Goodbye my beautiful friend

On Saturday April 11th Izzy went back to CANTER to get the medical care and training that she needs. It was the single most tough decision that I have had to make with a horse since Flash died. It killed me to give her back. But I had to do what was best for both of us. I am still a fan of off the track horses. They are so willing to learn and eager to please. I learned a lot from her in the 8 weeks that she was with me. And I hoped she learned alot too. I cant wait to get an update on how she is doing. She will always have a place in my heart.

I did get a new horse. Another chestnut mare- this is my third you can kick my butt now. Her name is Phancy Pants and she is a registered Quarter Horse. She is more "finished" as far as riding goes so I am hoping things go smoothly. Feel free to check out her blog.

Take care Izzy, I miss you!

Not the ending I was hoping for

I cried a lot today, and I know I will have a lot more crying to do before all is said and done. It has barely been 8 weeks that Izzy has been with us, and the vets exam was not as good as I had wished. I am not a person with a lot of money in fact I can hardly pay all my bills. Somehow I manage to take good care of my horse. The vet came out today to check on the funny symptoms Izzy has been having. She and I came to the same conclusion as to what is wrong with her. Granulosa cell tumor of the ovary and or bad ulcers. Either way they both require hundreds of dollars in tests and thousands of dollars in treatment.

We would start be doing an ultrasound/palpation followed by an hormone panel and a inhibin test. This is extremely expensive...if the tumor is found or severe hormone issues she would require an ovariectomy at OSU. Then she would have to be put on hormone therapy.

If nothing was found, then she would be given an endoscope to look for ulcers and then treated with gasto-guard which is 1000.00 for a 28 day treatment.

In the end would I have paid a sale price $5000-6000 for Izzy? (probably not) Would I have paid that much for a moody mare, with a prior broken knee that raced only once was pretty green under saddle and had less than great conformation? (doubtful) Please don't get me wrong Izzy is a sweet horse and I am already attached to her. But if I were to spend that much money 8 weeks ago I would have bought a finished show horse that was safe enough for my kids.

Its not just about the money. If she goes through with treatment especially the surgery it would put her out of commission and on stall rest for the whole spring and summer. Not to mention having to start all over again with training when she heals up. There is the possibility that she would still behave like at bitch (excuse my language) and that she would still give me a hard time. Then finally there is the risk of doing these evasive and drastic treatments, there is always a great risk with a large surgery.

I'm so torn. But I have decided that I will not just sell her or give her away. That she would go back to CANTER, because I know they would take good care of her and make sure she found a good home. My family thinks I should give her back where she could have a better chance of getting the treatment and care she needs. And look for a horse that is a little more finished so I would be able to ride more and have a horse that is safer for my boys. If I think about it, that would be the more rational decision.

I will post another blog when I figure out what is going on. I want the best for Izzy, but I have to consider my goals and dreams too.

Lots of symptoms no answers...yet

Izzy has been in heat since the day I got her so about 7 weeks or so. I thought at first that is was just because of the move and the new horses, but I was told that she was often in heat prior to me adopting her. I have noticed that brushing or touching her belly was a problem, even things like reaching to grab blanket straps was like playing Russian roulette, you never know when your going to get kicked. This has gotten progressively worse. Even ground work has gotten worse, if I have to ask her "mid-section" to move away, especially on the left side she will kick out. She succeeded the other day. Most of this behavior I have took note and moved on.

A couple of days ago Izzy attacked Chevy. It was not like mares fighting for an alpha position, this looked like some stallions fighting. It stated off with Chevy, Izzy and Jasmine where turned out. They all get along and this is not something new. For the first the 5 minutes they all did there own thing and got along great. Then Chevy was rearing a little but it was very playful. Jasmine and Chevy were grooming each other on the withers while Izzy just sorta stood there watching. A few minutes later Izzy chased Chevy into the corner and kicked Chevy in the chest as hard as she could. Then she got low to the ground like a herding dog and chased Chevy in circles. With her ears back and her mouth open. It was not something that I have ever seen. There was a lot of biting and kicking before we could separate them.

Now Izzy's jolly ball that hangs in the stall is causing problems, she used to not mind it bumping into her or she played with it. But now if it touches her butt or side she kicks out. Something is causing her pain. She is not an aggressive horse, she is sweet. I am having the vet come out on the 27 th to do some tests and palpate her to check for cysts or tumors on her ovaries. Even though that would be a bad diagnoses it would explain what is going on and could be treated.

What was I thinking

I am a very knowledgeable horseman, well woman and a good rider. But what the hell was I thinking when I decided to adopt a racehorse. In the past I have had a blind arab, a standardbred racer, a 9 month old pony, a Saddlebred, and a quarter horse cross. Non of which were ever lazy or laid back. I was always drawn to the "crazy" horses but Im older now and I have two kids. My time is more limited and I am more cautious, and more afraid to get hurt. Well now I am the owner of a very challenging OTTB mare and she is bi-polar and so unpredictable. I know every horse has a bad day, but we have had more of those than good days. I am so mad at myself for not being able to do more with her. My list of things we cant do is far greater than the list of things we can do. She needs a professional trainer and I just cant afford one of those, so sadly it looks like I might have to sell her. Its not fair to Izzy that she just doesn't get to do anything, and its a waste of my time and money to have a horse that I cant do anything with. I am really attached to her already and I have never had to sell a horse before but it probably is the best thing for us. If I cant find her a good home that will accept the buying contract from CANTER then I will have to give her back and forfeit my money.

