# Heidi's thread



## GMA100 (Apr 8, 2016)

AWW! Heidi is precious! I love myself a medicine hat!
As for showing, make sure you can get her squared up, get her backing really well, and have her desensitized to a lot of trail stuff. 
Are you planning on starting her with riding as a three year old?


BTW I love your signature! I've seen it on pintrest before.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

GMA100 said:


> AWW! Heidi is precious! I love myself a medicine hat!
> As for showing, make sure you can get her squared up, get her backing really well, and have her desensitized to a lot of trail stuff.
> Are you planning on starting her with riding as a three year old?
> 
> ...


That's were I got it! :grin: Cool! I love Medicine Hats! OK, thanks! I'll work on that. 
I might start riding with three; it depends on how well developed she is by then.


----------



## BlindHorseEnthusiast4582 (Apr 11, 2016)

I also love her, subbing


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Went for another walk/training session today. I don't have a round pen right now, so I have to work on the nice, green, open field, with wind racing through the trees. This is very exciting to Heidi! She gets very excited if we trot, and will start bucking, and kicking. She does not do it in an aggressive way at all, she does it playfully; wants to play with me. That's dangerous to both of us. I've tried aggressively making her feet move; in a very small circle, backwards, etc. She seems to think its part of the game or something, and will try again. As soon as I get a round pen, I'll try free lunging her at a walk, trot, lope, to get rid of some energy before we actually start. Any ideas? 

She is doing very well with squaring up, only lately with all the mosquitoes, its getting harder for her to stand still! I'm very proud of her back-up and except for the bucking issue she's doing good with walking and trotting in-hand. There still is the problem of not being able to stand still for long, and being very excitable/scared. We still have a long ways to go if we're gonna be showing! 
Random: She is shedding so much!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Went for a walk today and took Heidi along. She was really excited, but still the perfect lady! She sniffed noses with a couple of calves, but was a bit nervous around them. 
Afterwards, I put her into a nice, big pasture with three cow/calf pairs that had to stay close to the house for various reasons. The idea is that she has a bigger place to run in, and gets used to being around cows. She's having a lot of fun! Anyway, here are a couple of pictures that my mom got of Heidi!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Just had an amazing half an hour with Heidi! She's really starting to get the hang of lunging! At first she was totally confused about what I wanted her to do, but then she seemed to realize that as long as she kept plodding in a circle around me, I let her watch the birds all she wanted! She has this thing with birds; she finds them the most interesting creatures on earth! We ended on a good note, I took her halter off, and started walking away. She followed me all the way up to the gate! She stayed by my shoulder the entire way across the big pasture. Then she stood whinnying as I left. Its such an amazing feeling having such a big animal trusting you and wanting to be with you! I just love her! 
:loveshower: :grin:


----------



## GMA100 (Apr 8, 2016)

Glad you had a good training session! 
I know the good feeling! I got a BLM mustang last year and it was so rewarding when he would follow me around and whinny for me when he saw me!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

That is so cool! I love mustangs!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Today was much the same as yesterday. We went for a trot on the field, then walked around the yard a bit. BTW, since Heidi has this big pasture to run and play in, bucking on the lead line isn't an issue anymore. She was very tense; kept shying at nonexistent monsters, and just wasn't focused on me. It got a bit better as we got back into familiar territory.

In the end we worked on lunging again. She's steadily getting better. Now for the best news, D) in the end, I took her halter off. Heidi still followed me. When I walked, she was just a couple steps behind; same with trotting. Its just great! Especially because that's not even my main focus! I don't really try to join-up, it just happens!  I think it might be partly because she's by herself now, and doesn't have anybody else to slap mosquitoes, or scratch her itchy spots! I'm _so_ happy that I decided to go with a young filly! And that my parents let me buy Heidi!!!
(Excuse my sappiness! lol)


----------



## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Heidi is such a cutie.  Glad she is getting better with lunging as well. Soooo cute that she followed you! Awwww. Isn't that the best feeling?! She likes you! Be as sappy as you want. She's adorable. Glad to hear things are going well with her. Excited to hear about your journey together.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Thank you so much! I am convinced its the best feeling in world!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Today was very hot, so we took a break off from working. Then this afternoon, I fed Heidi pieces of ice cubes, while eating ice cream myself.  Me and my family are going swimming tonight. Sadly they don't allow horses in the pool.  lol


----------



## GMA100 (Apr 8, 2016)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> Today was very hot, so we took a break off from working. Then this afternoon, I fed Heidi pieces of ice cubes, while eating ice cream myself.  Me and my family are going swimming tonight. Sadly they don't allow horses in the pool.  lol


Is that horse or owner abuse? lol  One of my horses' LOVE ice cubes!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Put Heidi back with the other horses today. She was very happy to see them!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

So! All the horses are separated! Paso is OK with it, as long as he can sniff noses with Blue over the fence every now and then. 

Heidi has been pretty pushy lately, and not very eager to work. Now that she's by herself again she must be awfully lonely, and so jumps at every opportunity to hang out! 
I think she's getting the hang of lunging, but with the mosquitoes being so awful, she keeps coming in, and scratching herself on me. It gets annoying, because she almost pushes me over by doing that! So I'm getting a bit more insistent; waving the lead rope aggressively, and pushing her away with my stare when she gets in my space. Except for that, she's being as cute as ever. And she isn't bucking on lead line anymore! Yay!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I put Heidi in a pasture, with around 15 heifers today. I'm hoping she has cow sense, and practices on them! Lol!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Heidi is coming along really well! She now lunges relatively well, leads at both walk and trot respectfully (although she does sometimes 'feel her oats", so to speak), stands patiently while I groom her, gets along well with all of our other animals, and, of course, is an absolute sweat-heart to work with! I attached some pictures from this winter/spring, and now, to show how much she's changed physically!

Winter:








(This picture looks kinda weird due to the angle and the light:








Spring:









And now!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I can't believe it's been so long! I realized that it's been a while yesterday, but I'm still shook!  The summer passed so quickly! 

