[Ag-eq] Jody's horses

[Jody Ianuzzi]

Hi Nella,

You sure do have a clever boy!  There was a horse at the stable who would
open gates too.  Good thing he liked his feed or he would have left.

It is interesting to see how the horses have settled in.  Ranger the
palomino was the easy one at first and Maverick the bay was a little snot.
Now Maverick is a smooch and Ranger was spoofing at his own shadow.  He
wouldn't let us catch him or get withing 15 feet.  Tom started lunging him
in the pasture and he will now respond to Tom and speed up, slow down, stop
and turn just by Tom's eye contact.  When I go in the pasture to muck out I
totally ignore him.  This is all working because I went in the pasture with
a wheel barrel full of hay and he stood on the other side of the wheel
barrel across from me only three feet away.  I put my hand out and waited
and when he touched it I rubbed his face and turned and left to remove the
pressure.  By not trying to actually catch him, he is getting closer and
closer.  I don't know what experiences he had before we got him but he is
desensitizing and  he is no longer afraid of his own shadow.

Both horses are very fast to train.  Maverick will move forward, backward,
left and right just with a gentle nudge.   

I have thought of how I could have had instant gratification by buying a
fully trained horse but I would not have learned as much as I am with these
guys.  I also would not want a horse trained in the old methods but one that
was gentled like they are now.

We have gone from Florida winter to summer just about over night and it is
now hot.  The horses have a huge boxwood tree to stand under to protect them
from the sun and rain.  I have to clear the hot water from the automatic
waterer a few times a day.

JODY