April Update on Beaugart
I’ve had Bogie home from the trainer for almost 2 weeks now. I’m sticking to my plan and have left out the timeline, going very slowly. I spent most of the first week in observation mode, trying to see where Bogie’s mind is at. Having him away from the main herd has been very helpful, in that I can see his reactions to me more clearly. Its amazing…he is all over the map! From pacing the fenceline looking for the safety of the herd (RBE) to stomping on the chickens (LBE) to frozen and tense while I work around him(RBI) and then to frisking me for cookies (LBI)…all in a matter of a few minutes. Phew…he’s like a friggin rollercoaster!
The first big ‘aha’ was that he really does not tolerate me approaching him directly. He might manage to stand still, but he is tense and suspicious. I had missed that before. If I have something in my hand, like a brush or a leadline, forget it, he is out of dodge. This is the response I have seen before and attibuted it to the ‘thing’, when really I was just putting more pressure on a RB horse in an introverted moment. What a dummy, lol!
So I have been really sticking to a consistent pattern..bring water, hay and grain, then cleaning up his paddock, in that order. I have been waiting for him to approach me to instigate any direct interaction. He has to be in a LB mode to get his curiousity up and I really want to keep him in this thinking frame of mind. It was about the middle of last week when we had a break through. I was down for his evening meal. He had pooped where he eats, so I had changed up the pattern and was cleaning his paddock BEFORE getting his hay and grain. So I was cleaning up his paddock, observing his behavior out of my peripheral vision. He was pacing the fenceline. Then he stopped abruptly (and so did I….surprised by his sudden lack of motion), looked over at me and started yawning vigorously. I turned toward him and waited. As he took one step toward me, I thought ‘There it is! A question! You forgot my hay?!” Thrilled, I set my manure fork down and walked over to the shed to retrieve his dinner. To my amazement, as I arrived at the shed door, he was at my shoulder. We had made contact…mentally…through communication. It was a profound moment.
Since then he has been way more left brain than right. I still have to be very careful about how I present my energy and about not putting more pressure on when he is unconfident. Its very hard for me. The other day I wanted to put a cooler on him. It was cold and had been raining and he won’t go in the shelter. I just wanted to get him dried off. It was a perplexing situation. I knew he would be unconfident about the cooler, and worried I would set us back if I pressed the issue. On the other hand, the night was slated to be cold and I would be up all night worried about him if I didn’t get him warm. I considered bringing him up to the barn and locking him in a stall, but that would have required catching and haltering…the one thing I promised I would not rush him into. So I decided to try with the cooler, but had a plan to abort the attempt if things went south. Put the relationship first, right. I presented my idea to him by letting him sniff the cooler. He obviously liked my idea and let me slide it onto his back and over his head, at liberty, without any resistance. When he needed to move his feet as the leg straps touched him, I acknowledged his apprehension and idea about movement by simply going with him without adding pressure. Worked like a charm. When I was done, he licked his lips and set about frisking me for cookies. Hysterical.
We’ve really made little progress on my list, probably still at step 1 and 2, but the tiny microsteps have allowed me to investigate other directions we might want to explore first, For instance. Bogie likes treats, when in a LB state of mind. In fact, one of the ways I can tell he is LB, is that he is looking for treats from me. But he always keeps me out in front of him in zone 1. I realized this was a game he was pretty good at and it allows him to block my approach to the ‘catching areas’ in zone 2 and 3. So I plotted a strategy to convince him that I am way more interesting in zone 2 or 3. My initial approach into these zones would make him move away from me, sometimes in a RB over-reaction, but sometimes in a ‘you can’t catch me’ snotty manuveur. I found that I could more easily back into that space, keeping my energy off Bogie. Once I could do that, I started to only give treats from that spot near his shoulder. Its good for him to bend around like that as well, as the trainer was concerned about his unwillingness to bend in the neck. We’ve progressed right along with this game and I am now working on getting him to position me there by himself. In the meantime, I can now stand in zone 2 or 3 and rub his withers, neck and even adjust his collar without losing him to the dark side.
Bogie and some typical NH spring weather...