Spring Fever

Yesterday I took Izzy for a walk around the grounds. And slowly introduced her to a small section of our racetrack. We were with a couple of other horses and surprisingly she was the least extreme when the other horses spooked or got really excited. For the most part she just stuck with me. I got her to go over a log...she didn't jump, just walked. Then she wouldn't go in the puddles that day though. We played the game stick to me where she has to mirror me...she had to walk and trot when I got faster or slower. I didn't want to try the cantering because she was running on adrenaline already. We had a short but semi-steep hill that I asked her to go up and down. She would go down slow and calm. But she would rush up it or jump up and when she got to the top she would rear and prance around. She would be the kind of horse that would rush jumps I think. When we were on the track we would do a lot of approach and retreat. We looked crazy just going back and forth and doing circles on the far turn of the track. But with her being off the track I didn't want to go any further. I was a little nervous with all the energy she had, but she and I ended on a good note and we both survived another day.

You found me

"Lost and insecure You found me, you found me Lying on the floor Surrounded, surrounded Whyd you have to wait? Where were you, where were you? Just a little late You found me, you found me why'd you have to wait to find me, to find me?"

This is the lyrics from (You found me, By The Fray) I used this song on the video I made of Izzy on youtube. Other than being a racehorse with a crappy race record and broken knee, I'm not sure of the stuff she was put through. You can tell just by looking at her that she has been through some really tough shit. I feel so bad for her. I wish I could know what she was thinking. There has been a couple days in the last week that I have noticed subtle changes in the way she acts around me. She has become very confident in the stall to the point where she has no problems trying to bite or kick out a little. Its not extreme but its a big change from the horse that went catatonic in the back corner of the stall.

We bought her a jolly ball that has a lickit above it and hung it in her stall. She has yet to figure out that its like candy. She has very little winter coat left, which increases how sensitive her skin is. In the process of trying to do everyday horse things (like cleaning, brushing, turning out, crosstying, etc...) We have hit a number of roadblocks. It feels frustrating like I hit a brick wall rather than a pebble in the road. For example she will not tolerate me grooming around her belly and ribs. She is more scared of my grooming rag than a spray bottle, the wash rack is a dark scary cave with horse eating creatures inside. The list goes on but these are things most people do everyday with no problems.

About a week ago Izzy was turned out with Chevy and managed to cut the front of her back leg (hock area). I wanted to hose it off, to see how bad it was but she would not go in the scary wash rack. So we said screw it I would hose it in the isle way and that wasn't working either. Then I cleaned it and wrapped it with gauze and vet wrap. She stood still while I did it, but as soon as she would take a step forward she would buck and kick, she did this a lot. Like she would forget it was on. It got so bad that I had to cut the bandage off so she wouldn't hurt herself more. Good news though her leg is almost healed, and she is happy and sound.

A few days ago a friend of mine moved her OTTB back to the fairgrounds she rode her horse down to my barn to introduce her to Izzy. Her horse meesha who very confident and calm. Izzy didn't even walk a foot or so out of the front of the barn. She was comfortable there but not any further. I had Izzy go for a walk but with a more confident horse. And she did ok. Now the walk back to the barn was alone. I admit that I was scared of what she might do. The barn that was only a 100ft away felt 100 miles. So I decided to keep her busy so she couldn't think about being alone and scared. So I let her have a couple bites of grass then I made her walk through a big puddle... which was a lot deeper than I thought. She walked in put her nose under water and blew bubbles. I have never seen that before but it was cute. Then I had her sidepass of a telephone pole that was lying on the ground. I had her weave in and out of the horse trailers, which were all in a line. She was doing really well till she saw a herd of dear, then her mind was on them not me. But we got back ok.

Two nights ago I went up to the barn and it was surprising quiet, so I brought Izzy out and played with her in the isle way. We worked on trotting and stopping next to me. She was doing well and we are working her to back up if I back up. She is picking it up quickly. Then we worked on going into the wash stall. I went in with her a couple times but that seemed to just cause her issues. She would take a step or two inside and then fly backwards and then get upset when the rope got tight and she pushed into pressure making it worse on her. So instead of playing tug of war, if she pulled back on the rope I would hold the pressure on the rope. Not increasing or decreasing it. If she took one step forward the pressure on the rope was gone and I would turn away. We did this for about an hour before she figured it out. Its not perfect but its a start. I was starting to get frustrated with her not wanting to go in. So I sat down on the mounting block which was inside the wash stall and did NOTHING. I didn't even look at her I would let her do what ever she wanted as long as she didn't walk so far backwards that she was pulling on the rope. After a few minutes she took a couple steps inside and put her head on my lap. We just sat there for a while. I rubbed her head and neck. Then I turned the tables on her and asked her to go backwards away from the wash stall. Well this got her curious. Like she said "huh? I thought you wanted me in there, not out here." So back and forth she would come inside a couple of steps and then I would send her out before she did it on her own. Soon she was all the way inside facing the back wall, and a few tries later and she was inside and facing the right way. I will not crosstie her because of the accident she had. Oh and after another half hour I was able to run the hose with her in there and wash her hooves. It was too cold to do anymore. So it took a few hours,but now she goes in and stays in no problem. And she has more confidence to try new things, and more confidence with me. Like she has said "Whyd you have to wait? Where were you? Just a little late You found me,why'd you have to wait to find me, thank you."

Rome was not built in a day...

