We worked at the trailer again today. The first two hours did not go good. Then I moved the trailer so the step up was not so high. At the new parking situation, he loaded twice in ten minutes. The step up is about 18 inches and the new perspective made it less than 12 inches. I don’t think the height is that important but I will not argue with success. I will continue working at the new parking situation and hope it will be that easy next time. I feel guilty that this might be the problem and I have put Magic (and myself) through this ordeal just because I missed the obvious. Rosie Crawford, our local horse trader legend, always drove a one ton ford and loaded thousands of strange horses onto that high deck. But he was Rosie Crawford and I am John Brown. I just moved the trailer out of desperation that what I was doing was not working. We will see what happens. I hope it is the problem. I’ll buy some low profile racing tires for my 1972 Hale Stock Trailer!
Thursday, February 2 2012
Magic and I worked at the trailer again today. It took about an hour. He did load. Magic has worked hard to diminish the effectiveness of the rump rope as a persuasion to help him get into the trailer. He will just stand still and buck. I thought it was just wasted effort on his part but he has learned just how to buck in a way that unseats the rump rope. The rump rope was effective in the past but he has patiently learned how to evade that pressure. I guess you might say Magic and I progressed into a fight today. I even called him a name when he bumped me out of the way. Magic is the only one of us that can claim to have drawn blood but I claim victory. He did load. And we did it in a way that I think indicates progress. I would ask him to move forward, tap him with the lunge whip and he would push his way between me and the trailer rather than take a step towards the trailer. One of those times was when I called him a name. I think name calling is not effective and indicates a failure of character. I apologized. But something that happened during that time convinced Magic that he should not push me out of the way. So we made progress in that he would take a step, make a move, towards the trailer when I asked him to step forward. Then we would rest and regain our composure. I would ask him to step forward again. We just kept that up and finally he leaned back on his haunches and jumped up into the trailer. That was the first time he has loaded while I was still on the ground. I have hope that we have made progress and will get this loading problem behind us. We’ll work on it again in the morning.
Wednesday, February 1 2012
Dale Moody the farrier came yesterday. We shod Magic and trimmed CeeCee, Glory, Little More and Roxie. Last time we sedated Magic and he did much better. I would have sedated him this time but I completely forgot about it and I did not have any sedative on hand when I did think about it. We have not ridden as much this month and he has had very little “hammer de-sensitizing”. I did not make the necessary preparations. However, Magic was very good anyway. He only pulled his foot away once and none of his previous shenanigans. This is excellent progress.
Today we did a little practice trailer loading. Last time I went riding on the Buffalo, it took from 15 to 30 minutes to load him each time. So we need some more trailer training. It took about 30 minutes for him to load today. He did load.
I have taken a more assertive behavior towards Magic recently. His behavior, beginning when he pushed Peggy, has convinced me that he has been testing my resolve. Now if he pushes, I let him know it is not OK. I even whack him occasionally. It seems to be getting the right results.
January 22, 2012
My one year report to New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program:
I adopted Magical Minister in late January 2011. He was at the New Vocations Lexington Facility. Lisa Molloy was very helpful with all parts of the adoption, shipping, questions and advice. Due to the distance, I adopted him sight unseen. I inquired about several horses. Lisa reccomended Magical Minister. I took her advice. She was right! Magical Minister is the horse I needed. Magic has a lot of confidence and no spook. I live on a remote farm in the Arkansas Ozarks. On our rides we have jumped deer, elk and a bobcat. Magic is cool. He just keeps on walking. All except once when I found out he can really move fast. We were in a pasture with cows and passed a big pile of logs. A little calf was in a nook up in the logs scratching himself. We just happened to walk past his only escape route. The calf bolted and the only direction he could go was directly towards us. Magic moved out of the way, quickly. By the time I hit the ground, Magic and the calf were out of the way. Magic waited and did not run off. He is a good horse.
Magic has adapted to life on the farm. He runs in the pasture with two geldings. At first he was timid in the group but has grown comfortable with the “herd” and is now much more assertive. I put him in a stall at night. Daily he gets 6 pounds of whole oats with 8 ounces of Purina Nature Essentials and an ounce of corn oil and 12 hours of good pasture. This winter he is eating 15 pounds of hay daily. He had a puncture and a sole bruise during the first few months. I was somewhat concerned Magic would not be able to adapt to life in the rocky Ozarks but he has been sound and kept his shoes on for the past 4 shoeings, about 8 months. Magic takes care of himself and is not prone to injury.
Magic and I are interested in Dressage. We have a lot to learn. We get to ride about every other day in good weather. We work on exercises in the arena and trail ride on the farm. He did show improved attitude and energy after we went on our first trail ride on the Buffalo National River with lots of other horses. We get to do that about once or twice a month. We went to a “team cattle sorting” practice at the local roundup club. Magic did good and showed interest in the sport. And nobody made fun of my helmet and English saddle! All of our rides and incidents are logged on the blog http://www.horseweblog.com/.
I got a good horse and Magic got a good home. Magic and I send a big THANK YOU to New Vocations. New Vocations is an excellent organization and everybody there does a wonderful job.
P.S. Magic asked me to tell Lisa that he says Hi and that everything is good here in the Ozarks.
