Sorry for the lack of updates lately!<br>I had actually taken Romeo to another pasture few weeks to put a little extra weight on him. I wanted him to gain the pounds before winter. <br>Romeo will be coming back this Saturday <br>I'll be picking up his training right where we left off and I'll also be trying a few new things.<br><br>Also, I need to get pictures of Sammy and Austen for you guys!<br><br>Be on the look out in the next few weeks for a big Romeo update!!!
<br>Thanks! His mini herd consists of Sammy and Austen (5month old friesian crosses) and Trinity (Sammy's mom) <br>Ro does a good job of keeping them in line but Sammy has turned into an annoying little brother to Ro. Sam chews on his halter, licks him, puts his butt in his face, etc. Lmao It's adorable to watch Ro get annoyed but still put up with it haha
xD That sounds like Blaze and Roman. I call them the terrorizors because they run around and annoy the tar out of the three mares. Yesterday they were taking turns pushing on them until they got the girls trotting. Theyre always sitting together planning something!
Quick update for you guys <br><br>Ro was SOOO stubborn yesterday >.< but today he apparently felt bad and was all lovey xD<br>He was my shadow anytime I was in his sight. I took the quad out to put some hay in the far corner of the field and he followed the QUAD out there xD just goes to show you how bomb proof he's becoming lol<br>The farrier comes next week so I hope he decides to behave >.> <br><br>I have a few pictures that I'll upload after dinner
I'm still making steady progress with Romeo <br>We've been doing some more desensitizing exercises because he's picked up some bad habits that have made him scared of things like the gates >.><br>Things are going well and he's still being a total dork
I'll be updating soon with a few "How To..." videos. I have one for 'How to desensitize' , 'How to clicker train' , and 'Learning games'<br><br>I've found a few different methods for teaching Romeo and I think other people can benefit from it!<br>I'll try to get some decent clips of him doing some funny habits he's picked up lately. For example, he's claimed the green step stool in my outdoor arena as HIS. Anytime you set something on it he knocks it off. No matter what I set on it, he DOES NOT want anything on HIS stool lol<br><br>I'll also do a few clips of the 'tricks' he's learned. They're not anything fancy like bowing or anything, it's just things that will help him in the long run such as backing up with just an audio or visual cue, turn his head and touch his side (which I've found works WONDERS with his bridle training), and stuff like that. <br><br><span style="font-weight:bold">I have a challenge for you guys...</span><br><br>I want you to think of a trick that you want me to teach Romeo. Don't make it too complicated (it's ROMEO we're talking about here xD)<br>Let me know what you want to see him do and I'll make an attempt to teach him and take you through the training process!
How about picking up his feet on command? Like, getting to the point where you don't have to touch them to have them picked up?
<br>I can certainly try to do that I actually started training him to do this a when I first got him but got side tracked lol knowing him, he won't remember much of what I taught him xD
<span style="font-weight:bold">Cues for thing's I'll be teaching Romeo:</span><br>- 'Foot' - <span style="text-decoration:underline">lifting feet</span> with vocal command <br>- 'Back' or waving finger - <span style="text-decoration:underline">backing up</span> with only vocal or visual cue (he's catching on quickly to this one!)<br>- 'Turn' or tap of shoulder - <span style="text-decoration:underline">turning head</span> to each side when I tap his shoulder (will help with bridle and direction training)<br>- 'Stick' - having him <span style="text-decoration:underline">stick to me at the shoulder</span> and turn in a circle which has him cross his front feet and pivot with the back (will be useful in something else I'm planning on teaching him)<br>- 'Target' - having him touch a specific object to receive a reward (he kind of already knows this because I used it when desensitizing him to weird things because he used to be terrified of everything)<br><br><br>any other ones you guys can think of? Help me...US...out! These types of things will be beneficial to both me AND Romeo!<br><br>I'll also try to get a video of what he knows so far (almost has the backing up one down!) it's just hard for me to get video that doesn't show my face >.<)
You should create a rather discreet gesture that causes him to bob head. So eventually you could ask any silly question, do your gesture and he appears to be nodding in response. I'm not sure if its too difficult but I figured I'd suggest it, it'd be a crowd pleaser.
