Invisable Halter Training.

I have found another way to have fun with Echo. I have been looking for a way for him to be gentled that he is comfortable with that is on his terms.

I pretend he has a halter and lead rope on him. By motioning my hand and saying "step up" I can get him to stand with his nose up level with my shoulder. With my hand under his chin I can turn him and lead him. Sometimes he lags behind, but always catches up. Yesterday I was blown away by how well he was doing so I added 'back' to the routine. By putting my palm towards his chest, saying "back" and stepping forward, I can get him to step back. The trick is not to have him turn away while backing but to back in a straight line. Then I step back, motion and say "Step up" and he steps up to me. I was going "WOW"! I was noticing that he was letting his nose bump on my hand more and not becoming startled.

The problem is with my training method is I have to let him into my personal space more than I should. I think that if I expect him to trust me I have to trust him. He sometimes rubs his nose on my face or very gently tugs my sweater with his lips. I stand very still and think to myself, 'please don't bit me'. Any move to stop him from touching me would set us back about a month I think. I let him look at the empty carrot bag. He was so brave that I think he even surprised himself. He let his whiskers touch the bag, then his nose. Wildairo would have grabbed it.



When Brad came home I showed him Echo's latest tricks but Echo had one eye on Brad and didn't do as well as earlier. He was very good though, so I had Brad ask him to step up and he almost touched Brad's belly (not hard to do) with his nose. Not bad considering not to long ago Echo would run off snorting when Brad went into the corral.

I then went to feed Foxsun and when I came back all hell had broken loose. A cow had shoved a calf through the feeder and Brad opened the gate to run it back in and some other cows ran out. I went up to help and stood near the gate holding Bobby's collar. I can't run or even dart about anymore, I am so thrilled just to be able to walk again. Anyway, as Brad chased cows in others ran out and he yelled, "DO something, wave your arms or something!" So I did, letting go of Bobby, who ran after one of the escaping cows and got kicked really hard. Airedales are pretty useless as cattle dogs. I was not going to stand in that cloud of dust, in the dark, in that gateway with what look like the bull bearing down on me! It turned out to be old Dandylyons coming to see me. I do love a bit of cattle excitement every now and again.

Bobby grovelled to me begging forgiveness for getting kicked. She didn't leave my side all evening. Here is the silly dog underfoot as I tried to cook dinner last night.

Views from my house.

This picture was taken yesterday morning from my back door.





A fawn followed my mallard ducks around the lawn for a while. The ducks didn't bother to fly off but just complained loudly as they waddled about in front of the fawn. I wish I could have got a picture of that.

I often see wildlife from my windows. All are welcome. Coyotes, badgers, bobcats, bunnies, weasels and many more. I have spotted bald eagles in the cottonwoods, Ospreys and Turkey Vultures on the old power pole behind our house. Sometimes I've looked outside to see cattle on my lawn. We let our blind cow's calf have the run of the place because he's so small. He often can be seen walking around the garden.

One night last winter, at about midnight I saw the motion detector light come on. There in a snow storm I saw Foxsun walking past the drive way driving a group of cows in front of him bring them back to the corrals. Some cows had got out up on the bluff and Fox followed them over the fence they broke and brought back as many as he could round up, bringing them down the step bluff in the dark. It's a short cut that goes past our house. It's happened before many times. I have to go out and open up the gate to the corrals so Fox can bring them in. Foxsun does not approve of the cattle going too far from home and runs a tight ship. I'm hoping he will train the Mustang's to be like him. I plan to put one mustang out at a time with him so he can show them the ropes. I think there's a chance the two mustangs together might try to high tail it back to Beaty's Butte.

Here's a picture of Foxsun's sire, the famous Morgan cattle horse, Sunup Phaon.



He was a hard working cow horse besides being a stud horse. He died at age 30 a few years ago at his mum's place in Nevada. He has a farm named after him in Texas. Foxsun is very much like him, gentle on the small and young but takes no nonsense from trouble makers. Foxsun looks very much like his mother. I found his full sister still living in Colorado. She looks just like him only darker.

