RU The Good Witch
"Glinda"
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| Information |
Breeding |
Students & Sponsors |
- Gender: Filly
- Born: May, 2008
- Color: Chestnut
- Weight as of 4/5/2010: 552 kg
- Height as of 4/5/10:
Withers: 62 in
Rump: 64.0 in
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¾ Quarter Horse, ¼ Belgian
- Sire: Cadillac Coyjack (Quarter Horse)
- Sire Height: 15.1h
- Dam: "Scar" (½ Quarter Horse, ½ Belgian)
- Siblings: RU Sydney-class of 2001 ( maternal 1/2 brother), RU HipHip Hooray-Class of 2004 (maternal 1/2 sister)
Bred by Hiatt Ranch in Bottineau, North Dakota, USA
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- Students: Renee Hines and Allison Sommerkorn
- Sponsors: Sandra Denarski and Johnson & Johnson
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Updates
March 2010
It is hard to believe that it is already April and the day of the
auction is quickly approaching. It has been a long semester for Glinda.
About a month ago we were really worried about her. She had a huge
abcess on her right hock, from what we thought was a pressure sore that
had gotten infected. After a trip to MidAtlantic Equine Medical Center
and a lot of care and treatment, she is sound and ready for the
auction. Glinda's hock is still large, but is healing well.
Although it is never going to be fully back to normal, she is still a
beautiful, intelligent filly with a lot of potential.
Glinda has made a lot of progress
through the past month and especially during her treatment. It
has been an experience for me especially, to be able to treat and learn
from her injury. I have gained a lot more confidence handling
her, cleaning her injuries, and applying medicine and bandages to her
hock. She has become much better with bathing and has had a
lot of exposure to us handling and hosing her injuries, and eventually
accepted the fact that we are actually helping her.
During her trip to the hospital and the move over to our red barn ,
Glinda did exceptionally well getting in and out of the trailer and
trusting her new environments. Glinda has also learned to trust
me and her other students, who are not always as confident as other
more experienced handlers. It has been rewarding to see her
become more accepting and trusting.
Next two week will be a busy
for Glinda. We plan on practicing more on all of her commands to
perfect them for the Ag. Field day, and eventually we will be able to
practice lunging since it is finally nice out. We will continue
to work on her manners in the wash stall as well as desensitizing her
to spray bottles and intimidating situations, similar to what she might
experience on Ag. Field day. She will also get some exposure to
our Equisizer for some much needed exercise. Glinda’s dapples are
showing and she is shedding out beautifully. By the day of the
auction she will be pampered, trimmed, braided, and ready to put her
best hoof forward. It will be sad to see her leave us, because I
have learned so much the past two years with her, but it will be even
more exciting and rewarding to see her find a home so she can continue
to reach her full potential.
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Written by Alli Sommerkorn
February 2010
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So far, working with Glinda has
been very rewarding. She is very brave
but sensitive. If I’m having a bad day
and I try to work with her, she’s nervous and hesitant. Most days, however, she amazes me with how
fast she picks things up. Lately, we
have been working on halting by my side as soon as she sees me stop, being tied
in the aisle, trotting while being led from the right side, backing up without
any pressure, and perfecting the turns on the haunches and forehead. She has recently been desensitized to whips,
being groomed from a stool, and being vacuumed with a Dust Buster hand-held
vacuum. For all of these things, Glinda
was very brave.
Robin Rivello (a professional
trainer and President of the Wild Horse and Burro Association who is helping us
with the training this year) works with us once a week in individual
sessions. With Robin, we have been
working on cross-tying in the “scary aisle,” teaching her to move forward with
pressure on her sides (as if she’s being ridden), and turning in response to
pulls on the sides of her halter. She
can also side pass in both directions, and lunge in a small circle. We plan on adding the bridle and surcingle to
our training sessions soon, and teaching her to lunge in large circles and long
line. The weather just has to cooperate
so that we can go outside! . I’m very
pleased with how much progress she has made in just a month.
A few weeks ago, Glinda had her wolf teeth extracted. She was extremely well behaved for the
dentist and recovered quickly. She was
also great for getting blood drawn during Dr. Ralston’s study over the past two
weeks, barely flinching at all. The next
month is going to get very busy, with the move to the red barn in March and Ag
Field Day sessions beginning.
