# A New Adventure Begins



## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Well, this month has been full of lots of surprises and changes. A little while ago I moved into a cabin on my grandparents property who live out in the country. I also got permission to get a horse if I wanted. Well, I ended up finding a 6 month old filly instead. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that she gets to be hauled to where I live this coming weekend sometime. 

I went and saw her in person a few days ago and fell in love. My grandma went with me and she fell in love with the little filly as well. It's unknown what breed she is exactly as they came from a reserve where they ran wild and free but they do know who the sire is and he looks like a black and white paint/pinto and the mom looks like she could be part paint as well. Both parents had 1 blue eye and this filly has 2 blue eyes which is adorable. But not only is she cute, but she has a very sweet personality to match.

I spent about 1.5 - 2 hours with this filly when I first met her. And it seems she isn't 100% halter broke yet, but very close to it. She resisted following me initially when I tried to lead her, but after a bit, she started to walk where I led her too. Even got her to back up a step or two. I could pick up all her feet as well, though she seemed the most stubborn with her left front foot. The last half hour I spent just petting her though. I took off her halter and set it aside and just rubbed her neck and back, doing slow circles kinda like a massage. It didn't take long before she started to fall asleep next to me lol. She could've gone back to where her mom was, but she stayed by me instead and it was so funny watching her fall asleep right beside me while I rubbed her. 

Can't wait for my new journey to start when she arrives. I have a lot of plans for things I'm going to do with her over the next couple of years. Also need to come up with a name for her. So I'll update this once she's arrived and how she settles in.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Very pretty horse. I'd be very excited, too.


She is weaned?


Will she have any company, I mean, horse company, at the new place?


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

tinyliny said:


> Very pretty horse. I'd be very excited, too.
> 
> 
> She is weaned?
> ...


Yes, she's weaned. And she will have company. My grandma has 2 ponies she'll have for company all the time


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

I'm so excited! On Tuesday, so in 2 days, my little filly will be brought home  
I can't wait to start having her around and work with her towards an amazing partnership. She seems like a very smart and sweet filly so I'm sure she'll turn out to be an amazing horse when she grows up. 

The lady who currently has her, sent me this image this morning. She's getting her used to the trailer already and letting her check it out on her own. So hopefully when the day comes to haul her, there'll be less stress about it all. I know this little update is short, but there's not much else to really say. I'm just so excited that I had to post a little something and share the pic of how well she's doing.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Day #1 - Filly Arrives 

Well, my little filly has finally arrived!! So today is day 1 of her being here and I'm pretty seeing where we will be at in a year from now. 

When she arrived, the lady opened the trailer door and revealed this little filly just standing there, munching on some hay as though this was totally normal xD She didn't even a drop of sweat on her. It was rather funny just how chill she was with being in the trailer and having been hauled for the last 3 hours. Though it did take a bit of coaxing to finally get her out of the trailer since she was somewhere new now.

Once she was in her new enclosure, she still remained fairly calm as she walked around and explored. There were no "fireworks" so to speak. She seemed to take everything in stride and walked around to check everything out. I hung around to see how things go, though kept my distance so she was free to explore as she wanted and didn't have to worry about me doing anything. Though at one point, she did actually come over to me on her own to sniff at me before continuing to explore. 

A few minutes later, the mare pony realized there someone new. Now, there are two ponies on the property that belong to my grandma. An old sassy mare around 10 hh or just under, and a very sweet smaller gelding who's pretty half the size of the mare. We put the ponies in a different pen so there wouldn't be too much going on all at once for the little filly, and also let them get acquainted over the fence first. Well the initial sniff meeting went pretty good. The filly did a bit of clacking which is pretty normal and nothing crazy happened. 

The mare did become more aggressive in behavior later though. She would pin her ears (though I never saw her really try to bite too much), and also would toss out sudden backwards kicks like she was throwing a fit. She'd also pin her ears at the little gelding whenever he wanted to come greet the filly and would chase him off, adding a nip or two to him. She's always naturally been a little more on the aggressive side towards the gelding (nothing major, just is definitely the boss and will chase him away from hay if they're fed too close and that sort of thing). So it's probably going to take a bit before she warms up to the filly.

Once the filly was settled in a bit more though, I started to walk around more and greeted the ponies for a moment while the filly was off checking something out. Next thing I know, the filly has wandered back and comes up right beside me. So I pet her while she sniffs at the mare again. At one point, when I stopped petting her, she actually turned her head in for more scratches. So she definitely seemed to enjoy the attention. A little later, she was standing in a sunny spot so I went over to her and started petting her there too. She didn't even move a single step when I approached her which was awesome to see. 

Since she was so calm and doing so well, I decided to see how she'd do with being caught. So I went and got the lead rope and halter and put it on her with pretty much no problem. When she realized I had the rope around her neck, she at first wanted to walk off but since she couldn't, I was able to slip on the halter without a problem. After that, she very easily followed me wherever I led her. Except one spot spooked her, but we slowly managed to make it through there anyways. I only did one small loop around the pen before letting her go since I didn't want to do too much with her on her first day. 

I left for a bit after that, but about an hour later, I went back to her pen since two of my great aunts showed up and wanted to see her. So we headed out there and it was pretty awesome when the filly started to actually walk towards me when she saw me. She stayed around for a bit, though soon wandered off back to her hay. But apparently later on, while I was gone, one of my other great aunts showed up for a visit so my grandma went with her back there and the filly greeted them as well. 

