Laramie - Spring Training Updates

Just a quick update about Laramie, a Tennessee Walker gelding in for training to be a quiet trail/pleasure horse.

This horse has really amazed me with how polite and what a quick learner he is. He is so very patient and will stand very quietly for grooming, tacking up, or just while I am chatting to someone.

Where Laramie needs the most work is with mounting. He has a lot of anxiety over mounting.

Today I took him out, tacked up, and started with ground games. He is a beginner with most of the games but picks them up quickly and is learning fast. His wiggle to back up is a little sluggish, but he is figuring it all out. For the most part he is very sensitive to cues and moves very easily.

For mounting he did a lot of dancing around, but I am very calm and consistent in my approach. The trick is to reward the horse when they stand still by retreating - not punishing them for standing still by trying to sneak on quickly as soon as the horse stands still.

Pretty soon Laramie figured out that the only way to get me to stop tapping the saddle/get my foot out of the stirrup/etc was to stand still  - and then I reward him by relaxing and retreating (take my foot out of the stirrup, stop hopping, etc).

It took about 15 -20 min or so, but then I was able to pull myself up from both sides, a couple times without him taking a step. I sat on Laramie for a bit, relaxed, and then dismounted to end the session.

I want Laramie thinking that mounting is simple, easy, and nothing to be nervous about - there is no point doing any riding just yet.... better to build the relationship and get Laramie's trust first - I need to prove to Laramie that I am different than the rest of the trainers he has had before.... the easiest way to prove that to him is to show him I am more interested in calm communication then just going for a ride.

Who's fault is it that Ellie ended up at the slaughter house?

Someone raised an interesting point with me  - it had to do with Ellie and how she ended up at the slaughter house. Who is to blame? Is it wrong to sell horses at auctions? Was it wrong of me to sell Ellie in the first place?

I thought it interesting enough to share my two cents....

I think there are many reasons horses go to slaughter ......

• There are too many horses: racing industries don't help because the market is flooded with Tb's, Standardbreds, and Quarter Horses because of so much breeding
• Horses cost money: they are really expensive to keep and care for properly... and people's financial situations change so it can be hard to keep a horse if things don't go as planned
• Horses are meat: I hate the idea of eating a horse, but the reality is that they are a meat animal and many countries do eat horse meat regularly
• Auctions are a quick and easy way to sell a horse: they just are... and it's legal for kill buyers to be able to purchase horses at auction
• It's legal to breed as many horses as you want, and it's legal to slaughter horses. 

To give you my point of view - why I sold Ellie and why I continue to sell some horses - there are a few reasons. 

1) I really enjoy re-training horses, and helping to take a horse that was unwanted, or unused, train them and make them safe and useful. I enjoy finding them new owners that can then give that horse a new look on life, and at the same time spread awareness about natural horsemanship in how the horse was trained. 

2) Horses aren't cheap - I would happily keep all of my horses if I could, but the reality is I'm not rich. I can afford to keep things running and care for my horses, but to be able to re-train and save new horses I need to sell some horses that I have retrained both to recuperate some costs, and to meet the farm tax quota. 

3) Horses are happiest with a purpose and person - I only have so many hours in a day, and I can't give all of them enough attention on my own. Horses thrive when they have a good human partner to keep them fit and engaged. I like getting horses to a point where they are safe and trained enough for a new human partner to be able to enjoy them. 

4) I know I can't save all the horses, but I know I can save a few.... I feel I give them the best chance at a happy life by making sure any horses that I own, or am going to sell get solid training basics, and become safe to handle so that someone else can enjoy them...... I know that if people enjoy a horse because they feel safe with them, that horse is much more likely to have a forever home. 

In Ellie's case, she was an off the track TB mare and a chestnut which are known for being bold and unruly - much like Thetis. I bought her and loved her to bits, got her fully trained, but in the end had to sell one of my horses if I was going to continue taking on new ones to retrain.... if not for me then Ellie could have very well ended up at auction and slaughter before she was given a chance. 

I've changed a few of my practices in selling horses to help make sure horses I sell don't go bouncing around from home to home, or end up at an auction - 

• for starters I charge less money....  I mostly cater to the pleasure rider looking for an easy horse to trail ride, do low level shows, etc - horses are more likely to have a long term home with these types of buyers because its less likely these new owners will out grow the skill/usefulness of the horse (I'm guilty here too and sold my very first horse because he couldn't handle jump courses over 3'3" and I wanted to go higher). 
• I sell to clients, or people willing to take some lessons and/or learn about natural horsemanship.... if you show up to ride one of my horses and insist on using a bit, wearing spurs, using a crop, and just hopping on with no ground work... you're not getting on
• I include a contract with a first right of refusal for me to have first chance to buy a horse back if they decide to sell, and that they will never take the horse to auction or send for slaughter
• I don't sell a lot of horses each year, I focus my efforts on a couple horses that I think would be able to find good homes and/or do better with one on one attention rather than being used in our program with summer camps, etc. 
• I spread the word that I am willing take horses back that don't work out, or if for some reason I can't... I will help in whatever way I can to rehome/sell the horse

I don't know that it's important to place blame in Ellie's case - was it the TB breeder's fault for breeding too many TB's? the government for allowing slaughter houses for horses? The drought that caused really high hay prices and therefore a lot of people to get rid of their horses?  Her past owner's fault for allowing her to slip into those hands? or mine for not keeping her? I think you could make a good argument for any one. 

