how you feel I’m doing with Spencer and my other rescues. So! Here is a posted comment that really made me feel great!

bhm has left a new comment on your post "Fittin' In!":

Pat,
Poor, sweet little Arab. I’m very happy that you have her. Love your collection of equines. I have a soft spot for donkeys and their cute little faces and fuzzy ears.

Wow, Spencer is really doing well. You’ve done a great training job that most trainers wouldn’t have attempted. Spencer is well on his way to discovering his inner cuddle-pony. I knew it was in there somewhere.

I can’t believe that some idiot sent you that horrible post. You look really cute in your photos with Spencer so I guess they are just jealous. Besides, there are many of us who know what a beautiful spirit you truly are.

That's so uplifting to read! And the best part of that comment was that she too feels there is an "inner cuddle-pony" in Spencer somewhere just waiting to be let out.

I think that very same thing! Even as aggressive as he can be sometimes. I know I just have to find the right way to get to his "inner cuddle-pony"

Horses like Spencer remind us of how we tend to take our wonderfully tame and accepting horses for granted. While they are lose in the field or munching on hay, I can walk behind my other horses without fear of getting sent to the moon. I can run my hand across their bottom and rub and pet them and they are fine with me being so close.

To give you an idea of what Spencer is capable of, I have to share a “long” story of what happened with him just yesterday afternoon.

I’ve mentioned his food aggression in past posts. He will allow me to deliver the food, but then I’d better leave the area, quickly and quietly with no attempts at touching him. I’ve been feeding him with the other horses and spending extra time cuddling with them so he can see that. It sounds silly and maybe it is, but I feel that horses can learn from watching. They pick-up bad habits from each other!

I have so many questions about him. What would cause a horse to become this way? Did humans make him this way? Was he born like this? Or did other horses do this to him? Why does he let Patch eat hay with him, when I’ve seen him kick the tar out of his best mare for trying to share hay with him? It’s confusing and I’m always having to work at reading him, which has been a real learning experience for me. I love it!

Grade school teachers might complain about the difficult kids in their class, but those are the kids they gain the most teaching experience from, don't you think?

We learn the most from the difficult horses too. Pearl was a wonderful teacher for me. I learned so much from her, as frustrating as those lessons were.

So yesterday, I decided to work with Spencer on this very dangerous behavior of his. He was in the paddock just inside the board fence. The fence-rails are hefty 2x6’s and are fastened to the posts with 3.5” lag bolts. [Not nails. Bolts! My hubby has skills...and fence building is one of them;0]

I put grain in to a tub and pushed it to him under the bottom rail of the fence. He started eating. I knelt down and chatted with him and reached through the fence to give him a scratch on the shoulder. The second he felt my hand on his shoulder, he kicked out with his hind leg so hard that he split the fence rail like it was made of balsa wood, and one of the lag bolts shot out and landed on the ground next to me along with several splinters of wood.

Okay...WOW!

(If right here, you’re wondering if he has vision problems. No, I don’t think so, but I’ve thought of that as well.)

Yes, I may have surprised him a little. I agree, his reaction was way over the top and smarter people than me would likely see that reaction and go get their gun and be done with him.

But let me explain. I did this in a controlled manner. I was aware of his probable reaction and kept myself safe. I actually wanted him to react, because horses, like humans, learn from mistakes. I’m aware of what he’s capable of, still the power of that kick surprised me a little bit.

In the past, the human response to this behavior would likely have been to try hitting him as punishment. Which, in my opinion, would only convince a challenging horse like him that humans can’t be trusted and next time he should try to be more accurate with his aim.

I was impressed with his powerful leg and rather than get excited or chase him or raise a hand to him, I simply pulled the tub of grain back under the fence and looked at him. And he looked at me. I'm sure, in wonder of my reaction. No fuss, no yelling or jumping, or running at him with a whip.

Just oops! That little outburst just cost you something you really like.

For one, I think whacking that board as hard as he did, might have hurt a little bit. I hope so anyways...:0)

For another, the response to his behavior was immediate. The food disappeared. That’s way more effective and immediate than trying to wallop him. A tactic that isn't fast enough to make a point, if I could even reach him. And that’s what he’s accustomed to - the lame and absurd responses of humans to his temper tantrums.

Now if I was an alpha mre and could nail him in his ass with both hind-cannons or attack him with a vicious hide-ripping bite...he would learn to respect me. The problem with that is he’d also be fearful of me. So that won’t serve my purposes either. (Besides, putting him with with vicious horses in an attempt to humble him has been tried and well, I can't see that it helped him much, just left a bunch of scars on his handsome body.)

Horses know we are weak compared to them, and horses that have been beaten quickly figure out that we are nothing, when we approach without a weapon in our hands. Spencer knows this too, and yes, he sometimes challenges me when I attempt to approach him unarmed.

Back to yesterday. After losing the food, he allowed me to reach over the fence and scratch and rub him. I didn’t punish him at all. I got a brush out and brushed him. (I touched him.)

Then I gave him his grain back. While he ate, I continued rubbing, scratching and brushing him. He was okay with me doing that. I acheived acceptance in one session, from the opposite side of the fence.

Because he’s so dangerous at times, much of my initial handling has been with a fence between us. With each lesson in acceptance, I come to his side of the fence. It’s just safer that way.