So all in all, I am very in love with this precious little girl. She seems to be the kind of horse that's "born broke" so to speak. Reason I say this is because of how calm she is despite a bunch of new and "scary" stuff happening around her (so I'm thinking she'll become a pretty bomb proof kind of horse) and she likes to be around people as well as wants to please whenever you ask her to do something. I definitely look forward to seeing how things go from here. 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqPJOT1V4AApbxL.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqPJTFKVsAE0SyI.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqPJUNzUUAMkk-l.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqPJXK6V4AAk_zY.jpg


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Day 2 

Today was pretty interesting. This morning, I went out and spent an hour with my new filly before work. I went out to where she was and greeted her, petting her a bit before walking off, saying it was time for breakfast. And after a small hesitation, she actually followed over to where I was getting the hay. I didn't do much though, just gave her, her breakfast and brushed her while she ate. I also just hung out with her. A little later during that time, I took out the lead rope and carried that around and rested it over her back and rubbed it with her. She still seems occasionally uncertain about the lead rope and halter since she isn't fully halter broke, so I'm just working on her getting comfortable around me and the rope without having any "real" work going on or required of her. Just for her to accept the rope and for it to be a positive thing. 

Then when I came home after work, I went out to see her again. As I stepped through the gate, she looked over at me and actually walked over to me  I was/still am pretty excited about that. Again, I worked with the lead rope around her and got out the halter too. This time I took it a step further and put the rope around her neck too like you do when you go to catch them so they can't suddenly decide to just walk off on you. On the left side, she did pretty good. It didn't faze her at all really. But on the right side, she was more uncertain and tried to move away a bit but soon settled down. After doing that another couple of times, she calmed down for that as well. 

Once she was good with that, I laid the rope across her back and brought out the halter. I basically repeated the process with the halter and put it on her a few times as well. I didn't do any leading around as I simply wanted her to focus on the fact that the halter and lead rope aren't scare things and it's something to look forward to instead of taking off from it. She did pretty good and I'm thinking it won't be long till she is halter broke with how well she's been taking everything at this point. It's a blast working with her so far


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Congrats on your new filly! She is absolutely adorable!!!


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Oh, I'm so happy you started a journal to track your progress with your sweet filly! I'm totally in love with her! Just out of curiosity, is she a registered Paint or...? (sorry if you already mentioned this and I missed it)


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

> Congrats on your new filly! She is absolutely adorable!!!


Thanks! 



> Oh, I'm so happy you started a journal to track your progress with your sweet filly! I'm totally in love with her! Just out of curiosity, is she a registered Paint or...? (sorry if you already mentioned this and I missed it)


I'm glad you like the journal  And she isn't registered. Her breed is unknown actually. Her parents ran wild on a reserve and the lady I got the filly from got her mother during the winter. So my guess is the filly is quarter horse and paint cross. My great aunt things she might have a bit of arabian in her too cause of her face with having a smaller nose and other features. So I'm not entirely sure what she is, but I love her all the same


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Day 3

Today was another good day. Also did a bit more today than I did the past two days. 

This morning I was actually running a little behind schedule so I took my breakfast out with me when I went to see my filly so her and I ate breakfast together xD When I was done with eating, I decided to do some spur of the moment desensitizing. My food had been in a white paper bowl so to get her used to random objects, I used the bowl to rub along her and move it around. She sniffed at it once, but otherwise really didn't care about it. It seems like not much deters her.

After work, I went out to her again but this time, worked on leading her around. She followed fairly well and have started using voice cues already as well, such as "walk on" for when I want her to walk and saying "whoa" when it's time to stop. I also introduced something new to her which was asking her to back up and used a que word for that too which is "back". She definitely was a bit confused about about that but it didn't take long for her to catch on. Though at one point, she didn't quite want to do that and pawed the air/ground in front for a moment first. So I told her "back" again and this time tapped on her chest as well to add a bit more pressure. She resisted a moment longer but then finally took a step back. I released the pressure as soon as she did, but then wanted to walk forward again. So I got her to back up again to correct her and that went smoothly and she also held still after that. 

I ended our little session by picking up all her feet. She's still new to that too so it took a little bit to pick up her feet but wasn't too bad. One of her front feet she tried to take back but after a second or two, relaxed and was fine. However, with her back right foot, she tried taking it back and even tried walking sideways and away to get her foot back. But since I was holding onto her lead rope, I used it prevent her from wandering off and instead, going in a more slow and controlled circle until she finally relaxed her foot. I picked up that foot an extra time as well since it seemed to be her "problem" foot so to speak. And she was fine the next time i asked for it which was nice. 

So that brings us to the end of day 3. Progress has been made and I'm super excited about it. 


*Side Note
I came across a horse on facebook that sounds amazing. I've been thinking about getting an older horse that would be kinda like a mentor to the filly so she knows how to be horse and would be able to put her in her place better than a small pony would be able to do. Also, by having an older horse, I'd be able to go out and ride more regularly instead of just twice a month for my lessons. Not to mention, this horse has been ridden english, bareback, and western and is beginner friendly. 