Starting Over with Beaugart…
Beaugart aka ‘Bogie’ is a young arab X NSH that came to Resting Heart Farm last winter. From the start he has been difficult for me to read….hard to catch, head shy, evasive….sometimes anxious, sometimes curious, sometimes over-reactive. He is a rescue and I don’t know alot about his history, but I can see he has some old wounds on his legs, and asymmetric eyes, so there has been some trauma. The question is….does the old trauma create his current state of mind or did his innate way of dealing with life make him more likely to have accidents. Doesn’t really matter, I guess…I have to deal with the horse that is here right now. And where we are right now is, well, complicated. Last summer, I was working pretty successfully with Bogie, or so I thought. I wrote about it here. Over the winter, our partnership started to deteriorate. He became impossible to catch without chasing him into a stall and cornering him. I can hear you all, rolling your eyes, in exasperation thinking…. ‘TELL ME YOU DIDN’T!’ Yes, I did. I let my task oriented nature make decisions. He had to have his feet trimmed, he had to see the vet, go to the trainers, etc….and my agenda forced the tactics. What I got for my trouble is MORE trouble. He now totally mistrusts me and we are back to square one. On the one hand I feel ashamed that I put that kind of pressure on him…a failure in my stewardship toward him. But one thing I know for sure about horses, is there is no place for feelings of regret or shame. I am either building trust, rapport and respect or I am tearing them down. Its a simple choice which side of the equation I want to be on.
Bogie spent the past month with Neal Perry and Bekah Bailey at Perry Farm in training. My fears were confirmed when they reported very slow progress with Bogie. Some of their comments: He seems scared and tense most of the time….over-reactive. He has some trouble with his vision on the left (something I was beginning to suspect prior). He adapts to new objects or situations quickly when a human is not attached…very slowly if a human is present. Every teaching session seems to have to start with alot of review, like he is retaining the previous lesson poorly. He seems extreme in how he reacts differently with people or objects in either eye or switching from one side to the other. Very hard to catch and halter without alot of resistant behavior. It wasn’t until the last week that Neal thought he might be ready to put a saddle on. He also does not seem to transfer learned behavior between people, so that if he learns something with Neal, Bekah could not necessarily start from the same spot and certainly I could not. But it was not ALL bad news. On the positive side, they thought he was smart, a beautiful mover, and had the capacity to be a great problem solver if he could be convinced to think instead of react. They also thought he was very kind. Not the type to purposefully hurt you, kick or strike no matter how scared he was.
All of this feedback was worth the training fee. I realized I had gotten into trouble with this horse a.) because of my agenda and lack of time, b.) because I was misreading him in many ways and c.) because I had talked myself into believing that ‘he was just not MY type of horse’ and gave up on the partnership.
So I brought him home a few days ago and we are starting over.
I’ve dug hard over the past two weeks, reading, watching old PNH videos and thinking about how my approach needs to change to fit Bogie’s horsenality. I did his chart. While he is primarily a Right Brain Extrovert, I see behavior all over the chart, which is why he is hard to read sometimes.
I have little experience with Right Brain Introverts, and I think that is where I am getting into trouble with him. But in truth, in order for this to work, I need a strategy that will set ME up to succeed as well. I’m very task and goal oriented, though I have learned over the years with my Left Brain Introvert, Manny, I can tone that tendency down by breaking any task down into tiny tiny steps and removing any timeline. But I have to have things to check off a list….its just how I am built.
So I have built a temporary paddock for Bogie, down by the chicken and goat house where he can be across the fence from the main herd, but not loose with them. Its a place where I spend a fair amount of time doing chores that have nothing to do with him and as such can serve as ‘undemanding time’ without forcing me to sit still (which would make me quite anxious). I have removed the water trough and plan to be his only source of water. So this first stage will serve to restore trust and rapport, the ‘goal’ will be to be able to approach Bogie and halter him without being resistant or bracey (either of us). However, if I just go directly to haltering, I will fall right back into the old pattern and get no where. So I have broken down the steps into microsteps, first bring water to Bogie, then taking him out to the water trough first with a collar and then with the halter, using a consistent pattern to help us both stay calm, focused and connected. So the steps might look like this:
1. Can he approach me and drink water from a bucket
2. Can I walk in a circle around him while he drinks…in both directions. No touching. Big circle at first (whole paddock), make it smaller as his threshold allows.
