# Lacey's Journal (aka the trials and tribulations of a loved old lady)



## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

Woo Lacey  To be completely honest, I only came to look at the lovely pictures of her  She's stunning, for an old lady.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Haha Gidji! Well, I guess I'll just have to post lots of pictures so people stay interested. XD

So, I showed up at Lacey's house today. She was not super excited:










The poor girl had sweat on her chest when I got her out of the field. All that hair isn't so good once it warms up, eh Lacey?

It was kind of a bummer, it started pouring down rain practically as soon as I got there so I didn't get to ride since I felt like a jerk putting a saddle on Lacey's wet back, yknow?

I was able to mostly groom her before it started pouring and oh my! SOOOO much hair was coming out of her. I was literally grabbing her fur in my hands and pulling it out. By the time I was done with her neck (I didn't get to really groom the rest of her becuase it started pouring), the ground looked like there was an entire mini down there. It was pretty neat though, once I got done with her neck, it was basically all summer fur. Now she kinda looks like a poodle with a really bad haircut, her neck looks shaved and her body is dang woolly. I think I might give her a bath tomorrow since so much hair is coming out, a bath might be the most effective/cheapest way to get rid of it all quickly.

Then I lunged her and she was pretty un-psyched about that. She was very irritated that I was making her go the direction that caused the rain to be blown into her face. She told me I was a failure of a human. :lol:
But she was good. She cantered really well and I had no issue getting her to canter or getting her to stay in a canter. I'm kind of proud of myself, I'm beginning to be able to see right before she breaks into a trot so she didn't fall out once today.

Here are some other pictures I took, I didn't feel like there were enough to post an actual picture thread. Haha "enough" :lol::lol::lol:










She has such an awkward stance in this one. Heehee That's my girl! Doesn't she look mangy? My goodness. Look at her nekked neck!!! :shock:


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

Naaw, I love the 2nd photo of her. You're coming into spring over there aren't you?


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

I have to say, I love Lacey. She's such a beautiful horse. I hope to hear more from you!


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## Reiterin (Mar 28, 2010)

> She has the worst, absolutely THE worst, sitting trot. EVER. It is a trot that posting was thoroughly invented for. I can sit any horse in the world, practically (I haven't met one yet that I can't sit since I've been building muscle with Lacey, but I don't want to get cocky cuz I know there has to be something out there worse than her), except for Lacey.


Come ride Maggie. She has the Same trot!! I've been thinking of re-naming her "Pogo" (as in pogo-stick)


​


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Reiterin said:


> Come ride Maggie. She has the Same trot!! I've been thinking of re-naming her "Pogo" (as in pogo-stick)
> ​


​
Haha! Sounds like a plan. :lol: 

Gidji- we are coming into spring here, finally! I've missed the sun so much. haha

Thanks horseluver2435! I love her too, but I'm a bit biased. :shock: :lol:

I went and saw my poneh today! I gave her a bath because she is shedding SO badly that I felt like a jerk not trying to do more about getting the hair off. she was pretty good about the bath. 
Funny story: I dropped her lead rope on the ground while I was going over to the faucet to turn the water on, thinking that Lacey would just stay put, eating grass etc. Well, not so much. As soon as I got to the faucet she must have figured out what was coming because she started walking very purposefully in the opposite direction. My BO's farrier (and his jerk son) was there trimming the other horses hooves and they stopped and started watching her (and laughing at me). Lacey walked past them and just took off in a very Arab sort of trot, tail way up, all bouncy, yknow: the good stuff (haha). Then, she got to a large clump of grass way on the other side of the farm and just stopped. Dropped her head and started eating. I was expecting to maybe hafta chase her a bit to get her back or something but oh no, she let me get all the way up to her and didn't bat an eyelash. So funny. I swear that horse has a really excellent sense of humor. 