So yes! It’s happening. I don’t believe he needs to be put down. With every new learning experience, he seems to figure things out very fast, especially when I approach him with kindness rather than cruelty.

He gets kindness…and he doesn’t forget. If I thought there was no hope for him changing to a safe horse, I wouldn’t put a life or limb in jeopardy. I would (will) put him down. I want to someday, be able to get close to his bottom, while he's lose and eating, without the worry of getting kicked.

Because, I too, just know the inner-cuddle pony is there. I’m willing to bet my fences on it!:0)

Thank you again for all your encouraging words. Spencer and I just love you for it!

Pat

What I learned: When you expect a horse to "connect the dots" there can only be one or two.

Fittin' In!

2008-10-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

Just hanging with mah posse...

That's Pearl's mug. Seira Pearl is an 11 year old Polish Arab. She was rescued from an Arab breeder (gone broke) and not able to feed, or get water to it seemed, an entire herd of Arabs. She was 18 months old when I picked her up. Starved to bone and belly, and so scared out of her mind that if she heard herself fart, she'd be hanging from the barn rafters shaking like a leaf in the wind. I've tried to rehome her, but her scary past (and her propensity to choke) keeps her from fitting in anywhere else. So I've decided she will be our Pearl for the rest of her days.

Classy, a former founder case, is Spencer's new gal pal. And Harley, the mini appy likes to hang with the big guy too. Of course, Mini-mule Trudy makes sure no one messes with her man. Patch in the background on the left. He's a 12 year old retired reiner with arthritis in most his joints. And finally, Sweet Peach (my feed lot rescue) in the back.

With Minnie Mouse, and donkeys Boomer and Annie, that's my Equine Menagerie! Well, part of the group anyways:0) They all have stories of their own that I hope to share with you along with Spencer's journey.

Turned Out!

2008-10-01T16:58:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I completed the last Hoof Trimming Clinic of the year and during that time, I had turned Little Jake in with Spencer. I was really surprised at how well they got along. Jake is a 3 year quarab who weighs in about 750 pounds, soak and wet, and he took charge! That was kind of weird, but nice. Spencer liked having a buddy in with him again.

This is Missy, my most patient teaching horse with her Azteca filly, Neenah. (Neenah was kind of an accident. Her story can be found on the Rainier Hoof Recovery Center blog.) My three students at this clinic are David, Leonard and Cora. All three did very well and I know will do a good job of trimming their own horses from here on out.

Then, on Monday, I just felt it was time.

Spencer was so good with Jake, that I figured he could get along okay with the others even the mares.

So I opened the gate and turned both he and Jake in with Pearl, Classy and Peaches, (all mares) and Forrest, and Patch and the minis. (Missy and baby Neenah and brother Danny were in a separate field, just in case. )

This picture was taken at just before the sun went down and so is kind of dark, but if you look closely you can see Spencer out with his herd.

That is Classy (Appy mare and founder rehab) in the foreground, Spencer, Forrest, Pearl (gray Arab mare) and Patch (QH ex-reinier with arthritis issues.) Peaches is in there somewhere too.

Most my horses are rescues of one sort or another and so this is their last home. The Rainier Hoof Recovery Center is mainly a santuary for horses with chronic lameness issues and we have started the process for becoming a non-profit organization. Very exciting!

So here is he! Former unhandled stallion, left in a field, alone, for 2 years to fend for himself. A few ah-hm, trainers were hired to try to catch him, but he out-smarted or buffaloed each one.

He's only been a gelding since August 5th, and he's eating politely next to a mare and in with several mares. How cool is that!

When I first turned them out together, there was lots of bellowing and striking and posturing. Spencer truely sounds like a bull-elephant when he calls out to other horses. Probably because he's been alone so much of his life, he's learned to make his voice carry. (I should record him and make that the ringtone on my cell phone. No more excuses for not hearing it.)

Or maybe he's just naturally loud. He's the size of an elephant afterall. I know he poops like one.

In this video, watch Harley, the appy mini, trying to posture and be important out there in the thick of it all. What the little guy lacks in size, he makes up for in moxy! He was a little stud for about ten years and was rescued from a really bad situation himself some years ago. He didn't conform very well, so he hangs out with us now!

That's Harley's girlfriend, Trudy, the mini mule. She's never far from her man! It's so interesting to me how, when you have this many horses, who "pair bonds" with whom. Usually one gelding to one mare, and usually of similar color.

Patch isn't very brave in situations like this. He's hiding behind me in the trees. But now he and Spencer are good friends. Spencer is a very gregarious horse really for one that was kept alone most of his young life. Interesting, huh.

Some people are just plain mean.

2008-09-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

I want to again, thank everyone of you who have been sending such kind and supportive comments about Spencer and his progress.

You make my whole year! You are all so awesome and it's been really fun going to your blogs and reading about your own wonderful accomplishements with your horses. There are so many very cool horse people in the world!!

Then today, I get this. I can't imagine someone would be dumb enough to post such an insulting comment and use a company name.

raystreeservice has left a new comment on your post "Getting Closer":

i can not keep from stooping to you alls level. i must say one is a camera hog and one is a hog . the one with the hat should not be in pictures. the flying monkeys have been released. " inside joke "

Well, I turned 53 a few days ago... I sure didn't need to hear that. But I'm sure this grammar-school reject is a super-model with loads of room to talk. And I know there are so many really cool people out there that outnumber jerks like this.