So, let's get into it! Heidi has been doing pretty good the last while. I kinda left her mostly alone over most of the summer; I find letting young horses just grow up and learn herd dynamics before you start them is a good idea. Yesterday, I brought her along with the rest of the horses out of the big pasture into the "winter" pasture, which is basically just a smaller pasture with a shelter. It also is right beside the barn's lean-on, so in really bad weather I can put them in there as well.
Today, I made a desensitizing thingie with a tarp (I'm going to attach a picture in the end). First, we worked on lunging. She's made a bad habit of turning in, instead of going in a circle around me. With work every day, I hope I can work past that. I got her to do a couple good circles around me, using the stick and string to keep her outside. Then I started sending her between me and the tarp, letting her explore it a bit until she was more relaxed. Slowly, we moved closer and closer to it, until she finally had to go over it. She was a teeny tiny bit cautious, but then she just jumped over it. I guess I didn't make it wide enough, because she found it easier to jump over it, instead of walking over. Tomorrow, I'm going to make it wider; her stepping on it and getting used to the sound is the whole point.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with what we achieved. She learned that pointing in one direction means to walk on in that direction, she's remembered that leaning towards her hindquarters means that she should yield them, she's learning to stay outside and not turn in, and she stood quietly when I tied her for a couple minutes, instead of wearing her hooves down with pacing. 

The tarp thing is something like this, only with two boards on each side keeping it together.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I built a bridge yesterday for my mini obstacle course. It's actually pretty easy; I just took two pallets, made sure that the boards were so close together that getting a hoof stuck was impossible, and screwed a couple boards on one side to keep them together. I don't have a pic right now, and it's too dark to take one, so I'm going to try to get one tomorrow. Anyway, we started doing some lunging at a walk; she's still getting the hang of it, though she's become noticeably better in the last couple of days. We kept getting closer and closer to the bridge. She was kinda scared of going past it at first, so for a while, I just sent her through the gap, yielded her hindquarters, and sent her past the other way. When she got comfortable with that, I closed the gap more, so that she would have to go over the bridge. That's when the problems started. She wasn't really spooked by it, but she sure as all get-out didn't want to go over it. I pressured her though thinking she'd put at least one hoof on, and then I could let her relax and all that "making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard" stuff. But I didn't get the chance to make the right thing easy. She just kept cutting past the bridge and running into me. I made her feet move and all that, but she just kept doing it. So, before I got more frustrated, and she got even more closed off (Heidi doesn't usually get spooky or aggressive or anything like that. She just kind of shuts down. Then she doesn't try to do anything anymore; she does what I ask if I get insistent enough, but she does it without any life.), I settled for half of what I had wanted, instead of just quitting, which would make her think that all she had to do was resist until I quit pestering her.

I've noticed from past experience that she is more confident and trusting following me through or over something, instead of being sent over/through, so I changed my approach. I put the stick and string away, and just tried to lead her over. She was still resistant, but every time she tried to go past, I just made her back up and yield, then tried again. Before long she got up with one hoof, then I let her rest a bit, and got her to get her second hoof up. It took a couple more repetitions before she finally got all four hooves up. By now she'd gotten the idea; stepping onto the wooden thing equals rest. We did it a couple more times till we could walk over it smoothly. Then we switched sides. 

I've heard Clinton Anderson say that when you switch sides, the horse is using a "different brain", but I don't really think that's true in most cases. I mean, when the horse is walking up the thing from the other side, of course, it's different; it looks different, the wind is coming in a different direction making it smell different, and all that stuff. But the horse still remembers the procedure from before. Heidi, for example, just walked up and over with very minor problems. I itched her itchy spots after, and let her rest a bit.

Heidi always gets kinda dull when she doesn't have space to run and play, so I thought I might as well put her into one of the bigger, cattle pastures. Half of the pasture is trees, and the other half is pretty level ground, with a ditch running through it; good running ground.
We just moved the cattle from the summer pasture, and they're gonna be in this piece for a while. Just for the fun of it, we chased one cow around a bit. I could feel Heidi waking up as she started enjoying herself. When we let the cow go, Heidi was trotting beside me with a happy spring in her step, instead of the slow, dull trot that she'd had when we were in the roundpen. I took her halter off, and rubbed her a bit before leaving her to have some fun!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Weathers been getting steadily worse up here, and now its fully winter.  The horses were in a smaller pen for the last week or something. There's good shelter in that pen, so I wanted them to stay in there a while. I left the gate open into a slightly bigger (but also small) paddock which leads into another same size pen, but they either didn't want to go in there or didn't find the gate.

I bought some small traffic cones a couple days ago to use for groundwork. I put them in the pasture, in a straight line with about a meter of space between each cone. Then I haltered Heidi with her rope halter. She was curious and was a little excited to be doing something again. I lead her to where I'd put the cones, using the gates to practise yielding hindquarters. She was a little rusty with that, but it got better after a couple times. Heidi has a habit of looking around for horse-eating monsters while leading and therefore walks against me or on my left side instead of my right. She tried to do that a couple times, and I just had to tug her head a bit to get her attention back on me. She knows how to lead; she just gets distracted easily.

I had to move two cones that were too close together, and I took the opportunity to kinda show her the set up before we actually started working. She was a little cautious of the whole thing; the shiny cones interested her a lot. I led her in a zig-zag pattern through the cones once. She was sluggish with moving her feet and bumped against a couple cones. That scared her, and she got a little jumpy. So I changed my approach a bit. I'd lead her between two cones, then yield her hindquarters and walk through the next pair. This worked a lot better.

We did this for a while, but I didn't want to go until Heidi got bored, so I decided to try something else. I tried to back her around the cones, but she didn't really understand and walked all over the place. I finally got it set up right, and after backing in and out of a couple cones she figured it out.

Then I tried sidepassing. Heidi already knew the basics when I got her, so she understands moving off pressure. I stood beside her and applied pressure to that spot on her barrel with my hand. It took a while, but she was finally moving off of the pressure of my hand pretty well. I didn't try for more than one or two steps, but I was really happy with Heidi when she did it!

Then I tied her to a hitching rail type thing and went to show the gate to Blue and Paso. When both of them were in the paddock with Heidi, I went to get a body brush to give Heidi a quick once-over. She can not stand still, tied. She'll move around as much as the lead rope allows, rub her face on the rail, nose me, or do anything else she can think of. Today was no different, and she was moving all over the place while I tried to groom her.

