Time to do something affirmative

Godric at 5 months old

About Godric's behavior. We've been strapped for time and money for the past year and a half. I've spent most of that time tending my husband's needs since he's been so ill from the complications of his chemotherapy and Hodgkin Lymphoma. I can definitely tell the pre-diagnosis horses from the post-diagnosis horses. Yesterday, all of my pre-diagnosis horses stood sweetly for our new farrier, while the post-diagnosis horse was a total butthead. This has to change. It was embarrassing! I take pride in my horses, their looks, their conformation, their intelligence and, especially, their behavior.

Many breeders simply accept the fact that they're going to have to fight some of their horses to trim their feet or give shots. They feed their animals, take good care of them, try to better the breed through choosing the best stallions and mares, and hope for fabulous foals. But with their large herds they don't often give them personal attention. Their stock run in large pastures with little human interaction except at feeding time, for vaccination and the occasional hoof trim. People who own minis just as pasture pets, often bought those minis on a whim because they were cute babies and then lost interest because they didn't know how to teach those cute babies to behave themselves and they grew into fairly unpleasant adults. They feed twice a day and if the horses are lucky see the vet when needed and get trims. Their bad behavior becomes the Vet or Farrier's problem. Thus, minis have gained a nasty reputation for bad behavior.

I have always worked with my babies from the moment they're born. They grow up knowing how to lift their feet when asked. When they're tiny tots and have their very first baby hoof trim, they're not great, but give us 8 weeks to work on it and they're really pretty good about hoof trims. However, all training at our barn ceased when cancer crawled onto the property. I haven't had the time and when I've had the time I haven't had the energy. I'm going to have to find the energy because I'll be darned if A. my farrier and Vet have a harder time than they already do just because I haven't done my job, and B. I need to sell that pony and his ill behaved sister to help with medical costs and they'll have a better chance at a good life if I can get their behavioral issues under control.

We have a lot to overcome with both Godric and Poppy, so I'll put up periodic posts about their issues and the progress of their training. They were both good kids before the diagnosis, all we have to do is get them to remember those early lessons and build on them.