Anyway, for everyone else:

Yesterday, Spencer was finally turned out with all the other horses, mares included and he's doing great!

There was some posturing at first, but he's getting along really well. And since he's much easier to catch these days I'm not concerned about him being out with the others.

I'll up load some pictures (sans my face) as soon as I take them off the camera for those who are interested.

Getting Closer

2008-09-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Spencer has been getting more trusting of me. It's been so fun playing with him. He seems to love the relationship we're building. He likes the play and the work and I feel like he just so wants to please.

So weird, how natural he is with the things I ask of him, considering no one offered him this type of opportunity that I know of. We were doing so well that I wanted to add this post about our progress, but there was no one around to take pictures. A post without pictures is kind of boring! So here are my attempts at getting a picture of the two of us together. Even funnier I think than a good shot taken by someone else!

What a camera hog!
Smooch!

He can still be a poop, but he's becoming less of a poop everyday. I had him jumping barrels, and he tripped up a couple times. I still haven't gotten to his hooves, but I'm getting closer. I can't imagine how he could move if he had good hooves under him. Well, soon we'll see!:-) I can brush him all over now, which was very scary for him at first. The brush was an object that he acted as if he had either never seen before or someone had beaten him with a horse brush!

He was so afraid at first! Or he'd become defensive and scare me!

But I picked out a very soft brush and once he's realized I'm not going to hurt him with it, he allows me to brush him all over his body. Just not when he's eating. I still can't get close to him during his meals, but that's coming. No rush.

I've just started sacking him out with a plastic bag. We'll be taking that very slowly considering it has caused him to leap in the air like a cat when I set it on the ground in front of him. He's a very large cat and I don't like being in the same zip code with him when he decides to pounce back down on the ground. Here's a video that I took today after playing at liberty. My little arena is too small for a horse his size. Soon I'll have my round pen put together and we'll be able to make more progress. Hey! Don't laugh at my silly voice!

What's New With Spencer

2008-09-11T23:02:00.000-07:00

We got back from our trip to Pagosa Springs on Tuesday. While we were gone, our friend who was critter-sitting for us, did nothing more with Spencer than feed him and offer him a carrot at the gate to his field from our back yard.

Since then, I've taken him into my small arena with me to start playing the Parelli Seven Games with him, (2 times) which is simply the foundation for a horse new to Natural Horsemanship.

He is doing so well, that today, I took him out into the yard to let him graze on-line. He really seemed to enjoy that. My being so close to him didn't seem to bother him at all.

Now when I go into his field, he runs from the opposite end (where there are other horses just across the road) down to see what I have for him.

When he leaves his paddock, he no longer just walks past me as if am of no importance to him as he's done in the past. He will actually stop and check-in with me to make sure I have nothing to offer before he walks away.

He still doesn't care to be brushed, but I think he is finally becoming interested in humans. So as his reward, you might notice something is missing from his face.

I was finally able to get that halter off today! And I'm not worried about how difficult it might be to get it back on.

I had some trouble getting if off before, because he'd try to bite my arm when I would reach up to untie the knot. And because it barely fits his head, the knot was at the very end of the head piece, making untying it difficult.

So he was patient with me today, to a point, and since I couldn't untie the knot out, he let me slip the halter off over his ears. That was nice because he hates his ears to be touched.
We have a long ways to go, but I'm getting a really good feeling that he's coming around, his testosterone is starting to settle out of his system and he appears to be gaining a little weight.

I kissed him on the forehead today. He seemed to like it, kind of. :0)

Lost My Best Friend.

2008-09-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well, Spence lost his buddy Forrest.

They had been getting along really well, even when I had them in the small paddock together. But a few days ago when they were in the play field, just the two of them, (always close-by each other) they got into a heated argument and Spencer won.

I was sitting here at my computer and I heard Spencer bellow... kind of like a pissed-off bull-elephant.

I blasted out of my chair to the back door to see them both across the field looking like two over-grown teen-age boys who'd just done something bad.

Then Forrest took a few lame steps. Spencer had kicked him in the flank and the stifle (not a good place to get kicked...by a pissed-off bull-elephant.

So Spencer went into time-out in the paddock and Forrest went back to the field across the street with his girls. He has 3 mares in with him now. Classy, Cricket, and Pearl.

(I hate to keep horses in solitary confinement.)

That goofy horse! He's been alone in his pasture since then, but he can see Forrest from across the street.

I realize, Spencer was simply asserting himself, but I don't know why there was a sudden need to do that after a week together. And Forrest seemed to be the one taking charge in a non-combative fashion.

We are leaving for Pagosa Spring, Colorado, for the Annual Parelli Savvy Conference tomorrow. A good friend will be staying here while we're gone. So he will be keeping a close eye on things.

When we return from our trip, I'm going to begin playing with Spencer in a way that he's never experienced and I hope to start getting through to him. He's healed up from his surgery and seems to mellowing (a little bit) so we'll see how it goes. Life for him is going to change.

