Ah, the weather around here…

Yesterday’s weather was even worse than the day before – we had freezing cold strong wind, rain/hail/snow mix, and general nastiness. I went out to the pasture to try to do the world’s shortest ever training session, but Natty was all freaked out with the wind. At one point I thought she wheeled around threatening to kick me, and I yelled at her, but right away she obeyed the command I gave, so I was a little confused. Then I was trying to get her to walk down the hill with me, and she was walking sideways with her butt to the wind – so I finally realized she wasn’t threatening to kick me, the poor thing was just cold! She decided treats weren’t worth leaving the shelter of the trees, and I agreed, so I carried her grain bucket up there and fed her under the shelter. She still spooked and bolted down the hill with the other horses once. I guess they were all fired up. She has only ever spooked one other time when I’ve been working with her, and that was also in a strong wind. I’ll keep that in mind in the future! Today’s weather was … well, I managed to catch a short break in the weather for our training session (still hit rain and hail coming home). I “tied” her to the fence post again and was able to do some really good work with the curry comb – I got one side of her neck, one shoulder, and most of her back and belly on that side before she started to fidget. I made her stand just a minute longer behaving herself so she doesn’t learn that I’ll turn her loose if she’s bad, then I let her go. She went straight to the nearest soft grass and rolled really thoroughly, so I guess the grooming made her itchy. She’s shedding a ton right now. She did pretty well with the tying and grooming though – once again she didn’t freak out. I tried to get some pictures and videos of her today, but she’s not that exciting. Mostly she follows me around and stays so close I can’t even get a picture. Also, she’s a really lazy sort of creature – I’ve only seen her trot the very first day she came home and yesterday when she spooked, and I’ve never seen her move faster than that except to charge another mare, and then only for a stride or two. I guess that’s a good thing in a trail horse – take a nice, leisurely ride and get a good look at everything around. But not great for the videos. I’ll try to insert one anyway, for those of you who may be interested.

Last things – the noise in the video is neighbors on 4-wheelers, which didn’t bother Natty at all

and I finally found out what was doing all the squealing next door – it is pigs. I still think there are donkeys down the road though!

Natty’s probably missing Canada today!

We had snow today! It set a record for the latest snowfall on record, and although it didn’t stick, it sure feels cold to me. I felt bad that Natty didn’t have a blanket, but she does still have a fair amount of Canada-thick winter coat. We had a short training session today because my hands were freezing because they were soaked in Natty drool and the wind was blowing. But, I did finally get brave and “tie” her – or at least wrapped her lead rope around the top of a fence post a few times so it seemed like she was tied. She leaned back on the rope some but didn’t freak out or try to get loose. I was bothering her – asking for feet and petting her belly and stuff – and when she backed up I kept walking in front of her and calling her to get her to move up a step. That let up on the pressure on the rope some, and she was doing it herself, so hopefully she’ll figure it all out quickly. She’s doing great on the feet – letting me hold them and everything (still stomping when she puts them down, though, and sometimes giving an extra stomp for good measure). Maybe tomorrow I’ll get really brave and ask for a back one… Probably I should find out what will happen since I’ve got that poor farrier coming Monday! Ah, so Monday – big day. I’ve scheduled the vet and farrier at the same time Monday afternoon. The vet will come, sedate Natty (and me too if I’m lucky – this is all very stressful!) then take care of her teeth, get her up to date on shots and worming, ultrasound to check for baby and/or sand, and then the farrier can take over and try to trim her feet while she’s still nice and out of it. I did warn the poor guy that she’s big and might act up – told him it’s ok if we don’t get all the feet done… I just hope he won’t be scared off for good because he’s the best recommendation I’ve gotten. So everybody cross your fingers, and I’ll update Monday evening!

Tried on an XL bridle today

The verdict is still out on this one – it’s gonna be close if it fits or not. I’ve been trying these without bits, since Natty has never had one before, and this XL bridle looks to me like it might not be long enough for the bit to be comfortable. I’m hoping to try it with a bit while she’s sedated for the vet next Monday. Funny thing is, they tried this bridle on all the horses in the barn who could possibly use it, and it’s too big for ALL of them. That’s why it ended up at the tack sale a few weeks back and didn’t even sell there. Hard to believe Natty is really that huge, but I guess she is. When I signed her up for the vet, their computer program only lets them choose one breed and then they can mark the horse as a cross. They wanted to put Natty in as a Morgan cross, and I said that would be ok so long as they warn the vet that she’s BIG. Maybe I should have had them list her as a Belgian cross instead – might be less misleading. Anyway, we didn’t do much in the way of training today because I was waiting on the vet (turned out she had cancellations and showed up 3 hours early and just did the horses she already knew since nobody was home). I tried on that other bridle and worked on “back” and “get around” because Little Missy is getting too pushy and needs to give me some space. I think she already knows both commands – I barely have to touch her to get her to do them. I’m just working on faster, more consistent response, and a few steps back each time. She’s smart as a whip, this one, so I think she’ll get the idea that she has to work for treats pretty quickly and stop pushing me. She’s getting pretty vocal with me now. I went into the barn a couple times to check on when the vet was coming, and she whinnied to me when I came back each time. It’s nice to know she likes me! That’ll really help come Monday when the vet sedates her for the dental work (and hopefully a hoof trim, too – still waiting on a call back from the farrier). Everybody cross your fingers that goes well! I’ll be back Monday with the full story, I’m sure…

