#55 - got ya!

Today Teddy was easily caught in the hallway and was completely fine. He was a bit forward wanting to walk ahead of me but that was quickly corrected then he was groomed and rugged.

As both Steve and I work tomorrow he has been put in the front paddock so things are easier. Hopefully I can work things through from the front paddock but if not I will reinstate the hallway when I get time off work.

Riders club is having a rally this week to which I was invited but I wont be able to attend with Teddy as its at the indoor arena and I cant get us there. Beside I'm not ready for that yet, however I might go check it out.

#54 - How to piss off a horse in one easy lesson...

I thought I had the advantage today as its cold and wet and raining. I went out to the paddock with the lead rope and Teddy's rug determined to catch him as I don't want the bugs to attack him when the sun finally comes back out. My mission was to get the rug on him but in order to do that I needed to catch him.

For an hour and a half (without exaggeration) I kept the pressure on, sometimes running, sometimes crouching in a prey position and crab walking, sometimes just walking by his side with my hand on his bum or back. A few times he stopped and sniffed or engaged with me in some way but as soon as that lead rope went anywhere near him he was off.

I was determined not to stop but the wind got stronger and I was being blown backward, and the sides of my legs from hip to knee were aching from the walking, mud, knee high grass, wind and rain. I just couldn't do it any longer though I tried.

I'm pleased to say that at no stage did I get angry with him and I talked nicely too him the whole time. But I didn't want him to think that he had won so I had to go to plan B (which I made up on the spot).

I picked up the rug and headed back to the shed, got a bucket of his food and went to the opposite side of the paddock, to an area we call the hallway. I called out to Teddy who instantly recognised the feed bucket and came waltzing over. He check out there was no lead rope then approached me cautiously, stopping at the little river in front of the gate caused by the rain. I encouraged him through the gate, gave him the feed and closed the gate behind him. I left him to the feed and went to tend the veggie patch.

While tending my celery I heard the thunder of hooves gallop passed -Teddy had finally worked out he was locked in and couldn't get back to the big paddock. He cracked it badly! He ran up and down for ages, churning up the grass as he screeched to a halt at the crush then turned around and ran back up to the back gate again. He kept this up for a while occasionally stopping near the fence next to me to snort and protest. I just left him to it.

Later I went out to get him some water, but he didn't want it. He was still pacing, not at a run though, and he just looked from me and then back at the big paddock with a longing look in his eyes. When I turned to leave he neighed out to me loudly. I turned around and he looked at me pleadingly then back at the big paddock.

I told him "Suck it up princess" and came inside.

#53 - Teddy came to me and...

...played, followed, got scratches, rested his head on my arm, shadowed me, explored my clothes with his lips and ran to catch up with me. He even came from the back paddock to the front paddock to seek me out. The only difference this time was I only had a phone in my hands.

#52 - What a friggin' shambles!

It was as if Teddy knew that I wanted to catch him! What a nightmare!

I set out about 45 minutes before the farrier arrived thinking that it was a nice hot 32 degrees, I would wash Teddy and by the time the farrier pulled up Teddy would be ready to have his feet done.

Well as soon as Teddy saw me he was off. In the heat I tried everything known to man to get that bloody horse and it was no use. None stop around the paddock I went after that horse. Nothing. 5pm came and I walked over to the farrier explaining that just yesterday I walked right up to Teddy and got him with no issue whatsoever.

I went into the house and got carrots while the farrier waited. No use - the first carrot Teddy took from my hand and when I went to put the lead rope around his neck he bunny hopped backward out of reach and the second time he got a bite of the carrot and nicked off.

I was totally stuffed, hot and defeated and the farrier left without doing Teddy's feet.

I'm lost and out of ideas on how to fix this. If it wasn't for the catching issue we would be right on track as we have overcome so much! But six months later and there is no improvement with the catching at all - its actually worse.

What do I do now?

#51 - Just walked over and caught Teddy today

Finally this seems to be paying off - today I was expecting a big session with Teddy and I ended up just walking over, he met me quarter of the way, I put the lead rope around his neck and hooked the swivel clip to his halter. As simple as that. I led him to the front gate, coaching him along a tiny bit at the start, then walked the half length of the property. I gave him heaps of rubs and let him go. He just hung around for more pampering. That seemed like such a high point that it was a good place to leave the session.

Tomorrow the farrier is coming after work so this should be a good test. He's a new farrier as the old one had his license suspended for the next 18 months and cant get out here anymore. Once Teddy's feet have been done I will be back into training. It seems like a good time as his calmed down a hell of a lot (as you can tell from the last post photos).

I hope it all goes well with the new bloke. Fingers crossed.

#50 - Teddy Time! ... a photographic journey of about an hour

#49 - so far so good

The last week Teddy has improved a lot with his head issues but he is still a work in progress.
I've managed to do it on my own and with a lead rope laying across my shoulders. He is still suss on the lead rope though, you can just tell.

He's seeking me out every day so that is great and he had three children giving him heaps of attention on Sunday, which he loved a bit too much.

The weird weather has brought the bugs out and he's got a fair few bites on his neck and sides so I will watch him with that, but I have been letting have nudie runs so i have no-one to blame but myself.

Also, because I am not feeding him and adding vitamins and minerals to his feed I brought him a salt lick on a rope and and Saturday's rain dissolved the whole thing! What a waste of money.