And so it begins

Vegas happened...

I was driving out to the barn this morning when I received the above picture and a long text from Heather on my phone.  Luckily I'd just stopped for a train, so I opened the phone to see what the heck had happened.  Heather had to feed and turn out early this morning, and Vegas apparently didn't like being left behind in her stall.  This is what Heather found when she walked around the barn to see what all the commotion was.  She told me that she was unable to catch her but Vegas seemed to be moving fine and wasn't bleeding that she could see, so she drove her into the arena and closed the gate.  What a way to start the day...

I'm not going to lie.  For the rest of the drive, I was wondering what the heck I'd gotten myself into.  Could I do this?  Was it a mistake to take her halter off yesterday?  What if she broke more stuff (or me)?  What have I done???

Heather was gone by the time I arrived, with a promise to put up a new door this afternoon.  With trepidation, I unlocked the tack room, grabbed some hay cubes, and walked around the barn to evaluate the damage.  All of the bolts meant to hold the door onto the door jambs were still secure.  She hit it hard enough (jumping?) to bend it and cause it to come loose from the bolts.   

To calm my nerves, I went to say good morning to Miss Ruby who was still in her stall, where she was supposed to be.  I loved on her, put her boots on and let her out to graze while I grabbed Vegas' halter and lead, and my whip.  Then I walked out to meet the beast.

We did a lot of approach/retreat.  When she moved off on her own, she got to trot around the arena until she started asking to stop, at which time we would start again.  I approached her and left several times before I even started fiddling with the halter.  Then I started rubbing her with the halter and leaving, then placing it over her nose, taking it off again and leaving.  This is such an ingrained issue with her, the last thing I want to do is go too fast.  After an hour and a half (with a lot of breaks when she was really good), I finally led her over to the round pen where we started all over again. 

Afterwards, I did some sacking out with the rope, which she is not fond of.  Again today she did not want to pick up her feet, so I worked on that issue with the rope (loop under fetlock, give command 'pick it up', use rope to encourage lifting of the foot).  I groomed her with a rubber curry, which she wasn't sure she enjoyed.  I also placed a rope around her heart girth and tightened it to judge her reaction.  She reacted a little the first time but was perfect every time afterwards.  She's more reactive on her right side, and will tuck her butt when you stroke her rump on that side.  As for her run-in with the door, I couldn't find any marks on her, lucky mare!

I hope this post doesn't come across as negative.  Vegas never made an aggressive move towards me.  She never tried to be non-compliant except with her feet - hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to make some progress in this area.  She was giving me soft eyes most of the time that I was working with her today, but she's not yet sure that she enjoys all of the attention.