Big steps

Well, I've had this little yellow girl for a little more than 2 weeks now.

When she came she could:
- wear a halter
- be led with some hesitation and stopping
- trailer well/back out of a trailer (even if it was her first time ever in one)
- be caught in the pen after several minutes of round pen work

Now she:
- comes right up to be caught/doesn't move off in the pasture when approached, comes to meet you
- picks up all her feet, good for the farrier
- stands to be fly sprayed
- is easy to halter/un-halter
- leads everywhere
- yields to pressure
- does haunch turns
- does forehand turns
- steps onto the wash mats
- stands for brushing everywhere, no "touchy" areas

I am just floored by how smart she is & how quickly she picks up things.  This must be what everyone was telling me about these bloodlines.  I haven't ever worked with one of these horses before, and so far she is just easy, easy, easy.

We had our second ever lunge line session tonight.  Both horses got yesterday off while I went down to the Extreme Mustang Makeover in Fort Collins.

The first attempt was two days ago.

It was decent.  She had never been on a lunge line, so there was some confusion.  We were also in the wide open pasture so there were plenty of places to run. 

I don't think before she arrived she had ever seen halter pressure as a direction--and aid--a request to move her body a certain way.  Her first reaction to pressure was to plant her feet, grow roots and brace against it. 

If that didn't work, she'd just turn tail and try to take off.

But after a few very obvious releases for baby steps in the right direction, she picked it up fast.

She much prefers to go to the left (like most horses).

The first day when she got confused she'd try to revert back to her more comfortable direction.  I'd put her back going right again.

We ended on a calmly walked half circle.

Today it was like she remembered everything she did right from last time, and threw away all the mistakes.

She was lovely.

No pulling.  No freakouts.  No bracing and taking off.  No hesitation with going forward.  It was like she had been practicing.

She went to the right without any issues.  Even trotted a little both directions without getting flustered.

And I even got her to trot alongside me (which before when I tried it, was the Most Terrifying Thing Ever).

I really like her because while she is reactive--if you take a loud step toward her she'll skitter away--she is very thoughtful.  She thinks things through.  And for a 2 year old with the attention span of a gnat, she retains information really well.

I have high hopes for this little one.  And it's so exciting to see how she's better and better every day.

Photoday

Pictures today, beautiful Chev.

And the lovely tiny horse, who is hard to photograph unless she is eating, because she spends all her time right by my elbow.

Summer weather... & a drought

It has been a terribly dry year here in Wyoming.  We haven't had hardly any rain, our snowpack is already gone and the grass has barely grown.  Hay prices are skyrocketing (for last year's hay), this year's hay is nowhere to be seen, and the growers down in Colorado stand to make a fortune.

When we arrived in Douglas last year at this time the grass was lush and calf-high already.  We're lucky if we have two inches of spindly, skinny, patchy grass this year.

I am really glad I only have 2 horses to feed.  About 3-4 flakes of grass/alfalfa hay, a pound of grain a day and the four acre pasture is keeping them in good weight.

I have been hearing rumors that ranchers are selling off their cows for fear of not being able to feed them through the summer and winter.  Lots of people around here have 30 head of horses or more, and while they look okay so far, it may be tough to keep them fed.

Anyway...for my PNW friends, we could sure use some of your rain out here!

Both the girls had their farrier appointment on Sunday.  Tiny horse was absolutely perfect for hers.  Got her front feet trimmed up.  I have been cleaning them a little with a rasp and evening them out.  My farrier isn't a barefoot trimmer and I think he's not as careful about balance as my old farrier was.  We didn't tackle the back feet yet, since I'm still getting her used to having those handled.  She's coming along great though.

Front feet post-trim, leaning away from the camera--still out of balance but much better!

Front right lateral view, lots of retained sole.

Front right solar view...there is some pinkish bruising near the toe, a lot of difference in thickness between the "inside" (right side) and "outside" (left side) hoof wall quality, probably because of the unevenness of the hooves--still, they are nice & round with a tight white line at the toe

 Front right, lateral view

 Front left, solar view.  The false/impacted sole is already starting to shed.

I am hopeful with time and frequent trimming her hooves will even up completely, and I think I have reason to be hopeful--they should wear much better now that she is out in a more natural environment with room to roam over sand, pebbles, rocks, and grass.  I don't think there's any sign of clubbing, which worried me before.  I think the distortion/concave outline in her hooves was mainly caused by trimming only the toe back very infrequently, while letting the heels grow way too long, combined with being in a soft paddock and her super hard hooves.  She has been a tiny bit tenderfooted as she gets used to her heels working again, but it's nothing I wasn't expecting.  She is moving better already.  And I was so proud of her perfect behavior.

