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Doc Holliday
We arrived at the sale and first
wandered passed the downed tailgates of vendors set up for the farm and ranch
flea market that’s held in the parking lot.
There were old men with unshaven faces clothed in well worn overalls
drinking coffee from a shared thermos, pulling a variety of odds and ends from
their trucks and displaying them neatly on the ground for prospective buyers to
consider. You can find everything from chickens to rabbits; hammers to saws;
bridles to saddles. After looking without success for some rare treasure that we
were certain to find a use for, we headed into the barns to look at the
livestock before the 10:30 sale began. We were moving up and down the
aisles, intently examining goats and cows for the perfect addition when, out of
the corner of my eye, I saw him, standing off by himself, dressed in his finest
cowboy tack. He was tall, dark and
handsome; built like a Spartan with a distinctive jaw line, broad shoulders and
powerful hindquarters. As soon as his big gentle eyes caught mine, it was over
with…I knew I had to take him home. My friend, trying to wake me from my
trance said, “You what? You
actually want to buy a horse at a Goat sale???
How much are you going to spend?” My
answer, still in my trance…”Whatever it takes.”
For me, it was love at first sight and that was the beginning of my
adventure. His history is unknown for the most
part. He was sold as “grade” and although I was able to trace back two of
his previous owners via his Coggins papers, I was never able to find out
anything about his early life. He had three owners and had been passed around
through three horse auctions in the six months before he came to live with me.
I contacted two of his previous owners who said they bought him at
auction and sold him at auction because they couldn’t handle him. They both
said that he was too hard to handle, very horsey around the fillies, and had
strong Stallion traits. Still in my trance, I was listening but thinking to
myself that they must have poor horsemanship skills because my dreamy eyed big
boy would never act like anything but a gentleman.
I would soon learn differently. He thoroughly enjoyed grooming, had
no issues with ear handling or forehead scratching however soon I would snap out
of my trance since the rest of his behavior proceeded rapidly downhill. I soon
discovered that being “horsey around the fillies” was putting it mildly. His
displays were nothing less than a four letter word, Stud…nickering, pawing the
ground, showing aggression with the other geldings…you name it this
“gelding” had classic stallion traits. His ground manners were no better.
He would only lead where and when he wanted to if he didn’t want to forget it,
he’d plant his feet and lock his legs and he wasn’t about to budge.
Lifting his feet would have taken a Super Hero; the more you tried, the
more he’d tighten up or worse…employ his favorite trick, leaning into me
until we both lost our balance. Still, in my semi-trance-like state
why I thought I should try to bridle and saddle him why to this day, I don’t
know…but I did. It went something
like this. I walked up with the
bridle. He moved his head. I moved the bridle closer. He moved his head further.
I finally position my right arm on top of his head and he proceeded to
simultaneously move his tail, hindquarters, shoulders, and head from side to
side in some sort of 1,100 pound gyration that would have made a belly dancer
envious. Certain that this was some
sort of dance that had made his previous humans give up and ship him to the sale
barn, I was determined that we wouldn’t stop until he learned that what mama
wanted…mama got, and as soon as he realized this old trick wouldn’t work
with me…he stopped dropped his jaw and let me slip the bit in and roll the
bridle over his ears. I beamed with
joy…what a good big boy! You’d
have thought he just danced a finely choreographed dressage routine.
Then, the next step was the saddle
pad and saddle. On went the saddle pad no problem. He just stood drifting off to
sleep, content in his Spartan-like status to my humble humanness.
Hmmm, that was easy I said to myself…what a good big boy I said as I
hoist the saddle into place on his back. He continued his snooze as I moved into
the rhythm of reaching for the cinch and loosely looping it into place, then,
buckled the breast collar, tied down strap, and rear cinch.