What I think is more important is to try and save the horses we can, do our best to ensure good homes if/when we need to sell a horse, and advocate for responsible Canadian horse breeding/care/slaughter laws. 

What do you think?

Ellie Update - It makes me so mad....

Ellie is my 2003 off the track TB that I owned a few years ago before selling her. She's gone around a few owner's hands before ending up on the way to slaughter after auction. Thankfully she was posted on Need You Now Equine, and spotted by a former student of mine. Ellie has been recuperating at our farm and getting ready to be back into a normal life.

Ellie has been doing really well - she's gained weight and moving sound and happily. She gets along with her old friends Balius and Thetis in the paddock, as well as the other horses who have accepted her too.

A couple weeks ago Dr. Helen Tandy came to visit Ellie. She is an equine chiropractor who treated Ellie when I owned her and boarded at Bellewood Equestrian Centre few years ago. Dr. Tandy brought her old notes from when she saw Ellie a few years ago.

She gave Ellie an adjustment and full assessment and was surprised that Ellie was actually in great spinal and alignment health - no concerns. She is a bit stiff in her right SI joint (hip), but that is similar to when I owned her many years ago and isn't cause for concern. She said it looked like Ellie was healthy and would be okay to start work and riding.

With the good news, I started Ellie back to work - just with some ground games here and there to get her mind engaged. All was well.

I then decided to let Danica use Ellie in a lesson on Sunday, for Ellie's first lesson with Partridge Horse Hill. Danica is an advanced student and will be a summer instructor for camp this year. It was good experience for Danica to get working with different horses, and starting them up into a routine again. We started with ground games and Ellie did really well. We did some circles and other exercises to both establish Danica as a leader and give Ellie a chance to get some extra energy out. We did some free lunging too but she didn't seem to have an urge to run.

When it came to riding, Ellie wasn't herself. She was pretty calm at walk, but spooky at the far end of the arena, and at trot she would have random bursts of energy with head tossing - it was hard to tell if it was nerves, playfulness, or just being frisky since she hasn't done much in a while.

We wanted this to be a positive experience for Ellie so we did a lot of walking exercises including halting over poles, sideways over poles, and patterns. Then for trot I ran beside Ellie leading her while Danica rode so that I could keep Ellie calm and behaving.

Ellie finished on a much calmer note, and she accomplished many good things - but she wasn't the same easy Ellie I sold. We ended up letting Ellie hang out in the ring while the next lesson took place with her friend Thetis. Ellie got to relax in the ring with no pressure to perform, and Thetis got to have the company of a friend - it was a win win.

I then decided to take Ellie out for a training session Monday night to further explore what was going on. We did a variety of ground work which Ellie was fantastic for, the canter transitions so smooth and lovely - no friskiness at all.

So I progressed to riding - the mounting took a while. Ellie was stressed about it, so it took a while before we were calm and standing so I could politely mount. Soon after getting on Ellie was acting 'funny'. She was very spooky/anxious and just scrambling a bit with her feet.

I refer to scrambling because its something more than a startle, but less than a bolt - she'd zip forward a bit, but more in a choppy sporadic walk, trot or canter stride, but no gallop. Her legs seemed to be moving all over the place, and not rhythmically or in regular pattern… so I call it scrambling.  

At first I thought I might be hurting her, but I remembered she was just checked by Dr. Tandy, given a clean bill of health, I knew the saddle was sitting comfortably  and all I was doing was walk. I decided to continue walking and just explore Ellie's reactions a bit.

When we got to the far end of the ring she heard James tinkering around on the front lawn and spooked and scrambled away, very fearful, and tossing her head. I simply bent her to the side to disengage her, with her nose to my knee - it’s a calming position for horses and it refocuses them, without being mean or causing more fear.

It happened several times as we walked by the far end of the ring, or in other places too where she would get spooked, scramble, and then panic - so each time I calmly but firmly bent her head around to calm and stop her - and then I continued on.

The pattern became clearer - first Ellie would startle at something, second she would react with a slight startle, and then she would panic and get fearful of me - the tossing of the head and trying to scoot away from me (didn't work though since I was on her back).

So here comes my rant….

