Cooper faces his Nemesis!

[Whatanejit]

Strangely my giant Clydesdale cross is afraid of small ponies - especially ones with white bits!

Domane soon learned the truth when she rode him a few months ago!

Anyhoo, we took him for a peek to the local RDA gymkhana with May and there were two beautiful shetlands.

We asked their owners would they let Coops meet them to help desensitise him.

Fortunately, we had our regular RDA geek meet with volunteer extraordinaire JILL H who kindly took the photos! :D

Are these pics cute or what...........?


http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/Whatanejit/Weeme2.png

Mmmmmm - not sure

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/Whatanejit/Weme3.png

Oh your ok really........


http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/Whatanejit/Weeme1.png

We also met Domane's scarey ponies on the way to the RDA and he had a look, a snort and that was it!

All in a days work!

[Virago]

What adorable pictures! Hopefully that has helped cure Cooper of his *justified* fear of those terrifying little ponies! ;)

[cazrider]

Very cute Dee.:D You are doiung so well with the desensitising aren't you. How is he with cows pigs and sheep?

[Chinarider]

LOL , I guess we can be a bit wary of variations in our own species;)

He is looking great Dee, and just curious really.

[Montana]

Aren't they funny with shetlands?:rolleyes: Monty used to be at a yard where there were 2 mini shetland stallions, unfortunately they used to prance and squeal and leap too much for me to risk having my horse kneecapped, so they never really got introduced.....But all of the horses used to have eyes on sticks when they walked the shetlands past the fields:D

We met some in a field on Sunday while we were out. My friend's TB couldn't cope and stayed firmly stuck to the opposite hedge. Monty and I actually went over for a chat, and he was really calm about it - couldn't quite believe they were horses, but was prepared to think they might be this time:p

We also came across our first ever pigs (well, a whole pig farm:eek: ). Now that was odd - Monty must have smelt it 1/2 a mile away, he got really 'sticky' for the only time during the ride, then kept as far from the gate as he could. Had me baffled, as I hadn't heard or seen anything, until I saw the sign on the gate - I'd hate to think what would have happened if one had come out of the shed there:confused: :eek:

Love the photos - he looks like an Arab in the second one:D

[Clare-22]

Awww bless him, he makes the shetlands look really really dinky :)

He is looking really well Dee :D

[Whatanejit]

Hee hee what are they like?

We have a children's farm nearby where they have llamas, pigs, allsorts in there. We don't often see them but we sure can smell them going past.

So far no major reactions to the pigs!

He is fine with cattle and sheep so far too.

I think it is his long mane that makes him look like an arab. I like the way his upside down neck is beginning to disappear.

[domane]

Yes, I remember ALL TOO WELL!!! ;)

A gap there in your desensitisation Dee...

Balloons - tick
Flags - tick
Bubble wrap - tick
Beach balls - tick
Carrier bags - BIG tick ("Food???")
Small ponies - "WAAAAAAAHHHHH" runs away screaming!!!!! :D :D

Lovely pics and great to see him looking a LOT more relaxed..... :)

[Sammii]

It must be a coloured thing aswell! Red is PETRIFIED of anything equine that's 'not the right size'....he once tried to pick a shetland up by her mane because it hurt his neck to look down at her (at least that's what we interpreted it to be :p) :D

[CER1389]

Awww such cute pics!

Small ponies ARE terrifying though! Friends were out riding icelandics a few months ago, they came across a large TB x (or similar) the horse looked at the icelandics, started shaking, spun round and took off in the opposite direction!

I love the way you've blocked out the peoples faces :D

[Jill_H]

Hello whatanejit

I am so pleased that the photos came out OK - I'm not the best with a camera!!!

Cooper looks great, both in the photos and in real life. He looks so much more mature and less gangly than when I saw him last year.

It was great to see you and OH again yesterday and to meet May.

Looking forward to seeing you all "in action" later in the year!!

Jill:)

[NoviceNic]

Have you noticed how he doesnt take his eye of the woman with the white hair in the second picture......:eek: That will need to be his next desensitizing tick.....:p

Is it the pony thing or white??? Captain is scared stiff of white dogs...:eek: :confused:

[Lucyad]

Awww cute - little and large. Oscar's best friend is a mini shetland - they look very strange together. Cooper is really filling out isn't he, and his neck is perfect! The long mane has 'grown' on me as well - it suits him. What height is he now? Do you think that he is still growing? There is so much difference in him since last year.

[Whatanejit]

Thanks again for the piccies Jill!

I'm hoping to see you compete on one of the RDA ponies at some point!

