Magic and Little More were in the Bull Pen today. Magic is feeling more comfortable in his surroundings today. This afternoon he was chasing Little More away from the gate. It is sad to see Little More’s soundness issues as they play. Magic looks good with no signs of any problem.
Lisa sent this respons to my inquiry about Magic and the brush: “When they are at the track, instead of being groomed as we would normally think, they strap them really hard with stiff brushes to encourage muscle tone and it’s very common for them to not enjoy being groomed. When Magic first arrived, he got very aggressive about it and was very uncomfortable about the whole thing and has gradually improved. Just do as you have, go slowly and be gentle and use softer brushes, give him a treat while you are doing it and he will soon begin to associate it as a pleasurable experience. It’s completely normal for them to behave like that and I’ve had some that will even flinch at the mere thought of being groomed.He was just muddy in the video because I had a lot of horses to ride and needed to get on and get done plus the mud was still kind of wet, not the kind you can just brush off and the water had frozen. He would stand untied in the aisle while he was groomed and as long as he knows that you are not going to be rough, he’ll be just fine.That sounds great about his new friend, nothing improves their minds better then getting out on some pasture with a buddy.”
Wednesday, February 16 2011
Worked Magic in the round pen. My experience with Newt has created a sensitivity to the horse not paying attention. Magic was going around with his head turned a little to the outside. My feeling is that it is not good, maybe like giving the finger to the teacher. Tomorrow I will work him with the longe line attached rather than letting him run free as he did today. Once again we walked around the trailer and he paid it no attention.