Vegas, a good update

For the curious, Vegas seems to have finally settled in. There was no pacing, destroying of fences and other property, no threatening to jump the fence onto neighboring property, or running over humans at her new home today.  Things were really crazy yesterday, and I was worried that someone was going to get hurt.  What changed?  They brought home another horse, which seems to have given Vegas that extra boost of confidence that she needed - I guess the minis just weren't cutting it for her.  Anyway, hopefully any future Vegas updates will be about how she continues to gain confidence and do well with her new owners. 

Updates part 2

First, pictures of some of the mustangs.

8 yo sorrel gelding - this boy was a jerk to the other horses in his pen, but my eye was constantly drawn to him.

A very cute and in-your-face filly.  After our first encounter, I stayed away from this pen, knowing that if I wasn't careful I'd get attached.

This mare was another that I was drawn to. 

The same mare again.  Just a lovely girl. 

This gelding had an amazing presence.  He was also huge for a mustang, at least 15.2 and that's probably conservative.  A 5 yo, non-reactive, with a quiet intelligence shining in his eyes.  If I could have taken one home, I would seriously have considered him.

And again.  I wasn't able to get a full body shot - this boy was a master at keeping other horses between himself and the people milling around the pens.

Last but not least, a 3 yo sales authority gelding that ended up at Jennie's farm.  Look at those long legs!

Okay, so back to Vegas.  When I pulled onto the drive and got out to open the gate, I could see Vegas behind another fence, pacing and trotting and obviously agitated.  We drove through the pasture and pulled through the next gate, which is their yard.  I parked and got all of my horse stuff out, working stick, longe line, rope halter and lead, etc., and stuffed my pockets with hay cube pieces.  By this point, Vegas had stopped her pacing and was watching me.  I started to approach her with the rope halter and my working stick - as soon as I took a step in her direction, she walked happily towards me.  She waited patiently while I replaced the nylon halter with the rope halter, then I gave her a scratch and turned to her new owner.  I'm not going to lie - I was completely flattered by Vegas' behavior.  Here I thought I was going to have to really work to catch her; instead she showed me that she has bonded with me.  Her adopter was floored, and said something along the lines of 'No f-ing way...I can't believe it' and put his hands behind his head.  I told him that this was a very good thing.  She wasn't reverting like I'd feared - she was just reacting to a new place, new people, and new sounds.

We stood there and talked for a few minutes while I got the whole story.  Vegas had busted out of their pen (they were warned that she would probably try).  She'd broken the latch (that hasn't been fixed yet) but they tried to return her to the pen to eat her breakfast that morning.  Vegas was having none of it.  The first time they tried to put her in the pen, she'd shouldered them out of the way and taken off.   They tried again and again, and it had gotten to the point that she wouldn't let them take her within 50 feet of it before she pulled away from them again.  Okay.  It took us an hour to make it to the pen so she could eat.  We approached and I asked her to whoa before we completely left her comfort zone.  Stop for scratches and maybe a hay cube, stand for a second, turn around and go back to the safe zone and start all over again.  By the time it was too dark to see, Vegas was eating relatively calmly in her pen, by herself with no halter on.  That's when I heard a weird noise.  It sounded like a pig.  I turned and asked if they had pigs in the shed (that Vegas' pen butts up against) - they have two potbellies in there.  Aha!  So, not only is her pen away from the minis - who scream for her when they can't see her - but she's stabled next to pigs, which she finds terrifying.

It took me only a few minutes after arriving to realize that Vegas was in total sensory overload - their place was pretty overwhelming for a horse like Vegas.  They had very loud neighbors, re: screaming kids and babies.  At one point, somebody pulled into the neighbor's yard and laid on the horn for a solid minute and a half - according to the adopters, he does that every day when he arrives home.  Then there were the screaming minis.  And the barking dog that Vegas had to pass to get to her pen, the constantly crowing rooster, the calves crying to be fed, and the pigs.

By the time I left, Vegas was calm.  I told them that it was going to take a while for her to settle in and get used to everything that goes on there.  I explained that the fact that she approached me on her own showed that she was willing to take direction from a person even when she felt like things were out of control.  I suggested that for the next few days they go outside and hang out with her several times a day.  Practice putting on and removing the halter, give scratches, stand with her while she grazes - just be the calm in the eye of the storm as she comes to realize that everything is okay. 

I'm hopeful that even with the rough start, her adopters will be able to stick it out, for Vegas' sake.  

Miss Fuzzy-Face, the last day on Heather's farm. 

A few small updates

Fairly quickly before I head to the barn in the cold (it is a bone-chilling 46 degrees outside...).