So, I got her back and started washing her with no issues. She isn't a huge fan of baths, she'll put up with them but she doesn't adore them, so you can probably imagine the facial expressions she was making. :lol:

Then, I decided to lunge her a bit to help her dry off and boy, I could tell from the second I clipped the lunge line to her halter that she was as full of it as a mexican jumping bean. She was trying to charge ahead of me to get to our lunging area (which she NEVER does) and she broke into a trot from a walk at least 6 or 7 times during the walking portion of our warming up. I let her trot a bit but I could see that that was going to get us nowhere, she tried to buck twice on the line and she never bucks. So I decided to take her to the arena and free lunge her once she was thoroughly walked out, since I didn't really want her bucking on the lunge line. Goodness me, as soon as we got into the arena, she just TOOK OFF. This horse is twenty-freaking-five, she should be more sedate than running around bucking like a crazy person! :lol: She was cantering for no less than five minutes straight, with no urging on my part, both directions. I was very impressed. 
She also busted out some of the nicest trotting I have ever seen. I mean, she has a really beautiful trot to begin with, but she was busting it out on a even more intense scale! It was the kind of thing that makes my insides cry a bit that she is so old and it would be so unsafe for her to have a little one.
She was feeling really good and it was excellent to see. Especially since 2 years ago, she couldn't even canter a step at all!

Also, I'm SUPER SUPER SUPER proud of this: as she was drying off, I hopped up on her with just the halter and lead rope. And, for some reason, I decided "Lacey's being crazy today, I'm not wearing a helmet, I have hardly any control over her, why don't I practice my bareback trotting?!" *sarcasm* But, for some reason, it went really well. I actually trotted her around quite a bit, did some turns, and big circles, and most importantly: I didn't fall off or even feel like I was going to! She wasn't even jogging either, she was big trotting. It was like we melted together somehow... weird stuff.

We had a good day! 

And, I have lots of pictures to post so a picture thread is going up! =)


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## Reiterin (Mar 28, 2010)

congrats. sounds like a good day.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

It was around 75 degrees out today so the poor old lady was SWEATY! She had a wet saddle blanket today! Haha

We did a little lunging and she was ok. We didn't do a bunch though since it was so hot.
Then I realized that I haven't ridden in a saddle and bridle in about 2 weeks so I decided to do that today. It's interesting how being ridden bareback has made her a bunch lighter to my cues. Before I started riding bareback about 3 times a week she was pretty...not dead sided, but she didn't understand the whole "keeping turning until my leg comes off your side" thing very well and she didn't respond to subtle cues. She knew what I wanted but she wouldn't go in circles off just leg like she does now.

Then, we did a little trotting. Mostly posting trot because she was being very go-y today and I just couldn't seem to get her slowed down for very long (I was trying all my usual tricks but she was just really...really enthusiastic about life today, haha). We did some figure eights and serpentines and I worked on being on the correct diagonal while posting, which is something I really need work on, so it was all good. It was also good practice using my leg while posting, which is something I don't feel very effective at.

Then, I was SUPER brave. I cantered her in a circle! I have an issue with becoming a passenger at the canter and stopping riding, so usually I just cue her for the canter and let her go. And then, she has previously tripped around the corners of the arena at the canter, scaring me and making me worry about cantering at all. Well, today I figured it out: she gets unbalanced and trips around the corners because I've dropped her. If I have contact in the reins and guide her with my legs around the corners, she doesn't lean into them as much in an unbalanced manner and then she doesn't trip! Along with that, I had been concerned about cantering her in a smaller circle that the entire arena because of the tripping thing, but today, after my epiphany, I cantered her in a largish circle, twice, and we did just fine. 

It's interesting, with Lacey, more than any other horse I've ever ridden, Lately, I can feel what's going on with her without anyone telling me, as long as I'm feeling her and not tuning her out. I can tell when she's on the wrong lead, I can tell when she's on her forehand, I can tell when she's unbalanced...I can just feel these things with no instruction from anyone. It's an interesting thing.


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## Reiterin (Mar 28, 2010)

> It's interesting, with Lacey, more than any other horse I've ever ridden, Lately, I can feel what's going on with her without anyone telling me, as long as I'm feeling her and not tuning her out. I can tell when she's on the wrong lead, I can tell when she's on her forehand, I can tell when she's unbalanced...I can just feel these things with no instruction from anyone. It's an interesting thing.


