Clark
Update May 2023: Clark is doing very well and will be heading to a new foster home soon where he will continue with his training, starting with groundwork and moving on to under saddle training. He has had all of his spring vet work done and he was a “rockstar” for the vet! He’s filling out very nicely as well.
Clark (called “Ziggy” by his foster home) came to MHARF as a stud colt during a March 2022 Pine County humane case (approximate age at intake 2 years). He has now been gelded and is currently in a foster home working on ground manners. Here are some updates from his foster person Carol on what they have been working on as of Sept. 2022:
- Learned how to use the automatic waterer after being shown just once (maybe he had one before?)
- Learned how to stand in the back corner of his stall until being asked to move out (I cannot tolerate horses that rush stall doors, so best to learn from the beginning)
- Learned how to pick up all four feet, and will stand quietly for the farrier
- Knows how to wear his fly mask, but really doesn’t like having it put on, and can get out of it as fast as you can get into the house
- Learned how to have fly spray put on, though he does best if you spray and rub with your hand at the same time
- Will stand quietly for grooming, being tied using a blocker tie ring (if you know what that is, it allows the rope to feed through in case of significant movement or spook). I have not done a hard tie yet, though I do not think it will be an issue
- Can be touched / rubbed / scratched all over, including his boy parts, without objection.
- Can have his tail gently pulled
- I can toss a very long rope all over his body, including around his front and back legs while he stands quietly.
- I can swing the long string on my “handy stick” or whatever that thing is called, against the ground next to him, and all over his body, while he stands quietly.
- He has walked right up to my riding lawn mower when it was running and put his nose on it
- He stays home alone while I ride my horse (his only friend) out on the road, and for the most part does very well with it. Sometimes will call out, and once was very upset when I got back, but he worked through it.
- I take him away from his only friend into the arena to work, and down the road for a walk, and he does well with that.
- I can jump up and down next to him, putting weight on his back with my hands and he doesn’t care.
- He will not bite or kick, and he no longer strikes out.
- He did extremely well with my very high energy 9 year old niece who was in the pasture with the horses, and she was jumping around and touching him all over etc.
Videos of Ziggy in 2022:
- May 2023
- May 2023
- April 2022
- March 2022