And when it comes to actual riding, I'm along the lines of a confident beginner, though I'm not too bad as I have ridden a green broke horse before as well as stayed on during some bucking from a different horse who happened to feel spirited that day haha. Anyways, so by getting an older horse that's also been used for lessons, i'd be able to go riding more frequently and build my experience that way. i'd also then be able to pony my filly around once she's halter broke to help build her confidence outside the property as well and all that good stuff. 

But this is all just a thought right now. I talked to the lady about the mare and things honestly sound fantastic and would work out quite well if I was able to get her. She'd also be perfect for my grandma to dote on as she loves to spoil her horses and one of her ponies is getting really old and may not live too much longer. Again, nothing has been decided. Just something i'm kinda hoping that works out.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 4*

Another good day has come and gone. I've also finally decided on a name for my filly. Her name is going to be Ren. It's a Japanese name that means lotus or love. And she's a very friendly and loving filly so the name fits quite well with that. She's also apparently taken to my grandparents as well. My grandma told me that she'll walk up to her and my grandpa when they come around the paddock which is pretty awesome. She seems to be fitting right in which is what I was hoping for.

After work, I went to work with Ren again. The wind was really strong today though, and it did make her a little more antsy than usual. When I brought out the halter and lead rope, she started moving away backwards and sideways when I went to put the halter on, but since I kept moving with her, she finally stopped. Instead of just putting it on right away, I rubbed her with it and then took a step or two away from her. After a few seconds, I approached her again and this time she didn't move away when I went to put the halter on her. 

From there, I led her around again and this time she followed even better than she did the last few days. I also worked on backing her up again as well. It was pretty cool when I asked her to back up the first time, that I barely had to put pressure on her halter and tell her "back" when she moved and took a step back as though we'd done it a million times before. She's definitely a fast learner which is pretty awesome. Though there were still some bumps in the training that shows her inexperience but that's alright. She was also a little more alert and spunky due to the strong wind, but was overall pretty good. 



Regarding that other horse I mentioned in my previous post, I talked with my grandparents about it. They're both on board/ fine with me getting another horse. So that means I called the lady about the horse this evening to talk about the mare a bit as well as let her know what my skill level is with horses and stuff like that. 

Apparently the mare was raced once as a 3 year old but after that, was a brood mare for a few years and was also used as a lesson horse between foals. I don't remember what was mentioned from there to when this lady got her, but she had the mare for a while, and then sold her. But the people she sold her too ended up riding her too hard and the horse ended up running from them when it was time to be caught and basically the lady didn't recognize the horse she became. So she took the horse back and worked with her some more. However, due to how hard those people rode her and treated her, they also rode her with a saddle that didn't fit her. So then the mare had all kinds of spots out of place and needed a chiropractor. Now she's better for the most part, but still occassionally needs her hips worked on and to be ridden in a saddle that fits her perfectly to avoid anymore future problems. 

Currently, the mare just sounds like everything I'm looking for in a horse. As in, she's beginner friendly, good with farm animals, other horses, greets you in the field, has been ridden bareback, English and western. Not to mention she knows how to jump and that's something I want to learn to do. She also good with kids has ponied other horses before. 

The lady who owns her also says she's had tons of interest in the mare, but is being picky about who the mare goes and to and isn't letting the mare go to anyone that's contacted her previous to me so far. However, it sounds like she'd be willing to sell the mare to me as it sounds like the mare and I might be a good match. So I'm going to be thinking about this over the weekend and decide if I really want to get this mare or not.


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

That's awesome!! I really hope you can get this mare; that would be so fun!!  And I'm so happy Ren is doing good (beautiful name, btw!)


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> That's awesome!! I really hope you can get this mare; that would be so fun!!  And I'm so happy Ren is doing good (beautiful name, btw!)


Thanks  And I hope I can get her too, but I'm definitely going to think it through before jumping to a decision, though so far I'm leaning on going for it xD


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

That sounds awesome! I'm so excited for you, lol

May I ask which province you come from?


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Day 5

Things went a bit differently today. Since Ren has been doing so good with being led around in her enclosure, I decided to switch things up and lead her around the yard and house. At first she was a little hesitant to leave the paddock, but she ended up following me out. From there we wandered around and she actually did pretty good.

Did discover one fear she has. Or, more like she's not sure what to make of. My grandma was babysitting a 5 year old little girl and she came out. Ren was rather spooked by her and the fact she was somewhere she'd never been. She did alright though, no major freakouts. A bit later the little girl gave Ren some hay and after that point, Ren decided the little girl wasn't so bad and even wanted to go check her out a bit. 

So this time it's just a short update, but maybe tomorrow there'll be more to say since I don't work tomorrow. Meaning I get to spend as much time as I want around Ren


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 6*

So I decided to give Ren a break today since I had the day off and I've been working with her all week. Instead, I just took the time to hang out with her and wander around her paddock. There was some wood laying around that hasn't been cleaned up yet (such as broken pallets and some chopped wood and was pilled to the side). So I decided to put them to good use. Taking the best of the wood, I went around and set up different obstacles, though for the most part, they're little jumps. 

As I did this, Ren was my shadow. She followed me everywhere I went and even walked over some of the "jumps" I set up. So she did have have a bit of desensitizing happen as this involved occasionally throwing some wood around, moving large objects, and so on. She took everything in stride which was good. I love how she followed me though. It was like there was an invisible rope connecting us cause every time i went somewhere, she followed. And when I stopped, she stopped. 