The only thing that could have caused Ellie to go from being a super calm and trustworthy horse to a horse very fearful and panicky is bad horsemanship. I suspect that when Ellie would spook or be unsure that she was cropped or beaten and punished. This is because Ellie was a super calm and easy horse (which I have a ton of videos and past students to prove it), and now what has been created is a horse that panics when she is scared because she is scared of both the rider and whatever else is out there.

Ellie's anxiety makes sense now - she is worried that we are going to whip and beat her too… but that will never happen at Partridge Horse Hill. A scared horse doesn't need to be beaten - they need to feel safe and trusting of their rider and handler.

As we went around the ring I would continue to disengage Ellie when she panicked simply by bending her head to the side. I never kicked her, yelled at her, or cropped her (heck I don't even carry a crop). She started to relax, lick, and chew. She became much more relaxed and we did some loose rein riding. When she would get startled and slowed down, I would praise her for her good decision, not get mad and tell her to keep going.

First we need trust and respect from our horse. Once you have that you can tell the horse to keep going if they're scared because after you have trust and respect you are just being a calm leader taking charge and keeping your partner safe…. but without trust and respect you are just an ignorant person putting the horse in danger (at least that’s how the horse sees it).

It is so very awful that this amazing horse, that only a couple years was able to take little kids on their first trail rides because of how calm and trusting she was, is now panicky and distrustful of people - what did you do to her???!!! and why???!!!! (Check out this video of Ellie on the trails or This video of Ellie when I was selling her 3 years ago)

....okay done my rant, back to the blog post...  

As our ride continued, Ellie started to realize that it was okay to stop when scared (which is something she used to know). She started to realize that she wasn't going to get into trouble for being scared, and that is okay to slow down if she was scared (because it is much safer and better then taking off or scrambling).

I did some refocusing exercises like circling around different objects like barrels or jumps set up in the ring. This helped to get Ellie's focus in the ring and we were able to have a nice walk, trot, and canter to end with on a positive note.

I am really confident that Ellie will go back to being the same horse that I once sold - she just needs to believe that we are here to be her leader, her partner, and that we definitely are not here to beat her, abuse her, or get her into danger.

Our horses don't ask for much… they just want 3 things:

1) Keep them safe,

2) Treat them fairly, and

3) Take time to understand them.

I'm listening - are you?

The Fun of Spring - Getting My Horses Into Shape

Angel - She was acting really pokey on Sunday during her lesson. She was pretty good for ground work, but crowding a little, and not wanting to budge a whole lot for games like sideways. Then for riding she was very pokey and not motivated to move.

I had Dr. Silverman up to do a chiro assessment on her and her muscles/back were given a clean bill of health and we ruled out anything physical.

So I decided to take Angel out for a session last night. I got really firm about my personal space, and moving out of my space. I played a lot of games at a distance with air pressure so that Angel couldn't crowd me. Then her whole attitude started to change. She really started chewing and licking, thinking, and relaxing but moving.

She maintained circles at trot and canter, did sideways down the fence both ways, and played 'hide the hiney'. After some really good ground work that really established myself as a fair but firm leader, we did some riding. The difference was really great - Angel rode walk/trot/canter, still a little pokey, but she maintained full laps around the ring, and was rewarded with praise and rest breaks.

I'll probably do a few more sessions with her to make sure she keeps up the good work, but all in all Angel did a complete turn around from being slow and unresponsive, to moving and responsive.

HoneyBoo - Has only had a few riding sessions done in early winter. Yesterday I put the saddle on, and did some ground work. She was a bit flighty and nervous because of all the shadows in the arena with the evening light, and she isn't used to being in the arena.

We circles around the arena, over small jumps, and she maintained gait really well. She pulled on me sometimes so I had to keep pulling her in and then putting slack back into the rope to help teach her to keep slack in the rope. She ended up doing some gorgeous trot circles really focused on me and not pulling on me so we moved on.

She was great with sideways down the fence - better going towards the paddocks with the horses then towards the front of our property. So to set her up for success I practiced going towards the paddocks to help get the understanding, then I tried going away from the paddocks and it went well.

We did some turns and hind the hiney, and a lot of back up. I had to be pretty firm with the wiggle to back up quite a few times because in the beginning she really wanted to just jump forward and play. After I set up some firm boundaries and expectations - without being mean or punishing - she was respecting my space, really relaxing, and doing lots of licking, chewing, and thinking.

HoneyBoo is going to be a spectacular lesson horse, she just needs more miles and exposure. I practice clinking the stirrups on her back which made her jump a little, and hopping around her - yes I looked goofy. I was just helping HoneyBoo get more desensitized to different things.

I can't wait to get her going more!

Balius - my little fellow that I got when he was just 4 months old is getting all grown up and turning 3 next month! I've started doing some more training with him because I am taking him to the young horse clinic with Don Halladay in May. I want Balius to be used to some more work, and to find out where we need help.