Tried on a bridle today

The verdict is in – Natty’s head is big. Just a smidge too big for my old bridle, even on the largest holes. I’ll have to track down that lady from the stable who sent one to the tack sale because it was too big for every other horse in the barn – sounds like just what I need. But back to the highlight here – Natty let me bridle her (no bit). I was pretty excited about this, mostly because it’s unlike the halter in that I have to get it over her ears and she let me. Natty’s comfort zone is to have me directly in front of her where she can keep an eye on what I’m doing, so I stood right in front of her and put that bridle straight on over her ears. I know it’s unorthodox, but it works! The normal way requires standing next to her, and she doesn’t tolerate that nearly as well. I still haven’t even been able to brush her whole belly because she turns around to see what I’m doing before I can get to the back half. And forget about rump and back legs. Gonna be awhile before I can touch those. But hey, that’s probably easier than fixing a head-shy horse, so I’m happy with the current state of things.

Natty ate her grain again today, woo-hoo! The weanling in the pasture knows what a bucket is for, so she showed up as soon as I brought it out to the pasture – she actually grabbed ahold of the side with her little baby teeth and tried to pull the whole bucket out from under Natty’s nose. This, Natty tolerated fine. The baby gave up and went to lie down maybe 15 feet away, and when Natty had almost finished her grain her mean streak must have kicked in, because she backed right up to that poor napping baby and kicked her right in the side. What a horrendous brat I have on my hands! I couldn’t believe she did that. Baby never saw her coming because she was facing away from Natty, so she got a bad surprise. This bothers me a little bit because I realized yesterday that Natty tends to treat me like a foal – she does that snakey mare thing to keep the other horses away from me, and a couple times she’s nipped at me when I wasn’t doing what she thought I should. I think she probably just doesn’t know any other way to interact with annoying little pipsqueaks, but we’re going to have to break that habit quickly because it’s not okay with me at all! Especially now that I’ve seen her kick the baby for no reason. Maybe I need to act bigger and tougher myself? But I don’t want to scare her. I guess we’ll have to figure out a way to work through this. So far all I can do is make sure she knows I’m in charge, and the only way I can really do that is to say no treat until she performs some behavior I ask for. It’s a start, I guess. Poor sassy girl has a lot of learning left to do, but we’ll get through it!

We left the pasture today

Leaving the pasture is exhausting! For Natty and her weanling friend, apparently…

I wanted to be able to work with Natty today without the weanling butting in, so I decided to take her out of the pasture. We just went right outside the gate, so not too far. She was okay about it, just a little difficult. I think she wanted to go exploring more than she wanted to put up with me, so she was stomping some and swinging her head around. She was stubborn about lifting her feet for the first time, but I made her back a few times and took a few swipes with the brush and made her lead a little bit and then put her back in the pasture. Somebody walked by with another horse while we were out there, and she didn’t seem to mind that at all, so that’s good news. At least now I know she will act up a bit out there but won’t take off or anything. She went back in alright – she was a little skittish about the gate, but I didn’t have it open very wide because I didn’t want to let the weanling out. Luckily I got her back in safely without letting any of the others out. I got her some plain oats today, and she loved them, even with Mare Plus on them! After she ate the first serving, I mixed in some of the grain she’s been refusing, and she ate that too. Now we’re well on our way to feed-through wormer, haha! I’m glad to be able to slip her some vitamins, too. She was back at her salt block several times while I was there today, so she must have really needed it. The ground all around it is full of hoof prints and all trampled today, so I think she’s been going over there very often.

I was watching her nap in the sun right before I left, and I do think I saw one good baby kick in that big old belly. Hopefully the vet will be able to confirm on Thursday.

Natty whinnied to me today!