Today was just spent bonding and hanging out around her. I didn't go out of my way to teach her anything, just let her watch me do stuff in her enclosure which she seemed to enjoy. 


Also, the other day, I put the little grey pony my grandma has in with my filly so she could have some company. At first, everything went well. They ate together and seemed to get along. So after watching them for a while, I figured everything would be fine. So I headed to work. But when I got back, the pony was back with the older pony in a separate pen. 

Turns out, after a bit, little Smokey had started chasing the filly around (also, he's maybe 2 feet high at the withers while the filly is just over 11 hh) and ended up with her just staying in a corner of the pen. So since he wasn't being very nice to her, my grandma took him out. 

This afternoon, the ponies, Misty(just under 10 hh) and Smokey were free to wander the yard and when they went by Ren's paddock, the Misty started to become more aggressive. Misty and Smokey have been together so long and it's been just the two of them for so many years that now I think they're too bonded. The mare in general tends to be a bit aggressive with Smokey at times, and just her overall attitude when near Ren shows that it would be very likely that if Misty and Ren were in the same pen, Misty would beat her up. 

So with seeing this, I'm starting to think that it would be a good idea for me to get this other mare I've been looking at to put her in with Ren so that Ren has at least one friend she can have around since it's not good to keep young horses alone.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Day 7

Today marks it an official week since I've had Ren. Wow! Can't believe so much time has passed already. Not to mention how far Ren has come as well. On one hand, if feels like things have been going slowly, but on the other, it feels like we've made a ton of progress. And in a sense, I suppose we have. 

We did something different today. Decided to take the training a step further since she's doing nearly perfect with leading, stopping, and backing up. So today, I introduced the concept of giving her hindquarters. She was unsure about it at first, but by the 3rd and 4th time I asked, she did it nearly instantly. So I don't think it'll be too long till she'll be doing that perfectly as well. 

Also worked on picking up her feet several times today as well since she needs to get better with that. It looks like she needs to get a trim since there seems to be a tiny crack wanting to start on one of her hooves, so I definitely need to work on Ren giving her feet so that she'll do alright for a farrier to come so we can get it taken care of before anything serious can happen.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 8*

I'm starting to wonder if my filly is even normal lol xD 

Like I mentioned in my last post, I started to teach Ren to give her hindquarters yesterday and did it only about 5 or 6 times on each side and that's it. Today, she acted like we'd done it a million times before and responded instantly when I asked her to move her butt. I cannot believe how quickly she's learning everything and accepting it. It's just... mind blowing to me. 

I suppose why it's so surprising to me is because I've worked with a green broke mare who was 5 years old, knew waay more than Ren, but acted worse than how Ren acts. But i don't mind having a filly that's so calm and sensible. However, it just means I'm going to become more creative about what I teach her and expose her to. 

It's also official, I'm getting that thoroughbred mare xD It also sounds like she might be coming sooner rather than later. As in, it sounds like she might be showing up on the 4th or 5th of November which is only about 4ish days away. Can't believe I might soon have 2 horses! Going to have to figure out a new schedule on how I'm going to work with them, but I'm fairly certain everything is going to work out.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 10
*

Since yesterday was uneventful, I figured I'd wait till today to post an update. And boy do I have an update. 

First off, when I went out to see Ren, the fence was down. Turns out someone had cut it, but thankfully Ren hadn't gotten far and when I called her, she came running back over. However, she was acting unusually spooky and nervous. She would jump/flinch a little whenever I reached out to touch her. So I hung out a bit with her and got her to calm down more around me. 

Then tonight, I went to catch her and she wasn't quite as happy/willing with that like she usually is. I still caught her though and worked with her. However, when I asked for her left front hoof, she didn't want to let me have it. She ended up completely leaning on me to the point she dropped to the ground. Then when I went to pick it up again, I got it but then she tried to pull it away and when that wasn't working, she decided rearing was the next best option. Thankfully she small enough it's easy to keep a hold of her, especially since she isn't trying to hurt me, just trying to "stand her ground" pretty much. 

So I let go of her foot and she landed back on all fours. I then decided to implement what I'd learnt from other horses I've worked with. I made the wrong decision hard by then making her move her feet and getting after her for doing that. Once she relented, I backed off a bit and let her think about it. After she did some chewing, I went and asked for her foot again. This time, she was perfect. Even when I wiggled her foot around a bit, she stayed still and allowed me to do what I wanted. She didn't protest over any of her other feet either, and even started to lift one of her back legs to give it to me. 

So we did a bit more basic ground work, just refreshing everything I've been teaching her and it all went fairly well. No more balking from her. Though I think one reason why she was a little more spirited today was because it snowed and it's her first snow fall for the winter. 

I'm also going to be getting a new mare on the 5th which is pretty exciting. She's a registered thoroughbred too. Her barn name is Pretty, but I'm thinking I'm going to change it since I don't much care for Pretty being a name. But we'll see when I get her.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 12 *

*Ren Update:*
Well, I think I've got a future jumper on my hands xD. This morning when I went to go give Ren her breakfast, I noticed that she once again, wasn't in her pen. And the fence was even cut down low this time like it was the day after halloween. So I called her name and then I noticed her on the other side of the snow fence again, but a bit further off. I called to her again and she came, and after a small hesitation, she jumped right over the fence! 

