Horses are like potato chips...

You can't just have one, or two or three...
So I got myself another freebie, my third one.
I couldn't say no, I HAD to have her. I trained her when she was 6 mos old and 1 1/2, she has been through two different homes then went back to her original owner both times, both of those homes were neglectful and the last one was abusive.
She came back skin and bones and was whipped in the face, to establish "dominance". When she was just 6 mos old she had been thrown over the side of a stall door to have her feet trimmed, and whacked with a rasp in the hindquarters, I would have given that farrier a piece of my mind if I were there.
It took me a long time to get her reaction to being touched on the hindquarters down to a flinch, rather than tucking her whole rump under herself.
She's quite a energetic little brat, but I like a challenge, so I'm ready for whatever she throws my way. I've never worked with abused horses before, just some that had never had any human contact, I'd say those were easier because they didn't know not to trust humans, with abused horses they have a hard time trusting anything on two feet.
I'll be starting Maddie's training soon and I can't wait!

Drip Drop

Separation anxiety has posed a slight set back in out training, when I take Flossie out she gets antsy not so bad that I can't handle her but I like to have horses full attention so we'll focus on this along with other groundwork.
I'll have to be sure that when she's away from Beth she won't have to work %100 of the time, but also gets a reward, I could just get her out to groom her, give her some love.
Having an even balance of work and reward will keep her guessing and have her looking forward to coming out to see whats next.
Hopefully this rain stops just light sprinkles so far but I hear there is a lot more to come,
I get rain here and there then a dry week, but that rain makes it muddy for weeks.
Alisie

I don't have to be me...till monday.

We did a little work this week,
mostly lunging, direction changing ect. she did really good with all that. I put a bareback pad on her, cinched it up she was a little nippy as I cinched her up, but she didn't do too bad. I'll have to find a headstall that fits her, that head of hers is right in between the big horses and the little ones but her bit size is draft.
I'll have to get work her more next week.

They say stench, I say aroma

You know that smell you get after being around horses for a few hours? especially if the horse had just rolled in the field or worked up a sweat. I love that smell, I know a quite a few people who think that smell is stinky, I know I'd love to bottle it and save it, maybe for a day when I can't see my horses .
So onto Flossie, I went out today ready to do some more lunging, she's caught on incredibly well, maybe let her feel the bit in her mouth for a while, put on a bareback pad and cinch it up to give her some of that tightness she's gonna feel when I saddle her when the time comes, I was raring to go.
I got out there, my jaw dropped, she got into some cockle burs and has them all over her tummy, that fluffy belgian coat of hers catches them so easily it's a pain to get them all out, so I spent a few hours giving her a sponge bath (her very first!) and smothering her with conditioner trying to get those burs untangled.
I got one side done, she got a lesson in patience I think it was a good one. I had her tied nearly the whole time too, that was good for her. tomorrow is going to be another day of being poked and pricked by burs, I have a whole other side to pick at I think she enjoys it just as much as I do. Luckily the weather is warming up to the 40s.
I hope I'll have some progress to write about in the next post, until then!

Intro- Training and Horses

Horse training is a trip, an adventure, an experience.
I've watched a couple horses grow from untouchable, to the sweetest thing you've ever seen,
it's the best feeling to know that you were the one to help that horse along.
Some are easier than others, like one filly I'm training for instance, she only took a little while to gain my trust, despite the fact that I was part of the group of people that captured her, which was very frightening for her, she was also injured with infected wounds that delayed her training but also brought us closer I'd like to think, it took time but she recovered just fine.
Another filly I trained she was only 6 months old, she was having her feet done the farrier slapped her on the rump with a rasp because she kicked at him, take note this horse is a very flighty horse and doesn't trust people at all.
Another time she wouldn't cooperate so he tied her front legs up and put them over a stall door that's very tragic thing for a young horse, or any age horse for that matter. There are other ways to handle a horse, those ways just aren't one of them.
She ended up being a very energetic, very fun horse to work with she always kept me on my toes and that's something I enjoy in a horse.
I'm currently working on the horse that was first mentioned, she's now old enough to be ridden so that's our next big step, with the little preparation she's had she is already doing amazing, I'll continue to log her process.




Flossie the very day I brought her home

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