Dakota Six Months Old

A fun video showing Kristel of Painted Acres Ranch and Kody. He stands like a gentleman in one place, with his head up, to have his hooves picked. Just like Andi trained Shasta and Sunny to stand still while they have their hooves picked. Here is the excerpt from Thick as Thieves. Andi is doing just what Kristel does with Kody.

Andi continued to brush Shasta. The little colt stood quietly, clearly enjoying the strokes of the brush and the loving attention he was receiving. He nibbled the small piece of apple Melinda offered him.

“Mother’s got enough on her mind, thanks to Chad,” Andi said. She dropped the brush on the ground and grabbed a hoof pick. “I’m tired of hearing the count of missing cattle every night at supper. I wish the boys would just stay out on the range. Why come home at all if they’re just going to grumble and complain at every meal?”

Melinda laughed. “I’m sure it will come to that sooner or later. And I say, the sooner the better.”

Andi drew alongside Shasta. “I’m going to pick up your foot, so stand still,” she warned her colt. Sliding her hand firmly along Shasta’s front leg, she gave him the signal to lift his foot.

“He obeys well,” Melinda said. “You’ve been working hard on his training.”

“Nothing annoys Jake more than a skittish horse during shoeing,” Andi replied, scraping the pick along the colt’s hoof. “I heard him scorch Hector last week when he had to replace a shoe.” She cringed at the memory. Hector’s horse had danced all over the place, just missing the ranch’s farrier with a swift kick. “My colts are never going to give Jake trouble.”

Kody Standing Still to Have His Feet Picked

Stayed tuned for other fun training videos on Photo Fridays: 1) learning to kneel and 2) learning to carry a saddle pad. Coming soon to Andi’s blog!