The reason I haven't lost the baby weight from my boys, is because I give up if I don't see results quickly. Lately I have been getting frustrated with myself because I don't see big changes in Izzy, not super noticeable anyway...but I keep at it so I can reach my goal. Today when I went to the barn Chevy and Izzy were checked by a natural farrier, not to get anything done, just to see how her feet looked. She was very pleasant with her front feet, and I told him that she had some issues with holding her back feet up. He looked at her back end and looked at me and said "when you pick up her back legs do you hold them out or straight back?" and I told him that's what I was always taught. He said "well that's your problem, she is cow hocked and it hurts her to have her leg out or straight back." Well I was intrigued, I ask well then what should I do? I picked up her back right leg and held it up crossed over her left hock. Izzy just stood there so pleasantly. Now I know :)

Chevy and Izzy were turned out together to play while we cleaned the stalls. When it came time to bring them in they both came to the gate and were put on lead line with no problem. Chevy danced circles but not out of fear it was more, "you cant make me go back to the barn...and I have no respect for the human that is being dragged on the end of the rope". Izzy walked out slow and calm, which is different that what she normally does. She was doing great till she lost focus on me and thought the golfing benefit event down the drive was going to kill her. So I used her nervous right brain energy and had her go in any direction but straight ahead. We went sideways without a fence (Level 2) yo-yo'd back and forth, drove the hindquarters and front quarters around. Pretty much every game but the circling game, which would have NOT helped her relax and think. Once she settled down I tried to take her back to the barn but she would not go over the wood edging around the grass. So instead of forcing over it, I made it into a squeeze game. I would first lift the rope and point in the direction that she should go, then I would wiggle the other end of the rope by her but asking her to move forward, since she still didn't move I would swing the end of the rope at her butt and then "allow" her the chance to figure it out for her self. It only took three of these steps before she walked over the log and down to the pavement. When we got inside I didn't want her just to go to the stall so we played the touch it game. That is where I stay in zone 2 (neck/shoulder) and drive her to objects that I choose. Once she was going in the right direction I would wait till she puts her nose on it, stop and rub her. The first time we did it she walked up to the object and got near it but didn't touch it, she would just look at me like what? what the hell am I supposed to do? After doing a few times she would go up to it put her nose on it and look at me to see my reaction.

Rome wasn't built in a day and my horse isn't going to be a 4th level Dressage horse anytime soon. But I'm not giving up on her and she is making progress.

I bought all the parelli home study materials (1&2) and equipment when I was working with Chevy. Well they equipment is staying with her for my grandmother to use. It was becoming a hassle sharing it, especially if we want to have both horses out at the same time. So today we placed an order for the patterns complete kit. I am getting a halter, 12ft line, 22ft line, 45ft line, carrot stick and string,hackamore, Cradle bridle and C1 myler parelli bit, finesse reins, success series DVD's and Parelli Patterns! Cost a little over $1000.00 and that is with my club discount that saved me $998.00. But it will be worth it. Thank you Barbara. :)

Scaredy Pants

Izzy is very confident and willing to try just about anything inside the barn. But as soon as we venture outside she thinks the fairgrounds is going to eat her alive. Chevy is her buddy and she always feels braver when she is around. However Chevy cant always be there. Last night I turned Izzy outside for 20 mins to burn some energy before I tried to work with her. She ran and ran calling out for her buddy or any other horse that would answer back. She worked herself up pretty bad and not so much from running around but from freezing up and screaming for someone to save her. I walked the fence of the turnout as if nothing was wrong. Eventually she trotted up to me as if to say, "hey why aren't you scared?" I would comfort her and then go back to walking and playing with the carrot stick. I wanted to make sure that I didn't act like something was wrong. If I had stood at the fence "saying easy easy its ok, you're ok" she would have knew something was up. "why is my human nervous? she must know something I don't" So by acting like the braver Alpha she found comfort with me instead of the other horses. We will work on this, until she can be confident without her buddy around. I worked with her on the ground playing the seven games inside the barn and she is doing great. I might be taking my official level one Audition...I have been putting that off for years. I was cleaning her stall that night and she decided to roll with me and the wheel barrow in the stall with her. It was cute and scary all at the same time, all I could think was please don't cast yourself or kick me in the head. She is a goofball what can I say.

I have made some slow changes to her feeding program, based on her weight, amount of work, and behaviors. Izzy shows signs of ulcers. They are very common with performance horses, stressed out horses, or stabled horses with high concentrate feeds. When we got her she was at a good weight but eating 5lbs of 14% pellets with corn oil and 8 flakes of hay a day. She also cribbed really bad while she ate so she was loosing pellets out her mouth.

(FYI....THIS WAS A SLOW CHANGE)

Now she is being fed from a ground feeder so she cant crib on the feed bucket. She is on a 12% pellet instead of the 14%. She still gets tons of hay, which she loves. Horses with ulcers should be cut of all grain or pellets, but being a TB she would not hold her weight. So I slowly lowered the amount to 4lbs then to 3.5lbs. If she continues to maintain the weight she is at now I will lower it a bit more or keep it the same, at least till the amount of work she is doing increases. Then we will bring it back up to suit her needs. She still gets corn oil about 1/8 cup a day. We put her on some supplements. *Thanks Smartpak, for helping me choose what was best for my horse* She is on Accel (vitamin & minerals), SmartGut (digestive/ulcers), Apple-a-day (electrolytes) and SmartCalm Ultra (Calming). The supplements contain pre and probiotics and I already notice a difference in her eating. And she is less sensitive about me touching her belly. She is cribbing less, drinking more water and her coat looks amazing. The calming supplement is just to take the edge off her nerves a little bit so she can focus on training...less stress can also help heal her stomach. But that one doesn't start till tomorrow, so when I see a difference I will let you know.