Echo's voice makes me laugh, it's deep and sexy like Barry White's. Last night I was calling a wayward cat home and Echo answered me (Echoing) in his deep rumbling voice. Who would have thought little Echo would sound like that. Wildairo squeals like a little girl.

Foxsun update:
Foxsun's abscess continues to drain. The swelling in his legs has gone down. He trots across his pasture when he spots me coming and is eating very well. So I'm going to let him continue as is for a while. If he doesn't keep improving or has another relapse I'll go the antibiotics route. Some vets use them for pigeon fever and others advise against them.

Two Mustangs and a Morgan.

Saturday we went to visit our son William in his new apartment in Ellensburg. He attends Central Washington University there. He just turned 20 on the 10th! Wow, my youngest is 20! He is putting himself through school and has a part time job in the theater department building stage sets. He wants to become a teacher. He has two roommates and a little tomcat called Phoenix, who badly needs to be gelded! My oldest son is 33, married to Nicky, and father of a cheeky little 18 month old girl. He's making me so proud. He's been in the air force for 14 years. He's been deployed many times to various hot spots around the world. I very concerned because he is being deployed to Iraq in February. Better stop now and talk about horses before I go nuts.

Thursday was the first time I could even feel a new abscess developing under Foxsun's belly, and it grew fast. Saturday when we returned home it was already leaking. These abscess's grow so quick that they can burst and be contaminating a pasture in just three or four days.

This is a picture of the new abscess.



The abscess is like a long ridge just in front of his boy parts. He's eating well and seems otherwise OK, besides the weight loss, dull coat, and swollen fetlocks.


Saturday night the temperature got down to 12 degrees F! Sunday morning I put carrots and Foxsun's feed in my backpack and went on my bike to see the boys. The Mustangs were lying in the warm sun fast asleep. I gave them carrots, hay and then went on to give Fox his breakfast. Later on Sunday we turned on the electric fence and let Foxsun out into his old horse pasture. It was kind of sad because he thought we were all walking back to the cow corrals together, so when we walked through the pasture he walked behind Brad like a good boy. When I couldn't keep up he looked back and waited for me to catch up, like he does with Dandylyons. When Brad opened the gate, he started to go through as well and we had to tell him he couldn't go with mum and dad but had to stay there. He was OK with it and went for a walk about. I love that horse so much. I think Foxsun and I are going to hitch a ride to the vet in Ritzville this week with a local horse owner who has been stricken with Pigeon fever as well.

I feel like Wildairo has been neglected since we adopted Echo and Foxsun has been ill. So I brushed out his beautiful mane and made a general fuss of him. I had to use some Cowboy Magic to get out a knot. He rubs his mane in one spot and gets a knot there.





I gave him lots of treats including a rum nut muffin. Brad picked up his feet a few times. He still doesn't like it but held still pretty good.

Echo considers himself a fully trained horse now. Echo has no idea there's more to being trained than standing in the warm sun munching carrots with your mum.

Dear little Echo is no closer to being halter broken than when we first adopted him, yet he steps up nice to me when I ask him. He will have his nose up over my shoulder and we'll be eyeball to eyeball. I can get him to stand straight on four legs, all without a halter or putting a hand on him. I was showing Brad what he can do and how gentle he is. Brad was impressed. We both agree he needs 'total immersion' training, as Brad put it. I know one thing, Echo is going to be a wonderful horse to train. He is so responsive, gentle and sweet. He will stand with his nose touching my belly as he eats his carrots with his eyes half closed. Not once has he put his ears back, tried to bit or kick. I think that's the reason why I can't bring myself to force the issue as far as getting a halter on him again. I can't bring myself to scare him and he really does get scared. I'll have to call a pro in to do the job.

Foxsun is still ill with Pigeon Fever.

I really thought Foxsun had the Pigeon Fever beat. Tuesday morning I called the Moses Lake vet clinic and asked if the vet and the mobile van could swing by while in town, and float Fox's teeth. I went out to feed him and was a bit taken back to see his fetlocks swollen and he was acting a bit depressed. If I hadn't have called the vet I would have anyway at that point.