Rich and I seem to be the only ones who can enter his pasture and he'll behave himself. But even if someone he doesn't know is near his gate, he gets a bit stinkery. I can see how easy it would be to turn a horse with his history into a one-person horse after what he's been through with other humans. Including being ignored for a couple years. With only an occasional new weirdo-human entering his field to chase him around for hours (and in one case - days).

But at some point, I've got to get to those feet!

People say the nicest things!

2008-08-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

I’ve been receiving so many kind and supportive comments lately and I just want to say how much I appreciate all the votes of confidence and kudos! You make me feel so much better about taking on this "enormous" project when I have so many other projects at hand.

This comment is one from Cilla.

Hey pat,Well done on taking on such a gorgeous creature. I hope it works out for you both. I read your blog with great interest and bless you for doing this. May I politely suggest that you turn your body away from Spencer so your belly button isn’t facing him, and therefore putting pressure on him. Try standing sideways a little with your eyes away and softly focused and see if he puts his ears forward.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Thank you so much Cilla. That shows you know a thing or two about horse language and I sure appreciate the advice. We forget how important the little things are sometimes.

Any advice for dealing with a huge, unhandled former stallion, spoiled-rotten, (super-sensitive) over-handled elephant of a horse is welcome!

I just wanted to explain those pictures in my last post a bit better.

Turning your body away to relieve pressure on the horse is something I'm actually aware of and practice when I’m training. Just facing horses sometimes can be too much pressure as is illustrated in those pictures on the last post.

The pictures, however, weren't actually taken to illustrate me trying to connect with him. A friend had told me that I should get a picture with Spencer for my blog avatar. So with my daughter's help, I wanted to see if we could quickly snap a shot with me and him in the same frame.

I picked up a rope on my way into the paddock. For protection as much as anything, and thinking I might have to get it on him to get in the same frame with him.

Then we tossed some hay and I was going to see if I could get close enough for a picture without actually getting a lead rope on him. I have to go about that kind of slowly. He didn’t want to let me get close and she just started snapping pictures.

In looking at the pictures later, I thought, they wouldn’t work for my avatar, but those shots of his body language sure were interesting. So I decided to use them in my blog.

I know that “training” happens whenever you are near your horse. Not just when you decide to do some “training.” But if I had been trying to connect with him, I would have turned away or even backed away from him when he’s is displaying those kinds of signals at that time.

Here is what he looks like when I walk in without a lead rope in my hand. He’s a really sharp horse.

I did put a lead rope on him yesterday, by using my carrot stick. I thought this was kind of interesting too.

It appears that "human touch" has rarely been a pleasant experience for this guy, so for now, in order to safely touch him, I use my carrot stick. He’s very fearful of anything that resembles a stick or whip, so I've only used my carrot stick to scratch him. I scratch his neck and rump and all the good itchy spot with it.

He will not allow touching unless he’s on-line and that’s barely tolerated unless he wants to be scratched. At liberty, to safely scratch him, I stay on the other side of the fence. And I’m always on the look out for that mouth!

You cannot just reach up and attach the lead rope to the halter, (and I can't wait to get that halter off, but for now, it’s a permanent fixture. I’ll explain that later.)

So in order to attach the lead rope to the halter without a big ruckus, I first begin scratching him with the stick. If he seems concerned about it initially, I turn away and scratch one of the other horses, they stand there enjoying it and he’s sees that and wants some too. So I come back to him and he's okay with it.

Then I slid the stick into the halter. In his mind, he’s caught. (I believe, that is how a horse who has had a chain used on his head responds. They aren’t going to risk checking to see if they are really caught and once caught, you have a different horse.)

After pulling the savvy string through the halter, he really is caught, sort of. Now I can attach a lead rope!

I may have to do it this way for awhile until he learns to trust me to just put a halter and lead rope on his head. And he will eventually, I have no doubt.

I feel that this horse had been over-handled. What does that mean? Well, if you use a halter with a chain in place of teaching a horse to lead politely, the horse,

1st is difficult to catch. They will do anything to keep that contraption off their head.

2nd, some people who use chain leads have a tendency to over-correct. The horse blinks and bam! Out of fear usually, or just plain meanness, the handler will give the chain a serious yank and the horse is shocked with pain. So the horse is up on adrenaline whenever the halter is on his head, and he is afraid to fart for fear of that horribly painful yank.

3rd, if they just can’t contain themselves (like stallions) when there are other distractions, they know the yank is coming, but they have to work through the inevitable pain, so they get over-stimulated to everything. On lead, they accept that every action is followed by painful jerks on the lead rope.

Jerk, jerk, jerk goes the chain and the horse is higher than a kite. That’s the scenario I often see at shows, etc. But I’m generalizing here. As many will tell you, there is a correct way to use the chain lead and the horses wearing them aren’t all scared. But if I were to say more are mishandled, than are handled correctly, I'd probably be right.

So I’m trying very hard not to be the jerk on the other end of the lead rope and encourage him to start using his brain. I want to teach him to give to pressure and stop worrying about the pain. (That rhymes!)

I took him out of the pasture yesterday, put him in the stall for a few minutes, which really ticked him off. Then I led him (behind Forrest) from the stall back to the paddock.

He was upset during that short walk and it was challenging to get him safely to the destination. He was so worried about getting out of the stall and back with his buddy, Forrest. (It’s a bit like leading an unruly elephant.)