Izzy's Horsenalities

Izzy's "horsenality" inside the barn as of 2/22/09

Izzy's "Horsenality" outside the barn as of 2/22/09

These will change as she becomes more confident and I earn her trust more. She is already making progress from three weeks ago when I got her. I will post updated charts in the future.

Started off with stretching....

I went to the barn today and gave Izzy a nice grooming session. When I was finished I did some stretches with her. I started with some lateral flexion bending. Then I asked her to stretch her head to her front feet, with a carrot as incentive. Instead she bowed, a full bow down on one knee. Not what I was intending to do but cool all the same. So now my horse can bow on command. I will make sure I have the camera with me next time I will post a video if I can get her to do it again.

Update- Nothing very exciting

Some days izzy really takes after her name "Super goodtimes", and some days she is more of a Super Badtimes. Usually she is very calm and sweet. But lately she has been more super badtimes lol. She ripped her new blanket, broke her water bucket and ripped out a large chunk of her tail. It took me days to find out how she was doing that I guess she sleeps in the corner that her buckets were therefore bending them and she would walk away she would catch her tail on the hook. I bought a new bit and sidereins havent used them yet, hoping for a break in the weather. She is in heat and she would not let me buckle her blanket at all. So I took it off and waited till the next morning that time she didnt give me any problems. I bought her race record, she raced only once at Great Lakes Downs in MI. She didnt place and walked away with $56. She is getting stall mats this weekend. After the crosstie accident I have been Leary to tie her to anything...yet. Still working with her legs and feet for the farrier. Lots of nothing has happened, I'm learning alot about her, but it feels like we aren't making any progress.

Friday the 13th

Well I'm not very superstitious but tonight was not the best night I have had for Izzy. The day started off great went to the tack store and got a new saddle pad, 2nd water bucket and side reins. When we got to the barn I hung her new bucket and let her finish her hay. I put her in the crossties which she had been in before with no problems to brush her. She was acting "off" while she was being brushed. A second later she started backing up, as soon as there was tension on her halter she flipped out. She reared up and backed up some more which made it tighter and she panicked more. She reared again and again. I couldn't do anything it happened so fast. It was only a few seconds but it felt like a lifetime. I was waiting for the crosstie to break from the wall or her halter to snap but it didn't, she actually pulled her halter off to get free. Once I caught her and got her to relax we rubber her with the crosstie to show her that it wasn't going to kill her. We tried to clip the tie on again but just one side instead of both and I wasn't going to walk away just let her stand there for a second. But she did the same thing again, this time I was able to get her to stand still long enough to un hook her. We will add crossties to our list of things to work on. Erin walked her around outside taking her farther then she had gone before and she did really well, she never spooked just stopped a couple of times to look at all the new sights. Erin and I both rode her tonight just inside the barn at the walk and trot. She can finally back up now. She goes back very smoothly and in a straight line. Im very proud of her. This week I am going to start working her on a lunge line with the sidereins attached. I'm hoping that today was a bad day because it was Friday the 13th, hahaha just kidding. After all that I went home and was playing with my son Dominic who is 7 months old and he pukes in my mouth and all over my face and shirt, I am glad its the end of the day.

Taking baby steps

For the last couple days my friend Erin and I have been working with Izzy under saddle. Yesterday we rode her in the barn in just a D-ring snaffle she listened well but just had her head up in the air avoiding the bit. We worked on transitions at the walk and trot. Bending and backing up are going to be a challenge but better left for another day. She halts well by squeezing my abs, but I dont think that would stop her if she took off. We walked her outside tonight and she was VERY nervous, she walked around in the small turnout even though it was all mud. We will try again maybe tomorrow when is not so dark. I really need to get her some side reins so I can work her on the lunge line and get her to lower her head. But other than that we are making progress one baby step at a time

Oh mud sucks

With all the warm weather we have had lately all the snow has melted and we have mud everywhere. Izzy is getting very good at the seven games mentioned before. It takes less time and effort to get her to do what I asking. I really want to get her ground skills better. Tonight I turned Izzy and chevy out in the barn, but Izzy was getting into the shavings pile so I put them outside in the mud, hoping they wouldnt roll....well she did and was half shinny and half muddy. I lunged her tonight to practice transitions and building her topline. She did great to the left which is no surprise, but when I asked her to go to the right she reared up and bolted around the circle dragging me from the only dry spot in the pen straight into the mud. Once she relaxed she was fine. When we were done we watched the deer on the other side of the fence.

Tuesday : Got to the barn early got some good pics of Izzy having fun in the mud, Oh that was fun to clean up.

Tour d'Or (Izzy's Sire)

Did some research on Izzy's Pedigree. She is the great grandaughter of Secritariat. Her sire was Tour d'Or. Here is what I found. His stud fee was $10,000 WOW!


BREEDING RECORD

TOUR D'OR has a lifetime winners to starters ration of 76% and average earnings per starter of $64,968. TOUR D'OR is represented by 7 graded stakes winners, 20 stakes winners and 14 stakes placers. Led by United Arab Emirates Derby- G3 and Jerome H. - G2 winners EXPRESS TOUR ($1,767,515) as well as Champion 2-year-old filly GOLDEN SPRING (Dominican Republic). TOUR D'OR 's other stakes winners include PHANTOM ON TOUR ($724,604), TOUR'S BIG RED ($354,360) etc.

TOUR D'OR 's 2003 stakes winners include multiple graded SW TOUR OF THE CAT ($756,261), COLORFUL TOUR ($495,529), TOUR OF THE HIVE ($429,087), SOUTHERN TOUR ($340,330), etc.

