Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Allie & Piper: Meeting Over The Fence






We let Piper out into the field for the first time this morning. Allie was in her paddock to watch. Piper explored the area for awhile then wandered over to "talk" to Allie. We are not ready to release the girls together yet, but the meeting over the fence was fun to watch. No more squealing, not even quiet squealing, and the girls even did some grooming of each other. It is a good beginning........

All is going well as you can tell from the pics.


Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Piper: A New Friend For Allie








Today, 12/30/2008, a new friend for Allie came to our barn. Piper is a 16 or 17ish little Quarter/Arabian mare. Piper's owner, a young adult, was sad to release her, but as times are hard for many of us, she could not afford to keep her. With Magic out for training, Allie was lonely and her cribbing was becoming worse, and we have the hay to feed a equine friend in need. The weather didn't help Allie's loneliness either, as Allie did not get out for lessons. Allie and Piper look a lot alike as you will see from the photos. Piper is just a lot smaller. After the normal ears forward, eyes wide and bright, squealing and sniffing between the two mares (and while keeping the mares separated by the bars of their stall fronts), Piper lifted her tail and peed her greeting! So very "marish"!!!

As there is still a bit of snow on the ground and it was getting late, we did not let Piper into the field today. We will see what tomorrow brings.

We did get Piper a very stylish set of lavender and lime grooming brushes and a hoof pick to match. The funny thing is, Piper came with a lavender flowered tail sock on her tail: I must be psychic! So, lavender is now Piper's color when we can find it, if not lavender, then lime.

We groomed Piper and she stood pretty still but displayed a good bit of curiosity about us. As to picking her hooves, she lifts each hoof for you as you come to it. Nice! I will need to call for a trim very soon, though.

One last thing: go check out my wine store: more labels being added in the next day or two.


http://www.signaturewines.com/diystorefront/index.php?store_url=Abbott

Thanks everyone!!! And Happy New Year!





Monday, December 22, 2008

Magic in Idaho

So, Mag our coming on to 4 yrs. mare, is doing just fine n Idaho under the training of Nichole. I cannot get out to see her as the weather here, between here and there, and there is pretty snowy. In addition, a lady ran a stop sign and took out our 4 wheel drive truck over the weekend. BUMMER!

So far I have been told that Mag has a nice soft mouth, a good stop, and backs nicely. She is, however, still being stubborn at times and displaying this by kicking out with her rear legs.

Can't wait to see her!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Horses and Training


As the owner of a young 3 year old mare, I have seen many interesting training sessions and techniques while trying to find a trainer.

Our mare has sure been through the mill: from trainers who expect a 3 year old mare with just a little training to be well behaved and well started and, because she is strong willed, these trainers do not want to work with our mare, to people in our community who make assumptions as to who she is without even seeing her, to those who take money and do not watch closely over the animal, or who do watch but things happen and....... disaster results. There are many good trainers out there I am sure, and even some of the good trainers do make mistakes. It all boils down to decisions the trainers make, how they respond to any mistakes they may make, how they like or do not like your animal, how your animal responds to their specific technique of training, I believe, and based on my experience to date.

As a horse owner, I have seen some pretty heavy handed trainers. And while I understand horses are large animals and the amount of force it takes to really physically hurt a horse is tremendous, I also understand (and have seen) horses being hurt by many a small human. Face shy horses are often hit in the face be it with an opened hand, closed fist, or some other item, this can create a whole host of problems for a horse owner down the line.... Try haltering or bridling a face shy horse, it can be quite challenging!
Or, in our case, a horse who is sensitive to having her ears touched (she has very hairy ears!!) because of a very bad experience she once had.
I want good communication, involvement with the training, and respect from the trainer to me, my family, and respect given to, as well as demand from, my horse.

I have Mag in with Nichole who is just over the WA border in Idaho for some light ground work and to build back towards being ridden after her long lay off due to her injury. I feel good about this and will update on this blog.