You guys do great work over there - hopefully there will be more of a turnout at the next one.

Are you going to the barn dance?

E is desperately trying to get us to buy tickets but I am not sure yet.

Can't believe I forgot to tick the white pony off the desensitising list last year Jane :o Ha! Gives you a good story to tell about riding ploddy Coops = NOT!

Sammii - you make Red sound evil!! Geez, did he really do that!?

Evil Icelandics - Cer1389 - I've heard about them!

D'yaknow NN, I think the white thing has something to do with it - don't know why as he has sooooo many white bits himself!

Cheers Lucyad. He is 16.3hh now and filling out which is great. Goodness knows how the poor boy was feeling last year with all of his problems. I think he suits his mane. It needs tidying and OH groomed it so it didn't have as much conditioner on as it should to make it shiny.

According to some info that was posted on here he will probably grow until he is 6 - that is around October time - hopefully he will stop by then.

[Lucyad]

Yes, Oscar grew until 6 and seems to have stopped growing upwards, and started growing outwards now that he is turning 7 this summer! Thank goodness, I already have to mount from a tree stump!

[Roofio]

What a beautiful big horsey!

J is afraid of chickens... :rolleyes: they have evil eyes i'm sure.

[coverblown]

Dee he is looking even more gorgeous if that is possible. He really is growing into his size (if that makes any sense), and how big he is. And yes, looking more like a Clydesdale every day. :) :) :)

Those are delightful pictures - the height difference is amazing, and he is so confident to face his fears with you and OH around, what a great job you are doing with the dear boy.

Well done
Anne x

[Ptaty70]

slowly ticking off those items on the list, great stuff. You're going to be enlisting him into the police force next!!

What a good exercise for him!! he really is coming on leaps and bounds! you must be so very pleased with him, especially as he's now in the clear healthwise! well done!!!!

[Jill_H]

I thought it was a real shame that the RDA ponies didn't join in on Sunday. If I had known, then I might have asked if I could have "hired" one of them myself to have a go at the dressage or clear round jumping!

Don't think I'll be going to the barn dance as I have already got something on that evening.

I definitely think that some horses have an aversion to white. There is one horse where I ride who physically attacks grey horses if they are in the school when he is in there - he chases after them, turns his backside towards them and gives them both barrels :eek:

[Whatanejit]

Lucyad - I am mounting from a wall never mind a treestump! :eek: :D :D

Thanks for the compliments re my boy :)

Think you might be right about the white thing Jill.
You should definately give it a go on the RDA pones.

A few of the girls competed on them and did very well in the Sept le Trec last year - you could try for the training day at the beginning of June - it is great fun.

[VickiGG]

awwww - so cute - well done - they are just adorable piccies. It's like he's going - sniff sniff - OH you ARE a horse then

My RI told me that her 18hh Holsteiner just finished competing at Horse of the Year and came 2nd in Prelim Dressage (exposed for a whole weekend to quad bikes, show ponies, side saddles, etc etc) and when she was leading him across to the ribbon ceremony he spooked at a pony with a purple lycra hood on (it was moooving....she couldn't hold him - he took off and ran right across the showgrounds!

Dee any ideas on desentising to gravel trucks and bobcats?:D My YO is having their house built next to the arena and yesterday the gravel truck dumping a big pile of gravel and the bobcat starting up at the same time was all too much for Garbo and we galloped from one end of the arena (my first gallop :D ) and I thought we were going to do a cross country ditch jump at the end - thankfully no - and he slowed down for me to dismount at the stables and as I was half way off (bloody sticky bum jodphurs make you stick alright) - the bobcat and truck made another noise and he was off again splatting me on the gravel - now I have gravel rash down my back!! :rolleyes:

[ClaireBear_nz]

A few years ago, I took my sisters horse, a 16.2hh TB gelding to pony club. There was a small white pony on the lunge. I was then towed around by a snorting and horrified Sunny, who could not stop gawking at the pony. It got worse when the pony insisted on sniffing noses with him. He practically cowered in a "don't eat me! I'm harmless!" state.

Tally's scared of small grey ponies too. There was one at a show once, and I actually had to ask the child on it if she could go another way as Tally was having a coronary at it. The neighbours had a child on a small white pon once visit them, and Tally went absolutly ballistic and nearly went through a fence. He couldn't believe his eyes!

Sparks has a fear of things with two wheels, at the same time that small white pony visited neighbours, there were two kids with them on dirt bikes. I ended up being torn in two directions, trying to hold my horses who were determind to stampede in opposite directions :rolleyes:

Dee is gorgeous :D