Vegas -  Yesterday morning about 8 am, I received a text from Vegas' adopter.  She was saying that Vegas had broken out of her pen that morning before they had a chance to let her out.  She had a scrape on her right hind and would not allow them to lead her back to her pen (where she gets fed and has water).  She was also being difficult about being caught, was calling frantically when she couldn't see their minis, and was being dangerously pushy every time they tried to lead her to the pen.  I told her that it sounded like Vegas was reverting and the behavior needed to be nipped in the bud - I was willing to come out that evening.  We made plans to meet at her place around 5:30 in the evening.

Abby - an 18-year-old pony mustang mare.  Jennie brought her to me for an under-saddle refresher the same day that she picked up Vegas.  She might be 13.2.  She's been with the rescue for over a year now, but without a lot of interest due to her size and age.  In case you're wondering, pony+mare+mustang = stubborness to rival any mule or donkey.  We had our first round-penning session yesterday and I was honestly beginning to wonder if she would rather collapse than yield/submit/join-up/whatever you want to call it.  This was after she threatened to run me over when I went to retrieve her from her stall in the morning.  It took me 15-20 minutes of work to lead her out of the stall safely *sigh*.  Apparently, though broke, Abby has some fear issues under saddle.  I will be attempting to work through those issues in the next 30 days.

Notice that although she is dripping sweat, she still has an attitude. I let her rest for a few minutes anyway because I was worried about her.

After barn chores, Heather and I headed over to Brandon to see the mustangs at the mustang adoption.  They were scraggly, dirty, wild, and scared but there were some beautiful horses there. 

Will finish updating in a bit!

A flash in the pan

A nice family came out to see Vegas yesterday morning.  I put her through her paces and she was a total rock star, even though it was windy and spitting rain at us.  I explained to them just how green she is and her quirks.  I told them how special she is and how amazing she is going to be with more time on her.  When they left, I did my chores then messaged Jennie and told her that I thought our meeting went well.  She said that they'd already contacted her and were very interested in adopting Vegas.

Fast forward to yesterday evening, I get a message from Jennie.  They may want to pick Vegas up on Thursday.  All I could think was, 'holy crap, that's really soon!'  They apparently finished the paperwork yesterday and after a property inspection later today, Vegas will be officially adopted. 

It feels like I'm having to return a half-finished book to the library.  I'm not ready for her to go and she's not ready to go, but it seems that our time is up. I've done what I can and she has come a long way but I'm pretty bummed that I won't get to see the final product.  And I'm going to miss her uber-fuzzy face greeting me every morning, wondering what we're doing today. 

So fuzzy!

For the next few days, as long as Vegas can handle it, we're moving into hyper-drive.  I'm going to attempt ground-driving today, as she is not yet making the connection between voice commands on the ground and in the saddle.   It's probably not going to go well at first, as I expect she will take off on me a few times before she starts to understand the concept.  The goal: Vegas walking quietly under saddle, with breaks and steering and no outside help, around the round pen on her own before her people take her home.   Fingers crossed.

Vegas' short lunging session today

Luckily she forgave the fumbling of the rope in the very beginning.  She was a bit off today, and really good, so we kept things low-key.  When I let the crop get her, it's because she came in too close on the turn.  This is the first time that she's offered to drop her head within the first few minutes of the session - I am ridiculously excited about that.  Vegas is like the nursery rhyme of the girl who when she was good, she was very, very good but when she was bad, she was horrid.  Really though, we are having more good days than bad - I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

A long overdue update

This pom-pom (terrifying, shimmery, weird-sounding and -feeling, eater of all things equine) touching her face is a huge for her.

Working with and training Vegas is like trying to drive a truck uphill on an ice-covered road.  Every time I get a little closer to my goal, we slide back almost to our starting place.  Then I have to rev the engine to get a little further, only to slide back again.

I understand where she's coming from, but that doesn't make it less frustrating.  She has no real need for people, other than breakfast, dinner, and hay.  She owes us nothing and would much rather not deal with us at all, thank you.

Her skin is clearing up nicely.

Yet, she enjoys attention and scratches.  And is extremely intelligent.  Unfortunately at this time, that intelligence is only used part of the time to figure out what you want - it is generally used to get what Vegas wants...

So much better!  Sorry for the blurriness.

On Sunday, she broke out of her stall again.  Sunday was also the day that I finally saw and spoke with the girl who saw her break out (the 2nd time she broke out).  I was told by another boarder that Vegas had attempted to jump the door, but that isn't what happened.  What this girl told me was that Vegas reared up and put her hooves over the second highest rail on the gate.  She then stepped forward with her back legs until the rail was behind her elbows...then she rocked forcefully back and forth until she'd bent the gate enough that she could step over it.  This shows a level of critical thinking that is unimaginable to me.  Her third stall door/gate was bolted to a piece of plywood and mounted higher (this is the one that met it's demise last Sunday morning).  The plywood was mounted on the inside of the door, but she realized that the door was the same and repeated her escape by breaking the plywood between the 1st and second rails.  At this point, it's probably safe to assume that Vegas is smarter than me.