I got one side finished, and was working on her left side when she sorta crow-hopped while kicking out at me. I hadn't really seen it, so I wasn't sure if she'd actually kicked out, but I made her feet move a little bit. Then I continued grooming her. And, silly girl tried it again. This time I was sure she'd actually kicked out at me, as she'd gotten to close to my face for comfort. So I untied her really quickly and started moving her feet. I made her yield, back-up, run circles around me until we were both sweaty. She threw a straight-out temper tantrum when I made her work, and started crow-hopping, kicking out, and pulling against me trying to get away from me. If she'd been in her nylon halter, I daresay she would have gotten away, but the rope halter helped me hold her.
I got after her and used the end of my rope to slap her with when she acted up. Didn't take long for her to want to rest, but I kept after her, making her trot around me, yield, and trot the other way. I didn't stop until she was really quieted down, chewing, and listening to me. Then I let her stop a minute, made her back up, and led her back to the hitching rail (we'd gotten to the other end of the pasture by then!). I tied her and finished brushing her. She didn't stand totally still the whole time, but she was a whole lot quieter than she had been!

In the end, I brushed right under her ears. That's Heidi's itchy spot, and she pretty much is out of this world when I scratch or brush it.  Then I took her halter off, making sure her nose was tipped towards me and she didn't go running off as soon as she was free. I got the brush, collected the cones, and went to leave. All the horses were following me - Blue because she wanted a treat, Paso because he always goes everywhere with Blue, and Heidi just because - and Heidi was playing around again; hopping so that her front feet were a foot over the ground and other stuff. I believe she wanted to play with someone. When she got too close to me, I made her get out of my space, and yielded her hindquarters a bit, just to remind her.

I think today was the day she learned that I'm more of a lead mare than a play-mate.

I feel pretty good about today, as funny as it may sound. The work with the cones was great, she's already getting the hang of sidepassing, and my position is more firmly established. I think that this had to happen; she has to make a mistake and learn what happens, instead of always wondering if _maybe_ she can get away with a little here, and a little there, if that makes sense. Now she'll respect me more, knowing that I can and will make her work and get after her if I have to.

Thanks for reading this very long, probably boring post!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Not a lot of time to write, right now, but I wanted to put down a little.

I did some more cone work with Heidi today. She did really well in that, and sidepassing as well. She's still moving around a lot before finally listening to the cues and moving the way I want her to, but she's doing a lot better than I'd expected!

She's started pawing, and I'm going to work on that when I have time.

Other than that, I still love her as much (or more than) before!  <3


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I had such a great day with Heidi!

She hasn't had her real "honest to goodness" saddle on her back since I bought her (I only saddled her with a type of bareback... saddle?), so I figured today would be a good day to see if she remembered. While I groomed her (before saddling), she was moving around a lot, like she usually does. Heidi doesn't enjoy being groomed for some reason, and she never stands still for it. Anyway, I didn't stop brushing her when she moved, so she finally decided she might as well save energy and stand still.

Then I put the saddle blanket on. I moved it around, took it off, and put it back on, then went for the saddle. Heidi moved her head around to check it out a couple times, but otherwise, she was totally fine with it. I let the cinch down and tightened it. She was being really good, except for when I had to adjust the cinch strap, and she pawed a bit.

When I started moving her around, she was moving really stiffly and carefully as though she was scared it'd fall off. I did a bit of leading, backing, yielding hindquarters, to put her mind at ease that the thing was on nice and tight. She was a bit more relaxed afterwards, and we started on the cones. They've become a regular part of our training. She did really good, but I was careful not to go to long as she gets bored with the same thing pretty fast. Next, we did some backing through the cones. This exercise is one of my favourites, as Heidi seems to enjoy the challenge, and it polishes up her backing skills. My mare, Blue, isn't very good with backing, and it's a constant pain, so getting Heidi's backing smooth and consistent is one of my main focuses.

Then, like always, we continued to sidepassing. Here, we're having some trouble because Heidi still moves around a lot before finally doing what I want her to do, but I'm hoping she'll get better with more practice.

Then we did some flexing. We've done a bit of it in the past, but not a lot, so Heidi was a little rusty. At first, pulling her head around was really hard, and she'd move around so much before finally stopping. After only a couple times doing that, it clicked; she remembered, and from then on it was great. She'd swing her head around with minimal pressure on the lead rope, and keep her head there, perfectly relaxed even when I released the lead rope. After she was consistent on that side, I did the same with the other, and it didn't take her long to figure it out on that side as well.

It was the "golden hour", so me and Heidi relaxed a bit, in the warm rays of sunshine.

Afterwards, I untacked her, and gave her a once over with the brush again, and cleaned out her hooves. Then I took her halter off and watched her go rejoin her friends.

Something I've noticed since she got crabby and I had to go after her, a couple days ago, is that she's more "joined-up' with me, so to speak. Sometimes when I'm rubbing her forehead, she'll try to get away from me (her mood swings have me totally confused: sometimes she's all cuddly, and at other times she just wants her space). If I follow her, she keeps moving away from me, so I've figured out what I have to do is step back a couple feet away from her, lean back, and kinda wave her towards me, pretty much inviting her towards me with my body language and quiet clucks. She immediately relaxes and moves back towards me of her own free will. I do that at other times as well, and I've gotten her to walk quite a ways just by using body language and a simple vocal cue.

That's all for today, except that I got some pics of my gorgeous girl with her saddle on! Hope y'all enjoy!


----------



## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

She is such a nice looking horse! I finally had some free time today so I read through your entire journal. I appreciated the points where you mentioned you would try a different approach when Heidi wasn't responding to the first one. I think that may be one of the single most important things a good horse trainer does. I can't wait to see more updates!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

horseylover1_1 said:


> She is such a nice looking horse! I finally had some free time today so I read through your entire journal. I appreciated the points where you mentioned you would try a different approach when Heidi wasn't responding to the first one. I think that may be one of the single most important things a good horse trainer does. I can't wait to see more updates!


I agree with that. I'm afraid I learned it the hard way though, in my earlier work with my older mare, Blue. Thanks so much for your positive response!
The weather kinda sucks right now, so I'm not working with Heidi as much anymore. There will hopefully be an update soon, though!


----------



## ChasingDreams (Nov 14, 2017)

She's so pretty, I'm a sucker for a white face and the red/chestnut really contrasts nicely. She's grown a lot since your first posts too, looking much more like a "mare" and less like a "filly".