Wow, I thought to myself, it must just be the bridle he has issues with
as I reached to tighten the front cinch. Suddenly,
I heard my own voice crying out as I feel the sharp pain of horse teeth nipping
into the flesh of my left arm. Instinctively,
I moved my elbow into a soft muzzle and as his head snaps back into place I
could see him thinking “Ouch, that hurt! Stupid
human!” We went through this
saddling routine of head bobbing, doing the twist and turn followed by biting at
the cinch about three times, then he stopped, conceding to his stupid human’s
tenacity and he’s never done either since. Next, it was time to mount.
I moved him into position, placed my left hand on his mane and my right
hand held the reins and saddle next, I lifted my left foot into the stirrup,
then, proceeded to suddenly hop like a chicken in circles as he moved his
hindquarters away from me to keep me from mounting.
Again, I’m sure this was another favorite trick that he had repeatedly
used in the past to successfully keep other stupid humans off his back.
Of all his bag of tricks, this one took the most time to break him of and
still even today I can tell he’d like to employ it every now and then, but now
he knows it won’t work. Finally, he stood still long enough for me to mount,
before my butt was in the seat he took two steps, instantly went down on his
knees and rolled onto his side and yes, I was still on his back at this point
hoping only that when he stands he doesn’t step on my right leg that he was
currently laying on. Then, as suddenly as he rolled me off his back, he stood up
and just stood there hovering his Spartan frame over his new stupid human with a
smug…”Top that!” At that
point, stubborn and ornery, he had his name, Doc Holliday, and I loved this big
handsome guy. With all his
stubbornness I knew, he’d just never had anyone to really love him.
I got up, brushed my pants off, grabbed the reins and started all over
again. I must have mounted and dismounted a hundred times that day. He’s never
lay down or rolled me again. I spent the next few weeks working
Doc on the ground routine work. We proceeded as follows: First,
we worked on leading on the lead rope. We walked and walked and walked around
the pasture, from one end to the other. Then,
once he began freely leading, I went back to the saddling again.
Putting it on and off, mounting and dismounting…over and over and
over…up and down…until finally, he began to stand still for saddling.
Within the first week, he no longer fought the bit, no longer tried to
bite while cinching and would lead like a champ. In the meantime, his stud-like behavior grew worse.
He chased one of the other geldings through the fence and over a mile down the
road through a neighbor’s fence. The other gelding, Chico, was seriously
injured and required stitches as one of his injuries resulted from being impaled
by a t-post. The other geldings he would bite and harass relentlessly and
ultimately, he tried to attack one of the weanling colts. If I had not been in
the pasture and if it hadn’t been for the colt’s mare, he would have
seriously injured, if not killed, the colt. These events resulted in him being
separated from the other horses and banished into a pasture by himself, but, for
me, that was only a short term solution and I began researching on the internet
how to train and manage stud traits in geldings. I called the vet back out to
discuss the problems with Doc’s stud behavior around the other horses. The vet
recommended trying Doc on progesterone shots to settle him down over the next
few months and to see if that would correct the problems, he said that I would
have to administer the shots every 4 to 6 weeks until his behavior changed and
would probably need to continue the shots for 3 or 4 months.
So, we started him on progesterone and that settled him down but, within
2 weeks he began showing aggression around the mare and with the other geldings.
During this time, I continued researching geldings with stallion traits and
discovered a condition called cryptorchidism which is a term used to describe
horses with one or two un-descended testicles. The test for the disorder was a
simple blood test of a horse’s testosterone levels, but I was concerned that
the progesterone shots may influence the blood work and the vet agreed. So, we
ceased the progesterone injections and waited a month for the blood work to be
drawn. And we continued our work under
saddle, working on stopping, backing, moving off at the walk and transitioning
to a trot and lope. We even began
walking through mud and shallow water. Doc was a willing participant and with
every step, his trust in me grew greater and my love for my Spartan grew
stronger. My internet research had revealed
that there were two types of surgery for cryptorchidism: invasive abdominal
surgery which had much higher risks and a longer recovery period and a new
laparoscopic removal which was much less invasive and also a lower risk of
complications and infection. In
Oklahoma, only two facilities offered the laparoscopic surgery: Oklahoma State
University in Stillwater and Oakridge Equine Hospital in Edmond.
