Spencer Today

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!

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

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?

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

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!

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!

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.