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Written by Renee Hines
January 2010
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I transferred into Rutgers
University four semesters ago and
started out with no horse experience. My
first real exposure to horses was two semesters ago with Glinda for Ag Field
day and three semesters later, I am still working with her. Although Glinda’s
failure to sell at the first auction seemed like a bad thing, I feel extremely
fortunate to continue my education and experience with such a bright horse.
With the help of Dr. Ralston and
Renee Hines, her other student, I am confident that we can accomplish a lot
with Glinda this semester. I have
noticed that she is extremely receptive to my moods and sometimes that is a
challenge, especially when she is up and ready for turn out and I feel like I
am still asleep at 8AM.
We put Glinda through her first
behavioral test of the semester to determine where we would be needing more
work on the basic commands. Renee and I
will be working on many of the basic commands, such as backing up from voice
alone, turning on the haunches and trotting in hand. However she did exceptionally well on
halting, turns on the forehands, and leading from both the left and right
sides. Glinda can also sense the difference in confidence levels between me and
Renee and sometimes can be a bit of a challenge for me. But Renee helps us both and we are learning a
lot.
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Written by Alli Sommerkorn
November 2009
Since
September, I have been trying to work with Glinda as much as possible to
improve her commands. Being a novice myself to horses, other than last year
doing Horse Practicum, its still a learning experience for me but never boring.
I had been missing in action near the middle of October for about two weeks and
when I came back to the barn I could tell that Glinda had missed my attention
and being groomed. I found out that lately when I groom her she turns around,
faces me and likes to put her head on my shoulder. I guess thats her way of
saying thanks! Glinda continues to grow! She now weighs over 1,100 pounds and
is getting bigger and bigger every day. She is 60 inches at the withers and 62
inches at the rump. A little too much to my liking because Im short! No worries
though. One of the behavior tests that I hope to introduce to her very soon is
grooming her while standing on the step stool.
Glinda has been doing very well on her behavior tests from the past
couple weeks. She got an A- on the
clipper test with only very minor problems; she backed up at first when the
clippers were turned on. Glinda did some
round pen training last week. She is not bad, but she could use some freshening
up on her turns and stops. That is my goal for the next couple of weeks. A few weeks ago we had the ferrier come to
the barn. Glinda did very well except for one of her back legs. She has made
much progress with her hooves since the beginning of the year however; she only
tries pulling away every so often. I'm excited for next months adventures!
Written By: Sarah Shaw
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October 2009
When I go to the barn, Glinda begs for attention from me and it is
really cute. I feel badly about not being there to train her every day,
but when I am there, I try my best to get the best out of her. She has
learned not to rush out of her stall and to wait until I say “walk on”
to walk out after the door is open. When I am grooming her, she will
let me know where she is very itchy at by itching the area herself and
then looking at me to get me to scratch the area with the currycomb.
All
of the horses were put through a standardized behavior test on October
2, 2009, details of which are under “News”. The purpose of the series
of tests is to 1) to document how well the horses perform basic
handling commands and their responses to standardized challenges and 2)
to see if there is a behavior or reaction difference in the mustangs
and weanlings who have not been expose to any of these things versus
the draft cross yearlings who have had a full year of training. To
standardize the tasks Dr. Ralston leads each horse through its test and
gets a consensus from the students observing as to the grade the horse
earns on each task. They were graded on a scale of A+ =4.5 to an F=0
(A+ being no resistance and flawless compliance, F being striking,
refusing, kicking, not listening at all). Glinda got the highest
average score of all the horses, a 3.9 with no scores below an A-!
We will be stepping up Glinda’s training program with set lesson plans for each week starting in November.
Written By: Leslie Anglin
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September 2009
Glinda is going to be a big girl! She is already 15 hands tall at the
withers and her rump is three inches higher than that!However, Glinda is the sweetest thing. She has not forgotten
any of her manners over the past 3 months of summer break. On the other hand, Glinda knows her size and
she will test you to see if you can handle her. You do have to be a little
stern with her and just let her know that you will not let her push you around.
She also will try to push out her stall when you are walking out, but
standing in her path and saying “where are you going?” will make her back up and just
stand politely as if to say “oops, sorry!”
For the semester, I am going to introduce Glinda to new
things such as a saddle, shipping boots, bridle and bit, round penning, and
anything else that will help prepare her as the perfect two year old. When it
is time for auction next year, I hope she will master all things and will be
the highest selling horse.