TOUR D'OR equaled two track records in his racing career, to date his progeny have set track records at distances of 5 f. 6 1/2f., 1-1/16m. and 1-1/8m.


Race Record for Tour d'Or
In England. At 2, three wins in 3 starts; at 3, unplaced. Earned 10,544 Pounds ($15,062 USA). In NA. At 4, two wins, once 3rd; at 5, five wins (etr at Belmont Park, 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.40), twice 2nd (Trenton H. [G3]), twice 3rd (Massachusetts H. [G2]) in 9 starts; at 7, five wins (Walter Haight H. [L] ( LRL, $45,000), etr at Belmont Park, 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.40), once 2nd (Beulah Park Budweiser Breeders' Cup H. ( BEU, $15,645)), once 3rd; at 8, four wins (Sunshine Budweiser Breeders' Cup H. ( TAM, $46,110)), 3 times 2nd (Gulfstream Park H. [G1], Tampa Bay Budweiser Breeders' Cup S. ( TAM, $15,550)). Earned $464,091. Grand Totals: 19 wins, 6 times 2nd, 4 times 3rd. Earned $479,153 USA. Sent from United States to Great Britain in 1983. Returned to United States from Great Britain in 1985.

Our 1st ride

After doing so well with the 7 games on the ground I figured I would see how she reacted to my saddle and bridle. I made this process slow, I was not going to rush her into anything. After the saddle was on, we did a lap around the barn in between tightening the girth one hole at a time. Which takes a while but it prevents a horse from becoming "cinchy". She took the bridle and bit like a champ. I didn't think that she would have any issues with this. She does pull the bit into her mouth and actually gets her teeth on it, chewing the metal. We will have to play around with where is needs to sit for her to respond to it without hurting her mouth and teeth. I led her around the isle by the reins and she was very relaxed. Next was to see if she would stand next to a mounting block. Now racehorses are mounted while they are moving so I knew this was going to be an issue. She would stand by it until I stood on it and she would walk off. So we are going to work on this. Shaun held her while I got on. She is a lot bigger than Chevy so mounting wasn't as graceful as I would have hoped but Izzy was forgiving. Once I was in the saddle and asked her to walk she got tense. For a second I thought for sure that this could be a really bad idea. I kept my body relaxed and talked to her until she loosened up. We just quietly walked up and down the isle. Doing serpentines and turns going both directions.

We worked on walking to halt transitions. She was doing so well I asked her to trot, which is very nice by the way. But that just got her all worked up. And I didn't want our first ride to be a bad experience. Her "brakes" need some improvement and she doesn't back up...which are both normal for a racehorse. They never had to do that before. So we will work on it. She bends surprisingly well which was great. Before the end of the riding session a couple of people showed up and brought food for their horses. At that point I had very little control. She sorta did this half rear spin and wouldn't stand still, so I thought it was better to end there then fall or loose control completely. Better to end with the positive so after getting her to walk one more lap I got off. After she was un-tacked I put on her blanket and she got to go outside and run around with Chevy. Because I have young children at home I can not afford to get seriously hurt. So I am very aware of what is going on around me and try my best to prevent bad situations from happening. I am going to probably try to find a person with more experience with the riding end of retraining OTTB's to work with us.

Izzy plays the 7 games online for the 1st time.

I would recommend that you also read the blog previous to this, it explains the games that I am talking about.

Last night I played the 7 games with Izzy for the first time "officially". I was quite surprised how quick she was to pick them up. We started with the friendly game. I rubbed her all over with the carrot stick (which is used as an extension of my arm not a whip.) The goal was to get her to accept it without moving her feet or showing signs of nervousness. She was very accepting of it on her left side which is not really a surprise to me, but it took her longer to be so accepting on her right side. Then the next step was to gently toss the string attached to the stick over different parts of her body and again just trying to get her to relax and accept it. She had some issues with the string on her legs and feet and some hesitation on her hindquarters. But with a little patience she relaxed. I was even able to stand next to her and swing the rope over my head and her whole body without her caring at all, as well as hitting the ground next to her on both sides.

Then we tried the porcupine game. She easily lowered her head to the ground with just gentle pressure on her poll (where the bridle would sit.) using the stick I got her to move her hindquarters around. She has no problem moving them, but she needs to work on keeping her front legs still and pivot. Then I was able to use the same method of slowly adding steady pressure to her jowl to get her to move her front legs over. Again she did well but needs to keep her hind end still. And she easily moves backwards with steady pressure on her nose with my hand or the stick on her chest.

We worked on the driving game. Using the stick like a fence rail between me and her I rhythmically moved the air in front of her to get her to back up, sorry if that hard to picture what I am doing. As soon as she takes just one step back I would stop to let her know that she did it right, then the next time I tried she took a couple steps. I would stop again so she would get the idea that she was doing it right. Soon she would keep going back until I stopped. :) I also got her to back up by holding the stick underhand and sorta marching towards her, each step lifting the stick and string from the ground towards her chest. Next I stood next to her shoulder facing her but and used rhythmic pressure from the stick to get her to move her butt over. Pat Parelli calls in "hide your hinney" She should move her hindquarters away from me without moving forward. This game is great to keep yourself out of the kick zone. We then did the same thing with the front end. I hold the stick so it runs from her head down her neck to her withers and then sorta move the stick without touching her if possible to move her front feet over. It sorta looks like you're shooing something away.

