It was exceedingly uneventful. I lead Cherry into the nice, safe arena, I put the hobbles on, and Cherry just stood there. So I slapped her butt to get her to move and test them out. Horse lifted one foot, put it down, lifted the other foot and put it down. Then, she kinda stumbled forward a few steps and stopped to look at me like, "Why are my legs tired together and why can't I walk?"
The only remotely exciting thing that happened was when she tried to take a big step, couldn't, and nearly fell down. After that she just stood there. I left her in the arena for an hour while I did barn chores, and I saw her figuring out the "slow shuffle". The hobbles were long enough that she didn't figure out the "3 legged hop", thankfully.
The hobbles are made out of baling twine. Originally I made them too thin (not enough twine), but my mistake was pointed out and I have fixed them. Right now the hobbles have about 16 pieces of baling twine in them and are about 4 feet long.
And now, a picture!
Yes, I know the hobbles are too skinny here. They have since been fattened with several more pieces of twine. This is the only pic I have though, and I wanted to post it anyway.Alright, now for the "I'm so glad I hobble broke my horse!" story.
A few days ago it was pouring rain all day and I couldn't get out to check on my blanket-less horse all day. I finally got there late afternoon to find Cherry standing in the wind and shivering her little spotted butt off. She fairly galloped up to the gate to greet me, looking very pathetic of course.
I bring her up to the barn, get some towels and put her cooler on. Now, the cooler only buckles around the chest, it doesn't fasten around the barrel or hind legs at all. This fact is important, I promise. After a good toweling and pan of grain, she's feeling better.
I figured some gentle free lunging and additional rubbing with towels will help her warm up, so I lead her into the arena. As my back is turned while I'm shutting the gate, I hear her drop to the ground and roll. She still has the cooler on. Oh shit!
She rolls, and of course the cooler slips off her back. When she goes to get up it tangles around her front leg and around her neck. Oh goody. Now is when pre-hobble broke Cherry would proceed to freak out and thrash around, so of course this is what I'm expecting her to do.
Nope! Her eyes bug out a little, but other than that she stands perfectly still, waiting for me to free her. I untangle her leg, unbuckle the cooler from around her neck, and she calmly walks off.
Crisis averted! The only thing we have to show for our little adventure is a dirty cooler. Yay for hobble breaking!
She is such a cute horse! I'm glad your hobble training came in handy. I have been thinking about doing it with my Appy but don't have the guts to do it myself. I need to remember to ask my trainer if she has ever done it before and then go from there.
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