This picture was taken when the swelling had gone down a bit.



The vet thought he looked stocked up, I think he called it, like he'd been standing still too long in a confined space. He was puzzled because Fox has a lot of corral space to walk about in. His temp was normal and his pulse in that area was fine. I showed him where his abscess had been and asked him about antibiotics. He felt we should wait and see. He did suggest I use the wormer Zimecterin Gold instead of the Safe-guard (fenbendazole) that I was going to use this time. Zimecterin Gold gets tapeworms too. I'll wait till we get a harder frost.

Foxsun's very first dental exam went fine.





I had to hold Foxsun's head up a bit for the vet because his chin was almost on the ground!

The vet said his teeth weren't all that bad really. He didn't think they were the reason for his weight loss. There were some ulcers in the back where his teeth had been rubbing so he filed the pointy bits off.

Wednesday Foxsun was really happy and feeling good. He arched his necked, stuck out his top lip and lifted his back leg to have his belly rubbed. His teeth must have been bothering him before. He was still a little bit swollen in all four fetlocks and pasterns.

Thursday, today, I went in his little house and saw wet spots on the wooden floor. I looked under his belly and saw his abscess was dripping and had nasty gunky stuff hanging down, again. I also felt another abscess growing near his belly button. It was very painful for him when I touched it. Tonight when I went back out to wash the drippy bit I saw the new abscess had grown a lot bigger.

Here's what the first abscess looks like today.



You can see it's pretty much flat looking.

His coat is shedding on his back when I rubbed my hand on it. It should NOT be coming out in October!



I'm going to starting Foxsun on antibiotics in the next few days because I think he needs some help at this point to fight this thing.

I have been so very worried about the Mustangs getting the Pigeon fever and I don't think I have done my own health very good.

Foxsun's old cow wife, Dandylyons, really misses him. She's been wanting me to comfort her.



I'm thinking of bringing her over to the horse barn to be with him. She loves the little barn area and has lived there for most of her life but she's not very lady like in it and her big hooves and weight tear up the floor. She also will eat up all his food very fast. So maybe I shouldn't till he improves a bit.

Foxsun IS an easy keeper!

The day after I put Foxsun in isolation I was amazed to discover he'd managed to lance his own abscess. It was still dripping a bit of amber coloured fluid when I got there. He's quiet a horse. He trims his own feet as well. He was still under the weather but eating well.

I called a local lady we have sold hay to, and asked her about her horses. She informed me she has 8 horses and three of them came down with Pigeon Fever. She was worried that her mare wasn't going to make it because she lost a great deal of weight. Like Foxsun, her mare was eating well and still loosing weight. Her vet put her horses on oral antibiotics.

I couldn't decided whether to start Fox on antibiotics or not. Some vets recommend them and others say they could do more harm than good. I got some vitamin E and Selenium to inject him with. It has dexomethasone in it in case he gets a bad reaction. We have a severe Se deficiency in our soil here. I also plan to worm him again soon as his condition improves a bit more. And his condition is improving! The firmer outer part of his abscess has now gone down a great deal and he was trotting mad when I didn't give him his dinner quick enough tonight.

I have been keeping the icky drippy part clean as best as I can. At night I'd get under him with the flash light to clean him up. He wouldn't be tied up but I just touch his leg and tell him I was going under. Even though the aerosol spray would startle him he wouldn't move. He's a lovely horse.

I think he was ill from this Pigeon fever for a long time before I noticed the abscess. I believe it was the reason why he lost a lot of weight so quickly. But just in case we're going to have his teeth checked and give him the Vit E & Se shot. It looks to me like he's putting weight back on. I give him 5 lbs of a Senior Horse feed a day and all the hay he can eat. Wildairo would eat till he exploded but Fox will stop eating and take a nap or something.

I'm so lucky that I managed to spot that abscess and get him away from the mustangs the day before it burst.