3. Can I touch his body all the way around while he drinks his water without him leaving.
4. Can I snap the lead line on his collar while he drinks.
5. Can I snap the leadline on his collar and lead him to the bucket.
6. Can I snap on and lead him outside the pen to water and then back again.
7. Can I put a halter on and lead him out of the pen, to the water and back again.
Each step might take a day or a month….and I might find there are other even smaller steps between these that I want to explore. Once we are getting close to the goal, we’ll add some distractors, like obstacles, balls, balloons or barrels. In truth, I believe if I can attain this small goal, the partnership will come very easily.
So the rules I am setting for myself: Never leave his paddock when he is braced, tense or anxious. No task can be checked off the list until it is consistently soft and responsive for 7 attempts in a row. Expect alot, accept alittle….every day.
Re-starting Beaugart
Yield your hindquarters and follow me...
So many of you know of my most recent rescue, Beaugart. He is a 5 yo Arab x NSH and has been with me for about 6 months. He was skinny and scared of everything when he came to the farm. As with all my rescues, health and socialization come first. Beaugart has spent the past few months with a small herd with plenty of room to roam, play and move his body. There have been very few demands made on him from me and I have spent the time building rapport, by being a consistent presence in his daily life. Trust took a long time. He really had no interest in anything I did, nor could he stand me approaching him directly. But one day, not long ago, I found him nibbling on my elbow from behind me while I did my chores! At last, some curiousity! The next day, he allowed me to approach and scratch his itchy spots (it is black fly season), curling his lips with pleasure. That was the turning point and the day I knew I could start working with him in a more meaningful way.
I know very little about Beaugart, but have been able to piece together some info. He was born in Colorado and was quite a fancy weanling, winning an ‘in hand’ championship as a yearling. I also have in my possession a photo of him being ridden by a man….no idea where or what level of training he was at. My experience handling him has led me to believe he has had some training, though there were some big holes in his foundation, or possible evidence of some rough handling.
The first issue I encountered was that he was difficult to catch. If he saw a halter or lead rope, he was ‘out of dodge’. In the beginning he would simply leave and I had no hope of catching him outside of trapping him in a small paddock or stall which I was loathe to do. Right around the time his curiousity about me appeared, his behavior shifted somewhat about being caught. While he was still not interested in being haltered and would move away, he ran in circles around me instead of leaving the area completely…a huge shift in his behavior. Instead of panicing, he was thinking. This was a very good sign, but I knew he was still very far from thinking of me as a partner.
The second issue I noted was that he was extremely head shy. He did not like stuff over his ears, like a bridle or leather halter. I could manage with a rope halter swung over his neck, but nothing that had to go up and over the forehead and ears…well, not without him rearing straight in the air 
The last big issue was his left shoulder. He was in the habit of using his left shoulder to move people and block any access to his zone 3 (where the saddle goes). He is pretty unbalanced side to side in general, but that is common, as people tend to lead and mount horses from the left and do very little from the right. He was alittle extreme in this way. I get the feeling someone did alot of work teaching him to yield his hindquarters without paying much attention to this evasion. I knew I could fix this problem pretty easily once I had his confidence.
Anyway, by happenstance, I was invited to visit my friend Brenda Ladd at her farm and encouraged to bring Beaugart up for some training. Brenda is in Bridgewater, NH and has a gorgeous facility with a large indoor arena and round pens. She hosts many clinics each year with fabulous clinicians (Dave Ellis, Karen Rolph, David Lichman to name a few) and does some horsemanship coaching in between. Brenda and I have been online friends through Parelli Natural Horsemanship for several years so I was delighted when she and her husband Jonathan moved their venue to NH! She is a wonderful coach with good instincts about what is working and how to build on what the horse offers.
So Beaugart and I spent two days with Brenda. We camped out and did a little bonding. Lots of opportunity to become better partners. Brenda took some photos, which will serve as an outline of what we accomplished in just over 24 hours.
Oh, its a carrot stick!
OK, I guess I'll stick with you now...
