Winter Blahs

We have had so much rain this year! It's good for the hay crop next summer but it sure is rotten horse weather. Everything is muddy. We haven't been able to spend any time with the horses so they are just getting fat and sassy. Fancy got off to her new home last month. I haven't heard anything but I'm sure she's doing fine. I'm looking forward to Spring, warmer and longer days.

Updates

Wow, it has been so busy around here that my poor horses have been pretty much ignored (I'm not sure they mind so much.) Maverick,Shawnee and Radar are having a great time romping in there new 2+ acre enclosure. Radar (our mini donkey) and Maverick have fun playing tug-of-war with different objects and Shawnee enjoys being Queen of the World (meaning the boss). We love to see them run and play. Maverick will be 3 this spring so it will be time to start some serious training. This may even be the year we start riding him lightly. Fancy is still just a hard nut to crack. I think Jim and I have decided that if we can find her the perfect home with someone willing to spend a lot of time with her we'll let her go. One less mouth to feed would be a good thing and we're just not making any progress with her. I'm hoping that with Christmas break coming up (we're home-schooling) the girls and I will have some quality time with the horses.

Persistence pays

That Fancy is one stubborn horse! Still, she's not quite as stubborn as I am. I decided the other day that I wasn't going to back off until she let me touch her. She/we went round and round in the round pen for probably an hour before she finally stood still and let me touch her. I was able to stroke her hindquarters for several minutes before I walked away. I'm about to head down and go at it again with her. Hopefully it won't take an hour today.

Fancy breaks Out!

Well with the help of Maverick Fancy broke out. Maverick is a notorious fence pusher. He managed to push a couple of the fence panels apart and He and Fancy had a few glorious hours pretending they were wild and free again (well free anyway.) I came home from work last Friday to find the two of them grazing on green grass. My heart stopped when I saw Fancy loose. I wasn't sure how I was ever going to catch her again. I blocked the driveway with my van and did what any horseowner with loose horses does....went for the grain pan. It worked. Maverick followed the grain pan and Fancy followed Maverick. She is now in one of the larger lower paddocks. I've been wanting to move her down there for months but didn't have a way to do that......Maverick moved her for me. What a guy!

Maverick

Ashley has become Mav's good friend. She loves to lead him around. He is like a big gentle puppy dog and loves the attention. It is good for Ashley to have a horse "friend". Pal has always been so grumpy with her that he hasn't been much fun. A little girl has to have a big horse neck to hug!

Fancy

Taylor was able to pet Fancy today. We penned her up again to renew our efforts to handle her. Taylor visited her this morning with a bucket of grain and Fancy allowed her to stroke her face as she was eating. It was very exciting. I am ashamed that we've had her almost a year and this is as far as we've gotten. Life is settling down, the weather is great...no excuses we need to spend lots of time with her.

Freedom in Captivity

I was out admiring the horses yesterday. They are fat, happy, and carefree. In contrast I was reading about a bunch of mustangs that were gathered in Nevada recently, brought to the holding facility, and were very sick with salmonella. The water holes are drying up at an alarming rate and many are contaminated. Many of the horses have died....natural selection? I have always held a rather romantic view of the wild mustangs running free and that is a beautiful image but the truth is that the wild ones face many dangers and obstacles. I'm glad my three are carefree in their captivity.

More Space

We finished fencing the remaining couple of acres of our property. The horses have plenty of roaming room now. There is also a lot of summer grass left to pick at. They are having a good time. Maverick and Shawnee are enjoying their reunion. Fancy is still in the arena as we still don't have her haltered. I did recieve the papers to get Mav titled. I just need to get an authorized signature stating that I've taken good care of him. He's very spoiled! Now that the cooler Fall weather is upon us there is no excuse for not furthering his training. I'll post of picture soon of our "free roaming" herd.

Fancy Free

We decided that we just couldn't leave Fancy couped up any longer. She is not nearly gentled yet but it just seemed cruel to confine her 24/7. We built a chute out of panels and worked them down the steep bank and into the arena. She didn't hesitate much to walk down the embankment and then proceeded to kick her heels up and run around. She is a beautiful mover! We put Maverick in with her and you'd think the two had been best friends their whole lives. What fun to watch them interact.

Progress

Jim actually touched Fancy last evening. He was able to touch her rump several times. She doesn't want him by her head but he was able to touch her rear. This was a BIG deal and hopefully a breakthrough. We want so badly to get her turned out with the others.

Updates

We've been so busy it seems that it's hard to get done what we want to get done. Now we are dealing with the blazing heat so our horsey times are restricted to late evening. Maverick and Shawnee are doing great. They enjoy each others company. Fancy is getting better all the time. Jim can throw a rope on her back and has even touched her rump. She comes to the fence to receive her hay and doesn't dart back any longer when I feed her. I think we're getting real close to getting a rope back on her. I can't wait to free her from her small pen and watch her run and play with the others.

