General Health

Score

Score

Maintains weight well

A

Teeth in good condition

Hooves in good condition

A

Overall is Healthy

Explain overall Health:  Eureka does not seem to have any health concerns. 

Social Skills

Score

Score

Responds well to people

Gets along with mares

Can touch face

A

Gets along with geldings

Can touch ears

Explain overall socialization:   Eureka gets along in a small herd but prefers to not be bothered at meal time.  She will kick at the others and squeal to get them away from her.  It is best to feed her away from the others, however, she will find a spot in the group that is quiet to eat.  She does not accept treats such as carrots or apples, yet.  Her feeder is about fifteen feet away from the others and as long as they do not go near her, she will not go near them.  She needs to have her own place that she is fed daily at.

Ground Manners

Score

Score

Easy to catch

Picks up feet for farrier

Easy to load

X

Easy to Bathe

Easy to halter

Easy to Trim

Easy to lead

Easy to Fly Spray

Ties

Kicks

Explain manners:  Eureka is described as a “spoiled” horse.  Because of her size and build, she has been able to dominate her humans in the past.  Because of this mindset, sometimes she can be a little disinterested in what she is being asked to do.  She is currently working on this and gaining new skills and learning that working and learning can be fun.  She loves to be lead, but has a tendency to try and over power when she doesn’t get her way.   She will not pull away from you, but she will try to get in front and lead you.  After just one training session she is learning to appreciate her human’s space and stay three feet behind while being lead.   She does not mind being tied.  She does not load well in trailers, but once in, settles and rides just fine.  She is working on gaining confidence in her feet to assist with loading.  She unloads with no problem.  A bad experience in a trailer most likely prompted this issue, but she will load with coaxing, reassurance, and firmness.  She has issues with her front feet and tends to yank them away while being trimmed, but once settled, she will allow the farrier to work on her.  This could be due to being shod improperly in the past.  When she doesn’t have shoes on, she tends to be much stiller and allow more to be done.  She kicks at feeding time when threatened by other horses, but has never attempted to kick a human.

Riding Skills

Score

Score

Stands while being tacked

Walks

Stands while being mounted

Trots

Easily moves out

Lopes/Canters

Does well on trails

Runs

Does well in arenas

Backs up

Explain overall training:  Although she has had some previous training, Eureka is learning how to move her feet again.  Slow and steady seems to be her favorite pace and she would rather move counter clockwise.  She does not understand how or why to back up yet, but she is learning.  She is not eager to move quickly.  She has a very introverted mind and is a thinker.  It may seem that she is not grasping the concepts during the training session, but when worked with again, she seems to remember what she was taught.  She is highly intelligent, just prefers to take everything in before she reacts.  She is not reactive to humans.  She does not try to kick or buck but she will freeze and think.  She will sometimes refuse to move, but with some encouragement will get her feet moving.  She does not like to lope and she will not run with a human on her back.  She just does not have the desire to move quickly.  She is working on learning her gates and is improving more and more each day.