You should create a rather discreet gesture that causes him to bob head. So eventually you could ask any silly question, do your gesture and he appears to be nodding in response. I'm not sure if its too difficult but I figured I'd suggest it, it'd be a crowd pleaser.
<br><br>that could be fun but it would probably take me a few months to teach him. He's not exactly the brightest crayon in the box lol<br>I could certainly try though
<span style="font-weight:bold">Cues for thing's I'll be teaching Romeo:</span><br>- 'Foot' - <span style="text-decoration:underline">lifting feet</span> with vocal command <br>- 'Back' or waving finger - <span style="text-decoration:underline">backing up</span> with only vocal or visual cue (he's catching on quickly to this one!)<br>- 'Turn' or tap of shoulder - <span style="text-decoration:underline">turning head</span> to each side when I tap his shoulder (will help with bridle and direction training)<br>- 'Stick' - having him <span style="text-decoration:underline">stick to me at the shoulder</span> and turn in a circle which has him cross his front feet and pivot with the back (will be useful in something else I'm planning on teaching him)<br>- 'Target' - having him touch a specific object to receive a reward (he kind of already knows this because I used it when desensitizing him to weird things because he used to be terrified of everything)<br><br><br>any other ones you guys can think of? Help me...US...out! These types of things will be beneficial to both me AND Romeo!<br><br>I'll also try to get a video of what he knows so far (almost has the backing up one down!) it's just hard for me to get video that doesn't show my face >.<)
We had a bit of an issue yesterday and today. <br>Yesterday Romeo took FOREVER to eat and he didn't eat as much as he usually does. There was still some grain in the bottom of his bucket but I figured that he had just eaten a lot of hay earlier. Today Romeo only ate half of his food. This is bad. Especially for a horse like him it's really hard to keep weight on him and he tends to lose it quickly. Skipping meals isn't something that he can afford. <br>He's acting normally and didn't seem to be in any pain but he just wasn't eating. <br>I tried moving his bucket in his stall, mixing apple slices (his favorite treat) in the grain, and even hand feeding him. <br>Eventually I ended up taking the bucket out of his stall and taking him outside, away from all the other horses. I ended up holding the bucket in front of me to get him to eat. He wouldn't eat it when it was on the ground and wouldn't eat in his stall. It took him a solid 20 minutes to eat the rest of his grain but I got him to do it. <br>The vet comes out on Saturday (when the new Friesian gets here) so I'll have her look at him then. I'm just worried about him dropping weight and I can't always be there to hold his bucket to make him eat. <br><br><br>So right now the training is on hold until I can figure out what's up with him
my first thought was ulcers. With all the stress Ro has been under with learning to trust humans again and moving and physical stress with his weight for a long time hes a prime candidate for such. And not eating is a symptom of them.
Romeo is eating much better now and seems to be returning to his goofy self the vet said it just seemed to be stress and we later realized it was because his pasture buddy was in heat. <br>All peace has been restored ^.^
Just thought I'd give everyone an update since I haven't had the chance lately!<br><br>Romeo's trick training has been going very well! I'll hopefully have a new video up soon of some of the things he has learned! He is also eating well and being a goofball as usual ^.^ <br>I've been working with him in his stall with full tack and he seems to be feeling pretty comfortable ive chosen not to try him under saddle in the indoor arena because he isn't very comfortable in thee. Once it warms up and the outdoor arena is dry, I'll be starting him under saddle! I can't wait!
*adding pictures tomorrow*<br><br>Ro is doing great ^.^ he had a fun say meeting a few of my friends and even got to show off a few of his tricks! <br>His weight has been steady for the last month! <br><br>We also had a pretty exciting milestone! He actually stood nicely for the farrier last week! Even though he was tranqed, he let him pick up his feet without my additional coaxing and he stood still for the majority of the clipping! I'm so proud ^.^
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