Expo

I had the best time at the West Coast Horse Expo over the weekend. I came back newly inspired to play with horses. Pat and Linda Parelli were there and were very inspiring. I purchased some of their material and am excited to work my way through the program. The horses are all at different levels so it should be interesting to see the results. Maverick is such a blank slate and so willing I've been afraid to "ruin" him. Now I feel like I have the right tools. Linda Tellington Jones was really good as well. She made a comment that stuck with in regards to Fancy. She said that if you can cure a horse of the fear of having their body touched you cure all fear. I found that encouraging. Using some of the Parelli techniques with her over the last few days (I'm learning how NOT to act like a predator) I'm seeing a difference. I'm not touching her but she sure is touching me.

Free - Almost

Jim found Maverick out loose this morning. We've been keeping him out in a hot wire enclosed pasture but he figured out our little secret...the gate wasn't actually hot. He had visited Fancy, scattered her hay and was just out front grazing when Jim found him. It only took the rattle of a little grain to convince Mav to follow Jim back into the enclosure. Shawnee, his roomate, didn't want to test the gate. Although the wire was down she decided not to cross the line. They have been having such a good time with the extra space. When I add GoGo to the mix they run about like a bunch of wild horses....go figure.

Days of May

There hasn't been much news to add lately. We've been really busy putting up fence. We will have a couple of acres fenced soon for the horses to graze down. I think they will really enjoy the freedom and additional space. Fancy is still making progress slowly but surely and the other two are just a delight to watch. They are best friends. Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning. Maverick is on the ground with Shawnee standing watch over him.

Mustang Mother's Day

I did just what I wanted to do yesterday and that was play with my horses. I am encouraged with Fancy. Reducing the size of her pen has helped. Jim was even able to stand within just a few feet of her with her actually in a relaxed state. It has helped that she's not able to run to far from us. I put a bareback pad on Maverick yesterday and you would have thought he had worn one all his life. I cinched him up pretty snug and he didn't even flinch. Taylor spent quite a bit of time riding Shawnee. She's doing quite well. She's becoming more responsive to us all the time. The only thing that bothers Taylor is Shawnee's loud whinee. Shawnee is a very talkative little horse...and for such a small horse she has a HUGE voice. Her whole body shakes when she whinees at the other horses. Taylor is finally getting used to the sensation and doesn't want to bail off every time Shawnee has a conversation. I can see that they are going to be a great team.

Fancy

Fancy is still not coming around. She hates to be touched and freaks at absolutely everything. We removed a few of the panels from her pen making it smaller. She is not able to get far from us. We taped two bamboo poles together and are touching her all over with the poles. I'm going to go out three times a day and rub her down with them. She is already more accepting but we are a long way from getting her haltered and handled. I'm trying to remain positive but I'm wondering if she will ever settle down.

Hide and Seek

Ashley and Shawnee were playing hide and seek today. It was the cutest thing. Ashley would run from tree to tree and hide - Shawnee had great fun looking for her and would get so excited when she found Ashley. These mustangs are such treasures (ok- so are the children)!

Pretty Feet

Maverick had his first visit from the farrier yesterday. It went much better then I anticipated. I tried a new farrier and asked him to please look at Maverick. I was concerned that his feet were getting so long but Jim and I hadn't had much success in getting him to stand still. Clint, the new farrier, tested the waters a bit and said he thought he could get the job done. I told him he'd be my hero if he could. You know, it didn't take much of a struggle at all.....Mav wasn't a perfect angel, but as Clint said he isn't a mean horse just a bit of a bratty two year old. Bottom line...Mav has pretty feet again and I feel so much better!

A Good Mustang Day

What a beautiful day it was Sunday! The weather couldn't have been more perfect. The grass is green and the wild flowers are in full bloom. We had a good day with the horses. We put a surcingle on Maverick and it was no big deal to him. He acted like he's always worn one. We were also able (I should say Jim) to get all four feet picked up and cleaned. He's still not happy about picking up the back ones but he's getting better. Shawnee was turned out in the back paddock for a short while. She didn't like the dogs but once she figured out they were on the other side of the fence she settled down. Exposing her to 7 barking dogs across the fence should be a good way to desensitize her. Fancy was taking in all the action and ran up to the fence to meet me as if to say "what about me?"

Marley & Me

I have been reading the book Marley & Me while sitting in the pen with Fancy. She must be very interested in this book. Fancy practically crawled in my lap to read it with me! She wanted in the worst way to taste the book, but of course, being a library book I couldn't exactly let her have it. When she couldn't have the book she decided to taste my shirt, my jeans, and my dirty boots. The silly horse! We can't touch her but she sure can touch us. Just proved to me that all of our subtle efforts have been paying off.....or is it just complete boredom? Whatever the reason, she is certainly coming around. Sitting in the pen does make a difference. She is very relaxed with us on a lower plane then she is. She is on her guard the minute we stand up.