Getting some muscle!  And I finally got the larger mat worked out of her tail. 

 I cannot explain the frustration that I was feeling on Sunday when I got the phone call.  I messaged Jennie, who said that she had a tall, sturdy stall door that I could pick up, so we made the drive out to her farm.  By the time we got back, Heather and her husband were at the barn stringing up some hotwire for Vegas' stall.  We have (hopefully) built a mustang Alcatraz.  The door is about 5 and a half feet tall.  It has a plastic chain threaded with hotwire on the inside of the door.  The door opens in and there are blocks of wood screwed onto the door jamb to ensure she can't push the door outward.  Unless she figures out how to tear down the entire barn - which I would not put past her at this point.  Btw, I'm pretty sure that I mentioned on before that Vegas is stall-broke.  She was stall-kept at night at Jennie's previous barn, but that barn had the tall, pre-built wood and rail walls and sliding doors.  I foolishly thought her previous experience meant that at least staying in the stall at Heather's barn was a given.

So, this is her last chance to stay here, unfortunately.  I cannot afford to keep replacing stall gates/doors and I definitely can't afford to rebuild Heather's barn if she badly damages it.  Time will tell what happens.

As far as training, we have done no more riding since those last pictures were posted.  Ruby's girth is too long for Vegas so I was borrowing another boarder's girth.  I am waiting for the new girth to show up in the mail so we can resume her training under saddle.

So, we've been focusing on desensitizing, lunging, and tying.  Vegas was doing very well (for her) until the weather got cold.  There are several herds at Heather's barn that are kept separate for various reasons.  Unfortunately, when the weather gets cold, the horses that are normally turned out at night are turned out during the day.  And there really aren't enough pastures to keep everyone separate.  We decided to finally turn Vegas out with the other mares on Thursday for the first time.  We stood at the gate for a while to make sure there wasn't too much craziness; Vegas was very respectful and seemed to integrate into the herd well.

When I went to work with her yesterday morning, we almost had to start from scratch.  She allowed me to catch her in the arena, but only after she thought about it.  When we started lunging, she snatched away from me (she is really good at waiting until I'm changing hands with the line, this is exacerbated by the fact that I also have some residual issues after leaving the military).  I worked with her for a long time, and with a lot of intensity, after that incident and she actually joined up with me.  That was not my goal, but it made me feel like maybe we were getting somewhere.   But when I tied her while cleaning stalls, it was almost as bad as that first day.  Unfortunately, if she was going to get any turnout at all yesterday, she had to be turned out with the mares again when I left.

I'm dreading what kind of monster I'll have on my hands this morning when I pull her out of her stall (assuming that she's still in it, of course!).  If she's an asshole again, she will not be turned out with the other horses for the remainder of her time here.  I talked to Jennie about this and apparently it is a common problem with mustangs; most end up being separated from other horses for at least a few months until they start seeing people as leaders and partners instead of as pests.

Just finished the first round of Sand Clear, then another de-worming next week, the following week more Sand Clear - when will those ribs get covered??? 

So, that's where we are right now.  I'm beyond frustrated and constantly on edge, waiting for her to try something.  I'm hoping that I can stick this out and make some permanent progress with this hard-headed mare.  I truly do enjoy working with her, when she is behaving herself.  It's safe to say that I am way over-horsed at this point, but I'm the only thing Vegas has right now.  Jennie has too many horses in training, and a local mustang adoption event in a few weeks is ensuring that she stays full - so if Vegas has to leave, she'll go back into a holding pattern and everything will have been for nothing.  In the meantime, at least she isn't getting worse. 

More Vegas

But first, a picture of her arch nemesis.

Beware of Daisy the Devil Pig

Vegas was amazing today.  Jennie came by this afternoon, to watch me work with Vegas and offer some pointers.  Her advice - more pressure so she learns the correct way to deal with it.  And she did, with the annoying plastic bag flapping under and touching her belly.  She tried to leave (though not as forcefully as the other day), and I followed so she learned how to deal.  Apparently, I've been way too easy on her.

Some pics of the redhead in question.  S is riding, I'm at the other end of the line, and Vegas was fantastic.  No saddle because she's shown no signs of exploding during riding, S is ridiculously brave, and her belly is scraped up from her run-in with the stall door yesterday.

And today...

Not a good start to 2015.  When I put Ruby's boots on this morning, I noticed that she immediately cocked her left hind.  This is abnormal so I started checking out her leg and realized that she has some heat and very slight swelling on the front of the joint....can I please get a break?  Please?!