That's great. I wish I could learn that. =)


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

It's been so hot here, I feel so bad for Lacey! She's been sweaty just standing around. Then, she gets winded so much more easily because she is hot. Today I didn't work her hard at all (maybe ten minutes of trotting and cantering, then 30 of walking) and she was seriously dripping sweat, she's a horse that NEVER sweats (it's not lady-like, don't you know? haha) so I felt really bad for her. I did hose her off when we were done and she seemed to enjoy that. She looks SO mangy right now too. I haven't taken pictures in a little bit because she's just so yucky looking. Like, she has bald spots in both her armpits, going up towards her shoulders and then back by her udder going along underneath her belly and minimally up the sides. She's just been shedding so much that I am just pulling out clumps of hair and her summer coat hasn't had a chance to grow in. I would just leave it but I feel like such a jerk making her stand around and work, in t-shirt/shorts weather, when she's basically wearing a snow suit. 

Today, I mostly groomed her for an hour or so, then roundpenned her for ten or fifteen minutes, then I threw my bareback pad on her and we rode around a little for a cool down. It's really weird, suddenly I've become able to sit her trot riding bareback. We trotted around a little today and I had no issue staying with her at all! That used to be a real challenge for me and I have no idea what's changed... Maybe she's figured out that it's more comfortable for her if she takes it easy and trots gently when I'm riding bareback? I don't know... I'm sure part of it is that she has randomly and miraculously slowed down her trot significantly when I'm bareback... I'm not sure at all where that's come from since she can't hardly jog worth anything undersaddle, but whatever! I'm not complaining!
I'm hoping to be able to practice trotting bareback more once it cools down or she loses more fur, but soon I'm going to try cantering bareback! I have never ever done that so it'll be a big step for me. I'm a little scared that I might fall off, but Lacey is one of those horses that will do anything to keep her rider on. She actually will stop/slow down if she feels me getting really off balance, bareback. it's cute. Heehee

Also, she's really cute (in case you weren't aware of how I felt about her). She's started nickering for me ALL the time again. I find it super adorable. I'll go into the barn and return with a brush and she'll nicker at me. I'll walk 30ft away from her to talk to my BO and she'll stand there nickering away like "commmmmeeeee baaaacccckkkk!". She always nickers for me when I dismount after riding for a little while, but she's stepped it up a notch lately: now she nickers and backs up, then rests her head on my shoulder like "hey mom! where'd you go? I missed you!". Maybe it's because she's feeling her hormones again and therefore being clingy... I dunno, but it's sure cute! 

I'm going to try to get a real ride in tomorrow, so hopefully I will have something more interesting to report.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I went out and worked her a smidge on Tuesday but I totally forgot to report how it went! Lacey did just fine. She's such a good girl.

However, craziness happened today! 
First off, I've been doing more round pen work with Lacey and she is LOVING it. I finally figured how to get her to turn in when I tell her to turn instead of turning to the outside, and she is getting so good. I love how in tune she is to my body language, I can get her to stop or walk by just taking a step in front of her shoulder, and I can get her to turn in and around just by taking a step back. It almost feels like we're dancing. She's really enjoying herself with this too. I love it when we do something she loves, her face just lights up and there's a vague change in her energy that I can just feel.
Oh my, that thought is making me tear up. She is truly a once in a lifetime horse. I'm terrified for the day she dies. After working with her for only 2 years I can just feel how she's feeling. I don't have to be touching her or anything, I just know. She's not a horse anymore, she's my best friend.