Next we played the yo-yo game. Which once learned is GREAT to keep a horse at a safe distance from you if the horse is spooky or dominant and invades your space. We started with phase one which is just to face your horse and wiggle your finger at them....nothing happened so we went to phase 2 which is wiggling my wrist (at this point the line wiggles a little)...and nothing happened. So I tried phase 3 which is to move my arm just to the elbow....She took one step back, so I stopped. Which let her know that is all she had to do. Then when we did it again I started going from phase 1-3 and she moved back right as I started phase 3 and took more steps back. So I stopped again. I leaned forward towards her and combed the line with my hands with out pulling her to me, she walked to me and I rubbed her head. Each time I sent her backwards it took less to get her to move and she took more steps backwards, and came back to me quicker. Soon I will just have to wiggle my finger and she will backup to the end of the line and stay there until I ask her to come forward.

We tried to circling game next. Phase 1 I lifted the rope and pointed in the direction I wanted her to go. Then phase 2 I lifted the stick. Phase 3 I wiggled the the stick. And then phase 4 I swung the string once at her butt. Similar to lunging but with a set amount of laps, not just mindless circling. It took her to phase 4 to move forward, and she would walk till she was behind my back and stop...which is very common. We will work on it. She should move forward quicker and circle me with out me micromanaging her. In other words I don't move or turn with her Just pass the rope behind my back. Until I disengage her.

Then we did the sideways game. Along the stall walls, so she would be more likely to move sideways instead of moving forward. This has been a challenge for the other horses I worked with but she did rather well. I kept her head facing the wall and would gently "drive" her sideways. If it was her butt that wasn't moving I would tap that if it was her front that wasn't moving I would tap that. Eventually I would just move the stick from her head to her butt and then from her butt to her head and she would walk sideways, similar to a sidepass.

The last game is the squeeze game. You can squeeze them through a tight space or over something. I started with a lot of space between me and the wall and asked her to walk through the space, then stop face me and wait. Each time I took a step closer to the wall making more of a squeeze for her. You don't want them to just rush through or rush over what you using, it defeats the purpose. She should go through with confidence and then wait calmly for me to tell her what to do next. She did great, soon we will start squeezing her over poles and small obstacles.

The more you play the games, the lighter the phase you will have to use. Soon it will look like the ques are non existent. Like in Dressage you can hardly see what the rider is doing to get the horse to perform the task. Im going to post a link to video from Youtube of the seven games so you can see what it looks like when your horse understands what you doing. This is not my video but it is an example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWii8sNZRlM

Let the games begin (an explaination of the 7 games)

Last night we start playing the 7 Parelli games, for those of you who dont know what Im talking about let me give you an explaination. The 7 games are, the games horses play with eachother that people can modify to play with your horse.

Game #1
The Friendly Game
This game proves to your horse you will not act like a predator, that you are friendly and can be trusted. You need to gain his confidence and be able to touch him with a friendly "feel" everywhere on his body. Any area where he is defensive tells you of his skepticism about you. By using approach and retreat, get to where you gain permission to touch every place on his body without forcing him to accept it. You can then advance to tossing ropes, plastic bags, coats, anything you can think of to get him braver, more confident and less skeptical. Be sure the horse is on a slack rope, not being held tightly or tied up.

Keys to Friendly Game: smile, relax, rhythm, approach and retreat, desensitization.

Game #2
The Porcupine Game
This game is called "porcupine" as a reminder that the horse should not lean against a point of pressure but learn to move away from it. Learning this prepares him to understand how to respond to the rein, the bit or the leg. It is applied with a steady feel, not intermittent poking. The steady pressure starts soft and slowly increases until the horse responds. When the horse moves away, the steady pressure is instantly released. This pressure is applied in four phases - press the hair, then the skin, then the muscle, then the bone! Each phase gets stronger, and there is no release until the horse responds with at least a try. In this way, it's the release that teaches the horse he made the right move. If he responds at phase 1, then go no further. If it takes up to phase 4, be prepared to persist until the horse tries to find comfort by moving away from the feel. Reward the slightest try with instant release, rubbing and a smile (back to Friendly Game). The Porcupine Game needs to be taught in all different places on the horse - the nose, chest, neck, forequarters, hindquarters and any place you can touch.

Keys to Porcupine Game: concentrated look, steady pressure, use four phases.

Game # 3
The Driving Game
This game teaches the horse to respond to implied pressure, where you suggest to the horse to move and he moves without you touching him. In the beginning you may need to be at close range. As you advance through the levels you will be able to affect him from greater and greater distances. As this game progresses it looks like invisible communication between the horse and the human. Again, four phases are important - phase 1 is tapping the air, phase 2 is light tapping with fingertips on the horse, phase 3 is medium and insistent tapping with the fingers, phase 4 is slapping with flat hands. All the while the rhythm does not falter, does not change. As soon as the horse responds with even a try, relax your arms, smile and rub him. It does not take long for the horse to learn how to move away at phase 1. Learn to drive your horse in different directions - backwards, move the front end, move the hindquarter (hold the neck bent towards you for this).

Keys to Driving Game: Concentrated look, rhythm, four phases.

The next four games (5-7) are "purpose" games. Once you have created an alphabet with the first 3 games, you can form sentences and a language to ask for more complex maneuvers.