Chev, on the other hand, was a raving lunatic for her trim, striking, rearing, and acting like a horse I didn't even recognize.  It was like someone replaced my sweet, docile 7 year old with a wild mustang.  The farrier wasn't able to do much with her.  We finally decided she had been stung by something, because she had a complete meltdown every time a bug buzzed over her way.

I also think that maybe...she doesn't care too much for my farrier.  He gave up, I dosed her with flyspray, turned her out, and she was completely back to normal by that night.  I filed her hooves down a little more evenly and called it a night.

I think I might have to learn how to do this trimming stuff myself.  I have great attention to detail, understand symmetry, and feel like I could be good at this.  I just need to get brave and start investing in a few tools, like a new rasp and a hoof knife.  I feel like I could do at least as good a job as my current farrier, with a little supervision every 8 weeks or so.

Do any of you trim your own horses?

In other news, I've got tiny horse up to 6 hours of pasture a day, and she is loving it.  She'll be out 8 hours today before she returns to her paddock for the night, and I've seen no adverse signs of grass overdose so far.

Ironically, Chev spends most of her time in the run-in stall in the shade.  She doesn't like this heat.  And I don't blame her!

Lady, I need a drink.

Too hot to do anything but stand around

I did get some pictures of the storm that rolled through the other night.  Five miles wide with a 30 mile leader cloud (the biggest I've ever seen on the radar) being sucked right into it.  Luckily it died down by the time it came our way.

 I took this right across from the house.

 Zap!

Update on the kids

Well, I really hurt my wrist a few days ago so my typing ability is limited.  I was an idiot and used a rock to pound in the 98 posts in the pasture...didn't occur to me until afterwords what a bad idea that was.  But I'm on the mend.

The girls are doing awesome.  Tiny horse has learned how to pick up her feet and is just about ready for her farrier appointment on Sunday.  I rode Chev today for the first "real" time since getting her shoes pulled the 6th of this month, and she felt amazing.  Springy.  Lighter somehow.  I'm very anxious to see how her feet will look after this next trim and plan on asking for pointers so I can help maintain their hooves better.

Anyway, that's all the wrist can handle for now!

No dividing fence

No fence!

Chev was so good with her.

This is what I mean about the height difference.

I totally thought tiny horse was only like 12 hands.

I was able to get my trusty height/weight tape out and was absolutely shocked to learn...that she is actually 13.3 hands (the same height as Smart Little Lena).

My Ben honey was only 14.2 with shoes on.

I guess I've just been in the land of the giant horse for too long.  So even if she only grows another inch or two, I'll be happy.

She let me pick her feet up without incident and even do a little filing on them today.  In a few days she'll be ready for that much-needed farrier appointment.

Here's a picture of her daddy at 3 (yeah I know, photoshop, yada yada yada--don't look at the colors or the tail, look at the natural/Monte Foreman stop!):

I think she should be able to stop just as well.

It is really interesting to watch her in the paddock.  She doesn't go in a small circle to turn around, she pivots on her inside hind foot.  She slide stops.  She turns with her head on the ground.  She was totally born for this stuff.

In other news:  She decided she LOVES carrots now.

On a possibly related note:  She is always right by my side in the paddock.

Things are going well so far.

I think Chev will be much happier when she's in the pasture too, so I'm trying to give her a couple hours grazing time to get her used to it before I take the plunge and turn her out...then I get to see how well my "come to me"/catch training really is.

Untouchable

Here's the horse that was almost untouchable 3 days ago.

Oh, hello.  Isn't my tiny hourglass snip adorable?

She now readily comes up to me to check in, wants to stay by me, doesn't crowd but is very friendly.

This photo pretty much sums it up: cautious but interested.

She is wearing my dear Ben's beautiful old leather halter.  I kept it in memory of him, but I didn't know when I'd ever have a horse again with a delicate little head for it to fit on.  It was actually pretty emotional taking it out and remembering him and when I first bought him the halter--I saved to get it, I wanted the best I could buy, something that looked as lovely as he did.  He had the perfect teacup muzzle and such a beautiful face.

It's funny how one piece of equipment can have some many memories.  So many times I put it on him to take him out for grazing, spending time with him, how many hundreds of times he wore it over the years when we were together.

Ben in June 2007, wearing his new halter at age 23

It's painful to remember.  In a strange way, passing the halter down to tiny horse helps me to let go...to move on a little bit, and to let part of him be in the world again, instead of just in my memories. 

Ironically, tiny horse's head is so tiny that the halter looks huge on her.  But I think she'll grow into it fine.

I also got her to eat a carrot today.  Finally gave it a try and discovered they are pretty good.  She still prefers hay though.

Dinnertime!

 

Don't worry Chev, the blog hasn't forgotten about you.

 I have a snip tooooo