We worked in a round pen. I used the pen to create forward movement and then worked on changes of direction. Bogie had trouble at times turning towards me. Brenda suggested I approach him less directly and push his hindquarters away, allowing the front end to come towards me…brilliant! At first he could only yield a step at a time before stalling, but before too long he would follow through with forward movement toward me. We built on that the first day till he was following me consistently. Next we had to tackle the friendly game with the stick and string. I elected to put him on line for this and we played with some approach and retreat. He caught on very quickly. It was pretty clear that he is a quick minded horse and does not need alot of repetition to learn. Brenda thought, ‘why don’t we do this with a saddle on’…kill two birds so to speak. Now I know he has worn a saddle before, but what I don’t know is if he had any issues with the saddling process or with the saddle itself. So we treated him like any young horse. He checked out the saddle and pad and seemed very confident about it. I saddled him at liberty and he had no problems at all. Well, I should say, until the next day, when in anticipation of riding him, we found a girth that was small enough for him (he is still not that round). Since it was our second saddling and he was so good the first day, I didn’t expect any reaction to the girth being tight. And there wasn’t at first. I tightened the girth, then walked away and he set off crow hopping around the arena for 20 seconds or so. I was so surprised. He then stopped and walked over to me and put his head down as if to say, ‘sorry, I just had a moment there’. Just goes to show…never make assumptions about any horse and their previous training. If you didn’t see it with your own eyes, it never happened.
saddling was uneventful, though there was not a small enough girth to be had in the house!
Bogie learns to yield his hindquarters without blocking me with his shoulder...
Day two: I knew I could get on Bogie the second day, based on what we had accomplished the day before. So I went straight to work teaching him to pick me up at the mounting block. OK for those of you, saying ‘What’s with the mounting block?’… I have a rule. Either mount from the ground or teach your horse to pick you up from a block or a tailgate or a fence…willingly. Mounting a 16 hand horse from the ground takes physical strength and flexibility. Teaching that horse to pick me up takes savvy and focus. Its ALL good, people!
Teaching Bogie to pick me up at the mounting block
testing the waters...
Bogie had no issues with the idea of me getting on his back, but you know what they say....'better safe than sorry'
And we're off....or rather 'on'...
Asking for lateral flexion...
very nice, short, relaxed first ride
Next we tackled the bridling issue. It was a big deal to him. But with some persistance and patience, along with good timing with the release, we got the job done. I had a goal of getting the bridle on 3 times (once I had done it once) with each try more successful. Mission accomplished, but we still have some work to do in this area…
Bridling was another story...
Bogie wasn't sure which was worse, the bit or the headstall going over the ears...
while he was worrying about the bit, I worked on the ears. I let him think about this for awhile...
Success with dignity!
I think we are off to a great start...
So Bogie is off to a great start! There is loads of work to do, but I am confident he will be an awesome partner. His movement is wonderful and it will be fun to try to recreate that undersaddle. He would make an awesome hunter for some teenager! Many thanks to Brenda from Ladd Farm for her support and suggestions! Their website is: www.laddfarmllc.com Check out and come audit a clinic this summer!
My fine hostess and coach, Brenda with my pup, Newt
The spectacular view from Ladd Farm...oh and the horse ain't bad either!
Beaugart meets the herd…
Introducing a new horse to a stable herd is always an undertaking. It takes nerves of steel and an optimistic attitude.
Ideally, a new horse would be exposed to the new herd over a fence line for a while, then have some turnout with a low-ranking herd member…so they have a buddy. Then they enter the herd proper. There is always some squealing and some running around. They all have to sort out who is the leader and who follows.
Beaugart does not like being kept in a stall. I like that about a horse and I understand it. I knew I needed to get him outside and soon. Being winter, I have limited options…its hard to move fences in January, lol! So my only option is to integrate him into the herd relatively quickly.
Manny shows Bogie the water trough...
