So Wednesday Missy had another blacksmith visit. In my last post I described the long haul we worked through to get to the point where we could work on Missy safely and effectively (what a neat combination!). We are now about three and a half years into this experience and it still makes me sit back and stare in awe at the difference in her.
The blacksmith arrived right on time Wednesday and I got Missy out of her stall. Usually I have a bait bag on and treat her for various good efforts. I rarely use the clicker anymore for this but I do use a marker word. This day I decided to have the treats in a bucket off my body and in a bucket hanging on a stall.
The blacksmith mentioned that she had been to both the chiropractor and the massuese that week and was somewhat sore. I immediately told her that we could do whatever she felt comfortable doing and reschedule if needed. I was tickled pink when she said "No, Missy is a good girl. I'm not worried about working on her"! Those are words I never, ever expected to hear with my horse.
So we are working on Missy and things were going great. We got to Missy's "bad foot" (her right rear foot was the one that had been injured as a baby) and she was being pretty good but got tense and started to hop away from the blacksmith's hold. In the past, once Missy pulled away and got nervous, you might as well put her away, she could not recover and would proceed to panic and get dangerous. Well, this time, not only did she pull away, but she still had one of the tools stuck in her hoof. She is not the calmest horse around and something like this has the potential to really freak her out. Not this time! She gave her hoof back to the blacksmith and we continued.
At that point the blacksmith said, "Give her a treat! Wait a minute, you're not feeding her today?". This was pretty cool because although she is supportive of my efforts, she has not been a big fan of me feeding her. I think she sort of felt it was bribery in her heart. So not only did we show her that it was not bribery, but learning, we also got her to insist on feeding! At the end of the visit she even gave Missy a treat herself! It was a great day for everyone.
clicker training for the farrier
I rescued a big draft cross a year and a half ago. Those feet of hers are huge, and I was scared to pick them up. We've been working with the clicker, I grab the feathers and say "foot" and she picks up nicely now, and can hold while balancing on the other 3 legs. Trust me, she needs to hold herself up, cause I can't do it for her! My farrier is getting on in years and has dropped a lot of clients and difficult horses. The only draft that he still keeps for a client is Dolly, because the clicker training and her ability to hold herself without collapsing on him is why she is still one of his favourites!
Kim Reynolds from Moose Jaw