Balius can be super smart and very impressive - he was doing some amazing circles, balanced canter, nice jumps, lovely sideways with and without a wall, and we got into some more advanced patterns like figure 8's, roll backs, and weaves.

Where Balius and I need to improve is working with direct pressure - he is prone to biting, so I have to be careful how much I push him because things can be going great and then he'll either get overwhelmed or playful and nip. For this reason I don't do any follow me exercises or trotting beside him because he can get playful and will start to jump around and I don't want him jumping on top of me - I try to set him up for success and my safety by working at a distance most of the time. I plan to work on this over the next couple weeks and then focus on these tasks when we're at the clinic.

My biggest dilemma right now for Balius, is do I geld him or not? I would love to get a couple foals out of my mustang and Fjord mares - mustangs and Fjords are relatively rare and they are such hardy and wonderful horses… and it would be nice to have them crossed with something taller and more athletic. On the downside, although I can handle the nippy behaviour, I don't want having Balius as a stallion to make my farm unsafe for students. Right now he is out in a herd with mares and geldings, he is well socialized, and he respects other horses.

He is such a big, beautiful, and well built horse…. I'll probably make up my mind after the clinic to see what happens after that.

Lumen - so adorable and sweet. He did his first training session with a saddle on Sunday. He didn't get upset about the saddle at all - no bucks or scoots!

James played some ground games with Lumen, some circles, and backing up. Just some simple exercises to get Lumen used to the saddle. Lumen was so calm about everything, he did really well.

I then did a little mounting exercises with him - practiced hopping beside him, wiggly the sittups about, and tapping the saddle area. Lumen wasn't bothered by anything so I put my foot in the stirrup and pulled myself up. He was really calm and just stood there.

I asked James to lead Lumen for a walked, and the first time he scooted a bit, but settled to a stop and I rewarded him by getting off, and then starting over. I reassured him that he wasn't in trouble and no one was going to get hurt.

Lumen relaxed and then James took me on a pony ride around the arena and even walking over the small jump.

It was a packed first saddle session and job well done for both Lumen and James :) 

Spring Training - Getting well under way!

Spring Training has begun! I'll update you here now and then with some updates of the horse's training this spring, and some little tid bits and tips of how to help the different types of horses. 

Skip - a Quarter Horse palomino gelding

Goals: to do some cutting and western events/rodeo, and to have really good ground manners.

I am really enjoying working with Skip - he is a 'thinker'. He is very smart and easily picks up new patterns and ideas. When I worked with him yesterday, my priorities for training became clearer.

Every time I work with horses I always start with a little ground work- and sometimes a lot of ground work! I started Skip with backing up, sideways, forehand and haunch turns, and some circles. The Backing up helps to establish that he needs to move out of my space, i.e. 'I am leader'. The sideways, forehand and haunch turns help teach him that its about specific communication - not just whoa and go. The turns on the ground will also help him understand them when I ask for it in the saddle. The circles help Skip to learn his responsibilities of maintaining gait, direction, and to watch where he is going. The circles also give me a chance to see if the horse is full of energy, or scared of any part of the arena or bouncing tack because we travel throughout the ring and over poles/small jumps.

Skip started to anticipate what I wanted - he assumed that after doing circles one way that we change direction and do the other way. I like a horse that wants to please, but I want him to wait for cues too - so I changed this up and would ask him to back out and wait, then come back in to me, or back out and move sideways. I wanted our ground work to be about the conversation we were having, not just a routine he knows.

Skip was really respectful and tried really hard. Next was some riding. The mounting took a bit of time - because I don't get on a horse that is walking off. Skip seemed to be in a hurry to get going - so it is important that I teach him it's good to wait for cues. When he stood still I would rub and reward him by relaxing/backing away/stepping down, then I would re approach and attempt to mount. I repeated until he stayed still for the entire mounting process. Once I was on, Skip still seemed to be thinking that it was all about go, go, go - not in a dangerous or super fast way, but he kept moving like he thought he needed to be jogging, or trotting.

I spent about 20-30 min just walking and practicing steering with my legs/body - it was very clear that Skip thinks leg cues just mean go. It is important that Skip knows to look for leg/body cues and what they mean, not just go. Especially for rodeo/cutting work which requires quick responses and turns to body cues.

I used obstacles in the ring to help Skip visualize the turn and understand the leg cues better - so for example instead of just riding a random circle, or turning across the ring, I asked him to weave a set of standards, circle around a barrel, or do a figure 8 pattern around obstacles. This helped Skip to figure out where we were going and gave me a clear focus.

Once he mastered steering from leg cues at the walk, we did some at the trot. This is going to take a lot of miles and repetition for Skip to get really good at it, but my goal for our 1st try was to get him understanding, relaxed, and moving in the right direction - and all were accomplished.

