# Thirteen Acres - A Day in My Boots



## ThirteenAcres (Apr 27, 2012)

Saturday, May 26th

I am bubbling over with excitement because I am making a trade soon for a new horse. I have had a lot of fun with May, my paint BLM mustang mare, however she is just too small for someone of my build, and I wouldn't be comfortable riding her. I was lucky to have a friend who needed a smaller horse for kids (May was previously a kids horse), and she was also getting ready to sell one of her adorable foals. So we made the deal to swap!

The foal is off her dun paint stallion, Gunner. (Gunner is gorgeous) She named the foal Rossi and he is a little over 2 months old right now. She will be keeping him until he can be weaned from his momma. At the same time, I will be taking in a paint mare that we negotiated on an other trade.

This friend is the same one who traded me Gulliver. I really like the foals that her stallion produces, and can't wait to start training Rossi. He is bay with a little star and one white sock. His mother is a very dark bay with black points. I think overall he's a nicely built little fellow and think he'll mature out beautifully.

I plan to geld him at 10 months and break him out when he's around 3.

My neighbor has suggested bringing over her 20 foot panels to make a small arena in the front pasture so we can ride and train in it. I'll have to find out if there's anyone that can disk it up. We have very nice, sandy soil, so it would be GREAT arena ground. I'd love to start practicing the barrels again. 

This week I'm going to be working Holly out. She's been sitting in the pasture for about two months and it is time to get her butt back in shape. I want to work on her lunging problems with kicking out when touched on her back legs (only when lunging). She has NO problem being touched ALL over, her feet picked up and held, etc. It is only when something touches her at a trot/lope.

So I'll be taking our very long rope, hooking it to her halter, and running it around her butt while she lunges to desensitize her to that sensation. It is the safest method I've discovered because in the event she freaks out, I can pull it back up off her butt and just calm her and pull her in without her getting tangled. 

In the meantime, I am supposed to go riding with the neighbor on Gulliver. I'll take some new pics of him all tacked up! =D


----------