Sounds like you are doing great with her training, looking forward to more updates 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I had this big post all written up... and then I clicked 'Go Advanced' and lost it all :shock:

So... I'm trying to remember what I was writing... Oh, right. ;-)

I haven't been working with the horses as much lately as I'd like to. With the bitterly cold weather and my education, I just couldn't do it. But now that the worst of winter is over (knock on wood!) I'm gonna be working with them more often, again. Note: I wish I hadn't started individual journals (one for Blue and one for Heidi) since it'd be so much easier to just have everything in one place. And when I do something with both horses, I don't know where to post it. I wonder if there's any way to merge two journals... :think:

Yesterday I moved the horses from their small 'winter' pasture into a larger one which is currently occupied by our weanling heifers. I like having them (especially Heidi) in with cattle, and they also have more room to run now, even though Paso usually sticks close to the feeders!

The lack of being worked for such a long time had different effects on them. Paso is just kinda 'meh' whatever I do, whereas Heidi is all cuddly and wants to spend as much time as possible with me. Now, Blue has gone back to her physically-impossible-to-catch days. Haltering one of our weanlings (calves) would be easier! I hope with some regular work and a helluva lot of oats we'll get to a point where she doesn't take off in the other direction as soon as she spots me!


So today, I just wanted to catch up with Heidi; see where she is at the moment. She started backing up when I tried to halter her so then I made her back up longer until she was like "OK, fine, can I 'whoa' already?". I obliged and she stood quietly while I haltered her, except for trying to rub her nose against me.  I did some yielding, circles around me at a walk (did I mention how awful she lunges??).

Then I threw the rope over her back a couple times to see how she'd react. We've done this before - quite a bit, actually, since I have had some experience with horses scared of ropes, and it's not a pretty sight - and, even though she remembered it, she was still nervous and needed to move, so I kept flipping it over her back while tipping her nose in towards me and letting her walk around me. When she felt calm and safe enough to stand still again, I quit and rubbed her with the rope some.
After that, the rope wasn't a problem, even when I threw it at her belly and around all four legs.

Then I switched to the other side, where I did the same. She wanted to move again, but she came to terms with it a lot faster than before.

Then I lay the rope over her withers and picked up all four feet. I really appreciate the work her breeder and former owner did with her. She does basic groundwork with all her youngsters, and that foundation got me and Heidi off to a great start! It seems to me that she focused on legwork, which I like; as long as you have control over your horse's feet you can do a lot of things!

Now I leaned against her barrel, rubbing on her other side. Then I put on hand on her withers and the other on her back like you would if you want to lay over your horse, and hopped up and down a couple times, rubbing my belly against her side. She was nervous but didn't move much, which I'm happy about. I made sure to keep her soft with her nose tipped towards me. When she was finally relaxed enough to watch a dog pass in the distance, I quit.

Then I did the same on her other side. I'm afraid I usually work her more on her left side, so she was more nervous this time. Before long, however, she relaxed enough to bend her neck around and sniff me, like, "Look, I know you're weird, but isn't this overstepping the bounds a bit?" :lol:

Then I tied her to the gate and went off to hang out with the other horses a bit and help my brother feed the calves. At her former owner's place, she'd often stand tied for a couple hours, and I don't want her to lose that kind of patience! 

Then I untied her and took her halter off, making sure to keep her nose tipped towards me. I went and got a pail of oats I'd hidden before and fed her some. Then the others got their fair share, Paso with his hay, and I played around with Heidi some more.

I'd hide the pail of oats behind my back and make her back up. She's exactly like my pup, Cinnamon, in that way: as soon as the treats come out she's the bestest horse I could ask for! ;-) Where normally her back-up is sluggish and slow, she was literally dancing backwards, for, like, a couple meters. And all I had to do was tell her to back up. :-o :lol:

Anyway, once the oats was gone and she was sure no more would mysteriously show up, I left em to their hay.


All in all, I'm very happy with how today went! I hadn't realized, but I drastically need my stress-relieving horse fix!! Blue's turn tomorrow; wish me luck! ;-)



P.S. I attached as many pics as I could (took 'em yesterday) both of my pup, the calves (they're amazing models!), and the horses!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I just realized: last Tuesday was exactly year since I bought Heidi! It feels like so much longer, but at the same time I can't believe it's been a year!


----------



## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I hadn’t read this journal of yours. It is fun to see how much Heidi has grown since you started! It sounds like you are doing a really good job and hopefully once she’s big enough to ride you’ll already have her half broke.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Knave said:


> I hadn’t read this journal of yours. It is fun to see how much Heidi has grown since you started! It sounds like you are doing a really good job and hopefully once she’s big enough to ride you’ll already have her half broke.


Yep, I'm looking forward to that!!  Thanks for dropping by!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Update time!

I've been working Heidi every day; just basic groundwork. I'm thinking a lot about when I'll be starting her under saddle. Right now I'm of the opinion that it'd be best to board her for, say, a month, to put the first rides on her (I have literally _nothing_ at my place that would work for that). The thing is that I don't have the funds for that (my parents won't pay it; I'll have to do it myself) right now, and I'll either have to borrow some or wait for next year when I'll (hopefully) have a calf to sell. Another option that has some cons, is working for her board. I would *love* to do that, but there's the problem of transportation, my parents' consent, and, of course, finding a position. Right now I'm looking at a stable near here. It's not fancy but is exactly what I'm looking for. There's some other problems that might keep me from working there, but with any luck at all, it might work out. If it doesn't, I'll have to wait for next year, when I'll hopefully have a calf to sell. If my heifer doesn't calf in her first year, that'd be kinda devastating, and even if she does, the price for the calf might only be enough to pay off my current debts. So, yeah, a lot of obstacles!
That's why I'm wondering: would it be bad to wait at least one more year to start her?


