Well, today was more work in the round pen and P did really well. He really needs more of a challenge and I'm working new little things in as we go but there are some other things holding us both back. The big thing is some basics that I neglected that I'm working on catching up/getting him up to speed on and the even bigger thing (for P) is his feet. They really are a mess. Fortunately (or unfortunately, as it may turn out for my pocket book) we met the farrier today.
Actually, Phoenix has already met the farrier, Ken, and quite likes him which is great as far as I'm concerned. In fact, I like him too. He was out at the ranch today to do a bunch of the other horses and was kind enough to give me a lesson (of sorts) in hooves. He seems very kind and I know he too, had been trying to find Phoenix a home so he's got the best interest of my boy in his sights and that's what I'm interested in. So far, seems like everyone's a winner.
At any rate, Ken did an assessment of P's hooves for me, educated me a little bit about what the possible complications could be and mean for the both of us and we set a date for him to come back and actually do some work on P early next week.
As it stands, Ken's opinion is that it's not just that left front foot that's a club foot; he says it looks like it's all four. I am more than a little concerned about this for a number of reasons, the biggest being that if, in fact, all four feet are club feet and we end up with a worst case scenario, P's farrier fees alone could cost me upwards of $200 every month and I'm not sure whether or not I can afford that in addition to boarding, veterinary, feed and tack costs. So, I'm hoping for better and trying to plan for the worst. Here's what Ken told me in regard to how P might have ended up this way and though I can't say whether or not it's fact, it seems like it makes sense.
So, we take a horse that's born and raised on open range eating a low quality (in our estimation) diet of sagebrush and gods know what else and getting a LOT of exercise, round him up before he's fully grown, auction him off and send him to a stable somewhere where he's kept in a small paddock or corral with little exercise (and often, in the case of BLM mustangs NO exercise), and super rich foods (good quality hay, supplements, etc.) and what happens? Not quite fully matured horses bones grow too fast for his connective tissues causing the tendons at the back of his legs to be contracted which pulls on the navicular bone and accordingly changes the angle of the coffin bone. End result: club feet.
So, we'll see what happens next week. Hopefully, the problem can be corrected or at least managed at a reasonable cost. Cross your fingers. I'd hate for hooves to be the reason that I can't afford P but it is a possibility.
Additionally, I heard back from BLM today about Phoenix. According to BLM, because they lost contact with P's original adopter before that 1st year was up, P is still official property of the BLM. I have to go through the application process and the year long eval period if I want to adopt him. Great. I don't mind the eval period at all. I am concerned that my application will be denied over something trivial though.
Let's see... what other good news today?
Oh yeah! P did great (as usual) in the round pen. I'm noticing that the more we work together in the round pen, the more attentive to me he's getting, which is what I want. He's stopping faster and turning more quickly when asked and very rarely turning outward which is even better. We tried something new (for me) when he balks and won't walk on because he doesn't want to go where I'm leading him... I put his feet to work. Thank you Clinton Anderson. So now, when P gives me grief and pretends he's an obstinate mule who won't move forward on the lead when I ask, he gets to do some work and rethink his approach. We only had to do that a couple of times before he got the hint and changed his mind about whether or not we were going where I wanted us to. =)
Down side to that was that I was reminded of the technique by one of the other boarders who quite literally snatched his lead out of my hands and proceeded to aggressively (I don't know how else to put it without sounding like a jerk-face) back Phoenix round and round for a couple of minutes. I think she had the right idea, no doubt... I just thought she was a little too aggressive. Thing was, she was "manhandling" him and he got pretty upset. He did eventually do what she wanted though. On the flip-side, when he played the mule with me and I used the same technique but without aggression, he still did what I wanted and without all the snorting and prancing and being obviously frightened. I think I might like my way a little (or a lot) better. I don't believe that scaring him is ever going to get him to trust me, nor do I think that's the best way to get him to show respect; respect comes from good, solid leadership, not fear and bullying.
Coolest part of the day: seeing my fat, happy boy shining in the sunlight and looking a little tired not from boredom but from having got to work; my boy definitely likes having a job.