We also worked on some forehand and haunch turns - trying to help him understand specific leg aids. At first he thought it meant go, but Skip figured it out quickly and gave me some nice turns, and as soon as he did we moved on. I find horses learn best if once they have started to grasp a concept that you move on to something else, and then try again later.

Most of the riding I did on a loose contact because Skip has a bad habit of really pulling on the reins. I am helping him understand having a soft mouth by having really soft and gentle contact, but if he starts tossing his head my hands bump him - I make the right thing comfortable and the wrong thing uncomfortable.

The head tossing I'm told is something Skip has been doing for a while - and when he had his teeth done he did have some scarring in his mouth. I'll try riding him him bitless next ride to help see if it's just a learned behaviour, or if it's having something in his mouth that is the bigger issue.

All in all Skip is well under way to becoming an excellent Western horse!

New Puppies and Chickens!!!

What a busy start to April!

Our Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Whinnie, gave birth to 2 adorable pups for her first litter on Thursday March 28th at 11:30pm. Everything went really well and Whinnie was such an excellent mum. Quigley (the Pembroke Welsh Corgi dad), is actually scared of the pups and runs away when he sees them!

Quigley is spending a few weeks at grandma's house so Whinnie can enjoy some stress free time with her pups.

First came out the large and chubby girl pup, whom we nick named 'Piggy'. Only 15 minutes later 'Blackie', a little male pup came out to join his sister.

We have lots of adorable photos to share with you here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157633233390624/

The pups are for sale for $1000. If you're interested please email us at partridgehorsehill@gmail.com - however at this point we are taking a waiting list for their next litter.

We also got our very first chickens at the farm! We picked them up Sunday April 7th - and the chickens got to ride in the truck all the way home!

We bought a flock of silkie chickens that are already producing eggs. We have 1 rooster and 4 hens - and luckily the rooster isn't related the hens. They are home and doing really well - but they haven't quite figured out their ramp in their coop yet.

On the way home we named all of our chickens - Monster (rooster), Cinnamon (buff), Pertha (black), Scarlett (black with a buff ring around her neck), and Marshmallow (white). They are very friendly and quite cuddly for chickens :)

We have purchased an incubator and will be starting to incubate eggs in the next couple weeks and then will have chicks for sale. As well we have fertilized eggs for sale. If you are interested in Silkie chickens please email us at partridgehorsehill@gmail.com

You can see pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157633233403402/

There are just too many cute and cuddly animals at the farm now!

Taming the Wild - Mustang Cimmaron gets her first tame trim

Cimmaron is a wild mustang from the ranges in the USA. She was brought to Ontario and continued to be a wild horse out on a several acre pasture with some other horses including another wild mustang. Although she would see people filling the water trough and tossing hay, she was never tamed for the majority of her life.

She had her hooves trimmed a few times by being tranquilized and sedated to the ground so that her severely deformed hooves from over growth could be trimmed. I started working with Cimmaron last year and was able to halter her, and groom her.

Heading into this year Cimmaron's owner and I really made an effort to get Cimmaron tamed so she could be trimmed without tranquilizers. I've been working with her for an hour once a week, most weeks.

It's been really exciting because now I can approach Cimmaron pretty easily, she will take carrots from my hand, I can halter her each session, she knows how to be led with the lead rope, how to yield her hind quarters, and she picks up each hoof for me to clean out.

Last week I did a session to prepare Cimmaron for the farrier to come up - I wore a head lamp which was a little scary for Cimmaron at first. I brought my own farrier tools and hoof stand. I was able to rest Cimmaron's hoof one at time on the stand and use the clippers and file on her hooves without any complaints or worry from Cimmaron.

Cimmaron has certainly come a long way and is now much more tame but she still has some more room to come before I would call her training complete - she still gets nervous the first couple times as I switch from left side to ridght side of her body to rub her, I still have to halter her slowly or I will overwhelm her and cause her to run away, and Cimmaron is still wary of new things.

I know she is making great progress though because we have already accomplished so much and Cimmaron gets better and better every week - now it only takes me a few minutes to halter her, she leads much better, I can rub her all over, and pick up all hooves - as well each week the tasks get easier and easier. She actually stands really patiently for me to clean her hooves - much better then most trained horses!

Tonight is really exciting because Kaileen, a natural barefoot trimmer, will be coming up to try trimming Cimmaron's hooves. I will start by getting Cimmaron's halter on and some basic desensitizing exercises to get her ready, and then Kaileen will try to take over and trim her hooves like a normal, tamed horse.

Cross your fingers for us for good luck!! 

News from Partridge Horse Hill

Just a couple quick important new things.....

We have new dates and information posted for upcoming events - check out the latest information at:
http://www.partridgehorsehill.com/events.html

We also have to start charging HST... please learn what that means for you here:
http://www.partridgehorsehill.com/news.html

James Trains Cinder!!