And, I've needed to mentally regroup after the knock-down, drag-out that Vegas and I went through the other day (it wasn't really that bad but it felt that way).  Besides that, I was pretty damn sore the next day from being yanked around.  And it's been dreary and rainy, which makes me not want to go outside.  So, I've been checking her over, cleaning her stall, throwing her hay, but that's it.  I got a text this evening requesting that I call one of the boarders as soon as possible.  When I called, I discovered that Vegas had taken out her stall door, again...From what I was told, she ate her dinner, nickered at someone walking past her stall, and decided she wanted out.  She attempted to jump the stall door and bent it all to hell - luckily she was not injured.  Two of the other boarders put up another door for me.  Jennie is going to come out tomorrow to watch me work with Vegas and give me some pointers.  Vegas is so used to throwing her weight around that I worry about her.  If she doesn't get over this, I can't see her getting adopted.

Happy, healing (and in Vegas' case, tractable!) thoughts would be appreciated for both the girls.  

Disenchantment

Vegas' third ride went so well that I thought it was time to start introducing her to life outside of the barnyard.  My helper saddled up her mare and I prepared Vegas to lead down the road (gloves, tightened halter).  When she was ready, Vegas and I held the gate for them to come through.

Storm (helper's mare) was a little full of herself, though not un-handleable.  And Vegas did not seem to be feeding off of her so we turned left down to the dead end.  Vegas was walking faster than me so we did some circles but it was nothing unexpected.  We got to the end and turned around and she seemed to be calming down.  I was so happy with her!

Then we walked past the barnyard gate and Vegas got a view of the neighbor's runt pot-bellied pig.  Storm was blowing but Vegas seemed to be handling the situation well...until she wasn't.  She wasn't paying enough attention to me so I went to circle her and she blew right through the lead rope and went trotting back down to the dead end.  Okay...I wasn't prepared and should have been, I have wondered if she will try this when we're out somewhere.  But I was more concerned with showing her that everything was okay and I didn't realize what she was doing (remember, I had asked her to circle) until it was too late. 

Vegas trotted past the barnyard and started grazing outside of the pasture fence by some of the other horses. I approached nonchalantly, blocking her when she thought about going back down the road.  Eventually she approached me so walked her back down to the area in question.  This time, I thought I'd lead her on her right so that I was between her and the pig and try leading her by again (pig's pen is probably 30-40 feet off the road and the pig is not more than 30 pounds).  As I went to get on Vegas' other side, she took advantage and took off AGAIN and went down to graze by the other horses.

At this point, I'm trying not to be aggravated but I'm getting there.  I approach her again and this time I have to wait and walk fully up to her as she was not approaching me - she was too busy stuffing her face full of awesome un-grazed grass by the road.  So, here we go again.

By this point, I'm thinking that we need to go to the round pen and work on the pulling-away-from-me thing, again.  Now, she hasn't done this in a while and I thought we'd made some breakthroughs and she trusted me enough not to do this.  I will admit that I was wrong.  So, I walked back to the barnyard gate, but I was ready in case she tried to pull away sooner (pig is maybe another 50 feet down the road, so the gate is not overly close to the pen).  She did, try to pull away that is, but I was ready and she stopped with a pop on the halter.  So she tried harder, and I corrected harder.  So she reared and I held on and popped her a couple times again.  All the while, I'm trying to get her closer to the barnyard gate.  She seemed to calm down so I opened the gate...and she took the opportunity to blow through the halter AGAIN, this time into the barnyard.  By this point, I was pissed.  I held the gate open for the rider, and turned to find Vegas.  She had trotted up to Ruby, who was grazing in the barnyard, then turned her butt to Ruby and tried to double-barrel kick her.  I heard the thwack as one of her hooves connected with Ruby.  At this point I completely lost it and yelled something at her that rhymed with 'You bucking FITCH!!!'  Not my proudest moment but I was seeing red and shaking by this point.  I walked over to Ruby and checked her over.  I couldn't find any marks on her (then or when I checked again later), so I think she was too close to Ruby to hurt her. 

I calmed myself down enough to relax my body language and went to catch Vegas.  She tried to walk off but I was close enough to step on the lead rope.  I put her in the round pen while I went to sit in the barn and tried to stop shaking.  And to formulate my plan.  All the while I was calling her vile names under my breath, I was also trying to convince my helper/boarder-friend that I'm not really this crazy and I can actually control myself.

I went back to the round pen with a longe/lunge line (with a knot near the middle) and my lunge whip.  I approached Vegas and she decided to leave, so I pushed her and made her trot for 10 or 15 minutes, changing direction often. She stopped when I asked and stood for me to attach the line and I asked her to move off again.  She did fine until I asked her to turn around.  She did get away from me a time or two until I got smart enough to hold the line immediately above the knot (duh...).  The last time she tried to get away, I actually had to sit down to put enough weight on the line to get her to stop blowing through my cues.  By the end of the session, she was very sweaty but was no longer trying to get away, no longer leaning on the halter, and was changing direction nicely.  We will work on this again tomorrow (and the next day, and the next day....).

