Great questions that I need to answer

The following questions are the result of some questions that a friend listed on her blog about her 2 year old. Although I'm in a bit of a different situation due to Tex's size and health situation (being a 2 year-old in a 1 year old body due to malnutrition), these are all questions that I will have to consider in the near future as he continues to grow.

When should I begin trying to sit on Tex's back? I have already put a leg over him while sitting on the fence, but nothing more. I'm thinking that I'll wait until he reaches around 700 pounds before actually sitting on him. What is the percentage of a horse's body weight that they can safely carry?

Tex's size is a major hold back in his training "under saddle." Most people begin riding horses at 2 years old, but I knew when I took Tex that riding him would not be something we could do for a while. I think that he MAY be big enough to ride within the next 6 months to a year. However, I consider it a blessing in disguise that he cannot be ridden yet- it forces me to not skip the training steps on the ground that he so greatly needs. I have created quite a long list of things to teach Tex before he is ready to ride, things that will carry over into his riding career and long into his life to make him a pleasant horse for everyone. These include picking up feet, accepting scary things, lunging at a walk, trot, and lope, changing speeds as per my verbal commands, sending (I point and he walks in the direction I point), loading in the trailer, crossing water, and moving his body in response to my body language, to name a few. Luckily, mentally, Tex is a strong 2 year old, willing to learn, and able to have a longer attention span than a 1 year old, which means we can do longer lessons.

The friend's blog said that horses will continue to grow until they are 6 years old. I don't expect Tex to grow to his full genetic potential, which should be small anyway. The breeder told me that Tex's dam (mother) is only around 13.5 hands tall, which is a very small horse! On the other hand, he is already showing that he's going to be quite a stocky horse. Only time will tell!

This picture was sent to me today. My mother-in-law took it last night during Tex's evening feeding. I believe he is starting to look more and more like a 2 year old. Notice that his hips are getting taller than his shoulders in this picture. I will join Tex in Louisiana in TWO days!

Daisy and Tex meet for the first time

Daisy is husband's brother's dog that my in-laws dog sit on a regular basis. She looks bad in this picture, but it's so typical of Tex's personality! He's always so observant of other animals around him. I hope this carries over into his cow cutting future career. I miss him a lot and can't wait to see him in 5 days!

In Louisiana!

Here's a picture that my gracious mother-in-law took of Tex and Taz in Louisiana! This is my friend Kelly who came out to meet Tex.

Finally, some decent pics of myself with Tex

These were taken last Thursday, the 21st. Tex often "cuts" the cat out of his stall. I don't know for sure if that's what he's doing in this picture, or if he's just walking backwards funny. The cat's name is Killer.

Today Tex and Taz arrived safely in Louisiana. Apparently Taz has a scratch on his knee. I'm excited that where we're keeping them at husbands' parents' place has a round pen.

We've been working on backing lately, and he is picking up on things so quickly. You can see in one of these pictures that I'm asking him to back, and he's actually picking up his feet to do it. He did NOT do that before!

Tex's hot wheels

Husband has been working hard to fix up some new wheels for Tex and Taz. Seriously, this has been a lot of long nights in the working, with the help of our friend Kole. This trailer needed lots of work, but husband finally finished last night after metal work, tons of sanding, two coats of primer, and two coats of paint. Now we're ready to go to lots of events in Louisiana. TM

Tex, minus the winter hair

.

I took these picures last Sunday. What a striking difference from when Tex arrived at my house. He's now 13 hands tall! My friend Kristy helped me move Tex around in his new pen during feeding time. There is food in the trough, but I've been trying to teach Tex not to be aggressive with food. I put the food in his bin (or trough, depending on if he's in the stall or out), and then I use my elbow and body language to keep him out of the feed. I only back away and let him eat when he puts his head down and is calm. I've also been TRYING somewhat of a clicker training, after reading an article in John Lyons' Perfect Horse magazine. The article was written by an animal behaviorist who has trained many exotic animals. She described that "clicker" training is simply using some sort of audio signal to "bridge" between the desired behavior and the reward. Instead of using an actual plastic clicker, I use the word "good", quickly and short, in the same voice tone. Horses have an approximate 3 second time interval in which to receive a reward. That's not always enough time. I'm guessing the "bridge" is what helps the horse understand that he did the right thing within the 3 seconds, and the reward (petting, or getting to eat his food) comes soon after the 3 seconds.

For an example, when I'm teaching Tex to be nice when fed, my desired behavior is for him to stand quietly. I put the feed in the trough, and as SOON as he stands quietly, I say "GOOD" one time and back away, allowing him to access the feed. Desired behavior = GOOD = REWARD (food).

Clicker training isn't popular in the cowboy world from what I can tell, but since I've never done this before, and haven't seen it done much, I'm willing to try anything that seems sensible to me. If it doesn't work, I'll quit and try something different. So far, my theories have been proven right- Tex seems to be learning quickly. On top of that, while working with Jade, our 8 month old border collie puppy, the "good" seems to "click" with her, too :)


One of these pictures is of Taz, husband's goofy-sometimes-uncoordinated-unpredictably-spooky-horse.








The last picture is of some of the horses that husband and I have taken care of during our time at the camp. We know each one's name, personality, habits, and pecking order. I will miss them, but it will be nice to only have 2 horses to care for instead of 26!

Tex is moving to Louisiana

Tex is moving to Louisiana this Saturday, 8 days before I'm moving there too. He will live in husband's parents' green pastures with LOTS of grass, and I plan to see him very often. I will be living about 10 miles away, but in the town of Jackson, LA, there is little to no traffic to worry about.

Tex's surgery was scheduled for today, but since he's going to be making the 8 hour trip with husband's brother on Saturday, I decided to cancel the surgery. I can't imagine that it would be very good for the stitches to bounce around that much on the trip. I'm sad that I have to go 8 whole days without seeing him, but I know that he'll be SOOO happy to have all that green grass, and possibly some new friends. He'll be traveling with Taz, husband's 1/2 paint, 1/4 arabian, 1/4 quarter horse (if you use your math skills, you'll figure out that those numbers total only ONE horse!). Since Tex is traveling, Monday I loaded and unloaded him into the stock trailer several times to make sure he wouldn't make a fuss about it. He did wonderfully, but doesn't know how to back yet- on the ground or in the trailer. So, I took him out of the trailer and tried the Craig Cameron method of teaching him to back- tapping his front feet with the stick until he backed. However, it was late and I was impatient, so it wasn't our most productive lesson. When I'm feeling impatient, tired, hungry, or especially a combination of all three, I've learned that it's best not to try to train!

The move details have been a bit overwhelming lately- I'm actually moving 21 days ahead of schedule, which makes for a very short time to pack! TM

Pedigree

Last week's gain

To the best of my measuring ability, I've determined that Tex gained 18 pounds between the last week in April and May 5th. I've started a chart on the barn dry erase board to measure his growth.
I was out of town all last week and was in a rush to get packed for Louisiana, but husband took some pictures of Tex for me. I wanted to show his shape from the top. That's where his the growth seems to be most obvious.
The move to Louisiana has me a bit crunched for time, so his loss-of-manlihood and hernia surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, May 20th, by the famous Dr. Kyle in Burnet, TX.
These are the pictures from last Sunday, May 10th. Since we returned yesterday, he's shed almost ALL of his winter hair!!! Those pictures will come next.