Anyway, so I hopped up on her in the round pen after I round penned her a little and I rode her around a bit in there. Then, I'm SUPER proud of this too, WE OPENED THE ROUND PEN GATE TOGETHER!! We've never done that before. I've tried but she always gets worried about me leaning forward or my arms and legs touching things that aren't attached to her. It makes me wonder if she had a bad experience a long time ago or something. But, today we did it! I think it'll be easier to do again after this because she's realized that nothing bad is going to happen.
Anyway, she was proud of herself after that, all prance-y and "lookit me guys!" So I just let her wander and only corrected her when she started trying to take advantage. 
There's a ditch on the property, about a foot wide and two feet deep, so totally something she easily can (and does regularly) step over. But! Today, we got to the ditch and she stopped. It was her "I'm concerned about this" stop so I didn't do anything, just let her assess the situation. Then, she decided to try to go around it another way and I let her since she had made a decision and usually her decisions are fine. Well, she misjudged the width of the ditch and got one front leg in the ditch. She was on her knee with her other front leg with her back legs still up all the way. I thought for sure that I was about to come off, I saw the ground coming up to meet me and I was like "aww, crap. This is how I'm going to fall off Lacey the first time?" My thigh was way over on her withers and I was seriously on her side, BAREBACK. So basically, I had no way of staying on. I have no idea how she did it but she got herself up, and in getting up she also rearranged me so that I didn't fall off! I'm still kinda in shock, she totally saved my butt. I wish someone could have been taping it! haha I have NO clue how she did it either, I mean, I wasn't holding mane, I was just on her back and some-freaking-how she managed to save us both.
I LOVE MY HORSE!!!
She's so much calmer nowadays too, I thought for sure that she was going to be all worked up and freaky about the ditch, but no. She was totally fine, no freaky-ness, no funny business, it was all in a day's work for Lacey, evidently. Haha

But yeah, my horse is awesome. I even accidentally kicked her really hard in the gut when she rearranged me as she got up and she was totally fine! A year ago she would have been psycho pony after that, but oh no. "Who's psycho pony?," Lacey says innocently. haha


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## Reiterin (Mar 28, 2010)

sounds like you have a good horse! =)


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

She is a pretty good horse. She has her days but most of the time she's a God-send. 

This is an update for Saturday (May 1st) and today so it might be kinda long...

On Saturday, we went on another big trail ride, 4 1/2 hours, and she was really pretty good. She's back in heat again and she was on the first day of it so right at the really vocal "hiya boys" stage, and we were riding with 3 geldings and no other mares. >.< Haha Needless to say, her mind was more on being a flirt than the ride so I didn't expect too much from her. I did of course expect her to follow "the rules" but I didn't ask her to do anything special because I could just feel that it would turn into an argument. She crossed some pretty deep water (knee high) pretty willingly which I'm very proud of since she hates splashing water in a significant way. We did quite a bit of cantering and she was great! She really kept herself under control and didn't try to bolt or anything. I was kind of expecting that we might have a problem about that, because she was feeling good and she was feeling her "womanliness" but nope! The only problem we had was that the girl that was in front of us for most of the time kept barging past Lacey and having her horse shove Lacey to the side. And she kept cantering ahead with no warning, which wasn't good for Lacey since Lacey was being so dang clingy. I wouldn't have had an issue if she had just let me know before she took off since I could have told Lacey to canter at the same time. >.< Dumb people. I wish I had sane, real horse people to ride with, not crazy "I love running more than anything!" people. I don't mind running but let's run as a group because everyone wants to, not just because one person decides that they need to go. Also, because of Lacey's age, I need to be way more careful abotu where she's running since she could hurt herself way more easily than a younger horse, so I can't just be running along, dodging ditches and potholes. And she just doesn't have the stamina of a younger horse and I need to be able to care fore her like that, not just have a freeforall. Geez.