But Forrest was that way when he was young. He’s taken me horse-skiing a few times down the barn isle where I was boarding him temporarily so I’d have use of a covered arena. All the while I’d be yelling, “He’ll give to pressure any minute.” That would get me nothing but laughter! It was actually pretty funny though.

Now I can lead Forrest anywhere with a piece of baling twine around his neck! See! He did learn to give to pressure.

Is that because the baling twine controls him like a halter and chain? No, that’s because I played with him enough that I got to his brain. We humans think we can control 1000 to 2000 pounds of muscle and bone with a chain. We can, not safely and it sometimes take several handlers to move a large stallion from point A to B., and we’ll end up paying for it eventually. I’d rather get control of the brain and be able to lead with a string.

I took these pictures of my two big lugs last night, just before it got dark.

On another note, Spencer is accepting carrots from my hand now!

I know…hand-feeding is bad, bad, bad. We should NEVER hand feed our horses! Right?

Of course, I don’t agree with that. I think of hand-feeding as an important training tool and I want my horses to learn to accept treats from even the tiniest hand correctly and politely.

Avoiding an activity is not teaching. Say that with me: "Avoiding an activity is not teaching!"

If your horse bit you in the rump every time you bent over and asked him to pick up his foot, would you avoid ever asking for his foot again? Heck no! You'd teach him that his behavior wasn't acceptable and fix it.

But what if you did decide to avoid ever picking up his foot again. Then say someone's 5 year old walked up and bent over near his foot and she got bit in the ass. That would be your fault for avoiding the cause of the behavior rather than fixing it.

Forrest (fuzzy mouth, he's chewing, but I love his eye in that picture.)

Spencer is a Famous Boy!

2008-08-26T12:22:00.001-07:00

Spencer had his 15 minutes of fame recently on another website. One that is popular with some and not so popular with others. So far he has 478 comments. Most have to something to do with him, but many don't. And I really do feel empathy for what was said about his previous owners. They seem like very nice people. (The motives of their friends are questionable however.)

But the blogs owner, Cathy, is just a brave gal who wants to clean up "horse messes" that others leave behind and she hopes to keep new ones from happening in the future.

If you're curious, the site is fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com. (See: "I stumbled upon a happy ending last night!" in the August posts.)

That isn't her first post about him. She previously had posted his original Craigs List ad back in May and the comments about how others felt about that, were interesting. Just not what the previous owners had in mind when the posted the ad. I didn't know that post existed until recently. (Okay, I hadn't ever seen that post until the August post.)

Cathy's, main message is that unless you have an outstanding stallion, get him gelded and just because your mare has a uterus, doesn't mean you have to fill it with something. Think about the market. Are horses selling right now? No. Don't breed for the profit alone because there is none and horses are being shipped to slaughter faster than rescuers can keep up with them. I have 16 horses here, most are rescued! We feed them on our own dime and it's gets very diffucult. Yes, I'm the one who chose to take them in, but I couldn't let the alternative happen either.

No slaughter, you say? Yes there is, and a horse being shipped to Canada or Mexico to get to the plants, don't receive the most comfy ride there. Transportation laws or not.

Spencer is one of those messes. And I've got my work cut out for me, but I hope I can get through to him now that he is no longer a stallion. I want to transform him into a safe and predictable horse. He's predictable now, but the problem is he's predictably dangerous.

Yesterday, I was attempting to flick an itchie piece of grass off his belly (well, actually it was sticking out of his sheath and it was driving him nuts.) I wanted to help him, but I didn't want to get my head too close to his bottom parts. When I reached out, I'm sure I seemed to be sneaking and I figured he wouldn't let me get close, but I wanted to at least try to relieve him of that annoyance.

Dang! He swung out with a kick that would have landed me in the hospital or worse, if I hadn't been ready for it and moved.

What message did I end up sending him? "I kick, she moves." Not smart on my part. I should have been ready more ready than I was to let him know kicking is not the answer to his problems. Soon...we are still just getting to know each other. Trust first! Dancing later.

A slower person would not have avoided that very purposeful kick. And to think I received several calls and emails from the previous owner's pesky friend asking when she could come and get him. I know it was just a ploy to get me riled up because these folks were the ones who couldn't catch him for 2 years.

But what did they think they were going to do with him if they got him back? Shoot him? Well, probably. A smarter person than me, would have told them to get their asses over here and load him up! But I'm a glutton for punishment, I tell ya.

These pictures illustrate Spencer's attitude when you approach him with the look of, "I would like to do something with you, Big Boy."
I make sure I give him a lot of advance notice that I'm coming to see him.

Look at his ears!

Those ears are NOT saying, "Well, looky here! Here comes that nice human who feeds me and cares about me."

Those ears are saying, one step closer and you'll find out just what these ugly, neglected hooves are capable of!

Here too, this means, "I notice you. Leave me alone. This is your last warning. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to. "

Forrest is behind me. I can snuggle up to him and have no worries about getting hurt by him. What a difference in animals.

Here he's saying, "I MEAN IT! You are a dead woman and I know you know it. Get the hell out of here...

...unless you have more grain for me."

I remain calm, smiling and relaxed and don't threaten him with further approach.

He lowers his head a bit in response. (Adrenaline isn't fun for them to be up on. Nor for me. Sometimes you must pretend to appear relaxed.)