So, slight change of plans for Miss Vegas.  No more riding for now - we are going to concentrate solely on this issue and desensitizing (to build her confidence in us both) until this problem is hopefully resolved.  And, in the near future I'm going to ask if the neighbors will let me borrow their pig...

Vegas' second ride

Still a little sticky-footed but today she walked around a bit.  I called it when she took a few steps without pausing.

She was trimmed today, yay!  Farrier took off a lot but tried to leave enough that she won't (hopefully) be sore.  Her next trim will be in three weeks (assuming Vegas is still here), when he will take her down to live sole.  She was a little hesitant on her 'new' feet before we left.  If she is sore tomorrow, we will do obstacles instead of riding. 

First ride!

We both survived.  After round-penning her in my saddle, I asked a friend to come over and hold Vegas for me.  I did the usual: jumping up and down, petting and patting and scratching her and the saddle, leaning far over, etc.  Then threw my leg over.  She was not sure of my (full) weight but wasn't extremely nervous.  Then I got down and repeated the process on the other side.  After sitting and praising her for a few minutes, my helper asked if I wanted her to lead Vegas a few steps.  Vegas did not want to move, and when she did move, she wanted to stretch forward without moving her hind feet.  With some encouragement, we got her to take a few steps then I got down and called it a day. 

Then I went to rinse her off because she was sweating (it was HOT and she is very fluffy).  It was an ordeal but eventually I was able to rinse her chest, shoulders, and most of her neck.  This is definitely something we need to work on.

Eye candy follows.

You may (or may not) notice that she's wearing my new saddle pad, an Ecogold made specially for the Sensation saddles.  I was able to pick it up brand new for a little over half of what it costs to purchase from Nickers.

 

Initial impression: it is well-made and is made of a breathable material which I hope will help keep Ruby comfortable. I like that the straps across the spine ensure there is no spinal pressure. I don't like that it's black, instead of blue, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  It is very thin compared to my Equipedic but I have been wanting a thinner pad, hence why I would like to try one of the Toklat Matrix pads.  Still, the thinness makes me a little nervous because I also want to protect the horses' backs.  For now, I will trust that Nickers wouldn't have these specially made if they weren't up to snuff but I will be watching closely for any signs of soreness. 

What could have been a disaster...

Actually turned into a good thing.  Here goes.

Vegas is doing so well with training that I have considered throwing my leg over her a couple of times already.  But before getting back into horses I promised my husband that I would take every possible precaution against getting hurt.  In Vegas' case, that means getting her used to carrying a dummy before I ask her to carry me.  So, this morning I made a riding dummy. 

And old pair of jeans stuffed with empty feed bags, and old boots

With the saddle, you can see how I secured it to the saddle horn

Things started off very well. The dummy smelled good due to being stuffed with feed bags, and Vegas accepted it without a problem.  Then I asked her to move off.  She went well to the left, so I asked her to turn and go to the right.  I was so impressed that I pulled out my camera and started recording.

Yeah, so you know all those hay strings I had to hold that damn dummy on?  They (and I) totally failed.  This video shows only the beginning of the freak-out that went on for 10 or 15 minutes.  I was trying not to have a heart attack - was she going to fall, or try to go through or over the panels, or over me???  Eventually the dummy's legs were both hanging off her left side and she started a reining spin to the right that would have been very impressive if I wasn't worried about her hurting herself.  She kept wanting to stop but then the dummy would come around near her shoulder and she would do a few more spins.  She finally got to the point that she was tired of spinning and it was sinking in that she was still alive, which is when she stopped.  She was still pretty freaked out so I had to wait until she settled a bit.  I kept talking to her and after a few minutes of encouragement, she approached me.  I removed the dummy and kicked myself repeatedly while we just hung out together for a while.  I was so pissed at myself - so sure that I'd just given Vegas a complex that I was not going to be able to fix.  Instead of helping this mare, I may have just created a huge problem that requires a professional.  Ugh, I hated myself for a while.

While we hung out and I told her what a great horse she was (she didn't slip, she didn't run into me or the other crap I had in the middle of the pen, and holy crap, she actually listened and approached me a few minutes after the incident) I thought about ways to secure that dummy.  I went and got a few double-ended snaps and two more hay strings.  I looped the hay strings around each leg and attached a snap, with the idea that I would attach the snap to a ring on the saddle on each side.  I started sacking her out with the dummy again and although she was a little tense, she allowed it.  Then she let me put the dummy on the saddle.  I fastened the dummy to the saddle and we just hung out for a few minutes again.