And then, today didn't go so well at all. She was having a major major "mare day". She's usually pretty good on her mare days, but today, she was feeling good and young, therefore, excitement ensued. I was reminded about why I don't ride bareback in just a halter during the summer. First, she was charging ahead as I was leading her and jigging next to me. Then, I got her all groomed and hosed off her legs since she got a cut on her left hind fetlock area that's a little swollen but she's not off and it's not warm or anything, just swollen. I'm not too worried about the cut yet but I will be in a few days if it hasn't solved itself. So, after that, I got the lunge line and the whip out to lunge her. She was pulling all the way to the feild and I was doing my best to correct her but she was just not figuring out what I was telling her to do. I ended up getting a little too forceful which I'm pretty sure caused her to be worse because she was confused about what I wanted. So I lunged her and she did fine, she was being very fast and energetic but I decided to pick and choose my battles and that was not one I wanted to chance losing since I probably would have with her little mood today. 
Then, I decided to hop up bareback. Bad idea, my friends, bad idea. She immediatly started prancing around, pulling on the halter, trying to go where she wanted to go instead of where I was telling her to go, humping her back up, that sort of thing. I kept it up though and after about ten minutes she started to settle. I got her to behave herself ok but there was a lot to wish for. And then, I had to laugh at this, when I went to get off, she did a little mini crow-hop to "help" me off. She was nickering at me and she gave me a "hug" once I was on the ground so I didn't take it personally, but I thought that was pretty funny. Like she was saying "here mom, let me help you off!"

Such a funny girl.

But, I think I'll be putting bareback riding on hold for a bit and spend more time in an actual saddle since I've been kinda slacking in the actual saddle time department. I think tomorrow, depending on how the weather is and how Lacey's leg looks, I might work her pretty hard and hopefully get the sillies out. I really don't mind if she acts differently when she's in heat, I just need her to behave well. I need her to be stable and steady whatever her hormonal state is. She can be more "up" but she had better be respectful, which she wasn't being so much today. 
I'm sure it had something to do with me though. I'm pretty sure I was escalating my reactions to meet hers, which is not the way to do things with her. The more excited she gets, I need to get just as calm. So, I know she's not totally to blame, at all.

And, so as to not end on a negative note, I will share with you this picture I took today. I was playing around in Picasa with it and I kinda like how it came out.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I have come to the conclusion that I have accidentally created a holy terror. Lacey extremely fit right now, compared to the average horse, and I'm not fit enough to keep up with her! Ahhh! Haha
She's doing well though, just really ready for anything and everything. She wants to go go go and I just don't have that kind of stamina right now. 

We had a great session today, I took her out the arena and just let her run and run before I rode because she was acting like a shaken soda pop bottle that's about the explode, all sorts of barely contained power. She was running for about ten minutes, flat out, before she got tired enough to walk. And even after she was willing to walk, if I kissed at her to canter again, she'd step right into it. 
Then, I got her all saddled up and we rode around a bit. I made her a new halter yesterday with rings on the nose so that I'll be able to have her tied at camp, but still not need a bit (she can't drink water with a bit in her mouth and I don't want to have to take her bridle off all the time so she can drink at camp) so we were trying that out. She did really well in it. We rode all 3 gaits with no issues slowing down or turning. She needs more work backing up in it, but that's kinda understandable. She was very good. Most of the time I just let her trot and I posted. She just wanted to GO so badly that I figured that we could practice neck reining at the trot. We even cantered a little bit and she was really phenomenal! She responded to my leg aids and I didn't have to direct rein her at all at the canter. The reins were in one hand. 

The only issue we had was that she's put on some weight (which is good since she was really too skinny before) so now she's pretty round, and the saddle likes to slide when she's good and round. >.< But it didn't slide too badly, I just had to keep shifting it back to the right spot. 

But yeah, in all, we had a lovely day! And I will be posting pictures of little miss attitude shortly.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Well, long time no write! 

Happily, the whole being too fit for her own good issue seems to have mostly fixed itself. I've been free-lunging the bejeebus out of her and I sadly haven't been riding much. I haven't been riding much just cuz I haven't really had the time lately. I have been hopping on her bareback and in a halter for our cool-down time which she seems to be enjoying. So, basically, she's figured out that the arena is the place to be crazy and run around as much as she wants but that once she gets that out she needs to be good. 