Even his ears have relaxed a little.

I'm telling him that I have a rope, but I mean no harm. He's getting that message. After this shot, I left the paddock. I rewarded him for giving in a little bit with the release from my presence.

What he's actually saying in horse language includes too much profanity to repeat here. But what I did in that few minutes was huge for him.

I read him, he read me. I rewarded him. I didn't get a rope on him and knock him around for behaving like an ass. This is the beginning of trust.

Novice horse people ask me why I'm not "doing" anything with Spencer. But what most don't understand is that doing, what appears to be, "nothing" for him or with him," in this situation, is way more important than "doing something to" him. "Take the time it takes and it takes less time." PP.

He's skeptical that anything a human wants of him is going to be bad news and painful. I've got to take the time it takes to reverse that logic.

I've seen this in horses before who are either beaten or a stud chain had been used on them in a very inhumane way. Some people have no clue how much that chain hurts a horse's tender face. They have so many nerve receptors in their skin and no fat or muscle under the skin in their face. It's skin to bone. It's a very delicate area.

So many of the horses who are not treated fairly on-line, even if there were born buttheads and seemingly deserve it, will become vengeful at liberty and that is Spencer.

It's a game for him, of "I can get you, before you can get me!" But it's a deadly game, because he figures he's fighting for his life.

He does just fine in a rope halter and lead. I'm not sure why we use chains on most horses anyways when a rope halter offers just as much control, in most cases. But my customers in a few cases have used the halter and chain on horses for a quick fix when a horse is dangerous to work on their feet. I don't mind, being safe in this situation, but like I said, it's a quick fix and not be a training tool in my opinion. Because it's not a tool at all. It's a replacement for horse savvy.

Some of you won't agree with what I'm saying here, but I've been trying so hard to be politically correct lately that if there is one thing I've learned from the fugly blog, we have a right to our opinions and if there is anything I have it's opinions! I think honesty, is going to be more helpful to horses in the long swim than striving not to make any waves.

Some say Spencer should have been put down before he was given away and (he nearly was) and I can't really say one way or another how I feel about that. If he takes me out, I will have a better opinion!

I was advised that for two years, he was untouched. Well, if no one ever gets near a horse like this, he's not dangerous to anyone! But if you try to make a usable horse out of him and he kills you in the process. It's too late to do anything about it.

Now that I know better what he's capable of, maybe the decision to euthanize him is the right one. I was told that he's not a mean horse, it's just that he doesn't trust humans. That's true, but it doesn't matter. If he's capable of seriously hurting someone on purpose, his existance is questionable. And I'm aware of that. I'm not fooling myself there.

I've come to terms with what I'm up against with Spencer and we'll see how it goes with him and me. Stay tuned. I hope the outcome is wonderful!

Optimistically Yours!
Pat

Comments about Spencer

2008-08-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

Say, guys. thank you so much for the kind words and kudos about what we are trying to do for Spencer.

I'm sure his previous owners did everything they knew to do for him. Apparently he was a rescue case when they took him in as an 18th month old. If they hadn't of done that, he could have gone to auction and then to slaughter due to his behavior issues and his size.

At his last home, he wore a halter in his field normally which apparently made catching and handling him not all that difficult. He was fed well and he received regular hoof care and was fairly cooperative with his feet. That's good news for me!

But then he got the halter off at about the same time he fully matured nearly 2 years ago and he'd been a loose, untouched stallion every since. His owners could not catch him. Farriers could not catch him. Well known trainers were hired, who guaranteed they could catch any horse. But he proved them wrong.

It took a woman on a hot day and a horribly abscessed hoof. If not for her, he would not be here. She caught him just before he was schedule to be euthanized I was told.

He needs his hooves rehabbed and that's where I came in. But the only way I could do anything for him was to geld him first.

I just don't want him hurt anymore than he has been in his life. (Although he better watch out for Trudy, the mini-mule. The parts of him she can reach with her hind feet, she could create a small bruise;0) AND SHE MEANS IT!

One more note. When we first got him home here, I turned him loose in the small field and we could not catch him. Five of us spent about 10 minutes trying. When I realized he wasn't going to let us near him and we knew food was not going to entice him, I lured him into a small paddock with another horse.

So if you ever find yourself in a situation where you can't catch a horse, don't hire a trainer who can catch anything, guaranteed. Think outside the square pasture and try using a round pen.

Again, I appreciate your views and your kind words of support.

Pat

Spencer is now in a Pasture with a Herd...of sorts.

2008-08-18T23:10:00.000-07:00

Spencer, trying to make sense of it all.

I sent Spencer out into the larger pasture yesterday. He’s now in with a 3 year old Quarab, Jake, and 5 minis (2 donkeys, 2 mules and 1 horse).

I allowed him some time to snoop around the pasture and loafing shed. That much open space seemed a bit scary for him at first. He clearly wanted back into the familiar field he'd been in for the past few weeks. But he meandered around and got more comfortable in his new area.

Normally, I walk new horses around the fenceline to keep them from running through it in a paniced moment, but he wasn't into allowing me to get a leadrope attached to him that day and I didn't feel like screwing with it. The fence couldn't hurt him anyways. He can just about step over it. (Not to worry, now that his gonads are gone!)