Written By: Leslie Anglin
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March 2009
Prior to spring break (March
14-22) we completed our last glucose insulin trials. Glinda was not
thrilled about being lightly pricked by the lidocane needle to prep her
for the IV catheter, and was so fussy she did not have the catheter put
in. She was still used for the trial but was pricked only three times
to sample her blood and was very good for all three times. After the
trial all fourteen babies were turned out together for the first time
since they began their college career. They were on twenty-four hour
turnout for a little less then a week and were allowed to freely graze
in a large pasture and play. After their week of fun, they were put on
the trailer in groups of three or four and taken to the red barn. I was
told that Glinda was a little hesitant at first, but after smelling the
trailer she smoothly walked on.
Glinda is still adjusting to the red barn surroundings but
has settled in nicely. Practice has already begun for Ag. Field Day and
Glinda's calm, loving, and kind personality has already taken over her
new students hearts. Glinda has been doing very well at remembering
most of her commands but needs some extra help when asked to turn on
the haunchs and forehand. She has been very receptive to new obstacles
such as the cross ties, the hose, and umbrellas. We have discovered she
loves to walk onto the scale at the red barn and doesn't look twice at
obstacles on the ground. Very soon Glinda will begin basic round pen
training and make trips to the Round House to prepare her for the
auction on April 26th. Glinda will be very busy for her last few weeks
of her academic career here at Rutgers, all in preparation for her to
go to a great home on auction day. |
Written by Lauren Seddon
February 2009
| Glinda has been re-adjusting
beautifully from being outside all the time over the winter break to
being stalled overnight and handled regularly again. The new trials
have begun for this semester and Glinda is in the group that is fed
unsupplemented hay cubes, which she does not seem to appreciate so far!
As far as her training goes, I just took over as her official student.
Glinda had an excellent background in regard to her commands so now I
am just doing my best to maintain her ability to perform the various
tasks we ask of the young horses. She absolutely loves attention and
stands perfectly still while being groomed. She is very patient, kind,
and forgiving. She has grown rapidly in the past two weeks and gets
prettier every day. She is a joy and a pleasure and I look forward to
working with her for the rest of the semester.
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Written by Lauren Seddon
November 2008
Glinda has settled very well into
her new life here at Rutgers University, and continues to be an
intelligent and calm filly. Although she has shown us much of her
lovable personality she remains a pleasure to work around. She has
continued to improve her leading skills by practicing the commands
'back' and 'square up' a couple of times a week. In addition, she has
conquered the 'scary aisle' that has many different types of things for
her to experience, and while she was hesitant as first she took it step
by step and realized there was nothing to be frightened about. Glinda
has also begun to learn how to properly stand while tied and seemed to
quickly understand what I was asking of her.
In the beginning of November Glinda began to participate in a
new nutrition trial. Glinda is in the group which receives about 17lbs
of hay cubes once a day. The cubes have the nutritional content of both
hay and concentrate combined so it provides her with adequate
nutrition. The purpose of this is to compare the difference between a
meal that is served in lower concentrations throughout the day versus
two feedings (the other group that Glinda is not in) that are highly
concentrated. Glinda it turned out for half of the day and then comes
in for the night. She eats her cubes well and seems to be doing well on
her new diet as she continues to grow and gain weight.
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Written by Kathleen Richards
October 2008
RU The Good Witch, more
affectionately known as Glinda around the barn, has had some major
transitions to go through in the last month. It's a big difference in
lifestyle here at Rutgers University compared to the wide open pastures
in Bottineau, North Dakota! I must say though, she seems to thoroughly
enjoy it here in New Brunswick. Glinda has proved to be a lovely filly
in both looks and mind, and has been a pleasure to work around ever
since she stepped off of the trailer.
It's been a month of firsts for Glinda, from figuring out what pellets
are to getting her feet trimmed. It took her almost two weeks to figure
out that pellets were edible and actually quite tasty. We had to put
her salt block in her grain bucket in order to get her to try them!
Glinda is routinely groomed and practices her leading skills, including
using the commands 'whoa' and 'walk on'.
Glinda has participated in research trials as well. She was in
a closed off stall for the first week of her stay to observe and
measure her stress response to being more secluded from the other
foals. Last week she also was part of a low dose dextrose trial and was
very cooperative for getting her catheter put in and for drawing blood.
Glinda continues to be a gem to work with and I am looking forward to
spending the rest of the year working with her!
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Written by Kathleen Richards
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
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