Westie - Session 1 & 2 - Head-shy & Rehabilitation

Westie is a lovely six year old Thoroughbred gelding that I began working with last week. His owner, Patty, reached out for some assistance as he can be very head-shy and near impossible to bridle, though once he is tacked he is trained to ride with the basics. As I was getting to know him in his stall at first, I also learned that he had been to the vet at Iowa State University because he drags his hind hooves as he moves forward. They indicated that a stiffness/tension in his withers area was causing this, from my understanding.

The pictures are from day two, but not much has changed yet. Assessing Westie and his physical condition, I can't help but notice that this large horse does not have much for muscle. Most of his life has been spent on flat ground. He spends time in a paddock but does not have a lot of room to really run, and most of his riding has been fairly flat trail rides.

(Westie is thinner than I would like here, along with under muscled. Both are being worked on.)

I have taken it as a personal challenge to see what adding some muscle can do for his dragging hooves. Lunging him I was able to see that he actually prefers to scuff all four through the sand in the indoor arena as he goes along. For starters, I got out a long wooden ground pole to work him over in our first session. He was willing, and it did not seem to cause him any issues. For session two, I added a second pole.

(The photo is blurry, but we can see that with the addition of poles, Westie is reaching out and using his body a little more, and engaging his hocks with the exercise. We will continue work with poles and low cavaletti to help build his muscle and balance.)

We spent quite a bit of time on lunging each session. Westie is not very careful with his feet, but he shows the aptitude to learn. I am using wooden poles instead of PVC poles so that he learns he should not hit the poles. In my experience, PVC can lead to lazier horses who do not mind knocking them, which can become quite dangerous should the horse be approaching them with a rider.

Westie also prefers one direction to the other, which is quite common. I am helping him understand that both directions are good and enjoyable, and we play a little game changing directions often with praise and the occasional treat to reinforce the body language used. In just two sessions, he is showing a great willingness to learn.

Hills are a great natural tool for strength and balance, and this barn has a small but steep hill near the indoor arena. We took about ten trips up and down the hill together, with him gaining confidence as we went. The first few trips were very slow as he figured out what to do with his feet and balance. This work will continue, also, as I want to see the muscles through his hips, flank, and hocks strengthen. The goal and hope is that this will help him naturally move better, picking his hooves up instead of dragging them.

(Here Westie is relaxing and stretching a little bit, which is wonderful, but you can also see the dust he is kicking up with every dragging step of his toes.)

We did, of course, work on the main concern of his head-shy nature. He doesn't seem to mind being petted or brushed on his face, but has a specific aversion to having his poll touched. With patience and repeated asks, he learns that he should relax and drop his head when I reach for his poll. His willing nature is helping him learn this quickly. There was a lot more resistance and tension during our first session, but with session number two he is quickly realizing that relaxing and lowering his head is a reward in and of itself. It will probably be another session or two before I bring the bridle into the mixture, just to cement the habit of him being 100% confident that nothing scary is going to happen when I reach for his poll.

(Westie has a soft, pleasant expression on his face as I touch his poll, and he gently lowers his head. This is the goal and will be repeated almost every time I am near his side, in greeting, before and after lunging, during brushing, etc.)

As a nice ending to our second session we took a walk out into Water Works Park, since the barn Westie is at connects to it. He was a lovely gentleman and did not spook at the runners or bicyclists, and was willing to lunge at a walk, trot, and canter in both directions. I think he would have loved to graze instead, but was willing to do the work then head back to the barn for a nice rinse in the wash rack.

(Westie lunging in Water Works Park in Des Moines, Iowa)

He will have a couple days to relax until our next session, but I look forward to sharing more progress with you! We will continue working on the hill, over the poles, and in the field to help him gain strength, balance, coordination, and the skills to be a good, safe partner.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment!

-- Jen

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