She didn't clear it entirely, but was very close. Only needed to jump another inch and a half to two inches and she would've easily cleared it. I was shocked and so I'm guessing she'd jumped it during the night to go exploring. I guess after the halloween incident, she decided she wanted to explore the other side a bit more. But the ponies are now in the pen with her, so I'm hoping that she'll want to stay in her pen now instead of trying to jump out. But I guess this at least tells me she could have a pretty good jumping future ahead of her. 


*New Horse Update:*
Also excited that my new mare is coming on Monday. It's so close I can barely stand it!
It also turns out that she's a rescue horse which is pretty cool to find out. I originally had been looking into getting a horse from a rescue before I got Ren, but things just weren't working out and then I met Ren, and everything just fell into place. And now with this mare, once again, things are falling place which is super exciting. 

Her current condition:
- a bit thin due to the last person who bought her having neglected her (not due to the lady I'm getting her from)
- a bit of thrush, again due to neglect from before, so I just have to finish the treatment
- slightly cracked hooves that are nearly 100% again but has no lameness
- Overall health otherwise is totally good

Other Info:
- 14 year old mare
- thoroughbred
- registered name is I'mnaughtyandnice
- barn name Pretty (tho will probably be changing it)
- beginner rider safe
- has been exposed to a lot of things
- slightly nervous on trails due to lack of experience but isn't too bad
- has been ridden English, western, and bareback
- has done some jumping
- used to be a lesson horse


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Ren is so cute. When I was a kid, I loved medicine hat horses. As an adult the practical side of me doesn't like them because of the added work of protecting their skin and eyes from the sun. But deep down I still love them. She sounds like a really mellow girl that you are enjoying so much. You sound like a gentle and kind person that stays firm with her. I'm sure that you guys will do well with each other.

When I bought my mare, I was skeptical at first because in pics and videos she seemed almost perfect but she had been on the market for so long and her price was extremely reasonable for her breeding compared to what other people were asking for the same. I wondered what was wrong with her that she hadn't sold yet. Turns out absolutely nothing was wrong with her. The owner/breeder was selling her due to illnesses of her own and she was being picky on who she sold her to as well. I thought that she could have been giving me a line of fast talk but I really didn't get that feeling so I had her checked by a vet and bought her. She has turned out to be my heart horse so to speak and have not regretted getting her for even a second.

So much luck to you on your new adventure with your horses. You're going to have so much fun and learn a lot. Horses can be one of the best teachers.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

LoriF said:


> Ren is so cute. When I was a kid, I loved medicine hat horses. As an adult the practical side of me doesn't like them because of the added work of protecting their skin and eyes from the sun. But deep down I still love them. She sounds like a really mellow girl that you are enjoying so much. You sound like a gentle and kind person that stays firm with her. I'm sure that you guys will do well with each other.
> 
> When I bought my mare, I was skeptical at first because in pics and videos she seemed almost perfect but she had been on the market for so long and her price was extremely reasonable for her breeding compared to what other people were asking for the same. I wondered what was wrong with her that she hadn't sold yet. Turns out absolutely nothing was wrong with her. The owner/breeder was selling her due to illnesses of her own and she was being picky on who she sold her to as well. I thought that she could have been giving me a line of fast talk but I really didn't get that feeling so I had her checked by a vet and bought her. She has turned out to be my heart horse so to speak and have not regretted getting her for even a second.
> 
> So much luck to you on your new adventure with your horses. You're going to have so much fun and learn a lot. Horses can be one of the best teachers.



I'm the opposite in that sense lol. Generally I don't like the white face where the white goes around the eyes. Something about the pink skin isn't very pretty to me. But when I first met her, her sweet personality won out and to me, personality means more than looks anyways. And I try my best to always remain calm and gentle with her, even on bad days since she is still a baby and she's learning everything for the first time. 

And I'm glad that horse worked out so well for you! I'm hoping with the mare I'm getting tomorrow is going to go the same way. Sounds like my situation is pretty much the same as the one you had too. 

And I definitely agree with your last statement there haha. I've worked with a horse for a full year that did nothing but teach and challenge me to the extreme lol. So I'm definitely looking forward to learning from Ren and the new mare I'm getting


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 14 

Ren Update:*
So I let Ren have a day or two rest/break from training. Instead I just spent the time hanging out with her and the ponies and it seems like that was something she needed since when I went to catch her today, she was great about it. I took her exploring some more of the property and that went fairly well too. I have a feeling there may be a tiny explosion coming yet where one of her back feet is concerned as she still likes to fight a bit with actually giving me that foot. But that's alright since she's still learning and she's not mean spirited so even if she does fight about it, she tries to make sure that she doesn't do something that'd hurt me. 

It's also really interesting to see how the hiarchy works with her and the two ponies. It seems the little gelding that's just under half her size is higher than Ren, and then Ren has become higher than the old pony mare, and the mare is higher than the gelding. It's rather amusing to watch the three of them sometimes, though I have a feeling it's not going to be too long until Ren decides she's higher ranking than the little gelding. 