Game #4
The Yo-Yo Game
Send the horse backwards, away from you, and bring him forwards to you in a straight line using your lead rope. The object is to get backward and forward movements equal and light.
Use four phases and the "hinges" in your finger, wrist, elbow and shoulder. Start phase 1 by just wiggling your index finger at the horse. Phase 2, wiggle your wrist so it affects the rope only slightly. Phase 3, bend at the elbow and shake the rope using your lower arm. Phase 4, straighten your elbow and shake your whole arm and watch how much more the rope moves. Only escalate the phases until you get a response. The instant your horse moves backwards, stop! This will let him know he's done the right thing. It is also important to keep both your horse's eyes on you. As soon as the horse turns one eye away from you by turning his head, you will lose the back up and the straightness! Pay attention to the details and make corrections before he gets off course. You can play the Yo-Yo slowly at first, on flat ground. As the response improves, get more provocative and play it on uneven ground, at a faster pace, over a pole or log, or on a longer rope. This is how you teach a horse to respect your space when leading, to develop suspension and self-carriage, improve his stop, develop a slide stop and teach him to come to you.

Keys to Yo-Yo Game: straightness, responsiveness, imagination, four phases.

Game #5
The Circling Game
Do not confuse this with mindless lunging! The Circling Game develops a horse mentally, emotionally and physically. It teaches him to stay connected to you and get the tension out of the line between you while maintaining his gait and direction. There are three parts to the Circling Game - the send, the allow and the bring back. All of it needs to be done without moving your feet. To send the horse, "lead" his nose in the direction you want. If the horse does not follow the rope, lift the tail of your rope and swing it toward his neck. Once he is traveling around you, smile and pass the rope behind your back, giving the horse the opportunity to take responsibility for maintaining gait and direction on the circle. This is "the allow" part. Do a minimum of two laps and a maximum of four. If you have to continuously ask your horse to keep going, he is winning the game. Trust the horse to do the right thing. If he stops, turn and face him with a concentrated look, redirect his nose onto the circle and start again. When he goes, smile! To bring your horse back to you, turn and face him for Phase 1. Phase 2, start reeling the rope in until you have enough tail in the rope to lift it. Phase 3, swing the rope towards his hindquarters. Phase 4, touch the hindquarters until he has swung them away and faced you. Again, stop and smile at any moment the horse makes the right response. Bring the horse all the way in to you and rub him (back to the Friendly Game). Disengagement of the hindquarters (swinging them away from you) is very important. It is how you teach a horse to be easily controlled - mentally, emotionally and physically.

Keys to Circling Game: Three parts - Send, Allow and Bring Back; four phases; allowing the horse to learn his responsibilities.

Game #6
The Sideways Game
This is teaching the horse to go sideways equally as well to the right and left, with ease. The two important areas on the horse for this are the neck-to-nose area, and the hindquarters. We'll call them zone 1 (the nose) and zone 4 (the hindquarters). You need to play the Driving Game in repetitions of zone 1 then zone 4. Send zone 1, then zone 4, then 1, then 4, etc. until the horse straightens out and moves laterally sideways. Allow a loose rope and a little distance for the horse to get moving but not so much distance that he could turn away and kick you.
Sideways is important for developing suspension, lead changes, spins and to balance out "forwardaholics". Start slow and right; use a fence or rail to help prevent forward movement while the horse is learning.

Keys to Sideways Game: loose rope, Driving Game in zone 1 and zone 4, four phases.

Game #7
Squeeze Game
Horses, by nature, are claustrophobic. They are afraid of any small or tight space. The Squeeze Game teaches your horse to become braver and calmer, to squeeze through narrow spots without concern. Start with a large gap (it might have to be very large) between you and a fence, wall, or even a barrel. Ask your horse to go through the space while you stand still. In the beginning, it may help if you walk backwards and parallel to the fence to help your horse squeeze through. The reason walking backward works well is because it helps draw the horse toward you. For phase 1, direct your horse's nose into the gap. Phase 2, lift the tail of the rope. Phase 3, swing the rope a few revolutions. Phase 4, touch the horse behind the withers once. Then stop and begin again until the horse tries to move forward into the gap. As soon as he does, release the pressure, relax and smile. Pretty soon your horse will make it all the way through. Stand still and allow the rope to slide through your hand as he passes by you so he feels total release. You want to avoid him feeling a jerk backwards on the rope. As your horse gets more confident, make the space smaller and smaller until it is just three feet wide, like the stall of a horse trailer.
You can use the principle of the Squeeze Game to teach the horse to jump, or to go into trailers, wash bays, starting gates or roping boxes. Getting less claustrophobic also helps a horse to accept the cinch.

Keys to Squeeze Game: walk backwards, start with a large space and move in small increments to smaller spaces, use four phases, play it with practical objects like trailers and jumps.

She is a trouble maker

The thing about thoroughbreds is that they are incredibly intelligent. And when a horse is really intellegent they tend to get into things. After a couple of walks up and down the barn isle on a lead rope I decided she seemed comfortable enough to roam free. Now there is enough room to run around if she wanted to and plenty of horses to visit, I was unsure as to what she was going to do on her own. At first she walked around the back of the barn near her stall until she felt safe enough to venture farther. She stopped at at each horse's stall and most of the time is was a quiet greeting, a couple of mares squealed and she squealed back. Now there is a stud in the barn, she walked past him a couple of times driving him crazy but wouldn't give him the light of day. Then little miss smarty pants decided to stand across from his stall but on the other side of the barn, she just stared at him as if to say you know you want me but you cant have me. She is too good for him anyway. Then the trouble began. Izzy was very curious to check out the new surroundings and I mean EVERYTHING, first she explored the ladder resting on the back wall until it came crashing down, which startled her but didn't stop her from exploring more. Now we have a large pile of shavings in the isle because its to hard to get to where they should be outside. Well she thought she would play on top of the pile, and I mean all the way on top. Once she climbed up there she thought it would be fun to dig in it knocking shavings everywhere. Oh I wish I had my camera. While I shoveled the pile back up Izzy decided to visit Chevy, my other mare. Now Chevy is the alpha mare at our barn and Izzy was the alpha mare at her old barn so I figured that they would have to decide for themselves who would take the No. 1 spot. They squealed and reared a little, mind you that the stall doors are all closed so they are doing this behind bars. But it ended peacefully just sniffing each other. So she went back in the stall to munch on some extra hay and I went home to get some sleep.

