Walking on (in) Water

I got a voicemail and a text about TC on Tuesday afternoon. It had good news and bad news. The good news is that TC started the aquapacer this week! The bad news is that he was a bit of a jerk about it and tore up a hind foot (just a big chip, apparently very common for barefoot horses on a treadmill).

How FREAKISHLY accurate is this?! 

Their aquapacer is set up like a narrow grob. It's only a little wider than the horse itself. The horse walks down the ramp onto the treadmill, which is underwater, and then when finished, walks forward up the ramp in front of them.

Rico was in one about 7 years ago that actually was just a treadmill with sides, that would be slowly filled with water. I like that idea more I think, as a person who does not ever have to deal with it ever. First, the horses can get used to the treadmill first, THEN deal with the water. Second, the horses are kind of trapped in there, so they can't do what TC did.

I guess TC was super thrilled about water and marched right in.

Then walked out. Without actually staying to walk on the treadmill...

I'm not surprised. TC is a big horse and when I started working with him, Ali warned me that when frustrated or cornered, he often just went through whatever was in his way. Including people, or horses, or fences. Apparently when he was a two year old, someone cornered him in a pasture and he went through a fence to get away from them. It wasn't like he was being abused or anything, just that he wanted to leave and she said no and he said "through this fence then."

I've worked really hard on the ground with this horse to make sure that he doesn't walk all over me, especially while spooking. I've worked to teach him to slow down and stop when he gets scared, then he responds to the words "take a step" and he's only allowed to move one foot at a time. It was a long, hard process with a lot of running away from things, but eventually he started to slow his brain down and evaluate situations when he got scared.

So now he has had no ground work since early December AND he's very frustrated about not being able to do anything. Not surprising that he'd walk right through the people trying to keep him in the water just to get out when freedom is on the other side.

They worked with him and eventually I got this (kinda crappy but you get the gist) video:

I'm SO glad that he is getting such awesome experiences. But I'm MOST glad that I'm not the one having to introduce him to them!

Here's hoping he comes back totally sound and much more experienced with life. Then a few months in training and I think next winter will be a lot more fun and relaxing than this winter has been. Three more visits, including one TOMORROW, until we have our ultrasound.