3-13-00 First day back from spring break!! The mare now has a name--"Spirited Journey." I think I'll call her "Spirit." She (and the people taking care of her) survived just fine over my vacation. Today Spirit learned how to pony. It took a little effort...I worked her from Springer for about 15 minutes. We just did the "John Lyons" stuff--making her move, turn and stop. After that, she was leading from Springer very, very well. I didn't go out of the round pen, (learned my lesson about moving too fast!) but maybe we'll try that tomorrow.
3-14-00 Today we worked on the legs. I used the whip, then a brush, and finally my hands to touch her front legs all the way down to the ground. She never seemed really *afraid* (no sweating, snorting or trembling) but if I got passed her comfort zone, she would *bow*. It was very weird. I talked to my farrier friend, and she said that horses who are very, very afraid often exibit this kind of thing. Since that doesn't really fit Spirit, I wonder if it's just ingrained. I have no idea if or how bucking horses get thier feet done, but I doubt it's the "lead horse up, pick up foot, trim foot, put foot down" that I'm used too.
3-15-00 SNOW!! Lots and lots of snow!! I can't believe Colorado weather--it's been sunny and in the 60's for the last couple weeks. I spent my afternoon out at the barn moving horses, panels and water troughs. We brought in some horses that didn't have any shelter, including Spirit. She ponied so well off of Springer!! She was such a good girl. She wouldn't follow him into the pen, though. I got off and tried to lead her in, and we finally got her there by bribing her with hay. This "out of round pen" experience is just so much better than the last time. Even when she didn't want to go into the pen, she didn't pull back and try to run off. She actually tried to figure out what we where asking of her.
3-17-00 Can't get much work done...there's about 4 inches of water in the round pen, and about 6 inches of suck-your-boots-off mud everywhere else. (I can't wait till the indoor is finished!) I made Spirit follow me in her pen, and groomed her today. I need to start using a new cue to get her to come to me and follow--other boarders at the barn keep going up to her pen and clucking to her, trying to get her to come to them. Unfortunatly, they won't back it up with a flick of a whip if she doesn't come!! <sigh> I hope that the sun comes out and dries everything out--I want to get some work done!! Took some more pictures today--you can really tell how her color has changed since 2-21.
3-22-00 I still can't really use the round pens because of the snow, so we're just working on things that I can do in Spirits pen. Today I focused the girth and the front legs--I can actually touch her entire girth area, and she's really getting more comfortable about her legs. I also took a saddle pad and rubbed it all over her body before just leaving on her back for awhile--she didn't care at all about that! I was really surprised at Spirit's attutude today when Alison went in to hay her--Spirit was jumpy and all over the place. I'm in and out of her pen all the time, and she doesn't care--but I guess I've done quite a bit to build her trust. I need to get her used to more people handling her, but it'll have to wait a few days. Friday I have to fly out to California for a family reunion and won't return until Monday night <sigh>...all those days without horses--what will I do? ;-)
3-23-00 Didn't get the chance to do much today--I have too many classes on Thursdays to really get much done at the barn. But a month ago Tuesday, I bought Spirit, and a month ago yesterday, I began working with her. Even though I'm not very close to being on her, I feel like I've made quite a bit of progress--I can touch her, she leads fairly well in an enclosed area or if she's near other horses, she ponies off of Springer. I'm able to touch two of her three "danger" zones--girth and front legs, with the back legs being the third. (I'll start on those next week.) She'll wear a saddle pad without complaining, and if I stand on something higher than her, I can lean over her back. It's all baby stuff that I never thought as difficult before, but for Spirit, these are all big steps. In the coming month, I want to be able to pick up her front and hind feet to pick them out. I want her to be comfortable with other people, especially men (they make her very nervous). I want her to be wearing a saddle, and be comfortable with the tacking-up process. I want her to be leading anywhere with me, rather than needing a lead or a pony horse. That really sounds like a lot to accomplish in four weeks, but I think I can get it all done--especially if I can get some good weather.
3-28-00 Today my friend Liz went out to the barn with me, and got a chance to play with Spirit. Before we left, Liz was able to touch Spirit almost everywhere (head, neck, shoulder, back) and Spirit was fairly comfortable with Liz. At the start, Spirit was very edgy, but I just stayed near Liz until Spirit figured out she was another okay human. Alison also told me that Spirit is getting comfortable around her, which is fabulous. I'm having a hard time finding friends who I feel comfortable working with Spirit--there aren't too many people who are *quiet* enough in thier demenor and sufficently knowledgable with horses. I don't want Spirit to have a bad experience, and I really don't want anyone getting hurt. Once she's a little more trusting and a little more predictable, I'll be a lot less picky about who I let near her. Tomorrow, I'm planning on ponying her into the round pen and (hopefully) getting some more good pictures of her--maybe even some of her moving!! But the forecast calls for snow tonight, so...
3-30-00 More snow. I'm ready for summer. Spirit is learning to eat grain from my hand...she was *very* reluctant at first, but is catching on pretty quick. She's sloppy, but very gentle. I'm not planning on feeding treats by hand to her often, if at all, but it's just one more thing I can work on while she's in her pen. And I would like to be able to give her a food reward every now and then :-) Saturday is vet day at my barn--all the horses get vaccinated and wormed. The vet coming out has a reputation for being good with difficult horses. We'll see what happens!
