Ranger on Standing and Dante with His Invisible Stall Guard

Ranger on Standing and Dante with His Invisible Stall Guard

I think Ranger is understanding that he needs to stand quietly until asked to go forward, but he still has a long way to go.  He has definitely improved when Ellen takes him outside and runs down the stirrups.  One day, I asked him to stand so I could pet my cat friend, Princess.  He was a perfect gentleman.  A little while later, I tried it—and he realized what I was doing.  He decided to pet her, (chase) too.  Well, that didn’t work.  A few days later, he did stand for me while I petted her.

He does quite well if I am at his side, but when I am in front of him, he wants to walk towards me.  Also, he thinks he is supposed to move when I move—which makes sense.  He is slowly getting better.  I think he will have it in only a few weeks. 

Invisible stall guard is working well.  one day, I was cleaning Dante’s stall when he was in it.  Ranger, who is in the stall directly across the aisle, had his door open.  Dante kept stretching his neck over to engage Ranger in play.  I was worried he would knock down the wheelbarrow, so I stepped out to close Ranger’s door.  As soon as I was out of the stall, Dante knocked down his wheelbarrow.  The way it tipped over, Dante could have walked out of his door, but he just stood there.  Not only did invisible stall guard work, but it demonstrated why it is such a useful skill to teach.

Since I insist that his hooves stay on his stall mat—and he thinks he should stand one half step out of the stall, we still have a lot to practice.  On his last session, he only tried to step forward a couple times, and he even let me stand on the other side of the aisle and he stayed on his mat.

I only work with them on their new projects just a few minutes at a time, but that is how we train horses in their daily routines—and we can either ask for improvements or accept the status quo.  It really depends on what you want.  Ranger isn’t that fidgety with Ellen when she needs him to stand—it is definitely tolerable—but this makes things just a little easier for her.  We could make sure that Dante always has his real stall guard up—but this is just a handy safety feature to have.  Anyways—the big thing is—I am having fun.

Starry is still a little difficult when cleaning his feet.  Maybe this winter…