Getting Started

Hi everyone I'm not getting this blog very well but I did get this far.

This is my gelding (who is still not named) on day 3. It was hot here and my family felt sorry for him in the sun I tried to explain he came from the sun before he was here but we put up a flapping umbrella which he did not mind.

He is very friendly let us touch, halter and lead him gets nippy and I'm not sure how to handle that. If someone has a solution to that I would appreciate the help.

Tulip

Here is a photo of Tulip on Day 2. We have taken some great video also. I was glad to get that number off of her neck.

progress

Well we have finally named number 2055 to "tulip". Tulip has made some great progress. The day we unloaded her out of the trailer I spent a few hours standing in the pen with her. The second day I was able to catch her and now she is now leading, picking up her feet, standing at the tie rail and packing around a bareback pad. I hope to be able to give her a bath this weekend (when you pet her your fingers turn black). We have let her loose in the arena to run with another mustang of ours. They seem to have a great time running around together. I'll attach some photos of her once she has had her bath.

Muffin's new baby

Those of you that came to last weekends meet and greet know that Ashley's horse Muffin, was due to foal. Well he is here and is a bay colt. He arrived on Tuesday 2:30am. Ashley named him Comanche. All is well with mom and baby:).

Pumba and Bayberry

This is Pumbaa.

This is Beth's Zoe Star
This is Bayberry and Ingrid

I changed Halle Berry's name to Bayberry. These are some pictures of the horses that were at the fund raiser for Angi & Prosperity. We had a lot of fun and hope to get some of the babies together for a play day.

Monday Bayberry and I work hard on getting her tag off. It was so tight that it left a indent for two days on her neck. She has been doing great at haltering, giving to pressure, pick up front feet, and leading around the pen. :) Pumbaa is getting use to the rope and is no longer attacking it. He is letting me rub the stick all over his face, neck, back and front legs.

More the Merrier

We have some other trainers signed up to post, and more that have been invited! I am eager to see pictures and stories of the other babies.

Sera is doing well, she is calmer and able to look at me when she is out in the big yard with Symphony. I tried putting her back in the small yard Sunday, and she couldn't stand still. She was nervous and circled at a trot or lope, pausing only occasionally. In the big yard she has room to move away and does at a walk. She also doesn't go far as she wants to stay near Symphony. So in the big yard she will walk in a circle stopping to look at me and I retreat.. Soon she is drawing towards me.

It still takes a bit before she will turn and look at me that first time on Monday and Tuesday, but she is a much calmer less reactive filly in the bigger space. She likes to hang out near Dandys stall, (our week old colt.) He wants to play but Hayden (his mom) makes sure that Sera knows she is not allowed to touch him.

Symphony is letting Sera eat with her a bit but still moves her away if she crowds into her... and if mom is available for scratching itchy spots. :D

Zoe Star

She has lived up to her name this weekend. After all she put up with on Saturday, Angi and I left her alone. Sunday we played with Chester and other horses. Angi determined that after a year of not being ridden that Chester was slightly nervous, but was trying to be relaxed. He is so smart. He allowed Angi to put the saddle on with no fuss. She got on walked him around a bit and got off. We both decided that she is going to ride him the rest of the week to get him more comfortable with her up there. Monday night her and I decided to play with Ms. Zoe. She really made me proud of her. Angi worked with her a little and then I got in with her. This was the first time i was getting in to actually work with her. After a couple of minutes of stop and go, I reached out and touched her nose with the tip of my pointer finger, She did freak out and run the other way, but I decided that was a good place to stop! I felt her become more scared with every step I took and I wasn't sure if I would get her to even sniff me, but to let me touch her. Now she is at Angi's for the rest of the week and I am going back this weekend for a little more playing. YAY!!!! ZOE STAR!!!!

A week already? Catching up.

We had left the girls alone (except to feed and water) so that Zoe could go to a gentling demo on Saturday. We separated the babies fri afternoon and took Zoe off to clinic. She loaded right up and traveled well. We picked up some other horses along the way with little fuss.

We did offer them a pool since Sera likes to dig in the water so much, she kept tipping it over. She was not very concerned about the pool. She promptly climbed in and started pawing it. The first pool didn't last long (I figured it wouldn't, it was not the kind I had wanted, and it has been replaced with something a little bit hardier, but still not what I would consider Mustang tough!)