She was relaxed and I was almost certain that the whole two-legs-on-one-side thing wasn't going to happen again, so I asked her to move off at a walk.  The dummy started flopping around but she kept her cool for half a round, then started trotting.  Then it shifted (far) to the outside and she stopped.  Hmm.  I turned her around and the same scenario played out again - whenever it felt to her like the dummy was going to fall, she stopped and looked to me for direction.  I praised her and called it a day. 

So, Vegas took my failure and turned it into her success.  Instead of panicking when the dummy started slipping, she stopped.  I would like to think that that will translate over with a rider, but I may just be fooling myself. Either way, this mare is really a special horse and I hope that when the time comes, she gets a truly great home.

Vegas milestone

This morning I took a leap of faith and let Vegas graze in the barnyard with Ruby while my husband and I cleaned their stalls.  When we were done, I fetched Ruby and turned her out.  My husband approached a few minutes later saying that he'd attempted to catch Vegas but she wasn't having it.  I nonchalantly grabbed the halter and walked over to where Vegas was grazing, and just stood there for a five minutes.  Not looking at her, just letting her think about why I was there and giving her the opportunity to leave if that's what she wanted to do.  After a few minutes I spoke to her and walked a few steps closer then stopped.  She stopped grazing, walked over and stuck her head in the halter.  I was ecstatic - this was huge for her.  Sure, she lets me catch her in the round pen and the arena, but really, where is there to go?  She knows that I'm persistent and there is really no way for her to get away in those areas.  Besides that, the grass in the arena and round pen is pathetic right now, while the barnyard grass is nearly ungrazed and (in Ruby's opinion) preferable even over the grass in the pasture.  I'm so very proud of this little red mustang.

Merry Christmas everyone!

So many firsts...

Mostly for Vegas, but one for me and Ruby also.

I knew when I got to the barn this morning what I wanted to accomplish: Vegas calming carrying a heavy Western saddle.  If she did really well, the plan was to pony her around the arena and through an obstacle (pom-poms tied to two jump standards, making a gate) from Ruby.

I am so thankful that my husband went along today.  He's lukewarm about the horses, so it was a treat to have him (and an extra set of hands) at the barn today. 

First we pulled Ruby from her stall, got her groomed, put her boots on and set her up with a hay net.  Then we went to get Vegas.  She is still not the best at tying so I put her on one of the slipping rings with a hay net (an attempt to set her up for success), then got to grooming her.  She was a bit of a brat about picking up the first hoof, again.  She is used to telling people 'no' for no other reason than she doesn't want to do what they're asking.  Every once in a while, she'll tell me no and expect me to quit -it bugs her to no end that it doesn't work.

After grooming Vegas, I had my husband wait with the horses while I went and got my saddle.  He removed Vegas' hay bag so she would watch me tack Ruby up.  When I was done with Ruby, I took the Western saddle, etc. out to the round pen then returned to fetched Vegas.  My husband held Ruby outside of the round pen as moral support for Vegas.

I sacked her out with the saddle pad, of which my husband got a few pics before his phone died.

My pockets were bulging with hay cubes - don't judge me :)

Pathetic tail - you can see the mat I've been working on for weeks now.  Slowly but surely, it's coming out. 

You can see that while she wasn't thrilled, she wasn't concerned either.

She did as well with the saddle, not minding the weight or the flapping stirrups.  The thing we are really going to have to work on is the girth - whenever I went to tighten it a bit more, she would take a step back.  When she stopped and stood for me to tighten it a little more, she got praise and a hay cube.  Eventually I got it tight enough that I was sure it wouldn't flip under her belly, so I asked her to move off around the round pen. She didn't offer to buck, so we went to the arena.

First I led Ruby and Vegas around together - if Ruby needed to assert herself, I wanted her to have the opportunity to do it before I climbed on.  She did threaten to kick when Vegas refused to remove her nose from Ruby's butt, but she didn't try to connect and Vegas got the hint.  Chris held Vegas while I mounted Ruby.  I was expecting to need to school her on not trying to go back to the gate, etc. but she just pouted a bit that we were in the arena.  I walked back to Chris and Vegas and grabbed her lead rope.  Things went smoothly, especially considering that none of us have ever ponied or been ponied from.  I'm not dumb enough to think it would have been easy to do out on trail though - Vegas was hanging back a bit and couldn't decide which side to stay on, while Ruby is not the best at neck reining and was irritated that I kept having to twist in the saddle (see aforementioned problems with Vegas).  I decided to take them through the jump standards - Ruby did it like a pro, but Vegas rushed through at the last second so we did it two more times.  After that I hopped down and took Vegas to the mounting steps.  I leaned over the saddle, jumped up on and down, rocked the saddle back and forth all without a reaction.  She did take a step the first time I weighted the stirrup a bit but she wasn't being nasty and stopped when I said 'whoa.'  Again, I considered just throwing my leg over already but the time will come soon enough.  We took the girls back to the barn and fussed over them while untacking.

