Well, my lovely readers, I haven't been posting much recently. Instead of working on photos, I've been designing a logo, new header, and link buttons to minorly overhaul my blog. I finished the logo last week, which I'll unveil along with the rest of it hopefully by the end of this next week. I want to make this blog a little more website-like. It seemed to be the perfect solution to my needing a website, particularly because I was having a hard time designing one I liked when confined to those website builders.
Before I continue, I want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! <3 I am posting today in celebration of an odd breakthrough. Today, for the first time EVER, Toler peed *while* I was in the saddle!!! In celebration, I give you baby Toler pictures!!! (Captions and details of each photo at the bottom of this post.) NOTE: None of these photos were taken by me!
I know, this probably seems like an odd thing to get excited about. See, ever since we got Toler, he had a strange aversion to peeing anywhere other than his ultra-private stall. He wouldn't pee in the paddock, even if he really had to go, and he certainly wouldn't pee in the arena or even in semi-private areas. (If another horse was present, forget about it.) Yes, he was very shy. We thought this very unusual, because up until the few weeks before he came to us from Canada, he lived outdoors day in night.
Staying in one place, this unusual behavior probably would have been fine. So long as he was brought inside for the evening on a fairly regular schedule, he was just like a dog waiting for Mommy to come home so he could "go out." It became a problem, however, because Toler is a show horse. We would load him up into the trailer and take him to shows, using temporary stalls that typically weren't fully boarded in the sides, if he had a stall at all (in which case he'd be tied to the side of the trailer). Obviously, there's no privacy to those accommodations. Toler just simply wouldn't pee, then, and if I were unfortunate enough to have a class after his bladder was full, he would (understandably) be extremely grouchy.
Something had to be done about it. Toler couldn't go on peeing only in his stall. He had to overcome his "shyness" and grow up. The solution: train him like a racehorse. Many racehorses, because they have to undergo urine tests throughout the racing process, are taught to pee on command. Usually by whistling or clapping. Thus began our training.
We started by whistling a specific tune every-time he stretched out to pee in his stall and rewarding him with pats when he was done. Then we took him outside his comfort level--into the arena. We would stand in a corner of the arena (then the corner occupied by a sawdust pile, which greatly helped the stall-to-arena transition) and whistle. We'd stand for hours if necessary. If he had to pee, we stood in that corner of the arena and whistled until he gave up the ghost and went, usually with a very ashamed and pouty look.
It has only been in the past half-year that Toler would pee as a result of our whistling, and even then, only if he had to go. A few months ago he started to pee in the paddock all by himself. Within the past month, he will try to pee if I whistle, finally conditioned enough that the whistled tune makes him want to pee.
And now, today, for the first time ever, Toler peed while I was in the saddle. All of his own accord. (I was so stunned, I couldn't even manage to whistle.) The behavior most horses wouldn't even blink at, has taken Toler
two years.
Photo 1) Toler at 3 months old. All legs! (And those cute little ears and tail!) I believe that's his mother, Little Mary, being grumpy on the right side.
Photo 2) Toler standing next to his mom. Again, he's only 3 months old here--and just look at the height difference between Toler and his mom! (His mom is 16.3 hands tall.)
Photo 3) Toler, 3 months, with his mom and a paddock buddy. We met the other guy when we visited Toler in Canada (the day we bought him), who was in the private run next to Toler, and very curious about the whole meeting--moreso than Toler was, to be honest.
Photo 4) Toler at 1 year old, just starting his incredibly gawky growth phase. See, most breeders offer photos of warmbloods (esp. Hanoverians) to prospective buyers of the horse as a 3 month-old (unless the horse in question is already fully matured) because adult warmbloods look most like they did as 3 month-olds. Between 3 months and ~4 years (4-6 for some Hanoverians) they do a lot of filling out and "catch-up" growing. Hence why, when we expressed interest in Toler, we were sent not only a relatively current video of him running around, but also photos of him as a 3-month-old. Sadly we never got newborn photos of him. :(
And who is this? Photo 5) Toler's full sister Ilea at two months old! (I'm not sure if that's Little Mary next to her; I can't see the only marking I know her by.) We got this photo maybe a year after we'd bought Toler, and were told that she'd already been sold. (Elaine, who bred Toler, said Ilea was just as affectionate and sensible as Toler.) I wish I was still in contact with Elaine to hear how Ilea's turned out--it would be interesting to hear how tall she is. Maybe I'll have luck finding Elaine's address again.