Sunday morning was fun and exciting as James and Cinder had a training
session. They saddled up and headed out all bundled for the cold
weather, without knowing how their first session together would go.

I helped James understand what to do when training, and James worked
through the motions with Cinder. James started with some traveling
circles to let Cinder get a feel for the saddle, the footing, and
remember his responsibilities.

Then James tasked Cinder with putting each front foot up on the table
– something Cinder hadn’t done before. This helped to get Cinder in a
thinking frame of mind and taught Cinder both that James was a good
leader he could trust, and how to have emotional control.

After about an hour of ground work, we pulled the quarter sheets off
and started some saddle work. This was only Cinder’s 3rd time having
an in saddle session with Partridge Horse Hill – and prior to
Partridge Horse Hill his previous owner had tried to start him, but
Cinder accidentally broke her nose when he reared up with her on his
back.

To help get Cinder comfortable and ready for a rider, James practiced
putting weight in the stirrups from the ground. He simply leaned on
the stirrup and hopped up and down and did this from both sides. This
helped to get Cinder desensitized to the pressure and prepare him for
the next step.

Then James stood up into the stirrup and rested over Cinder’s back –
with his tummy over the saddle so he could easily slide off if Cinder
was nervous. Cinder was great though, and didn’t flinch. Cinder had
really relaxed posture, so we rewarded him for being so calm with a
rest break and friendly rubs, and then continued.

Next James stood up in the stirrup and then sat down in the saddle.
Cinder seemed relaxed, and we allowed him a few minutes to get
comfortable with James on his back.

Next we asked Cinder to move – asking him to yield his hindquarters,
back up, and move forward. I helped lead Cinder forward when he was
unsure - but I didn’t make Cinder feel trapped because I kept a loose
feel on the lead rope. We stopped and rewarded often with rest breaks
and rubs.

As the session continued, I clipped the lead rope and we had Cinder
follow another horse, Angel. Aaron rode Angel around and Cinder was
able to follow which helped make steering easier for Cinder. Once
Cinder understood the basic cues James started steering Cinder for
basic commands on his own, like halt transitions and simple circles
around objects.

Cinder was doing amazing, and so next we tried the trot. Cinder was
perfect and picked up a very relaxed trot. James and Cinder did
several short trots around the ring with long reward breaks after each
one with lots of rubs to let Cinder know that he was being a good boy
– it’s really important that horses know when they are being good.

Next we decided to take the horses for a short trail ride around the
property, around our track and into the back of the property, down the
hill, and around our back field. This gave Cinder some purpose to
riding and he realized he could follow a trail together with his
rider. It helped to develop a partnership and show Cinder that James
and him could travel somewhere together.

Cinder and James were amazing together – Cinder didn’t have any spooks
or startles and they were fantastic together. James even said Cinder
is pretty smooth and might even become one of his favourites!

Check out pictures of Cinder and James at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157631995488436/ 

Ellie's Journey Home - Saved from the Slaughter House, Literally

Every so often the stars align and mysterious things happen, as if it were fate falling into place. This past weekend was one of those moments when I felt the stars align for Ellie and I.

It was only a few weeks ago when someone commented on my youtube video of Elegance, aka 'Ellie' and I had responded saying if she was ever not wanted I would gladly take her back. Little did I know what would happen in the weeks to follow.

Ellie was born March 28, 2003 as a Thoroughbred intended for the race track. She had some training before they realized that Ellie really isn't a fast horse and didn't have a heart for racing. She retired from racing, with no starts, and sound. I purchased her from a horse trader that had a connection at the track and helped to sell ex-race horses.

I brought her to the placed where I boarded, Reidall Farms. There I retrained her using natural horsemanship and we could do canter pirouettes and ride bridleless and play at liberty. From there we moved around a bit as I tried to find a farm that had everything I wanted... with a reasonable price. We boarded at Equine Oasis and Bellewood Equestrian Centre. It was along this journey that I also purchased Thetis. Thetis and Ellie became best friends.

Thetis and Ellie showed together and trained together. They were very similar, but Ellie was easier to ride because I'd had her longer so she was better trained, and also Ellie is naturally more of a pokey/slow horse which makes her easier.

I made the decision to sell Ellie because I needed to sell one of my horses to help keep paying the bills.... if you didn't know this already, horses are expensive! One of the ways I would both help cover my horsey expenses and help horses was to own a couple horses at a time, one of which would be a project to train, and when they could be safely sold I would sell... and then repeat the process.

I sold Elegance to Larissa, who wanted a calm show horse to gain her confidence on. Larissa enjoyed her for a year, and then contacted me when she wanted to sell Elegance and move on to a different horse. I was boarding at West Ridge Farm at the time, and already owned a few horses so I couldn’t take her back - instead I helped Larissa sell Elegance and find her a new home.