My vet was out today and looked him over. Besides being underweight and slightly dehydrated, she thought there were no serious issues and thought some outdoor exercise would do him good. She did not recommend adding him to the herd just yet, but acknowledged that I might not necessarily follow her guidelines to the letter;) True to her word, I set about freeing Bogie as soon as she left the barn. I locked up Manny and Reno and turned Bogie out with Doc, my retiree. As I expected, there was no drama at all. I let Reno out and he was alittle pushy and bossy, but not persistently so. Finally I let the alpha out….Manny. He surprised me completely. In stead of being his usual nasty self, he investigated the new horse…softly (almost protectively) and moved him here then there. He was just showing the new guy who was boss….but he wasn’t doing it in a very aggressive way (which has been his style in the past). So I am optimistic that Bogie will be able to join the herd permanently very soon. One of the things I love about my track (I have a 15 foot track around the pasture next to the barn) is that there is nowhere for anyone to get stuck…..they just keep moving on the track in a circle…there is always a place for them to go.
Manny stares Bogie down. Bogie has to come to an agreement with Manny, the alpha horse in order to join the herd.
Manny moving Bogie around the track. Bogie has an effortless way of moving..can't wait to see what that looks like with some weight and a topline!
Even the dog seems to need to negotiate with Bogie for terms...
Beaugart
Beaugart is a 5 yo Arab x national show horse (1/2 arab, 1/2 standardbred)….reads mostly arabian;) He’s registered and well bred. Unfortunately, he, his herdmates and his owner fell on hard times this year and all have been doing poorly. I became aware of the situation only a few days ago, made some room in the barn and drove down to rescue one of these horses today. I came home with Beaugart.
He loaded right on the trailer and as soon as he discovered that there was hay in there, he had no intention of getting out. I took off his halter and switched it out for one of my own while he happily munched away. His simple delight at his very own pile of hay made me smile instantly. I let him settle in the trailer while I perused the remaining horses…stallions, mares, youngsters and babies. I struggled with the urge to take them all home.
I give alot of credit to the local law enforcement as well as Patricia Morris, a local lawyer for skillfully managing a potentially horrific situation, making it possible for the owner to give her horses up to safe and loving homes with her dignity intact. I just hope all those wonderful animals find a place like Beaugart has. A place where they can live well, eat plenty and play hard….and maybe someday have a job.
So Day one for ‘Bogie’. He travelled well and ate a whole hay bag full of hay in the hour it took to drive home. I’ve never seen a horse eat that much while traveling! He was introduced to the herd over the fence before settling into a stall across the aisle from the the other horses, who came in and out all day saying ‘hi’, ‘who are you’, ‘I’m gonna kick your butt’, etc. etc. I gave him a half bale of hay and plenty of water as well as a deep bed of shavings and headed off to work for a few hours.
My initial assessment was that he was dehydrated. His poop resembled shavings….ick! I can’t recall seeing a single bucket of water at the facility he was at either inside or out….so no surprise he was alittle dry. His body score is at best a 3. Probably if it were summer, he would look more like a 2. The long winter coat hides alot. Feet aren’t horrible, but in need of a trim. And best of all… he is sound! He has that floaty arab trot that I just love…
Upon my return, he had again amazed me at how much hay he had put away. Only drank a 1/2 bucket of water though. Not much poop in the stall and I couldn’t see that he had peed yet. But he had a brighter look in his eye and was investigating his stall and surroundings, apparently now that his belly was full. I found immediately that he has some haltering/bridling issues and does not like to be handled about the ears or poll….duly noted. I got a rope halter on much more easily after a few scratches under his unruly dreadlocked mane. We’ll work on that more…
I closed the barn doors and 
let him wander in the aisleway while I picked up his stall and reloaded his hay and water. He pow-wowed with the other horses, squealing here and there. Manny promptly turned his butt and kicked the wall between them repeatedly. Always interesting, introducing a new member to the herd. They’re already triing to jockey for their place in the new herd.
I decided to feed him some warm soaked beet pulp with some probiotics, dyna-spark (an electrolyte) and oxymega (an omega 3/antioxidant supplement) for his first dinner. I’m not a huge fan of beet pulp as many of you know, but it does offer benefits in situations like this, so I keep some around. Its a good way to get fluids into a dry horse and it also has a positive effect on GI motility and hindgut pH. Plus it allows me to get the other stuff into him and I certainly don’t want to stress his system with grain just yet. He seemed to like it, but took his time eating….probably more food than he’s seen in a long time. I left him munching happily…