I talked at length with veterinary staff at both facilities and scheduled
the surgery at Oakridge for the fall once the temperatures cooled and the flies
were gone. I spent the rest of the summer
working with Doc on and off trails. He continued to improve and only acted up
when we met other riders on the trail. But never uncontrollably or anything that
put either me or other riders in any danger.
We spent September roaming down wide trails, narrow trails, underbrush,
up hills, down hills, over logs, under trees and my big boy did great except
near water. I vowed that after his
surgery and recovery period we’d work on that next. In October, I took Doc to Edmond
for the surgery. My Spartan had not
one, but, both testicles. I told him
no wonder he’s had all these behavior problems. He was a stallion and no one
knew but him. I had to stay off him for several months until he healed and he
had to stay away from mares for even longer to reprogram his behavior. In January 2006
, I began riding him again. Not only was he exceptionally fresh, but, he
was his old stubborn self at first but settled down quickly, I knew he was just
cranky because he hasn’t been ridden in a while. I scheduled lessons with one of our
local trainers and her assessment was that he’s eleven years old and has never
been taught or worked with to any level, he had only been saddled.
But my boy continued to improve and
by March 2006, my 86 year old grandmother, my 69 year old mother, my sister and
her daughters ages 3, 5, and 7 came for a visit and my boy Doc entertained
everyone with pony rides.
Late that summer, I had to undergo
rotator cuff surgery on my shoulder and my doctor told me I couldn’t ride
again until November. So, instead, I
purchased a mounting block and a light weight 18 lb saddle that I could lift and
hoist onto Doc’s back with my left arm (I’m very right handed) and as soon
as possible, began working Doc from the ground in the round pen…lounging,
leading, whoa-ing from the ground. Then, finally, I got him to stand completely
still for mounting then remain standing after mounting until I cued him to move.
These were huge milestones and I was so proud of him…at least the shoulder
injury had achieved something positive. In just over a year, Doc had learned to
hold his feet for the farrier, stand to allow a rider to mount, stand completely
still until he was cued to move off, back, whoa, walk on cue, trot on cue, and
lope on cue and load in and out of a trailer without a second thought.
Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks? By the end of October, I had worked
Doc in the round pen going over and stopping on a plastic tarp. The first few
times, he wanted to go around it I just kept him going back and forth until he
got to where he would walk across it, then, I kept on until he would actually
stop and stand on it. Also, I worked him on a long lead wrapping the lead around
him and cueing him to turn and give to the pressure. He did great. After a year, his ground manners
were now excellent. He followed me without me putting any pressure at all on the
lead rope. He stayed out of my space
unless I invited him in, he stands tied, stands for saddling, bridling, and hoof
picking, he won’t lift his hoof voluntarily yet, but he will lift it and has
stopped leaning into me, he’d come so incredibly far and he’s so patient
with me, sometimes I can hear him thinking, “Good grief, what is she trying to
get me to do now?” But he’s always a willing participant and I wouldn’t
trade him for anything. I saddled Doc in the spring of 2007
and rode him in the round pen for the first time since last fall. He was
excellent. The two of us know our routine, trust each other completely, after
being off for the winter, I didn’t even have to warm him up. I just led him in
from the pasture, saddled him, and hopped on and it was like he hadn’t been
off for the winter at all. He now
neck reins and leg reins, and he stops on a dime and stands there until I cue
him to go. In May of 2007, I began following
and applying Clinton Anderson techniques with Doc in pasture around puddles of
water. Making the right thing easy
and the wrong thing difficult…we’d approach the puddle. If he tried to back
up…I’d back him twenty feet…I’d circle him into the puddle closer and
closer and when he’d step near it, I’d let him rest.