Anyway, I didn't have a lot of time today, so I just did some lunging, yielding (she's doing awesome with this!), and backing. I also did some ropework around her, just to kinda see how she'd react and to desensitize her to the sight and the sound. This brings me to the embarrassing part... :redface: So I was throwing the rope at some of the calves, letting the rope glance off their ears. Then I mistakenly actually roped one... and couldn't get the rope back off (these are good-sized weanlings; a mite hard for me to throw, especially from the ground). So after a long while of trying without success, I finally got my brothers to come out give me a hand. We were planning to get the calf into the lean-to to the poleshed (we usually work with the cattle in there) where we could corner him with some panels and get the darnded thing off. Before we started that process, though, my brother decided to try it the simple way. He grabbed some hay and snuck up to the calf. Lucky for us, the calf was very calm and somewhat tame. And, voila, my brother got the thing off her. He did it just on time, too, as Heidi was sneaking up behind him (the calves have learned to be scared of my calf-eating horses ). I thought I was gonna die from embarrassment, though. :redface:


I bought the horses a Redmond mineral rock yesterday and introduced it to them today. Blue would have none of it, because I _must_ have been plotting to catch her with the halter I had behind my back rolleyes, but Heidi and Paso were soon licking like their lives depended on it! My question is: should I be introducing it to them slowly?


Thanks for reading; happy trails! :wave:


----------



## EmberScarlet (Oct 28, 2016)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> Anyway, I didn't have a lot of time today, so I just did some lunging, yielding (she's doing awesome with this!), and backing. I also did some ropework around her, just to kinda see how she'd react and to desensitize her to the sight and the sound. This brings me to the embarrassing part... :redface: So I was throwing the rope at some of the calves, letting the rope glance off their ears. Then I mistakenly actually roped one... and couldn't get the rope back off (these are good-sized weanlings; a mite hard for me to throw, especially from the ground). So after a long while of trying without success, I finally got my brothers to come out give me a hand. We were planning to get the calf into the lean-to to the poleshed (we usually work with the cattle in there) where we could corner him with some panels and get the darnded thing off. Before we started that process, though, my brother decided to try it the simple way. He grabbed some hay and snuck up to the calf. Lucky for us, the calf was very calm and somewhat tame. And, voila, my brother got the thing off her. He did it just on time, too, as Heidi was sneaking up behind him (the calves have learned to be scared of my calf-eating horses ). I thought I was gonna die from embarrassment, though. :redface:


LOL, it happens. I had an embarrassing moment when I longed a pony that hadn't been used for months. :icon_rolleyes: 
I had the pony on the line, and he was VERY energetic. Somehow, his trot was twice as fast as the big horses' lope... and he loped so fast he had to lean! Anyways, I quickly realized he wasn't exactly willing to listen to an inexperienced kiddo like me. At one point, I tried to switch directions, and he flipped! 
He started bucking, then tried to drag me (those tiny devils are strong....). So, just as I decide to let go of the rope, the owner came into the barn to see him trotting off towards the food. :lol: 
He went on to give the ''You just let him win,'' speech, and (redfaced) I tied a knot on the end of the robe to improve my grip... lets say it worked when I needed it. :wink: He sorted out after a while, luckily. Not sure I could ever ride that thing though.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

EmberScarlet said:


> LOL, it happens. I had an embarrassing moment when I longed a pony that hadn't been used for months. :icon_rolleyes:
> I had the pony on the line, and he was VERY energetic. Somehow, his trot was twice as fast as the big horses' lope... and he loped so fast he had to lean! Anyways, I quickly realized he wasn't exactly willing to listen to an inexperienced kiddo like me. At one point, I tried to switch directions, and he flipped!
> He started bucking, then tried to drag me (those tiny devils are strong....). So, just as I decide to let go of the rope, the owner came into the barn to see him trotting off towards the food. :lol:
> He went on to give the ''You just let him win,'' speech, and (redfaced) I tied a knot on the end of the robe to improve my grip... lets say it worked when I needed it. :wink: He sorted out after a while, luckily. Not sure I could ever ride that thing though.


That's a scary story! It happens though; those ponies can be regular devils!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I did some clicker training with mah girl today. I'm teaching her to line up with a "mounting block" (wooden box). I don't think she realizes that standing beside the wooden thingie = good... yet. I ran out of treats so I had to quit a little earlier. I was very happy with her though!


----------



## kewpalace (Jul 17, 2013)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> That's why I'm wondering: would it be bad to wait at least one more year to start her?


Not at all. I had my mare, Star, started at 4. She turned out OK. :smile:


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

@kewpalace -OK, thanks. Star doesn't look too bad ;-)


----------



## kewpalace (Jul 17, 2013)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> @kewpalaceStar doesn't look too bad ;-)


Thanks! She was the best. My heart horse. Lost her in 2016 in a stable accident. :sad: But I just remember all she gave me and did for me and I can't thank her enough for putting up with me.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Oh, I'm so sorry :sad:


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I wasn't planning on doing much with Heidi today, but she figured out how to get some attention. See, she was on her own in a pasture beside the one the other horses are in. We have a well there that is supposed to lead water from the dugout to the watering tank. It's broken right now (we think there's some kind of a blockage in the pipe; it's very unlikely that the dugout is frozen to the bottom) and we have to water all the stock from our drinking well. My brother was there in his truck with water for the bulls and heifers. But when he was finished and opened the gate Heidi hid behind the truck and tried to slip out when he tried driving through. I swear she knew what she was doing!

So anyway, they got me because they can't handle horses lol and I haltered her up. Then I took her for a little trot around to blow off some steam. It was pretty awesome. It was pretty new terrain and she was so alert to everything! She got out of control only once and it didn't last long. I have to admit, though, she can intimidate me a bit even when she's just playing. Actually, scratch that; she's never aggressive, just a little dangerously playful at times. It's already better than it used to be, which I'm oh so thankful for! :lol:

Then I put her in with the other horses. I always end up giving in and letting them be together! Anyway, I did do some liberty work after that, but she just doesn't love/value treats a lot, if you know what I mean.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I taught Heidi a new trick today. I kiss her nose = she gets a treat. :lol: It's an adorable trick even if doesn't mean anything more than that she loves treats. :smile: Did I ever mention how clever - no, ingeniously brilliant my girlie is? It literally only took two *kiss nose* *give treat* sequences before it clicked and she knew exactly what to do. Now I can hold my hand with the treat at normal level, she'll sniff it but instead of trying to nibble it out of there she'll move her head away from it and up to my face. I love doing things like this with Heidi where she has to go away from the rewarding thing to get it. It's a bit like something I once did with her. The herd was on the other side of the fence from her and the gate was a ways down the fenceline. It was so cool watching her, first, try to walk through the fence, then wait for me to help her, whinny for help from the other horses, and then finally walking down the fenceline away from where she wanted to go because she knew that was the way to get there. This must be my favourite exercise to do with her!  Really cool!