Finally, I locked him in the paddock and brought Forrest, the Clydesdale/WM cross, into the pasture.

Forrest is a love, but he doesn’t take crap off many horses. He’s a good 16 hands, but looks small next to Spencer. They made some noise and postured over the gate and after that quieted down, I opened the gate.

Forrest and Spencer - after introductions. I'd guess he and Spencer weight about the same and Forrest has a much lighter build. (Here come the excuses: Forrest isn't usually that fat. But all my horses are gaining weight (getting obese) on the summer air right now. He looked good about 300 pounds ago.)

That's part of my round pen leaning up against the fence. (another project.)

I didn’t let their introductions go as slowly as I did with Danny, but I figured, it’s time for Spencer to start his education in herd behavior. Not all horses are as good natured as Danny, or as brutal as the stallion he was put in with at the last place. Two extremes.

When he and Forrest were first allowed in together, oddly Forrest ignored Spencer, while Spence sniffed Forrest all over. Nibbling his legs and hooves, like he might with a mare and he was acting very stud-like (if you get my drift).

While all of that was going on, Forrest allowed the once over, then he finally let Spencer know he was straight. (I believe Spencer’s ego is taking a real beating meeting all these mares who have no interest in him whatsoever. He doesn’t get "geldings".)

I tossed a few piles of hay out to them and kicking and screaming lasted about 2 seconds and Forrest’s higher rank was firmly in place.

I will wait awhile before introducing a mare. Although he’s got a gal donkey and gal mule in with him. Trudy, the mini mule, opens a can of whoopass on Spencer every time he gets anywhere near her man, Harley the mini horse. That’s pretty funny to watch and will be the beginning of his education on what mares are capable of.

Spencer is really sweet around Jake too. They were eating out of the same pile of hay this morning!

If you look very closely, you can see Spencer out in the field with his new herdmates in this picture that I took this morning (from our back porch.) It was a misty morning after an impressive thunderstorm.

PS: I just wanted to explain that the old horse trailer that you see out in the field is not normally something I would put in a pasture. (The hitch part is covered to prevent leg fractures.) I bought it for $100 with the intention of painting it for the equine agility field to use for trailer loading training. Not sure how long it will take to get around to that project with the 100's of other projects on our list.

Best Friends.

2008-08-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

Spencer is happier than a pig in pooh right now with his new little buddy. Spence is the one in charge. But he's very careful with Danny. He'll move Danny off a pile of hay, but he's is very gentle about it and Danny doesn't argue. It's very sweet. I just love watching them.

Here they are dining together. To get an idea of Spencer's size, Danny is 15.2. No small fry himself. Spencer's sheath is starting to heal real well. So he's feeling better about everything.

How cute is this?

I actually let these two sniff muzzles and other parts and get to know each other through a tall fence for a couple weeks before putting them in together. So they knew each other before this happened.

I just wanted to explain that I knew Danny wasn't a threat to Spencer before I put them in together. And I knew that Spencer was very curious about Danny. I play it as safely as possible when tossing horses into a pasture with other horses.

What I wasn't sure of is just how Spencer would react with another horse actually inside his enclosure. It was a bit risky using my best horse for this, but I know how easy going Danny is and I figured if anything went wrong, I'd be at the gate holding it open for him and ready to slam it on Spencer. After just a few minutes though, I knew this was going to work out well.

My plan is to go through the same routine, one by one, until each gelding has been in with him until I feel confident that he can be part of the herd. I'm also introducing Neenah to the herd one at a time, so I've been doing some serious pasture juggling lately.

The problem I may encounter is that Spencer will treat Danny as a stallion would treat a mare and he'll challenge any other horse who gets near him. So this could be tricky. But we'll get it figured out.

Here, I think he's saying, "Thanks. This really means a lot."

Good boy Spencer.

Spencer and Danny

2008-08-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

Finally, the day has arrived for Spencer to share a pasture with a friend. He didn't know what to think about it at first, but I think he is happy beyond comprehension.

I chose Danny because he's a very neutral horse. He’s my main riding horse and is recovering from an abscess and if Spencer hurts him, I’ll be very upset.

Spencer: Whose this? A mare?

Danny: I'm Danny, Missy's kid and nope, I'm a boy. Get a clue.

Spencer: She sure doesn't seem interested in me?

Danny: This grass is pretty good.

Spencer: Come to Papa you cute little thing.

Danny: Put that thing away Man! The mares are watching.

Pearl: Peaches! Come here! You gotta check this out!

Spencer: Okay, well...

...room mates then. This is going to be awesome!

A Good Deal for Spencer

2008-08-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

Spencer seems much calmer already! Sometimes.

He's very swollen at the surgery site today, day five.

I hope that goes down soon. Dr. P gave me some bute for him, but I haven't given him any yet as he seems very active without it. So as long as he's not standing around with the appearance of a horse in pain, he'll be okay.

Lots of food. That's a good deal.
This is taken from across the street. You can barely see Spencer in the Play Field, his enclosure for now, across from the horses. My neighbors are awesome about letting our horses graze in their pasture.

This is Spencers surgery site the day after the surgery. I'm not sure what that piece of tissue is hanging down, but it's still there. I hope it's not a permanent thing. Dr. Perkins assures me it isn't and will shrivel up on it's own.