This afternoon I got about halfway across the pasture to Natty when she looked up and saw me, whinnied, and headed my way. That sound is absolutely heartwarming, especially coming from a horse who has never been loved on before. Maybe it’s like Claire said, she was just aching for some affection. It sure made my day to hear her excitement at seeing me coming. We didn’t have a real training lesson today – the weather was bad, I was tired, and weanling in the pasture is meddlesome. I just made her lift her feet and come when called a few times and then let her finish her alfalfa cubes from the bucket. The baby in the pasture (whose momma was removed yesterday for weaning) seems to have accepted Natty as a new mommy, and she is surprisingly tolerant of the little one. The little one was literally biting Natty’s grain bucket and trying to pull it out from under her nose, and she didn’t even mind. Me, I was frustrated – I wanted the little scamp to go away and let me work with my horse. I think I’m going to have to start taking her out of the pasture to work with her to avoid trouble from the baby.

Some of you may not know that one of Natty’s former herd mates died from a bad sand colic last week. Since then, I’ve been looking at Natty’s big old gut and wondering if she’s really pregnant or if it’s all sand. The other mare, Nellie, had more than 5 gallons of sand in her intestines, and my first thought was that she must have had some kind of mineral deficiency to eat so much sand, even over time. Then I figured if Nellie had a mineral deficiency, Natty probably did too. I dragged a salt block out to the pasture for her this afternoon, and I was amazed by her reaction. She abandoned her dinner and came straight to the thing, starting to lick before I was even done dragging it into place. She went to town – licking, scraping with her teeth, pushing and turning it over with her whole muzzle. And she nipped the weanling to get her away – Natty wasn’t about to share that wonderful salt. I went inside the barn for awhile, came back out and took some pictures, and as I was driving away, Natty was still licking that block. She’ll probably have chapped lips tomorrow, but she must have really needed it. I’m glad I got her one today. I took it from another stall, so I’ve got to drop by the feed store tomorrow and get another – I think I’ll get 2 just to have one ready as soon as she finishes off this one. All I can think is that she must not have had one for a really long time, if ever. Poor baby. I’m also wondering if she’d eat her grain if I salted it for her – something to think about. I’m still thinking about having the vet ultrasound her just to see if that big belly is baby or sand, but hopefully I can at least keep minerals available for her so she won’t try to eat anything funny in the future.

Natty has the cutest little pink tongue.

Practically Trained Already

Wow, Natty is amazing. Most anything I ask of her, she does. Either she already knows all this stuff, or I’m incredibly clear in my requests and she’s incredibly willing to oblige. Today I haltered her, led her, made her back and get over (both ways), lifted the front feet, and did a fair amount of grooming. She was really well-behaved and tolerant today 🙂 I even got out the measuring tape and measured every-which-way. She’s about 15.2 tall, blanket size of 86, and weight/girth measurement way bigger than my measuring tape. Can we say BELLY? I sure hope it’s all baby and not sand, but the vet will be out Thursday and we’ll discuss the sand possibility. Ah, but back to her weight – I tried to guess-timate based on how much more tape she would have needed and also plugged her into the Rural Heritage weight calculator, and she’s somewhere between 1500-1800lbs. I guess that’s quite a bit of horse to deal with, but luckily she’s really well behaved (knock on wood). Her leading isn’t the greatest – she has to be really sure I want her to walk before she’ll get a move on, but once she’s moving she does really well. Her “get over” is excellent – I barely have to touch her. And her feet! Oh, her feet. I can’t believe how good she is – it really blows my mind. This horse has never once refused to lift her front feet for me! Mostly I just have to run my hand down her leg to the knee and she’ll lift her foot, but if she doesn’t lift right away, I just lightly pinch and she picks it right up. It’s really unbelievable. I have to think someone must have worked really hard with her in Canada lately to get her to this stage. I’m trying to scope out a place I can tie her without having to take her inside the barn, and once I find somewhere good I will try the back feet and see how she is with them. There is a section of fence near the back gate that I think will work well, but there were several new horses turned out today and milling in that area, so I didn’t take her up there. Maybe tomorrow. She seems to have really bonded with her little pasture buddy – little buddy’s mommy was gone today (weaning time, I guess) and Natty was letting the baby hang out pretty close and running off the other horses when they got to close. Interestingly, she runs them off when they get too close to me, too. I guess she’s adopted me as her very own. Or else she’s just a big pasture bully – she is sure a lot sturdier than the other horses out there, and I bet after living with all those full draft mares all her life she really learned to stick up for herself.