*New Mare Update:*
She just arrived about an hour or so ago! Unfortunately, it's dark out so I wasn't able to get a good look at her, but she seems absolutely gorgeous from what I saw when she stepped into the light. Can't wait to hang out with her tomorrow! The hauler also told me she was perfect for the trip and was pretty good during the layover as well. She couldn't say enough about the mare or the seller that I'm getting the mare from which is really nice to hear.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 15

Ren Update:*
Not much to really say here. Things are going about the same really. Slow but steady improvement and love hanging out with her too. I'm not rushing her training, but leaving plenty of days where I just hang out with her and just work on the bond between her and I. And it seems her and I are getting closer which is awesome so I look forward to seeing what happens as time goes by.


*New Mare Update:*
I went to hang out with her for a while this morning and that sure was a blast! At first she seemed a little hesitant about me, but after a bit, we were soon playing almost a game. We basocally took turns leading. One round I was walking around the pen with her following me, and the next time, she was leading the way and I followed her. And if I took a bit to follow, she'd glance back like "Are you coming" type of look. It was so much fun to see her and I already starting to click and bond already. Before too long, I'm sure I'll be going for my first ride on her and I look forward to seeing how that goes. 
Can tell she needs to gain some weight and muscle though. It's sad to see how someone can neglect a horse so much. But I look forward to seeing her progress and how things go.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 18

Ren Update:*
When I got home today after work, my Grandma was all worried cause Ren wasn't in the pen. The temporary snow fence that's been set up is 4 feet tall and is higher than Ren's withers, yet she can practically clear it when she decides to jump over it. I've seen her do this.
But every time she's done it in the past, I just have to call her and then she comes running and jumps back over to the side I'm on. So I told grandma not to worry cause I was sure the same thing would happen tonight. 

Well this time, when i called, there was no response. No whinny, no sound of running, nothing. So I finished feeding the horses and walked farther along the woods of the big pen and called out for her once more. Sheba (the farm dog) barked so I went to the area she was barking at and called out again. This time I could hear something moving in the bushes, though it was faint. It stopped after a few seconds so I scanned around with my flashlight and called again(due to the time of year, it's completely dark out already by the time I get home). The footsteps started up again and this time it was followed by a whinny. 

So I went in a farther and called out to her again, and she picked up her pace and came racing up the hill with another whinny as she came right up to me. Petting her, I started walking along the fence line back towards the where the shelter/hay shed area is since that's the main pen over there, and she followed me all the way back.

I'm SO grateful that I've got such a good bond with Ren that she comes whenever I call no matter where she is, and that she'll follow me without a lead rope or halter either. Cause if it wasn't for that, then tonight could have gone a lot differently. Especially since the fence further in is down to the point Ren could just step over it and get into areas she shouldn't be (hence the temporary snow fence). Grandpa and I are going to try and fix that on Monday or Tuesday which would be really nice since I work the weekend. 
In the mean time, I'm thinking of putting Ren into the garden area until that's done since that fence is taller and the garden is quite large actually and since it's winter, it's not in use anyways. 


*Roxy Update*
I finally settled on a name for the mare after thinking about it for 3 days and it seems Roxy fits her best. Things have been going well with her so far and I look forward to when I'll be able to start riding her. 

I'm not riding her yet because i want to build a bond with her first and get her to trust me on the ground. The last time she went to a new home, she was mistreated so she's a little hesitant to trust now which is why I want to do this. Not only that, but she needs to gain some more weight as she's rather thin and since I don't have a saddle that would fit her, riding her bareback would currently be rather uncomfortable.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 19*

Overall Update

Had a pretty chill day today. Hung out with Ren and Roxy. With Ren, I just went over what I've been teaching her since it's been a few days since I've been able to work with her due to how early it gets dark out and my work schedule. She did pretty good with minimal reminders needed. 

With Roxy, I led her around the property a bit today to see and explore areas she hasn't gone to before. Did pretty good with that and she also met the ponies. She definitely doesn't like the ponies much, but was at least curious about Ren. Should be interesting to see how things go later on between those two, but at least she wasn't aggressive towards her like she was with the ponies. 

Also planning on going on my first ride on Roxy tomorrow so hopefully that goes well. Not sure what to expect since I'm going to have ride her with a bareback pad as I have no saddle quite yet. Also going to have to make some sort of mounting block cause she's too tall for me to just jump on lol.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 20*

Had a pretty busy day today with having my first ride on Roxy, getting Ren her first hoof trim, and then helping my grandpa fix the fences. 

*Ren Update:*
Well, she did really good with her first ever trim. Farrier even said she was one of the best behaved babies he's ever worked with for it having been her first trim. She did have a little freak out with her last foot, but that was more than likely because he worked on that foot a bit longer than the rest. In general though, it was good. She does have the slight start of lime disease, or whatever it's called, in two of her hooves, but it's barely just started so he dug it out and it should heal up pretty soon here. 


*Roxy Update:*
I tried out a bareback pad on her today for my first ride since I don't have a saddle. I had to use a mounting block to get on, and the first time around, I acidentially misstepped and the pad slide sideways and I semi fell. She didn't even react to that, just stood there calmly which was really nice. Once I fixed the pad on her back, I tried a second time and actually got on her. 
From there, I rode her around the yard and in her field. However, the pad continued to slide around and there were stirrups on it, but they wouldn't adjust to the right length for me and more of a bother than anything, so I took them off and rode around without them. 

