RU Woodstock
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Information
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Breeding
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Students & Sponsors
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- Gender: Gelding
- Born: May 2009
- Color: Red Roan
- Weight as of 4/5/10: 433 kg
- Height as of 4/510: Withers: 61 in Rump: 62.75 in
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¾ Quarter Horse, ¼
Percheron
- Sire:
Moon Hippie (Quarter Horse)
- Sire Height:
16h
- Dam:
"Butch" (½ Quarter Horse, ½ Percheron)
- Siblings: RU Firedance- class of 2009 (full brother, RU Aurora- class of 2008 (full sister)
Bred by Hiatt Ranch in
Bottineau, North Dakota, USA
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- Students: Carly Painter & Wendy Perroth
- Sponsor: Colts Neck Trail Riders Club
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Updates
March 2010
March
has been a busy month of desensitizing to various stimuli and round pen
training in preparation for AG Field day. Some of the stimuli we have
been using include a stool so he can get used to someone standing over
him, using towels on his face, neck, back and legs, and teaching him to
be more sensitive to verbal and visual cues. His turning on the
forehand and hind-end are improving. As well as his halting and backing
up. Robin Rivello has been a great help with him in these areas. She
also helped me teach him how to do side passes and he figured these out
pretty quickly. He is also standing nicely in his stall for his
grooming, without needing to be tied. He did not mind too much when a
fellow research student stood on the stool to groom him and his
sensitivity to new stimuli on his right side has improved greatly. He
doesn't mind towels being rubbed on him. We found this out one day when
we had to dry his legs for the farrier. He had more fun playing with
the towel and trying to pull it off his face when I draped it over his
ears. Video of some of his antics are posted on our youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=QD2KENrx9f0&feature=related.
Ag Field Day is drawing closer and we prepped the
horses for the start of their sessions by moving them to the Red Barn
on College Farm Road. The move was a success and everyone settled in
nicely. Woody really seems to enjoy the new view and the exposure to
students and families who come to visit the farm has been very
beneficial. The larger space has allowed us to work on trotting in hand
as well as free lunging him at a walk and trot in the round pen. Ag
Sessions began at the end of March and will include extensive grooming
sessions to shed out his winter coat and sessions in the round pen with
his assigned student, reinforcing all of the cues we have worked on for
the past year. So far he has been doing a great job in his sessions.
Our goals for April include strengthening his responsiveness to us
while free lunging in the round pen as well as on a lunge line. We also
have started desensitizing him to the clippers so we can clip up his
whiskers and legs and the hose so we can get him used to being bathed
in a wash stall. This has been such a rewarding experience so far and I
am so proud of how much he has learned and excited for all that is to
come.
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By Carly Painter
February 2010
Woody recovered quickly from his previous injuries and we have begun
his training once again. This month has been one of many adventures for
Wendy and me. I had an opportunity to work with Robin Rivello, the
president of US Wild horse and Burro Association and an official
trainer for the BLM. She gave me some great insights on how important
it is to be confident and move with purpose in order for Woody to
understand what is expected of him. With a lot of patience, from both
of us, we have been working on walking, turning and stopping as a team.
He is very strong willed and can be stubborn initially, but it is
exciting to see when he finally understands what I want him to do. It
has been a really rewarding experience.
Our feeding
trial is now complete. As part of the study we have taken three sets of
blood samples for our research as well as fecal samples. Woody did
really well when Dr. Ralston and I needed to draw blood from his
jugular vein, though it did help that he was distracted by some Safe
Choice pellets that were offered to him during this process.
On our
latest weigh and measure, Woody weighed 419 kg and was 60 inches at the
withers and 62 inches at the rump-two full inches taller than his
brother, RU Firedance, was at this age! He is a very healthy and active
young horse.
Wendy and I have been working on his attentiveness while
in the stall by tying him so he can learn the importance of standing
nicely while being groomed. We are also making him more comfortable
with being led on both his left and right side. Dr. Ralston and I
reintroduced the "Dust Buster" vacuum to him and with the help of a
fellow research student, worked on grooming while standing over him on
a stool. Both the "Dust Buster" vacuum and stool exposures went well,
though he did seem a lot more sensitive and nervous when these
experiences were introduced on his right side. We will definitely make
it a point to work on this side a lot more in the weeks to come.
Stepping over things on the ground was another experience that we
worked on this month. At first we used one rake and since Woody didn't
seem fazed by stepping over it, we added another one. He sniffed them,
tried to taste them and then simply walked over them as if they were
not even there. He has been progressing very well. Our upcoming goals
include increasing his exposure to clippers, stools, towels, loud
noises and chain leads. Wendy and I will continue to work on polishing
his skills, refining his playful and sometimes stubborn behavior, and
keeping his focus so that he can become more willing, alert, and
responsive to what we ask him to do.
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Written by Carly Painter
January 2010
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We started off the new semester by starting a feed trial
wherein the horses are fed only in their stalls, not at all outside to be able
to document exactly how much they are actually eating. Woody doesn’t seem to
mind. He is very even tempered and growing into handsome and very tall horse.