Practicing more of the same today

Natty and I spent most of today practicing the stuff she has already learned. I led her all the way across the pasture, through the gate to the far end and up to the top of the hill, and she did beautifully. We were starting and stopping all the way for practice, and although she’s sometimes a little slow to get going, she was doing better the farther we went. She didn’t do any pulling or backing or trying to run me over or anything, so I think our biggest hurdle is going to be keeping her nose out of my pocket while leading. She learned where I keep the treats in a big hurry – now she needs manners about trying to help herself! I was doing other stuff during the stops to give her time to chew her alfalfa cube. I took my rubber curry comb out with me today, and I was grooming a little on both sides. She’s shedding quite a bit and pretty dusty under all that hair. I was also running my hands down her front legs and asking for her front feet. She has never once refused to pick them up (knock on wood) and will hold them nicely for several seconds at least. I got a good look at each of them today, and they seem to be in very good shape. And for those who were curious, yes, they are QUITE large. I’m positive someone was working with her back in Canada for her to be lifting her feet for me already. I suspect they were working with her on other stuff, too – she really doesn’t act like a horse who hasn’t been handled in a couple of years and not much before that. I was running low on treats by the time we got to the top of the pasture hill, so I decided to end our training session on a good note and turn her loose up there. She tagged after me back to the gate begging for treats, so several times on the walk back I put her halter on and took it off again, rewarding her each time. That seems to be her most hesitant behavior, but a vitally important one. She’s getting better fast, though, and you can never practice too often! I got her some wormer in the form of alfalfa pellets because she’s due for worming but not yet at the stage where I’d even consider trying paste wormer. Of course she wouldn’t eat it, but she did play in the bucket some. Also no grain or Mare Plus again today. I even tried putting a little molasses in today, but she really didn’t like that! Pretty funny to watch the immediate, violent reaction to her first taste of molasses. I sure won’t try adding that ever again! She seems to only like her hay and her alfalfa cubes. I think I might try the wormer alfalfa pellets mixed with cubes first thing tomorrow, before I fill her little tummy with training treats. Cross your fingers she eats it! Speaking of her little tummy, I tried to get some pictures of her coming and going today so you can see how wide she is – she’s built like a mack truck! The “going” picture doesn’t show as much, but you can see how wide she is walking toward the camera. Also included, a slightly fuzzy close-up of her little nose in my pocket. Beggar girl!

Natty Coming

Natty Going

Natty Picking Pockets

Leading and lifting feet

Natty was excellent as usual today. We practiced putting on and taking off her halter again for awhile, and then we practiced leading a little bit. That was really more like coming when called with a lead rope on, but hey, it’s a start. At least she didn’t turn tail and bolt on me. Also, she is already lifting her front feet when I run my hand down her leg. I think her rancher must have been working with the last few horses he had because she sure doesn’t act as skittish as I expected. There were 3 new horses in the pasture today. I think they were turn-outs from the barn because they were all blanketed. Natty was noticeably aggressive toward one of them. Turns out that one absolutely loves the baby Natty’s been out with for the last several days and tried to keep Natty away from it, but Natty is pretty sure that’s her baby to protect – so the two mares were fighting over who got to protect the little one while little one’s real mom tried to keep them both away. Horses! I am glad to see that Natty is protective of little ones, though. I thought I saw a little kick today, but it could have been wishful thinking on my part. Once again she did not eat her grain and supplement. I think tomorrow I’ll try a little molasses and see how that goes over. I’m just thrilled with how well she’s progressing already. Now I have to try to think up what new to try tomorrow!

Haltered without a chute!

Natty and I passed a big milestone today – I was able to halter her in the pasture, probably the first time she has had this done outside a chute. Okay, okay, I know you tame-horse type people think I’m an idiot right now, but this is a huge relief for me. I was a little nervous that if I took that thing off, I’d never get it back on since there isn’t a chute to be had in her new home. But we just took baby steps, and it went just fine. I just petted her and left it on for a few minutes before taking it off again. Hopefully tomorrow it’ll be even easier. I am especially relieved about this because I would like to have the vet out to get her up to date on shots and worming, but I’m not making an appointment until I know I can catch the horse. We’re going down the right road now, that’s for sure! The only other new thing introduced today was a brush, and she thought that was fine. I just did one shoulder since she took her first mud bath and I really needed something more like a pressure washer to clean her up (just kidding!). I met the equine massage therapist today, and she told me Natty and her baby pasture mate have bonded and were playing earlier today. I wish I could have seen that – I hear it was really cute. Natty doesn’t play with the baby when I’m there – she’s really focused on me (which is great – better to bond with her human than with her new herd, in my opinion). No new pics today – I almost got a great closeup of teeth and extender-lip, but I had the camera in my left hand and accidentally pushed the “off” button instead of the “take a picture” button. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get some new ones. Natty didn’t eat her grain today. I’m thinking tomorrow I’ll put her Mare Plus on some loose alfalfa from the bottom of the cube bag, because I know she’ll eat that, and I really would like for her to eat her supplement. Not that she probably needs it, but it’s really for my peace of mind. I think that’s all to report today!