Zoe visited with Pumba and Halle (Ingrid's pair) all three participated in the fund raiser for Angi and Prosperity to travel to Sac for The Western States Mustang Challenge. We took Zoe back to Angi's. Beth stayed with her so she could play with Zoe, Chester, and Freedom today.

The three yearlings were super stars. Each a little different and therefor great examples of horse behaviors. Zoe was able to face up and smell a stick. Pumba accepted the rope and learned to give to pressure. Halle (whom Ingrid has been working with) was haltered for the second time and stood to be touched with a stick from head to tail and down her legs.

Sera stayed at home, and I put her out in the big yard with Symphony, so Sera could start to learn the ropes. At BLM I think they keep the youngsters separate from the big horses once they are weaned, so she probably has not had any mare time for awhile. Symphony let her know right away she was not sharing her alfalfa! There was another pile for Sera but after 4 meals she still had a hard time eating at her own pile, and with the space Symphony is expecting her to maintain.

Sera is used to bunching in a pack with the other babies when she is nervous or scared and to stand separate from them, is HARD. It makes her vulnerable and she doesn't like it!

Luckily for Sera, Symphony is a nice leader who will nip, and even lift a hind hoof if needed and only kicks or removes hide if someone else takes it to that level. Sera is already less reactive and able to look at me, and even follow me a bit.

Symphony is teaching her that

A You may not eat MY food.
B You may not run up my butt, nor do you push past me, because I am the leader!
C You can not have my mom! She is MY mom!
D Tarps are not to be feared! In fact they usually have food under them and should be examined very carefully.


Zoe is what I have always known as a black bay. (BLM calls her brown) She has a star, one hind sock and one front roan sock.. yes roan. (if you click on the picture it will open a larger version)

I have seen roans, and even roan flanks, I have watched horses gray, but I have never seen just a roan sock before. When Beth and I talked about her name, I asked her if there were any stars sporting long lace gloves these days.. (maybe thats how Star became part of Zoe's name.. )

Whats in a name?

I have been neglecting these two a bit, but then they went from BLM in the middle of nowhere to my side yard. (On a corner so they are watching cars trucks, and the guy that is always pushing then leaving empty shopping carts on the corner. )

Many people came by to see our new baby Dandy, and took a peek at the yearlings too. Cameron, my young neighbor across the street (he is almost 5) came over with his mom. He is always visiting Symphony and who ever else is in the yard. We had to get tough about him looking before he crosses the street to visit though!

He was fascinated by the yearlings and they by him. Maybe they never saw a little person before but my filly was enthralled she was following him along the fence moving closer, until Cameron just reached out and touched her nose! She was surprised and pulled her head back but didn't bolt, she paused for a second (I could see her thinking) and then she laughed!

I made sure Cameron knew he was the first person to touch her, and asked him to help me decide her name.

I usually add something for their adoption day, but these girls won't be adopted until August, so I looked at her HMA (Jackson Mountian) and her capture date, September 11th?
That's a tall order! So you can maybe understand why this was so hard.

I was thinking at first she's Justa bay, so Justa whatever might work, but once I saw the date, Justa anything sounded wrong. I don't want to belittle the date with something trite, I wanted it to be respectful but not make her name TOO important.

Cameron says her name should be Sarah (his moms name is Sarah) So I named her Sera short for September Serenade. Beth named her filly Zoe Star.

The Mission Begins..

12 hours from home finds Ingrid and I checking in to a hotel in Reno, and after 5 horizontal hours we are off again to fetch our little visitors.

It is a pleasant surprise to find Patti in the office, with the schedule the MHF folks have these next few weeks.. perhaps Patti was already nearby?

We get in line and wait, watch move forward, and then in what seems a blur 6 babies are in the trailer. I really only remember watching the last one load... (mine was first in the trailer, and I hadn't even made it out of my truck!)

3 bays, 2 reds, and a Black Bay, 3 Geldings, 3 Fillies...
The last baby was Sal's, it was almost a black, but after going half way into the chute at least 3 times, a cute bay gelding got tired of that and walked in himself.

10 hours on the road and we make it to Angi's. Despite rest stops the babies are too tired to be sorted and reloaded so we leave them to rest in he round pen for a day and sort and deliver them Saturday evening.