Cleveland weather is really getting to me. Tonight is really cold much different than yesterday. I thought it would be worth a shot to turn the two of them outside together, if worse came to worse I would just bring one of them in. I expected them not to get along actually, I planned on giving them a few minutes and bringing Chevy back inside. Much to my surprise there was no major fighting. After a few minutes investigating each other they squealed a little, Izzy bucked a bit but not in Chevy's direction and then they happily trotted away TOGETHER, they wouldn't leave each other alone. They were instant buddies. Today was a good day, even though we didn't do anything major we did make progress. Izzy is more comfortable and that is very important to me.

Izzy Comes Home

Feb 1, 2009 Super Goodtimes aka Izzy comes home to our barn. For the last week prior I have been preparing for her arrival. Her stall was stripped and bedded, new halter and bucket. Her teeth were floated, feet trimmed and she was wormed. Everything was falling into place. The day of her arrival we had a break in the weather. A whole 40 degrees but with Ohio winters that was a welcomed change. She wasn't keen on getting into the trailer and very nervous getting off. But once she was on flat ground she calmed down. We walked around for a little bit before taking her to the new stall. She was nervous but very behaved.

She met her stall neighbors Emma (a Clydesdale) and Angel. Emma loves everyone and immediately took to her, sticking her big head over the wall to visit. Angel on the other hand peeked through a hole in the wall and decided that she wasn't thrilled to have a neighbor. Izzy had a snack and was groomed. She even got her new halter.

After she spent some time in her stall I took her for a walk in the turnout. At first she was relaxed until some deer wandered out of the woods behind the barn, she got all excited and start to prance around me, rather than get run over I closed the gate and let her loose to explore. For a while she raced from one side to the other, doing sliding stops at each fence, she bucked and reared at few times and rolled in the snow getting soaking wet. She only stopped running when she heard it was feeding time. She trotted to the gate and waited for me to bring her in. Its hard to say if she is always going to be this exuberant. I'll just have to let her settle in to her new home and routine.

She whinnied out for a couple hours to any horse that would listen. And occasional reared and spun around the stall. At feeding time she munched on her hay but didn't touch her grain. This was the first time that she ever ate out of a ground feeder. We bought it to give her less places to crib. I decided to leave and come back that night. When I got there she greeted me at her gate, but I was worried that she had not eaten her grain (pellets), pooped or drank any water. I went in the stall and talked to her and rubbed her. I walk away to visit my other horse Chevy and when I can back she had pooped finally and was slowly eating her feed, and drank some water. Almost like she got permission from me to do that. I was finally relieved and was able to go home and not be so stressed out.

New Horse New Start

My journey begins in Dec 2009, after much thought and consideration I decided that adopting a horse would be better than buying a horse. The thought of all the horses that need good homes is overwhelming and there are TONS of them. I searched for weeks on numerous websites, all with horses that need homes. Thoroughbred race horses were amongst the largest of the numbers of rescues. I have owned and ridden many breeds and never really thought about ever getting a racehorse.

I looked on a site called C.A.N.T.E.R that helps place former racehorses in new homes. After looking on their site on mare caught my Eye. Her name was Super Goodtimes. She was cute and had a sweet face, not very flashy but sweet looking. I looked at her add plenty of times before I ever inquired information about her. CANTER requires adopters to be approved, and they make reference checks with barn owners, vets and farriers. They really are looking out for the horse's welfare. I filled out an application but didn't get my hopes up, I was afraid of getting excited over a horse to find out that I wasn't approved. Well about a week later I got conformation that I was approved and was free to adopt any of their horses.

I finally requested information on that mare Super Goodtimes. The foster home said that she didn't race very much and she was off the track for a while and had already started retraining. She had fractured her knee in the past, and had surgery done to remove the chip. The vet said she was sound and shouldn't have issues with it in the future. The fact that she had an injury like that made me nervous and I did a lot of research about it, the outcome were usually great...some horses even returned to racing.

After many emails and gathering enough information as I could I decided to go look at her. My friend Erin and I made the 45 min drive in the snow to visit her in kirtland. I was greeted by the volunteers there, they were very nice and answered all of our questions. We brought her into the crossties to check her out. She was a little pigeon toed, but nothing major. No scar or scar tissue on her knee, in fact we were not 100% sure which knee it was. She was very calm she let me touch her legs, feet, and face...which was positive. We were going to lunge her but it was icy in the round pen, so we turned her out and laughed as she bucked reared and hopped in place. We left and got stuck in the steep driveway and had to be pulled out (maybe a sign?)

I thought about her a lot, going back and forth in my mind about adopting her. It was really a hard decision, my heart said go for it and my mind was saying are you nuts?? A few weeks later I went back to see her again this time I took my grandma. Being winter in Ohio everything was still under deep snow and ice. So we took her in the barn and I attempted the 7 Parelli games. It was a small area but she was very willing to try. She had no clue what I was doing. As a racehorse she probably thought I was crazy. But she was calm and tried to think her way through it. After playing with her for a while I was sure she was the one. Coming next..."Izzy" comes home.