Spencer will not take treats from my hand. He will pick them up off the ground. I'm not sure why, but if I try to offer him a treat from my hand he turns his head away. Who know why, but it could be a training technique that was used on him.

Some people don't believe in handing treats to horses, which is fine. But I believe it's a bonding and training opportunity that we can use to our advantage. But I finally found his weak spot. Apples! He likes apples! We are bonding over apples!

The first few days he was here, he had absolutely no use for me. He didn't want to be bothered or touched by humans. It's possible that no human had ever offered him a good deal.

I want to show him a good deal. First and foremost. I don't have any desire to start "doing" things with him or getting him to bend to my will in any fashion, until he sees me a promising companion. Someone he can trust. And I want to trust him too, which I don't right now.

We cause each other to jump and that's not a good deal.

I just have to be patient. Keep my goals for him in mind and not be sidetracked by what others think I should be doing with him. Then maybe he'll feel like I have something to offer. Even after everything I've put him through, I just might be a "Good Deal."

Spencer meets Dr. Perkins!

2008-08-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

Spencer goes to sleep a stallion...

19 hundred pounds vs 99 pounds.

But the one with the most drugs - WINS!

.
..and wakes up

a gelding.

Watching Dr. P and Jennifer today was like watching a dance. They were so proficient at their jobs. For Spencer, it was the dance of de-nuts.

He's going to be a bit sore in that area for awhile. But when he feels better, guess what? He gets the one wish he's wanted all his life. To be part of a herd.

Spencer is normally distrustful and very tricky to get a halter onto. But this morning when I let him know that big day was coming where he could run and play and graze with other horses, he stopped and made it so easy for me to put his halter on his head. I'm not sure if he realized he was going to have to give up 2 pounds of his impressive-ness to get there, but get there, he will...and soon!

Go Spencer!

What a Stud!

2008-08-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

Spencer's surgery is set for tomorrow morning. He will no longer be this amazing stallion, but he will be an amazing gelding who can soon be socializing with other horses as part of a herd.

Domestic stallions are typically the most majestic, muscled, athletes in the entire horse community, yet they are the horses typically confined to the smallest enclosures, alone most of their lives.

They are meant to protect entire herds in the wild and welcome their offspring into the world; yet domestic stallions usually never see even one of their foals.

I would love to play with Spencer, but I don’t want to be continually reprimanding him for what we would term “aggressive behaviors” when actually his conduct is normal for most stallions. Especially a horse of his stature.

So I haven’t spent much time with him actually “doing” anything except feeding him and brushing him and showing him that at some point he and I are going to be good friends and I shouldn’t have to worry about bites or kicks or any other hostile actions.

He did bite Rich in the chest when Rich was giving him scratches out in the field at liberty. It was a matter of the human, not reading the signals the horse was giving. But now I know what he's capable of and I'm not the one inflicted with the injury. Sorry Hon. But....gulp, I know how much that hurt

Spencer Today

2008-07-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

What a stud! But not for long! Next Tuesday morning at 8:30 am Spencer has a date with Sara Perkins, DVM.

Spencer's handsome self.
His scrapes, bite and kick marks from his battle with Mel's stallion are healing up.

His hooves have a long ways to go.
"Oh Oh Oh, a mare in heat! If I could just get closer."

Tuesday can't come fast enough!

Hauling 2000 Pounds of Horse

2008-07-28T00:48:00.001-07:00

A few of my friends helped me pick Spencer up on Saturday. I was told that he'd only been in a horse trailer a couple times in his life.

Mel spent a few hours trying to catch Spencer in his paddock when she picked him up. She's a determined gal. She brought him to her in-laws house and put him in with her stallion and his 2 pregnant mares. A brutal fight ensued and she told me Spencer was humbled by the experience. He was also pretty beat up, but she put him in another field by himself. And his abscessed hooves continued to get worse.

Spencer appears to be about 6 or 7 years old. He sure behaves as if he can be dangerous and unpredictable when he isn't haltered.

Spencer loaded into the trailer fairly calmly in about 5 minutes. It took about 10 minutes to get him out of the trailer as he wasn't sure about stepping back and down. We simply attached two long ropes to both sides of his halter and got behind him and asked him to step back. That way we could control his head and keep him from attempting to turn around in the trailer, which he was thinking about doing, and would have been disasterous.

He sure is a pretty boy.

He's currently residing in the new HRC paddock that Rich (hubby) recently put the finishing touches on. He can see the horses in the field behind his fence. He gets very excited, like stallions do, to actually get close to another horse. So I put the 2 mini donkeys, Annie and Boomer, in panel corral next to him and they pretty much ignored him, but he appreciated the non-threatening company. Later I added Harley the mini horse and his wife, Trudy the mini mule.

Trudy didn't take any crap off Spencer who was posturing and trying to show her husband what was what. Trudy would put herself between Harley and Spencer and kick up at the big guy to let him know her man was under the protection of a LRMWAA (Little red mule with an attitude.)

About Spencer

2008-07-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

Spencer came to live with us this weekend. I'm not sure exactly what his breeding is.

Here are pictures of his worst foot. All hooves are in bad shape. Flared, chiped and loaded with abscesses.

Spencer's hooves obviously haven't been tended to in a very long time and he's not had much or any hoof handling, or if he has, I pity the poor farrier who worked on him.