So, it was a very good day.  The girls were great and my heart swelled up with pride at how Ruby handled ponying Vegas for me - she's been ridden, what, twice in the last six or eight weeks?  And generally she likes to go-go-go, but she walked slowly for me and Vegas and was on her best behavior after she let Vegas know to mind her manners.  I could not ask for a better partner. 

Christmas-time Chaos

We are all still alive down here, but things are crazy with Christmas this week and finals last week. And the kids being out of school, and the car breaking down, and the truck making a funky noise, argh!

So, I haven't made as much progress with Vegas up to this point as I probably should have.  I plan to put a real saddle on her for the first time tomorrow.  Hopefully a dummy in the saddle the day after Christmas and the first ride beginning of next week.  This is all assuming, of course, that everything goes perfectly.

It's hard to tell but she is supporting most of my weight in this picture.

And Ruby...good God is she getting chunky.  I have cut her feed and hay, so hopefully she'll start slimming down soon.  She is not sure what to think about my spending time with Vegas: she LOVES making ugly mare faces at her and watches us when I'm working with Vegas.  Quick story: the other day I figured it was time to introduce Vegas to a tarp.  I spread it on the ground outside of the round pen with enough room for both me and Vegas to easily pass between tarp and round pen.  I led her out of the round pen, heading to the patience pole.  She spooked at the tarp, even though we weren't close to it, ran into the round pen gate on her left side, then she shot forward a few steps.  As a +1 for Vegas, she didn't step on me, bump me, etc. Ruby saw this whole episode, because she grazes in the barn yard while I'm working with Vegas.  A few minutes later, I put Vegas back into the round pen and Ruby sauntered over and walked across the tarp two or three times, then started grazing with her back feet still on the tarp.  It was almost like Ruby was showing off.  I didn't get to the tarp that day, so I packed it up afterwards.  Today when Vegas and I finally got around to working with the tarp, she sniffed and walked over it like she'd done it hundreds of times before. So, if needed in the future for a really tough-for-Vegas exercise, I will use Ruby to show Vegas that everything really is okay.

And a quick PS.  Does anything make you appreciate your own horse more than handling someone else's?  When I'm done with Vegas, it's always nice to spend some time with Ruby afterwards - she's like a breath of fresh air.  Vegas will get there.

Standing tied

I have been told that Vegas is a talented breaker of halters.  After verifying that she was not pulling due to fear (first tied her to a slipping tie ring and observed her), I put two rope halters on her, grabbed my gloves and pocket knife, and tied her to the patience pole. 

It didn't take long for the show to start.  She was good for a few minutes then she just decided to leave, which is exactly what she does when she decides she doesn't like something that I'm doing.  I expected real craziness: sitting way back on her haunches, grunting, feet sliding everywhere, etc.  Instead I watched as she lined her shoulder up next to the pole, put her head down and start marching.  When the rope halters engaged she would spin around, pull back a bit then rear.  Then stand and think about things before trying again.  By the time I decided to record her, she was pretty much done.

She was tied for maybe 15 minutes.  Tomorrow we do it again.

The potential adopter was a no-go due to her desire to resell Vegas at a slightly later date.  I'm sure the right person will come along and I'm enjoying my time with her until then. 

Mostly pictures

She was licking and chewing, but still hating the bag being near her ears.

Almost ready for a rider!  I was being completely obnoxious, leaning on her, patting her and waving around - she was very good.

Such a cute face.

Bareback pad = NBD (P.S. Can't wait for those ribs to get covered and that tail to grow out!)

So, it looks like with all the pictures I've been taking and plastering all over FB, Vegas has someone interested in adopting her.  I'm meeting the lady tomorrow evening.  Fingers crossed for Vegas!  If she leaves, Jennie has another mare she'd like me to work with.  We'll see what happens. 

Short session

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.

Progress, slowly but surely

Yesterday I had a lot of stuff going on, so Vegas and I didn't do anything substantial.  Today was another story.

This face greeted me as I climbed over the round pen fence with all my crap. 

Now that she allows herself to be caught and is decent about picking up her feet, we are starting a new routine.  First, a good grooming.  I had to take this slow because she was iffy about being touched, especially on her right flank (flinching and tucking her butt).  I went over her with the rubber curry and brush, then picked out her feet - only occasionally do I need to use a rope to encourage her to pick them up.  I checked all of her nasty spots.  They are healing but will need more time, especially the crusty spots on her belly.  I'm excited to see how she'll look next spring, after she sheds out and her skin has cleared up.  She's going to look like a different beast!

