The new horse was very quiet, he came to me when I called to him from the stall door and he stood quietly for grooming. The four of us (two dogs, one human, one horse) all went to the arena together and we went over the two series' of poles and sniffed around the barrels. Then I put the new guy on the lunge line to see if he knew how to go in a circle around me, and he was very sedate about it. He jogged nicely to the left and to the right, only cocking an ear occasionally as Miles careened around at top speed in the opposite direction. Our theory is that Miles feels he must run counterclockwise in a circle when the horse is going clockwise so that the Earth doesn't tip off its axis with all the spinning. Or he is a herding dog. Either way, he is great desensitization for the horses getting them prepared for the commotion of a horse show or trail ride.
A short video of the new horse walking on the lunge line with Miles can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/kim.leonard.100/videos/vb.1156931851/10206515637227149/?type=2&theater
Even with the fast dogs and the interested neighbor llamas the new horse was very calm. He pays attention to everything, particularly traffic on the road on the horizon line. This makes sense for him, as a horse that was bred to run fast his flight instinct is strong and he is hyper-vigilant regarding potential predators lurking and moving smoothly on the horizon. When he begins to focus on something scary, I redirect his attention back to me before he gets really fixated and all reasoning powers evaporate. My doing that tells him that I'm in charge of the scary situation and I will always keep him safe, and since I'm not concerned about it he doesn't need to be either. This doesn't work with all horses, some types of horses absolutely need to stare at the scary thing until they figure it out. If I don't let them think it through they just get more and more upset. Generally those types are horses bred to think - draft horses, cow horses. But with horses bred to run like this horse, keeping him from getting fixated is critical to his mental health.
He is still cribbing, but only a couple swallows at a time, not nearly as bad as some I've known. It's better to manage the horse's environment so that it doesn't begin cribbing, but he's a ten year old who has been doing it for years so the odds of eliminating it are slim. Once a horse starts cribbing the behavior can't be completely stopped because the horse becomes addicted to its own endorphins which are the brain's pain-relief chemicals. I have continued to watch for what his particular triggers are, and I'm wondering about his digestion. He is thin and doesn't have as much appetite as I'd like to see. Whether that may be a result of the cribbing or a cause of the cribbing remains to be seen.
There is also evidence that cribbing and colic are associated. However, which came first, the chicken or the egg? The muscles activated in cribbing change abdominal pressure, and cribbing is associated with endorphin release and is done as a self-soothing behavior. So which comes first, a belly ache or the cribbing? Does the cribbing help relieve pain from a belly ache or does the cribbing cause a belly ache? I have investigated the acupressure points for ulcers on him and have not had any reaction, and he was treated for ulcers when he came off the track in Nov. 2014. His current diet is appropriate for a horse who may have indigestion.
In my continued research about cribbing I've also discovered some new-to-me information that indicates cribbing may be a genetic neurological issue. His dam's bloodline, French Legionaire, is known for producing quirky anxious horses, so I suspect there's a genetic component affecting neurotransmitters in the new guy. It's been compared to OCD in humans, similar in that there is a chemical imbalance in the horse's brain causing a repetitive behavior which produces more of the necessary missing chemicals. I'm less inclined to put a cribbing strap on him because he definitely seems to do it as a self-soothing behavior and I want to keep him as comfortable as possible. In all the research the studies show other horses don't "learn" it from watching, it seems to be a genetic thing triggered by environment so I'm not worried about the other horses here.
I still have not settled on a name for him, and he hasn't shown a preference for titles yet. I'm thinking tomorrow I may try calling him Rudy, because he makes me think of the movie about young man, Daniel Ruettiger "Rudy", who overcomes dyslexia to achieve the academics he needs to play football at Notre Dame. Everyone roots for him because he's such a good guy, and the character has determination and great strength of personality. Those are qualities I'd like to foster and develop in this horse.
I continue to peel layers off of this onion horse, and I feel pleased that he is looking to me as his safety blanket in new situations like the arena and with llama drama. I often say in horse training as in life, fast is slow and slow is fast, so I'm not in any rush to push this horse into anything. I often have great success with difficult horses as they come to trust me and give me the information I need about how to teach them in the way they will learn best. I think I will learn a lot from this horse, too, as he teaches me what he needs.
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