I didn't go any faster than a walk simply because it was too slippery riding her as it was and felt like if one wrong move was made, I'd go fly off lol. But otherwise the ride went well. She was super sensitive so I barely had to give her the hint of a cue of what I wanted her to do, and she started doing it. It was awesome. Now I just gotta sell my old saddle and buy a new one. Hoping that goes well and I can start riding her more soon.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Week 10

Well, it's been pretty much a month since my last post/update. A lot has happened since then, that's for sure. 

Basically, the older pony my grandma had died, Roxy was put in the pen with Ren and little pony Smokey, Roxy getting into stuff and required emergency vet visit, family health issues, and that's it in a nutshell. 

So due to all that, I haven't had a chance to do much training with Ren or work with Roxy too much. I did manage to work with Ren last week and she was perfect. Acted like we'd done it all a thousand times already which is nice. I even tied her up for the first time and she figured it out very quickly and stood calmly enough I was fine enough with leaving her there to walk to the barn to grab a brush or two. I was able to still see her and the barn wasn't that far away so I would still be able to go help if something went wrong. But ya, she understood it perfectly. At first she was a little confused since she couldn't follow me when I walked away lol. 

Then later, after I let her go, I had Roxy tied so I could try out something with the bareback pad and of course, Ren being the curious baby she is, was watching and checking it all out. When I took the pad off Roxy, I decided to see how Ren would react and I briefly rubbed the pad on her neck/side and she didn't care so I set it on her back. She didn't even look back to see what was on her back. She really couldn't care less that I put something on her, and I've never put anything on her before. Ren is such an amazing filly and am so glad I chose her. 

And I hope to update this place a bit more frequently in this coming new year. I'm also trying to post more regularly on youtube. I'll be posting better videos in the new years.
If you want to check out my channel and see how my girls have been doing, here's a link to it: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJTeJ22Xql6FfXsxg6H-idw


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Omgosh, Ren is sooo pretty!!! Still reminds so much of my filly. And your new mare is beautiful. Her look reminds me a lot of my mare's; "out of my way unless you got a treat". lol

Sorry to hear about the older pony's passing


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> Omgosh, Ren is sooo pretty!!! Still reminds so much of my filly. And your new mare is beautiful. Her look reminds me a lot of my mare's; "out of my way unless you got a treat". lol
> 
> Sorry to hear about the older pony's passing


Thanks, and ya, Roxy likes to act all sassy xD But once you start working with her, she becomes a real sweetheart ^^ 
And it was sad, but she was getting super old anyways so it was only a matter of time.


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

SummerBliss said:


> And it was sad, but she was getting super old anyways so it was only a matter of time.


That's how it was with my boy. :-( He was in his 30s :gallop:


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 66*

Decided to do a comparison of Ren today verses when she first arrives. There aren't that many changes, but there's enough that it's noticible when I compare her from then to now. 
So here's the changes I've observed in a nutshell:


*Appearance Change:*

- Just over half her tail has turned black by this point

- Her mane is starting to loose the fluffy aspect and growing a bit longer. Has some dark pigment to it but isn't turning black like her tail

- Her fur/hair is becoming more curly along her neck, upper shoulders, and along the top of her spine and rump. Gets super curly when wet! 

- Her nicker/voice is getting deeper. Kinda surprising hearing how deep her nicker is coming from such a small body xD

- Did the string test on her to see how tall she'd grow and it shows she'll be between 15-16 hh 

- When she first showed up, she was roughly 12 hh and today, she measured around 12.5 hh and I can definitely tell she's growing since she looks taller 


*Training Changes:*

- Has learnt to give her feet. Still occassionally fights that but is pretty good for the most part.

- Leads much better and understands it.

- Has learnt to back up and will do it with the smallest of pressure.

- Has learnt to disengage her hips

- Has learnt to be tied to a small degree

- Has had her first hoof trim and what that entails


My little girl is growing up before my eyes and it's hard to believe so many changes have already happened in such a short amount of time! It'll be interesting to see how much she's changed once she's a year old.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 69

Ren Update:*

Had a great little training session today. She's getting better with having the halter put on. For a bit she would throw up her head or back up when it came to tying up the halter but today she had no reaction at all and stood calmly for it. She also followed me around quite well and still is good with all her other cues as well. 

Started teaching her something new as well. Introduced lowering her head which she wasn't exactly a fan of initially. When I first starting putting the pressure on the halter with pulling down, I slowly increased in the pressure and then just held it there. At first Ren tried lifting her head up to get away from the pressure, then took a step or two back and she stayed like that for bit. Finally she lowered her head slightly and turned it a bit too, but I released the pressure since she lowered her head a tiny bit there and that's all I was asking for, especially for her first time learning this. 

From there, I just repeated the process and also said "head" at the same time so eventually, I'll just have to say that and she'll lower her head. So I continued doing that and by the 6th or 7th time, she started to really get it and would lower her head as soon I asked her too and even started dropping her nose right to the ground even though I wasn't asking for her to lower her head that much. 

After that, I worked a bit on swinging the rope over her back and neck, though she couldn't care less about that. I even introduced a whip to her to her and ran it all over her body and she didn't care about that either. I kept the session short so I ended it by asking her a last time to lower her head and from there let her go, though of course, she continued to be my shadow since she's bonded so much with me. 