He is already 2 inches taller than his brother, Firedance, was at this
age! We are continuing the behavior
trials and we hope to add a possible trial that would test for memory. I’m very
interested in the idea of testing memory because Woody is a little rusty on
some of the skills he was taught last semester.
Our first behavior test this semester
evaluated skills that were worked on last semester such as halt, forward,
stand, turn on the forehand, turn on the haunches and backing up.
Unfortunately, Woody spooked at something during his behavior test and slipped
and fell in the barn aisle. He hit his
neck and head against a post. There were not wounds or obvious serious injury,
but his fall was quite alarming so we’ve been keeping a sharp eye on him. We
had Dr. Dan Keenan take a look at him this morning. The doctor has put him on
oral pain medication and recommended we keep him indoors for a few days.
Hopefully Woodstock will be back to
normal within a few days.
When Woody
is more himself we will begin training again. Ag Field day is in April and we
are already starting to ready the horses. We plan on perfecting and polishing
our skills so the horses respond simply with vocal commands and are more
tolerant of distractions. This semester will truly be interesting and
challenging experience.
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Written by Wendy Perroth
November 2009
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Woody is shaping up very nicely, looking more like his
brother, RU Firedance every day. He is a
truly incredible horse and has been greatly improving on his behavior tests.
The recent behavior test included walking him over a large, flat piece of
cardboard, being rubbed down with towels and exposure to clippers. I am proud
to report that he did very well on all of them!
On November
11th, Woody was castrated. He had a slightly elevated temperature
for a day or two but recovered marvelously. He had some swelling but in
comparison to the two other horses that were castrated in October, Woody seems
to have recovered the best. He is still continuing to drain a bit but each day
is better than the next. And he has been behaving like an angel during his
recovery period. He was originally fidgety about us taking his temperature but
came around to behaving very well for it. He has also now been excellent about his
hoof picking. For about a week he attempted to lay down when you lifted his
hoofs. Took us a few days of correcting him but now he lifts his feet like a
champ.
Because of
his castration, we began round penning him in attempt to reduce his swelling by
exercising him for ten minutes each day. Dr. Ralston took this opportunity to
begin teaching me how to round pen Woody.
It was a great learning experience for the both of us. Of course Woody
is such a fast learner that he made learning to round pen a lot easier than I
thought. I think he will certainly continue to pick up new things quickly.
Written By: Wendy Perroth
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October 2009
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Recently we have begun doing standardized behavior
tests on the young horses to compare the trainability and behavior of the
mustangs to the draft cross weanlings and yearlings. Each of the horses is
graded on how well they react to standardized stimuli and commands. For
example, one test was to lead the horses down an unfamiliar aisle. Other tests
included picking up feet, leading the horse around the round pen in the pasture
and exposing them to unfamiliar noises like clapping. To ensure the consistency
of the tests, Dr. Ralston was the only handler during the trials. Unfortunately
he didn’t behave for Dr. Ralston as well as he has for Kim and me for basic
things such as picking up his feet, rubbing his abdomen and standing still,
getting only a 3.4 out of a possible 4.5 overall score. But that still was
equivalent to between a B and a B+. It was his first time being handled outside
his stall for such things so we were pretty proud of him anyway. We’ve worked very hard in the pass few
months, focusing on leading, his feet, and whoa and I think that come the next
behavior test Woody will realize that this isn’t anymore than any other day at
Rutgers.
On our typical day, Woody starts by
munching on his hay cubes. He has made it clear that he prefers his free choice
total mixed ration hay cubes to the Safe Choice pelleted feed that he gets a
pound of morning and night to meet his rapid growth mineral needs. He loves to
be groomed though he is sometimes fussy with his hind feet. After grooming we
typically turn out the horses, where he gets to play with the colts and
geldings until 4 o’clock. Woodstock comes right up to you without hesitation
when it is time to bring in all the horses. Currently we are doing a bedding demo
in the barns. Woody has pine shavings. He loves to roll and cover himself in
them.
Written By: Wendy Perroth
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September 2009
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon
when the long awaited day for the weanling’s arrival was finally upon us!
Though Brisa was the first one to bravely climb off the trailer, Woodstock
wasn’t far behind! Within minutes we had herded each baby into their respective
stalls and began putting their halters on for the first time. Initially
cautious, with a little loving and a lot of scratches, Woodstock quickly
revealed just how brave he can be. Within the hour of our meeting, he allowed
me to rub all down his face and ears, neck, back, and even his legs! I felt so
confident with my new little friend that I introduced a few grooming tools to
him; a curry comb and a bristle brush. By the end of our second hour together
we established quite the bond!
Day after day, he greets me as
though we have known each other for years. He thoroughly enjoys our grooming
sessions and is eager to learn new things every day. As the weeks pass he
continues to show me how willing and able he is by demonstrating his ability to
pick up on new commands with ease. Woodstock now leads quietly, stops when
asked, waits patiently, will back up on command, and allows me to pick up all
four of his feet effortlessly. His finesse astounds me; I look forward to the
surprises that await us with each coming day.
Written By: Kimberly Ward
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Equine Science Center
Rutgers
University
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For questions about the program or the website, please contact Dr. Sarah Ralson
at ralston@aesop.rutgers.edu
© 2009, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. All rights
reserved.
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