She was sold to a lady named Melanie, who with her coach Diane seemed to really know their stuff. I was convinced Elegance would have a happy life.

It wasn't until Friday January 18th first thing in the morning, when a former student and part boarder of Elegance saw her photo posted on Need You Now Equine (NYNE). NYNE is headed up by Tracey.

Basically Tracey takes pictures of some of the horses that come to the Ottawa Sales Barn for slaughter in the hopes of finding them new homes – if they aren’t rescued then they do go for slaughter.

Tracey posts the pictures to facebook with as much information as she can find out – some of these horses literally have days before they go for slaughter, so if you see a horse on NYNE you have to act fast if you want to save them. Tracey helps coordinate the sale of the horse - she helps you buy the horse from the 'kill buyer'. He charges the 'meat price'. All of the horses I have seen on NYNE are priced fairly cheap, with Elegance being the most expensive at $800.

When I saw Elegance posted on NYNE I acted fast. I restrained myself from texting Tracey every minute, but that was difficult... I wanted answers and I wanted to save Ellie immediately. I knew time was of the essence.

The picture and description mentioned Ellie was injured with a puncture wound to her hip and that she wasn’t sound right now.

Between texting, and emailing I was able to find out the information I needed. Tracey also told me about another person, Marina, looking to save a horse she knew, Moro Moo. I got in touch with Marina and we worked it out that we would drive down to the feed lot together to save our horses. I emailed the $800 money transfer to Tracey to pay for Elegance, and our plans were set.

Sunday, January 20th was windy and frigid cold. I was lucky to have my assistant coach Marcie to cover my lessons for the day so I could leave first thing in the morning (although bad weather meant they were canceled anyway). Marina arrived bright and early with Thoroughbred racing trainer, Marko.

We hitched up and rolled out of the driveway at 8:30am. The roads were actually pretty good until we got near Ottawa, then there were some ice patches and I literally was driving about 20km/hr. Surprisingly we only saw one truck in the ditch! 

On the long journey I heard the story of Moro Moo - Marko really is a caring trainer, and Marina a loving former groom of 'Moo'. Marko had trained Moo and Moo had won many races, despite being a little crooked in the legs. Marko said he had given her away to be a broodmare, and was very shocked to find out she was headed for slaughter. Marko loves all of the horses he trains, and he is committed to finding good homes for them when they are done their racing career.

Marina was the former groom of Moo, and similar to me it was someone else that had shared the facebook photo of Moo with her. As soon as Marina recognized Moo she started contacting friends, family, and Marko to get Moo rescued and coordinated the whole effort.

We had a long journey with many stories shared, but as we approached closer to our destination the butterflies started turning in my stomach, and many questions filled my head: - What would this place look like? How injured would Ellie be? Would Ellie be able to load on the trailer because of her injury? What would we see?

As we pulled up the road, it was easy to see the right address despite no number visible at the end of the drive. Massive steel buildings with giant lettering spelling out 'live stock'. As we pulled in it was horrific to see just how many loading and unloading docks there were -just how many animals are at death's doorstep at this place?

Literally chute after loading chute, and barn after barn. Marko said 'this is a scary place I tell you,' and he was right.

It makes you think – the average person goes into the grocery store and buys meat, but doesn’t actually think about what that animal had to go through to get onto the dinner plate.

Tracey greeted us at the side of the building, which warmed the atmosphere a bit. We got the trailer ready and grabbed our lead ropes and blankets and headed into the barn. To my surprise our 2 horses were at a holding cell right at the entrance we came through - so we didn't venture through the depths of the labyrinth of barns and holding cells.

From what I could see, there were no other animals in sight, and when I asked Tracey about the other horses she said they were in the back barn. The space we were in was dark, but with clean shavings – but who knows what it’s like in the 'back.'

Ellie looked so defeated, injured, and so weak. Moo was the opposite - she seemed to know where she was and wasn't having any part of it - as soon as she saw the daylight of the entrance open she tried to dart through. Marina and Marko tried keeping her steady as they haltered her and blanketed her.

Ellie seemed dead inside and stood there. She still had her auction number “2589” glued to her side, a rack of ribs, her pelvis, hip bones and spine outline completely visible, and yet all 4 of her shoes still on. Her back legs so stocked up, and her injured leg so swollen with the puncture wound oozing a yucky yellowish pus.

I had to rip Ellie's auction number off of her body - it was glued so hard to her body that I couldn't take the number off her body without ripping off some of her fur. Ellie was so dead she didn't even move. I tossed her blanket on her - the same cooler I used for her when I owned her a few years ago.