Working with Heidi must be the most rewarding thing I do in my life! :lol: And did I ever mention that I really love this filly? <3


----------



## EmberScarlet (Oct 28, 2016)

Careful what "tricks" you teach your horse. Our neighbor's rescue knows a couple, and ****, is working with him obnoxious at times... ****. 

His old owner taught him the kiss, and to nod his head when you ask him if he "wants food" (because, that isn't all the time right @[email protected]). 

Whenever he's remotely near your face, he tries to lip or bite your lips, then, when you shoce him away he'll try to sniff and lip your hands, expecting a treat. He also learned to eat a carrot out of your mouth, and nearly took my neighbor's nose off. 

With the "nodding", he'll nod any time he's near the barn, and get sniffy and ****y if he doesn't get food. It gets irritating quickly when he yanks your arm off as you lead him...

No offense to you, and I'm certainly not telling you not to teach Heidi tricks. Just be careful that she doesn't get carried away. It may take a years before it becomes an irritating habit, and another couple years to fix it.

Good luck!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

EmberScarlet said:


> Careful what "tricks" you teach your horse. Our neighbor's rescue knows a couple, and ****, is working with him obnoxious at times... ****.
> 
> His old owner taught him the kiss, and to nod his head when you ask him if he "wants food" (because, that isn't all the time right @[email protected]).
> 
> ...


Thanks for your words of caution! Yeah, I think I could possibly get carried away with Heidi, but as safety is always the number one thing on my mind when doing anything with my horses, I think we should be OK. I do make sure to even out the trick training with respect training; she knows that me kissing her nose is something nice that can get her a treat but she also knows better than to be disrespectful 'in my face' (quite literally).


----------



## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I’m finally caught up on your journal!! I didn’t realize I was behind until today! Haha. I also didn’t realize Blue had a journal so I’m going to be catching up on that as well!!

Your place looks gorgeous. I love seeing pictures. It sure looks awfully cold... I love the snow though. Do you have quite a few cows? How many acres does your family have?

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with starting a horse at 4 at all. 3-4 seems like a good age. Are you going to saddle break her yourself or do you plan on getting help? Being at a stable isn’t a bad idea. I don’t think I’d personally want to start a horse without a round pen or some kind of small arena.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

horseylover1_1 said:


> I’m finally caught up on your journal!! I didn’t realize I was behind until today! Haha. I also didn’t realize Blue had a journal so I’m going to be catching up on that as well!!
> 
> Your place looks gorgeous. I love seeing pictures. It sure looks awfully cold... I love the snow though. Do you have quite a few cows? How many acres does your family have?
> 
> I don’t think there’s anything wrong with starting a horse at 4 at all. 3-4 seems like a good age. Are you going to saddle break her yourself or do you plan on getting help? Being at a stable isn’t a bad idea. I don’t think I’d personally want to start a horse without a round pen or some kind of small arena.


Thanks, I love when people read my journals. 

Our place is, like, an antonym to gorgeous, but thanks anyway. We have some over a hundred cattle. 

I think the biggest problem I'd have with waiting until she's four is that I'm extremely impatient and won't know what to do until then. I'm going to do it myself, and I don't mind telling you that I'm rather freaked out about it! Yeah, I'm wishing on everything that I can think of that I'll somehow scrape up the funds to board somewhere... which is unlikely, but a girl can dream, right? Right now I'm 99.9 % sure that my heifer is pregnant, but this is her first time and there's so much that can go wrong, and even if I do get a calf I won't be able to sell until next year. Plus, the money from a calf would only be enough (maybe not even) to pay off what I had to borrow to buy the heifer... Infuriating, this business is. So, I'm going to have to think of something else. Suggestions more than welcome!


----------



## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

Haha, I guess fresh snow make just about anything gorgeous.  

Did you say the biggest problem was transportation to the stable? Or the cost itself? Because I am sure many places would allow you to work off your board for a month or so.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

horseylover1_1 said:


> Haha, I guess fresh snow make just about anything gorgeous.
> 
> Did you say the biggest problem was transportation to the stable? Or the cost itself? Because I am sure many places would allow you to work off your board for a month or so.


Actually, they're both equal problems.  If I find a good stable with nice people, I might be able to work off the board and maybe even borrow a trailer to bring Heidi there, but there's still the problem of my parents. It would take a lot of work to persuade them to let me be there on my own. On second thought, it wouldn't work. :frown_color: :angrily_smileys:


----------



## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

Could you set up a round pen at your place? I prefer temporary panels myself, but you could set up a wooden round pen for a pretty reasonable cost I would think.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

horseylover1_1 said:


> Could you set up a round pen at your place? I prefer temporary panels myself, but you could set up a wooden round pen for a pretty reasonable cost I would think.


It's probably my best option right now. It'll take some time but I think I could get a wooden one set up.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

I spent some very special minutes with Heidi today. 

Life regularly sucks right now and I was close to exploding and punching someone in the gut so I went out to the horses to spend some time with whoever would let me be around. It was already getting dark.

Blue and Paso stayed by the bale but Heidi came right up to greet me. <3 After just chilling with her I practised using body language to talk to her. I'd walk away then turn to face her in a relaxed, leaning-back posture, using my hands up at my chest-level to motion her towards me. Somewhat magically, she ended up responding instantly every time.  Then I was just walking with her and Blue took off to the other end of the pasture. Heidi followed her away from me and then she stopped to investigate something. I was standing quite a ways off but I used body language to ask her back.

AND SHE CAME! 

Made me feel so much better the way she responded and respected me and wanted to be around me!



Pics from the other day (I usually do have a face :wink.


----------



## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

About the trick training, when I learned how to teach tricks, I was also told to teach the horses the command, "That will do," which meant, trick is over--stop. It has been very effective over the years, if the horse gets a little pushy wanting to do tricks when you are done. I don't have to get tough or anything--it just seems to work. I just say, "That will do," and the horse gives it up.


----------



## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

She is so photogenic & gorgeous. Awww!  I love her face. So glad you two are doing so well & I love moments like that!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

*"Curiosity killed the cat"*

...or so they say. Heidi learned that the hard way today!

