I’ve been going through a few things with Dulce that I’ve been trying to work out. I’m no horse whisperer, but my horses are human whisperers. Usually, they’re really good at getting through to me, but if I don’t hear them, it’s a full on scream. Dulce started screaming.
Despite several successful rides, Dulce started going downhill with no explanation. He got worse in the trailer stress wise. To say that he rocked the trailer would be an understatement, and it got to the point that Harley wasn’t too thrilled about getting in there with him. He suddenly got very gassy again, and often kicked at his tummy. He would poop at least 15 times, and I began to worry that I would cause him to colic. I needed to solve these puzzles, or I decided I would retire him. He comes first.
One thing is that when I start to get ready to go, Dulce gets Harley and Chaco running all over the place. If I catch Chaco, he tries to separate us. I decided he needed to be round penned before I load him in the trailer to blow off steam. My grandpa once told me when we were watching a racehorse act up before a race, that you need to let certain horses express their nervous energy before they’ll concentrate. Dulce is that horse.
I love doing round pen work, because it creates a dance between you and your horse. It opens up a whole new dialogue with your horse, and when they’re having issues, sometimes this is the best place to return to. He runs in circles with you standing in the middle. You direct his feet asking him to change directions and gaits. He may come at you, but you try your best to not move and again direct his feet away from you. You get him to change directions, so he knows that you are deciding where he goes like the alpha in a herd would. This creates respect, and then comes that moment. The circles that they trot around you get smaller, they’re keeping their eye and ear on you, they’re licking their lips, and then you turn your back to the horse and wait hoping that he will stop and walk towards you. When they do, it is exciting. It never gets boring. They then will walk with you in whatever pattern you walk. Dulce did this, and he loaded into the trailer more calmly afterwards. One problem fixed.
The gas, as you remember if you’ve read my blog, Dulce struggled with last summer. He had bad gas and would get colicy every single day until I put him on Ramard’s Total Gut Health, which he is still on today. I think he gets so excited and hot right before we leave that a lot of stomach acid starts circulating in his tummy causing excess gas. I’ve tried all sorts of pastes, and whenever I give him a paste, he gets extremely agitated. I decided to take a different route. An hour before we go, I mix up one scoop of the TGH in 4 oz of Aloe Vera Gel, not juice. with a tablespoon of honey. Honey is very soothing for upset stomachs. I mix it up thoroughly, pour it over a little bit of food with some alfalfa pellets that are softened with warm water. He loves it, laps it up, and no more kicking at his tummy. Second problem fixed.
Even though he loads calmly into the trailer, he doesn’t stand there calmly at all. He paws at the ground, rocks the trailer, and tries to get out by going through the window. I realized he thinks he’s in the starting gate at the track, and he’s itching to bust out. I closed the window, and oila, he totally calmed down and now stands perfectly calm. Harley no longer hesitates to load with him in there. Third problem fixed.
The pooping issue was easily solved. I give him Yea Sacc, which is a yeast culture, an hour before we go on a ride. It is designed to reduce digestive upsets or disturbances caused by stress. Since I started giving it to him before each ride, he now only poops twice. Huge change. Fourth problem fixed.
With these problems fixed let’s go ride. Next blog is about Dulce’s first trail ride! Woohoo!
Reenchanted Thoroughbreds 