I had a chance to ask Tracey some of the questions I had been dying to know. She explained that every Tuesday there are auctions at OLEX, an auction place in Waterloo. This past Tuesday there were 54 horses that went through auction. Of those, 17 were bought by the kill buyer she knows (another 25 were bought by another kill buyer and direct shipped to the meat plant. Of the 17 horses that went to ‘Tracey’s Kill buyer’ there were 7 that seemed sound/sane and had a reasonable chance of having a second chance so she took their pictures and posted them to facebook.

Of those 7, Ellie and Moo were rescued, and another Standardbred was to be picked up Monday. Tracey said she's been doing this for a year. She has a respectful relationship with the kill buyer - she doesn't cause problems for him, she just posts the pictures and if someone wants the horse they pay the meat price.

Out of respect for the relationship that Tracey has with the kill buyer, I won't disclose the address of the kill buyer's feed lot.... because if he feels that people are coming uninvited or causing more trouble than they are worth, then Tracey won't be able to take pictures of these animals and save the few she can.

Tracey explains that this particular kill buyer does care about the horses – so unlike most kill buyers, he allows Tracey to try and sell them first, but if they don’t sell they go for meat.

Tracey then said that Ellie got injured on the way from auction to the feed lot - which isn't surprising based on the loading and unloading methods I've seen from auction houses.

As we went to lead the horses out of the loading chute to our trailer, a stock trailer with cattle was starting to back up to unload. We had to ask the driver to wait a couple minutes so we could take the horses out.

We led the horses out to the trailer - Ellie barely could walk and nearly fell, and Moo was so desperate to get out of there that Marko had to hold her tight.

As we loaded our horses onto the trailer they positioned the stock trailer to the chute for unloading.

Moo walked right onto the trailer, and settled - as if saying "phew, this looks like a real horse trailer, I must be going somewhere safe now." Ellie struggled with the trailer - she was trying but her back legs were very weak, sore, and stocked up. 

Just beside us they started unloading the cattle by beating them with a cane and zapping them with an electric shock stick. There was no patience or respect for the animals - and this was all with unfamiliar and public eyes watching.

I could see Ellie give a huge effort and she forced herself up into the trailer - luckily she loaded.

Both horses were attacking their hay bags - who knows if they were being fed or what sort of conditions they were in for the last few weeks.

As we went to pull out of the driveway another stock trailer was pulling in - that place really is busy and deals with a lot of animals.

The experience was a big eye opener for me – I never really thought about what my hamburger had to go through… but perhaps I should.

The drive home was slow, but filled with more excitement of our success and rescue mission. We didn't arrive back to Partridge Horse Hill until 10:30pm. We unloaded carefully and Ellie struggled her way into the barn. We put the girls into stalls where they started eating hay right away.

We took a few photos, exchanged some hugs and best wishes. Moo will be picked up later by a new loving home that promises to keep her forever and treat her like a princess.

Tracey also gave me Ellie's passport. From the passport I can see that Ellie was passed around a couple times and was owned by Joseph, a coach/trainer, and then ended up with one of Joseph’s students. I was able to get in touch with Kylie, Ellie’s last listed owner on her passport.

Kylie told me that she bought Ellie to show the hunters, but fairly soon after she purchased her, Ellie kept going lame after jumping. Kylie said it was really inconsistent, they could ride her and jump her and she’d be fine, but then after a couple times she would stop, not want to go, and then be lame. They tried giving her a couple months off, x-rays, and injecting Ellie’s hocks thinking it could be arthritic but the vet couldn’t diagnose Ellie.

Kylie ended up giving Ellie to her trainer, who gave Ellie to a rehabilitation centre at the end of November, 2012. It is unclear what exactly happened after that, because the rehab centre didn’t keep in touch about Ellie, and Kylie was just as shocked as I was to see Ellie posted on NYNE just 2 months after Kylie gave Ellie away. What’s worse is that Kylie says Ellie was in good health when she was given way – she even went with her winter blanket and rain sheet, but now Ellie is severely under weight.

Kylie said her trainer followed up with the rehab centre after seeing Ellie posted on NYNE – she didn’t speak to the rehab centre directly, but seems to think that they did do some tests and found something with Ellie that couldn’t be cured so they sent her to auction…. Apparently the rehab centre said they had a high reserve bid of $1000 to ensure she wouldn’t go to a kill buyer…. But I guess that didn’t happen since I bought her for $800 from the kill buyer, and the kill buyer definitely wouldn’t sell at a loss.

I am still in the process of finding out more from Kylie to see if I can get in touch with the rehab centre to find out what tests they did and what they found out – I will keep you posted!

These girls have no idea how close they came to death's doorstep... or maybe they do.

Stay tuned for an update on Ellie's recovery – check Ellie’s page at http://www.partridgehorsehill.com/Elegance.html

Thank you Tracey, Marina (former student who spotted Ellie), Marina (Moo's former groom), and Marko!

See pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157628811786377/