I couldn't believe what I was hearing when my mom told me that she'd just seen Heidi with a nose full of porcupine quills. Our dogs have often gotten to close to porcupines, but that's their nature - they were just trying to hunt the prickly creatures - but why on earth would an equine think it prudent to get close enough to a porcupine to get their nose full of quills? Sure as heck beats me! But when I think more about it, it's really not that surprising - Heidi has always felt the need to get her nose into everything!

I have to say that it hurt, the way she immediately came up to me as soon as I ran out to her - she was so trusting, but still the only way for me to help her was to put her in more pain. I tried my best to get out as many as possible but I doubt that me and my mom working together got more then seven or so out before Heidi wouldn't let us near her face. I had people telling me to just tie her up, wrap a towel around her face and tug them all out, some even suggested sticking her in the cattle squeeze, tying her head up so she couldn't move it at all, and then just pull them all out, but I know my girl and I wasn't going to do that unless all else failed. Working quietly, over the course of at least one or two hours I got only a couple out. She was extremely flighty and jittery, the way she always gets when she's in pain, so it was extra hard. I would walk her around until she seemed a bit calmer, then carefully sandwich her between the wall and me and gently stroke her face, getting closer and closer to her prickly lips. The problem was that even if I could get there, the quills were very hard to pull out. They'd slip right through my fingers, accomplishing nothing more than putting her in more pain.

After a while, I wasn't getting anywhere anymore. Poor Heidi didn't want my hands anywhere near her. So I left her and Blue in peace and went to discuss our options with my mom. I definitely couldn't just leave them in her, so I felt our only option was the vet. Just for the record, we *rarely* get the vet out for anything - my parents like to say that the vets "drive on gold" - and we don't have a trailer to bring animals to the clinic. We finally decided that we'd borrow/rent a trailer tomorrow and bring her in. I feel so bad though, just leaving her like this for the night!

I would like to hope that she's learned her lesson and won't go sticking her nose where she shouldn't, but we all know that that's not very likely!


----------



## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

The grocery store or local pharmacy usually has a topical numbing paste that has come in handy a few times. I forget what it's called, but it has lidocaine in it. Maybe do a speed shmeer of that then get to plucking quills.


----------



## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I’m sorry! Poor Heidi. I was thinking that you’d have to drug her as I read. It’s too bad they wouldn’t just sell you some dormosedan or something of the sort. Maybe she’ll need something stronger though. 

I hope that all goes well.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

lostastirrup said:


> The grocery store or local pharmacy usually has a topical numbing paste that has come in handy a few times. I forget what it's called, but it has lidocaine in it. Maybe do a speed shmeer of that then get to plucking quills.


We were thinking about doing that, but in the end we decided rather to just let the vet do it. Good to know though, for next time!



Knave said:


> I’m sorry! Poor Heidi. I was thinking that you’d have to drug her as I read. It’s too bad they wouldn’t just sell you some dormosedan or something of the sort. Maybe she’ll need something stronger though.
> 
> I hope that all goes well.


Yeah, we tried getting some kind of a light sedative off a neighbour with horses, but she said to just get the vet to do it. Change of plans though, the vet is in the area anyway so he's gonna come out here. It's better I guess - Heidi hasn't been trailered in years and I don't know how she'd react to it now. Thanks! I hope so too!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

The vet came out a couple hours ago. He only gave her part of the dose he was originally going to, because she was smaller than he'd thought she would be. She got really drowsy within a matter of minutes and the vet was able to pull a couple of the quills out. But then she was struggling too much to get any more out, so he gave her another shot. Once that one kicked in, she was wobbling from side to side and I was scared that she'd fall. But she was still present enough to keep putting up a big fight. It must have really been hurting 

He finally got all the quills out - even the ones inside her mouth. She was so drowsy at that time that I couldn't get her to walk, and she looked like she was going to fall over any moment. She's doing a bit better now - her mouth is still really sore and she didn't even dare take a treat out of my hand; I guess she hasn't noticed yet that the quills are out. Poor girl didn't really want to hang out with me; I'm afraid she's associating me with the intense pain she was in :-(

I attached some (bad) pics of before. Poor baby was so out of it


----------



## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I’m so glad they are out!! I’m sorry it was rough, but I think she’ll get over it. She loves you. Plus, maybe she will not check out porcupines again.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Knave said:


> I’m so glad they are out!! I’m sorry it was rough, but I think she’ll get over it. She loves you. Plus, maybe she will not check out porcupines again.


Thanks, I hope she remembers soon, lol. And yeah, lets hope she'll turn around and run next time she meets a porcupine!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

*I finally rode her!!!!!!! <3*

:loveshower:OK, that's something of an over-statement - I leaned over her back, putting my full weight on her a couple times, and I even brought my legs up onto her rump a few times, doing the "Jeffries plank". BUT IT'S STILL AMAZING! She's the first horse I've started like this - every other horse I've ridden is the old, dead broke type, and it's so different but also not as complicated as I'd expected it to be. You know, I spent literally years (when she was still too young) just watching videos, reading articles, and overthinking every aspect it. And I was rlly gonna wait until next summer to start her - original plan was to start her last summer but that didn't end up happening; said that she wasn't ready, which is true to a certain extent, but it was more me not being ready. Then a couple days ago I was like "Screw this, I'm gonna ride her". Lol.

She was sooo much more chill about it than I had expected, it really wasn't a big deal to her - towards the end, she was starting to get a little annoyed with it, didn't exactly want to stand by the mounting block thing anymore. But her worst "spook" I guess was just when I was lying on her, rubbing her neck and she moved against the mounting block. That spooked her a bit and she backed away from it quickly. I bailed, sliding off her and calming her down a bit before I tried again. She wasn't scared, just not comfortable with the situation. Most of the time though, she would just keep lipping at the snow with me hanging over her back.  So yeah, very excited about that and I'll hopefully get some of the same type of stuff done during the next couple days, moving on to sitting up on her! She has a short attention span, and when I finally quit it was because I could tell she was getting a bit antsy - bored/frustrated and wanted to go do other things. In many ways (more like all ways...) she is still quite a baby!

Like I said before, I've never done anything even close to putting the first rides on a horse, so it was all different than anything I'm used to - feeling how my weight on her back threw her off balance, and reading her reactions.