After about 15 to 20 minutes, he was standing in the middle of the puddle
until I’d cue him to move. We
continued throughout the month of May working on the puddles until he walked
through them without even looking at them. What
a good big boy he is.
In June of 2007, we experienced a
near tragedy as the ranch stud viciously attacked Doc over the weekend, chasing
Doc out of the pasture and into the road. Doc
had bites and barbwire cuts all over his back, hind quarters, throat and chest.
Luckily, he didn’t go far and even more so that he didn’t get hit by
a car or truck. He was standing
still eating grass when I found him. When
he saw me walking down the road towards him, Doc turned and walked up to greet
me immediately and I led him down the road and back to the barn. I was crying
like a baby the whole way after seeing the deep gash in his chest. The vets came
out and stitched one of the cuts up and said to keep him up for ten days
sprinkling Tuccaprin on his feed. At the end of the ten days, the stitches
should be ready to come out. Doc didn’t like being penned up and he grew very
lonely. Each day, I’d spend time
with him and he would follow me around the coral like a puppy, then we would
make the most of things by spending time doing Clinton Andersons flexing
exercises on the ground. The vet now estimated his age at around 15 yeas because
he’s developing a hook on his teeth that horses being to get around that age.
I don’t want him to be 15. Over that summer, I decided to take
Doc on one of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) trail rides. So, I
began routinely working him on the trails for longer periods of time to prepare
him for the ride. By the end of August, Doc was wonderful. He loaded and
unloaded without fuss, stood still while I mounted and stood still while we
waited for whoever was riding with us to get ready. We rode on our longest trail
rides yet building up to 2 ½ hours. Brush was still dense and thick in most
areas and poison ivy was everywhere so of course Doc got to walk and munch as we
rode. (I told him that eating along
the way was counter productive to the exercise, but it didn’t seem to make a
difference to him) We passed several
riders along the trail and Doc did fine. He stayed the course and didn’t pay
any attention to the other horses. On the way back, we crossed two bridges and
several low areas that were full of mud and water.
Doc crossed all without hesitation. At
one point, we got lost on the back woods trails and I told my riding partner not
to worry, that Doc would led us back to the trailer.
And Doc did just that. I believe in riding a horse
barefoot, but the Talihina trail is very rocky, so the first week in September I
took Doc to the farrier to get shod for the first time.
When the first nail was driven into his hoof, he looked at me and perked
his ears to check my reaction. When he realized there wasn’t anything to worry
about he relaxed his head and didn’t flinch again for any of the other shoes.
The next week we went trail riding for his first time shod, I wanted to take him
out and make sure he’d do fine with his new shoes, and he did great. My
big boy’s a Champ! September 22, 2007 AQHA Trail Ride Talihina Oklahoma
In September 2007, Doc and I
travelled to Talihina, Oklahoma to ride in the AQHA weekend trail ride at Horse
Heaven Ranch. The ranch is nestled in the Then, in October of 2007, Doc and I
rode in the Hooves for the Cure Trail Ride for Breast Cancer Awareness on the
Will Rogers Centennial Trail at Oolagah Lake.
It was a great ride, although incredibly muddy.
Doc trudged right along through the muddy areas and the water filled
trails. My big boy has come such a
long way. We’ve ridden a few times over the
winter, just to keep things progressing and I can’t wait for the spring thaw
and to begin our adventures again. It amazes me that every ride is better in one
way or another than the ride before the keys to Doc’s training have been: 1)
Patience. 2)
Doing the same thing and doing it consistently working
on one step or task at a time. As
soon as he does what I’m asking, I release the pressure and keep it off as
long as he’s doing the right thing. 3)
I make the right thing easy and the wrong thing
difficult. 4)
I never let him win the battle of the wills.
We keep going until he does what I’m asking him to do and not what he
wants to do. 5)
And we always quit on a good note. “May
I always be the kind of person my horse thinks I am.” |
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