Quick blog tonight as it is kind of late !
Filly has been seen by the farrier again and commented that it could not be going better. The covering is now removed and hoof putty pushed into the split. The split has grown out considerably and is now mostly covered by the shoe, so we have a reasonable chance of the putty staying in place. Should it come out we have to salt bath the foot prior to reapplying.
As a result I could take her into the indoor school for a bit of refresher training. It was suggested that I keep her quiet. A thoroughbred race horse that has been cooped up in a box for weeks remain calm ? No chance. But I did manage to restrict it to a couple of minutes of generally high exuberance, followed by some really quite nice trotting circles.
I then tried to keep that mind of hers busy with lots of game changes. Figure 8 to circle to weave to figure 8 to tarpaulin to stick to me, as fast as I could transition. Her curiosity came up at this and I started to become a fun partner again. I was so happy to have the knowledge to give her what she needed to become content with life again.
She had been getting very pushy and dominant in the box, but after 15 minutes in the school this improved dramatically. Not perfect, but much much better.
We have a way to go in Filly mind rehabilitation but at least progress can now be made rather than just damage limitation. The plan for the morning is to let her out in the field after some preparatory work to try and stop her going too mad. This should help her mental state enormously. The field is semi frozen at the moment which I feel is good news as there is less mud and moisture to get into the split.
So all in all a good day.
Oh and to cap it all after 3 days of gentle training Billy suddenly made a decision and walked onto the tarp as calm as you like within minutes of entering the school!! More about him tomorrow.
Goodnight.
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