The education of Jewel, Part II

Probably "I know!" because he was the first horse I put her in with to try to integrate her into herd life and he's had to put up with and put down her rude, ignorant behaviors   He is the boss over her and sends her running sometimes

She has 3 sessions under her belt now.  The farrier did her feet tonight and she was better.  Although she did pull-up on her hinds some, she didn't try to kick anyone this time   She seemed more patient and responded to correction more quickly.  She still needs Ritalin but progress   She has grown again, I think she's about 16.3 and her chest has finally widened!

Wow!  She's a monster!  But she's going to be a great horse. 

She's still got a hand or two to catch Cody and about 800 lbs. but she's meaner than him...... Don't know if I could pony her off of him anymore now that he gives way......

Holy smokes that is one BIG pony! She's pretty.

We keep hoping someday that "pretty is as pretty does...."  Tonight when I put Cody away she started to act pushy but I had my stick ready and gave her a warning poke to back off.  When she didn't listen, she got a good whack and she backed off but came back so she got another whack and she decided it was safer to stay back   Poor Cody gets nervous with the whip so I have to reassure him I'm not after him....

She is brave. Poor Cody hehe.

Poor guy, he's just a big powder puff.  He barely needs to be touched to move.  You'd think with her TB blood (don't know what Hanoverians are like) she'd be the overly sensitive one..... but you practically have to whack her to get a response and sometimes, OK, well a lot of the time, you have to whack her to get her brain back in gear and listening!  Talked to the trainer and he likes her, said she wants to learn and is doing better.  We have homework, supposed to tie her up with the blocker tie and let her stand for 30+ minutes.  My big patience pole is in, just waiting for the concrete to set.

I don't know if you've ever watched any of Clinton Anderson's DVDs. He has one that's called something like Gaining Respect & Control on the Ground... He demonstrates with two different horses. The bay mare is really sensitive and hardly takes any correction at all to make her 'give in'. The other mare is either a palomino or light chestnut (I can't remember which) but she SO reminds me of the big palomino Morgan mare I had when I was young. She had been spoiled then abused and had an attitude. You really had to be forceful and WHACK her - more than once sometimes because she just didn't want to give in. We were firm (however firm we had to be) but fair and she eventually turned into a really nice horse, and she was 10 when I got her. Don't give up, it can happen.

We did our homework this afternoon and Jewel did great.  Used the blocker tie and gave her a hay bag.  Trimmed her bridle path, shortened her mane, cleaned all of her feet including her hind w/out her jerking her leg or kicking   Sat there w/ a magazine while she got bored, fussed, pawed and finally sighed and decided to eat some hay
 
Put Spirit in with her and Chocolate and she started pestering him and then whirled around and kicked him a couple times.  He finally had enough and whirled and kicked her hard and she gimped away on three legs..... she kept coming near so he finally started chasing them and ran them around the pasture several times.  She figured it out and stood there in one corner of the pasture, eyes wide, head down, watching him and wouldn't let him get within 50 feet of them!  Way to go Spirit.  Then he laid down and took a nap, no longer being bothered
 
She's got a gouge on the inside of her hock, nothing major but had to hurt......  definitely got through to her.  Also, when we turned Spirit in, she came over to the gate but when I held out the stick, she stayed right there and let Spirit in, unimpeded   Progress
 

WTG, Spirit! He'll teach that young whipper snapper some manners. []

Yep, he is very intolerant of shenanigans   My friend who has been riding him has been treating him like a little old man but after she saw what he can really do, I think she'll expect more of him   They are having fun together.  He loves to trail ride and she is a good rider, just insecure because her horse is very spooky.  Today she said "Your horses are amazing!  They go past, through and over anything."  Cody and I did our first wooden bridge today and he just stepped right up and went   We were riding where there is construction and Kelly and Tahoe jumped the orange plastic barriers

Tsk, she just had to learn the hard way. Way to go Spirit, definitely named him well. Haha, ok compared to Jewel, Sahara is a whimp. Any signs of aggression by any horse she runs and stays 10 feet away but has the saddest look and squeaks like a huge mouse!

It has been rather humorous to watch them all interact.  Jewel and Chocolate have been like 2 horses hitched to a cart, walking side by side, staying way away from the evil Spirit who occasionally lays his ears back and shakes his head at them.  They cower and stand, heads lowered, never letting him out of their sight   Jewel was quite pleasant at feeding time, not her usual whirling dervish with ears pinned, threatening to blast any horse that comes near or bite a hapless person.....  Her mane looks great considering I trimmed it with scissors and she was working on a hay bag.  Tomorrow is another lesson with Clayton
 

Oh, do you have a picture of before and after of her mane? Sahara is food aggressive but not with me. She knows I'm higher but needs reminding after other humans cower when she pins her ears. Very fun watching horses interact isn't it. Glad Jewel is being a nice horsey.