Today, she was being hilarious. She was being a little forward so I groomed her and took her straight to the arena to free lunge her. She went around the arena like it was no big deal, w/t/c for about 15 minutes. Then, I decided that she seemed pretty calm so maybe she was done. 
What I have her do when we're done is I have her stop, then I ask her to come to me. Sometimes, she doesn't want to so I give her about a minute to decide, then I chase her off and make her work some more until she's ready to be done.
Well, today, she didn't want to come in and she started eating grass which is a big no-no in our rule book, so I immediately chased her off. We went through that same thing about 3-4 times (usually she's ready to come in on the second try, silly girl!) and I was getting more and more irritated. I wasn't mad, I was just a little irritated and I think Lacey could sense that because the next time, she didn't start eating, she just put her head down really near the grass and looked at me. She still wasn't coming in though so I chased her off again, but this time the little ****** wanted to play. 
She cantered around once or twice and then you could just see the lightbulb go on "This would be SO much more fun if I were galloping!" So she put her tail WAY up in true Arab fashion and started galloping around like nobody's business. She wasn't bucking or anything, she was just showing off her shexyness. Haha It was so funny, she was seriously running for about ten more minutes. She was SO playing with me, sliding to a stop and turning when I so much as accidentally made a small "turn" gesture, etc. Then, I hopped the fence to get my camera (THE ONE TIME I FORGOT IT IN THE CAR!!! I was mad. Haha) and she just stopped running immediately like "Party pooper!" and then she wouldn't get back into it when I came back with the camera. 
Needless to say, she came right in to me when I asked again. haha

The coolest part about that is that I've only seen her run like that and flag her tail one other time in the 2 years I've had her. The other time was only a few months ago. It makes me really happy that she's finally feeling good enough in her body to really exhilarate in it instead of just live in it. Especially at her age, horses her age don't seem to make comebacks like this.
She's also SO pretty when she's running like that, flagging her tail. You can totally see how she might have been as a youngster. The kind of horse everyone stops to watch because she really is a showstopper. There's just something about her that draws people in, I think. She's such a perfect combination of athleticism and beauty, delicate-ness and strength that I don't even know how it's possible. 

Also, tomorrow my camp starts and she's coming on Monday so it'll probably be three months before I update since it's an all summer camp, but maybe I'll have time.


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## sullylvr (Aug 13, 2009)

Sounds like y'all share an incredible bond  keep us posted!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

Hey wallaby...have you noticed a difference since the massage?


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

corinowalk said:


> Hey wallaby...have you noticed a difference since the massage?


On Tuesday (the last time I saw her before today) she seemed pretty sore and she was very hollow through her back doing everything (I only free lunged her a little then let her be done since she did seem sore). She also seemed extraordinarily tight in her muscles on Tuesday.

Today though! I could totally see a difference. Her muscles were all soft, and she was moving very very fluidly. She was actually over-tracking by about a hoof print at a normal trot where she usually only just tracks up. And then this whole running around like a youngster thing, that's totally something she only seems to do when she's REALLY happy.
I think the biggest change in her since the massage is in her attitude. I'm not really sure how that works but maybe it got out all the excess tension that she's been holding on to for years since she used to be really "up" all the time. She was getting better but it was really slow. But after that massage, she's like a different horse! She wants to be petted (she never really did before), she's being much more lovey towards me, and she's SO much calmer. For instance, today I was taking all her stuff to my van to take it to camp tomorrow and I had too much to carry by myself so I decided to make her wear some of the stuff and help me. We had to go off the property and on to the road to get to my van and she didn't blink twice at that. Before she would have been all balky and dance-y, but not today! And even when we were at my van and I slid the back door open and a showsheen bottle and a helmet launched themselves at her, she just kinda looked at them, sniffed, and really couldn't have cared less.
She's also been a lot more willing about everything. Usually she has an attitude of "if I have to, I will. But you can't make me put more effort in than I want to!" but she's just been being very "let's go have some fun! I would LOVE to work, if you would like me to."

I'm seriously impressed. :lol:


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## corinowalk (Apr 26, 2010)

Im so glad it worked for you guys! Its amazing the difference it makes.


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