After grooming, I started sacking her out with the whip which we have done a few times before.  She's doing really well with that so I figured it was time to up the ante with a plastic bag tied to the end of my stick.  At some point, she was doing well and I was getting warm so instead of removing my jacket, I removed my gloves.  Stupid.  I've been wearing these gloves specifically to protect myself from rope burns, not to keep myself warm.  A few minutes later when I started touching one of her legs with the bag she decided she was going to leave.  She has only done this a few times after being haltered.  She will turn slightly away and MARCH.  Normally I just tighten my grip and pop the lead rope a few times...that didn't work so well without gloves on.  I have a really nice rope burn across the palm of my left hand now. 

Lesson learned.  I walked up to her, walked her back to the middle of the round pen, took her halter off and went to run my hand under some water for a few minutes.  Then I came back with the bag again.  By the time I was done she was calmly tolerating the bag, though definitely not enjoying herself.  Then I started sacking her out with my jacket.  Again, tolerant but I could almost hear her asking what is the point???

I left for a little while to let her think and clean stalls but first I took a few selfies.  Most of them looked something like this:

But this one was sort of okay, minus my crazy hair.

"I can eat it, right?"

When I went back to the round pen, I had two goals.  First, get some Furazone on her scabs, and second to see if she would tolerate a bareback pad.

The Furazone became more of a problem than it should have been.  I will have to have someone watch me do this next time because I may be giving her mixed signals.  She was fine when I was putting it on her belly and chest but as I started moving up to her face we had problems. She did NOT want me to touch her face with my hands, even though I've been touching her face and ears for days now.  Eventually, I was able to get a satisfactory amount on her icky spots, so we moved on.

To the dreaded bareback pad.  With jangling buckles.  She stood relatively still but was unhappy with this process. First I let her sniff, then I shook it out away from her, then started slowly rubbing her with it.  Eventually she let me set it on her back, then she let me toss it onto her back (from both sides).  She even let me fasten the girth though it was nowhere near tight.  She considered blowing up for a half a second, then calmed down to reassess.  I gave her a hay cube, took it off, and left. 

Proof.  And her OMG-are-you-done-yet face. 

Goals for this coming week include starting some real training, including actual round-penning and longeing, giving to pressure, standing tied (apparently she is queen of the broken halter), and maybe even some driving.

A few more pics.  This one shows her leg stripes and the thick one across her withers.

I can't wait to get those ribs covered!

Pathetic, rubbed-out tail :(

Ruby:  I know you are all dying to hear about Ruby.  She is doing very well and is wondering who is this newcomer who's getting a lot of attention.  I plan to start taking her for walks down the road later this week.  I may even use her when I introduce Vegas to scary thing likes clippers and fly spray.

Also, I'm rethinking this whole ultrasound thing.  I think I need to get it done for my own peace of mind.  I'll start calling the local vets on Monday to price it out. 

Details as promised

As stated in my previous post, Vegas is pretty good about approaching me so that I can put the halter on.  Sometimes she chooses not to approach but let's me approach her, a few times she decided that she didn't want to be caught and left, resulting in more movement for her.  In case you're wondering, I'm not round-penning her to the point of exhaustion or even real submission, only to the point where she decides that it's just easier to stand. 

So, since she was doing so well with catching, we worked on those feet.  She is so damn stubborn.  Eventually I was able to get both front feet up and picked out, with a very rough trim on her worse front left foot.  She was very good for it, but my hands were not really up to the task - her hoof wall is so thick that I wasn't able to get the nippers to go all the way through at the toe.  I actually pulled a muscle in my hand (ow!) trying to get them through. The plan now is to work on them a little every day until my fave farrier is scheduled to be back in town, which is unfortunately two Sundays from now. 

Finally, I decided it was time to treat all of those marks on her face, chest, neck and belly. I waited for a few reasons, the main one being that I wasn't sure she'd accept my touch on these sensitive areas.  But yesterday afternoon, I was feeling pretty confident so I threw her some hay and then got out the MTG and a rag.  I started shaking the bottle before I got to the round pen, and you would have thought that I was shooting off Roman candles.  She nearly flipped out, snorting and blowing, about that damn bottle.  I had not anticipated this.  So I spent a good 30-40 minutes desensitizing her to a bottle being shaken.  Then to a rag...It didn't help that every time she sniffed, she got a noseful of that awful MTG smell.  Eventually she let me put on the halter, then she reluctantly allowed me to treat all of her yucky spots. It was obviously very tough for her though, geez.

So, I've come to the conclusion that Vegas at this point has pretty much reverted into a wild thing again.  At one point she was fine living in a stall, being handled, having her feet trimmed, being doctored, etc.  But being turned out for months with no one laying a hand on her has obviously had an effect.  Although we are making progress, it is obvious that her heart lies with the other horses and that she tolerates me because she has to.  This is not what I expected but is an interesting challenge nonetheless.