Starry Becomes Barn Sour

 Starry Becomes Barn Sour

Yes, it is true!  Starry, one of the most reliable horses, decided he no longer wanted to work.

In early May, Kevin had a terribly unfortunate accident with Starry where he fell off, broke multiple ribs and punctured his lung.  That meant he wasn't able to ride for quite a while.  Starry decided he liked his retirement.

By the time that Kevin was able to ride again, we were right in the middle of one the the buggiest summers ever.  The mosquitoes were atrocious--and Starry hates bugs.  Kevin took him on his initial ride, and all Starry did was fuss about the bugs.  It was right about the time I started riding Cole after his terrible colic, so we decided to keep it short and go back home early.

After that, was the Fourth of July weekend and so much rain, that Kevin didn't have another ride for a few weeks. This one was longer, and Starry was totally bug crazy.  This happens most years, but after a few weeks, he settles down.  Kevin was a wreck.

Now honestly, Kevin was having some problems with his confidence.  Who wouldn't under the circumstances.  I think that played into what happened next.

The next time Kevin tried to ride, he couldn't even get Starry out of the driveway.  The following ride was worse.  Starry wouldn't leave the barn.  We did get him to go out the back door, but once he got outside, he refused to go anywhere.

A few days later, he tried again by joining me on a ride with Cole.  Once again, we had to take him out the back door, and he got stuck.  Instead of quitting, Kevin got off to lead him to the trail.  That worked, so Kevin just led him down the hill.  There is a mounting block at the bottom.  Kevin got on and walked Starry down to the river--and he wouldn't cross.  You can just imagine how Kevin was feeling at this point--he was just shattered.  He led Starry home, and I went on my ride by myself.

Though Kevin was crushed, he was still determined.  We told him to spend time walking Starry around the barn; going in and out of the door and walking down the driveway.  When Starry was good, we wanted him to click and treat him to show Starry what he wanted and to make it a fun project for him.  Kevin followed our advice, and they started to get better.  One day, he was able to lead him partially down the street.  He was ready to try the trail again.

One morning, Ellen and I were going to take Trifecta down the hill.  Ellen was on foot.  The river was too high to cross.  Kevin decided to join us.  He led Starry to the trail and mounted at the mounting block at the beginning of the trail.  Trifecta, always enthusiastic about trail riding, marched down the trail.  Starry decided he wasn't going to follow.  Kevin got off and tried leading him down, but Starry was reluctant and troubled by the bugs.  Kevin's nerves were frazzled, so Ellen took over.

Ellen is awesome.  She used her clicker training skills to get Starry focused and working.  He was getting clicked for walking well and then she added in "head down and walk."  We find that to be a wonderful cue and have taught it to all of our horses--including Starry years ago.  Starry settled down, Kevin got a break from him and Trifecta just marched on with great enthusiasm.  We did one trip on the hill and when we got back, we had Kevin ride Starry around in the arena.

The next day, the river was still too high to cross.  This time, I was taking Cole down to the river.  Ellen was on foot, and Kevin decided to lead Starry down himself.  We told him to put the saddle on, even though he wasn't going to use it.  That way, Starry wouldn't know what was going to happen.

Starry was so much better this time!  When they got to the bottom, Ellen offered to take over just to give Kevin a break.  She continued working on Starry's training, and Kevin was able to walk up the hill at his own pace.  When we got back, Kevin rode him in the arena again.

The next day, the river was low enough to cross, so we were going to give it a try with Starry, Dante and Cole.  While all this was going on, Dante went through a spell where he didn't want to cross the river, too.  Ellen failed 2 days in a row with him, and she was also very upset.  She was able to get him to cross the next couple times--and he actually crossed really well, but we weren't that confident that he would cross this time.  All we needed was for Starry and Dante to start playing off each other.

Kevin led Starry to the mounting block at the bottom of the hill.  I brought Cole down, and he was having a drink.  Dante followed and Starry followed Dante.  Starry loves following Dante-they are great buddies.  Ellen was nervous.  Kevin was nervous.  I was nervous, too, but in a way, it was the worst for me because I couldn't do anything but watch.  Dante crossed first with little hesitation.  I followed and then Starry stepped right in.  We made it!!!!

The rest of the ride was uneventful.  We repeated it the next day, and it went just as well.  Kevin's confidence was coming back.  The following day, he rode with a friend and Starry was great.  After 2 more successful rides, Kevin decided to mount at the mounting block on top of the hill, and everything went fine.  Starry is back!