Sometimes You Just Gotta Back Up

This morning I looked out the window and saw this...
It made me giggle! Talk about taking in some sun.

The wind howled today and it had a bite to it, so I figured it was just a good day to groom. This horse, VooDoo has become uncomfortable about having his feet handled...
(Now isn't this a prime example of the judging term, long from eye to muzzle?)A couple of times I thought if I could just get a hold of a foot and hold on he would get over it and stand up. He's not terribly strong, not like Roan Dog, who could just take his foot away without a struggle. He's been trimmed before and been okay, not great, but he would stand for a couple of nips, I'd set his foot down, give him a second and then get another couple of nips. The last couple of times I have tried to do that, he has tried to come over the top of me, has struck viciously at me and used his teeth to back it all up. NOT fun!! Today I was determined to get control of him and get that foot and hold it. In such cases, I usually use a leadrope wrapped around the foot and use the leverage to hold the foot until they quit struggling. This way I am not bent over and can use my body to hold their shoulder up. It works slick and I thought it would be cool to show you guys. You know us girls need to use our smarts, cause brute strength is not on our side.;-)

Such was not to be the case, cause as I started grooming the tall kid, I started to realize just how uncomfortable he was with ANY contact. So I just kept grooming...and grooming...and grooming. I used all the brushes in the arsonal. He's a nice horse. He wants to get along. He's been a slow developer mentally, which is why he is 4 and I am just now comfortable going ahead with breaking him out. I finally slowed down MY agenda long enough to realize he is still pretty immature and we need to back it up a few steps until he is comfortable with just being handled again. He is very uncomfortable just having his legs brushed, so it only stands to reason that he would be uncomfortable handing over that foot for trimming. Sometimes it don't matter how much you have already done with a young horse, if they get something in their brain or are rushed out of their comfort zone, they can kind of fall apart.

By the time my arms gave out from grooming, he was licking his lips...
He should come back pretty quickly. You can see everything clicking in his head. It's just going to be an everyday handling, grooming and messing with process.

Shooter has settled into living at mom's really well. He is getting to know everyone through the fence. The mares are all out of heat now, so he has stopped screaming at them and reverted back to his normal, docile self. The vet's office cancelled his gelding day, they had some stuff come up. It was rainy, cloudy and muddy those few days anyway. Not a good time to geld. I'm shooting for this next week...
I love how this colt turns around, he just gets up underneath of himself and rolls back over his hock...it's so natural. M.U.S.T get him gelded soon or I might change my mind.