I love her. It's hard to explain, but it's pretty awesome how we can communicate with each other, in a way that I've never before communicated with a horse. We really understand each other, and she never gets aggressive, mad, or purposefully dangerous towards me. She understands not to play too rough close to me (usually, lol) because she knows she can hurt me and doesn't want to, and what stands out the most to me is how even with all this new, supposedly scary stuff, I can tell that even though she's not comfortable with it she sticks around and tries to understand and work with it because she trusts me. And that's pretty cool. :loveshower:


----------



## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

That is awesome!!! I am excited for you.


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Did some more of the same kinda stuff today. Did some groundwork exercises first, then moved up to getting her lined up with the upside down tub thing that serves as a mounting block. I gotta work with her some on that; not even mounting, just chilling beside it cause she's already starting to not like lining up.

I still didn't get to actually sitting up. I did a lot of leaning over her, full weight on her back, and just talking to her and rubbing her side. Then, unlike yesterday when I just went for it, I worked slowly up to lying on her back. Swinging my legs gently at first, then bringing one up on her hindquarters, and finally chilling on her back, both legs on her rump, just rubbing her down and talking to her. I only did that once or twice though; tried to quit before it went bad.

I'm not sure how fast I should be moving - I've always seen people getting to sitting up on the horse the first time - I've worked with her, doing this, two sessions already, and still haven't gotten to sitting up. But I think I'd rather move slowly, especially since I'm very inexperienced and would rather take longer than mess up by moving too fast and cause problems that are gonna take a professional a while to fix.

Nearing the end she was getting strangely... quiet. Like, shut in almost. I don't know if she just wasn't feeling good maybe? She still did what I asked her to, just didn't have the "life" that she usually does... Hope I'm not doing something wrong to make her feel shut down. I think maybe she's just tired; I moved her and Blue back to their normal pasture yesterday, and they've been exploring and running around, playing, nearly none-stop.
In the end I was rubbing her back, and she backed up so that she could lean her head into me, and then just stayed like that while I rubbed her head <3

Eventually, when I've gotten to sitting up on her and being able to move her around a bit I'll get someone to take some pics.


----------



## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

Oh, I'm so happy for you! It is so amazing to have that connection with a horse. Some people go their whole lives without meeting their heart horse so soak in every moment of it and enjoy it. 

In my opinion there's no such thing as training a horse "too slow" unless you're a professional trainer charging someone to train their horse. Then there is a certain expectation of where the horse should be in a certain amount of time. Even then, you should never push a horse past their limit because the owner is expecting a miracle. You've got people who will just sit on their horses for the first two weeks or so, and then the other end of the spectrum is colt starting challenges where they're walk, trot, loping, and going over obstacles in a matter of hours! (Which, those are for entertainment purposes - not necessarily of benefit to the horse. I enjoy a good colt starting competition when done correctly) 

It sounds to me like you're doing right by Heidi  

About the quietness... that is not uncommon. Whether she is just bored or tired or whatever. I've had the same thing happen with Joy a few times where I felt she just didn't have that life in her. They go through mood swings just like humans do - especially the mares/fillies and studs!


----------



## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

So I just found this thread today and am literally devastated it took me so long to find Ms Heidi's thread! As you know, Im completely in love with her! How awesome it was for me to read thru this and see how she looked at the beginning! You two have came such a long way together already and before long you're going to be up in the saddle on her and not think a thing about it!


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

horseylover1_1 said:


> Oh, I'm so happy for you! It is so amazing to have that connection with a horse. Some people go their whole lives without meeting their heart horse so soak in every moment of it and enjoy it.
> 
> In my opinion there's no such thing as training a horse "too slow" unless you're a professional trainer charging someone to train their horse. Then there is a certain expectation of where the horse should be in a certain amount of time. Even then, you should never push a horse past their limit because the owner is expecting a miracle. You've got people who will just sit on their horses for the first two weeks or so, and then the other end of the spectrum is colt starting challenges where they're walk, trot, loping, and going over obstacles in a matter of hours! (Which, those are for entertainment purposes - not necessarily of benefit to the horse. I enjoy a good colt starting competition when done correctly)
> 
> ...


Thank you so much! That makes me feel better.
I didn't work her much yesterday; just took her for a walk. It was crazy windy - stuff flying around and making scary noises - and Blue was going nuts as soon as we we were out of sight, so that was some experience, lol


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> So I just found this thread today and am literally devastated it took me so long to find Ms Heidi's thread! As you know, Im completely in love with her! How awesome it was for me to read thru this and see how she looked at the beginning! You two have came such a long way together already and before long you're going to be up in the saddle on her and not think a thing about it!


Aww, thanks so much!! Yes, Heidi has come a long way and changed soo much; when I look back at earlier pictures of her and how she is now, she has really grown up a lot. Thanks again :cowboy::smile:


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Took Heidi for a walk again today, but planning to get a "ride" in tomorrow!

She was pretty good for the most part. Had a couple "episodes" when she forgot about the weak hooman leading her and wanted to be a wild bronc for a sec. It's not that hard to shut her down, but it's sorta dangerous when she does that. She's a good filly, just still something of an energetic, impulsive baby, lol.
That one time her acting up was getting too much, so we had to have a, how to say it... "heart to heart" about manners, lol. After that a stern "hey" whenever she even started not listening to me calmed her down.


----------



## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I love the pictures! Especially the last one.


----------



## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

What a gorgeous girl! She practically glows <3

It sounds like you're really starting her the right way. The baby moments are all part of the "fun", I remember them well with the mare I started. 
I can't wait to see how she progresses! Keep up the great work!


----------



## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

I love the pictures! I'm sooo jealous of your snow. I wish we had some here. 

How old did you say she was? Coming 4 this spring?


----------



## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

@horseylover1_1 - Haha, you're welcome to all our snow!!  Yup, she's gonna be four in July. What do y'all think of her conformation-wise? Is it normal that she's still at such a seemingly low level of maturity at 3 1/2 yrs old?


----------



## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I don’t think she’s immature; she’s cute. I’m not good at confirmation myself. Nothing stands out as bad to me though.


----------



## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Different horses mature at different rates, Rodeo matured pretty quickly as far as looking like a horse instead of a fugly ducking and mentally, he was pretty much a dead head from the first day I got him, although in cooler temps he shows his a** a lot more lol. But honestly, she doesnt look immature IMO what so ever. Best of luck for y'all's first ride!


----------

