I only added two extra things for Vegas today. The first was adding the saddle pad before sacking out. She was a smidge flinchy about the girth tightening under her belly again, but she thought things through and then allowed me to tighten it one more hole. I went a little faster today when sacking her out, and she thought about kicking the bag but then thought better of it and put her foot back down. After a few more minutes, I started rubbing the bag on the saddle pad - uh oh, a new noise! She was very tense for a few minutes but didn't offer to move her feet so I kept at it. When she was accepting of that, I threw my arms over her back and starting rubbing and patting all over and being annoying, making sure that she could see my hands with her outside eye, etc. I did this on both sides and she actually did very well.
Her scabs are starting to flake off and in some areas, I can see nice, new skin growing. I think that mentally she will be ready for a saddle later this week, but will have to really check her belly thoroughly before attempting it - I don't want to injure any new skin or pull on the scabs.
Things she is good at:
1. Letting me approach and put on the halter.
2. Being respectful even though we haven't focused on this specifically.
Things to work on this week:
1. Pulling things over her ears - she lets me touch them but does not like 'things' near her ears; she is getting better but is still pretty resistant.
2. More picking up of feet - she was very good about picking them up when politely asked this morning except for her right hind, so needs more work.
3. Standing tied - I am really dreading this, since she is a known halter-breaker. Watching a horse flail and struggle is extremely difficult for me. I have not tied her once since she arrived. I purchased a rope halter with the lead tied to it so there's not much chance of her breaking it, and we have basically a telephone pole that will be used as a patience pole. I'll have my knife handy when I finally work up the nerve to get it done. First though, I'm going to tie her to one of those slipping tie rings to see if her pulling is panic-related or just throwing her weight around.
4. Backing out of a person's space. Most of the work I've done with her up to now is allowing me to approach or encouraging her to approach. She's been very respectful and is no longer scared (most of the time), so it's time for me to start asking her to move away.
5. More scary stuff: tarps, balloons, fly spray, etc.
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