One problem though, is that she's decided to copy Roxy and start cribbing. I only noticed her starting to try it today so I'm hoping to find a way to make her stop it before it develops into a habit. I got a collar to put on Roxy which is slowing her down, though doesn't seem to be stopping it entirely unfortunately. Another thing to work on is personal space. Ren likes to get a little too much in your face sometimes. It's not too bad yet, which is why I should deal with this now before it does get bad. Though if I turned my back to her, she understands she needs to back off and does.



*Roxy Update:*

Well, I've been talking with the previous owner about Roxy and from that, I decided to switch things up with her. Roxy has a tendancy to get a little sassy and pin her ears and put up a fuss with her feet. So I decided to switch how I do things with her and instead of expecting her to be a great "perfect" type of horse, I'm restarting. I'm going over the ground work with her to start developing a better bond and to show her what I expect of her and what she can expect of me as well. 

Since I've changed my approach, things have gotten much better. There's less ear pinning, though that's always mostly been a bluff anyways. Today we worked on leading, stopping, and giving her hind quarters since she doesn't seem fond of doing that. I even started to teach her how to ground tie. She was starting to get it by the 4th time I asked her to do it, though for now, I'd just walk 4/5 feet away and stand there for a bit before going back and giving her a big rub/pet/reward. By doing that, it also made her start listening better in general as well which is nice. 

From there, I also did some grooming and she was much better with giving me her feet and not trying to take them away. I also worked on putting the bareback pad on her since she tends to pin her ears and make a fuss with not only having it put on, but is much worse when it comes to being cinched. These problems were due to the people she was sold to before she was sold to me as they rode her in an ill fitting saddle and cinched her too harshly. So now, she absolutely hates being cinched and will sometimes pin her ears even at the mere sight of cinch being held beside (just the cinch on it's own, not attached to a saddle or anything else).

Due to how she feels about cinches I figured I'd try something new to try and make it a positive experience instead. I had some cut up carrots in my pocket. I'd take the cinch and wiggle it around her belly. When she remained neutral/calm and her ears weren't pinned, I gave her a treat. Then I moved on to tighten the cinch. Every time she remained calm and her ears were forward or listening to me, I have her a carrot. It got to the point I could cinch her up as tight as I wanted, and even pull tighter than it would for a saddle and her ears never pinned back. I did this on both sides and started making her wait longer for the treat as well so that I"d tighten and wiggle the cinch two or three times before she got a treat. I also practiced taking the pad on and off of her. By the end, there were no more pinned ears. So I'm hoping that by doing this, I'm turning the experience into a good one and even one she'll look forward to and so far it seems to be working. 

Also, by the end of my work with her, Roxy didn't just walk off as soon as I took the halter off of her, she actually followed me for a few feet before wandering off so that was exciting as well. 


So all in all, things are going well and progress is being made with both horses  
Also saw the two of eating from the same hay pile today for the first time which is exciting since it means Roxy is finally accepting Ren


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

I NEED Ren and JoBlue's Heidi! LOL! I need a herd of chestnut bald faced horses running around! She's so stinkin adorable! Reminds me a lot of Rodeo when he was that age, sounds like shes pretty sensible!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> I NEED Ren and JoBlue's Heidi! LOL! I need a herd of chestnut bald faced horses running around! She's so stinkin adorable! Reminds me a lot of Rodeo when he was that age, sounds like shes pretty sensible!


lol, they are pretty cute xD I honestly don't care for white face, though mostly cause it makes the skin around the eyes pink, but personality is more important than looks and I honestly don't even think about it anymore lol And she does look a bit like Rodeo!


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

SummerBliss said:


> lol, they are pretty cute xD I honestly don't care for white face, though mostly cause it makes the skin around the eyes pink, but personality is more important than looks and I honestly don't even think about it anymore lol And she does look a bit like Rodeo!


I never liked chestnuts, or Paints haha. My dream horse was a solid bay TB. I liked a bit of chrome but didnt want any on my personal horse haha...here I am 8yrs later, own Rodeo, and now white little fluff ball lol. So much for the bay TB. I hate the constant battle with sunburn in the summer! We end up with SPF 50 sunblock and full faced fly masks all summer. Maybe itll be different here in MT this summer, will have to wait and see


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> I never liked chestnuts, or Paints haha. My dream horse was a solid bay TB. I liked a bit of chrome but didnt want any on my personal horse haha...here I am 8yrs later, own Rodeo, and now white little fluff ball lol. So much for the bay TB. I hate the constant battle with sunburn in the summer! We end up with SPF 50 sunblock and full faced fly masks all summer. Maybe itll be different here in MT this summer, will have to wait and see


lol, ya, I never cared for the looks of chestnuts either. Though for me, it's just cause it's such a common coat color and wanted something more unique looking. And it sounds like I've ended up with the bay TB that you were wanting since that's what Roxy is haha. The horse coat colors I love are the buckskins with eal stripes and black markings, flea bitten greys, or gruellos. 
And that's one thing I've been wondering about actually, with Ren having such a white face and the skin being pink is what I'll have to do in the summer. I've never had to worry about a horse getting sunburn before. Do you just use normal human sunscreen or do you get something specific for horses?


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

SummerBliss said:


> lol, ya, I never cared for the looks of chestnuts either. Though for me, it's just cause it's such a common coat color and wanted something more unique looking. And it sounds like I've ended up with the bay TB that you were wanting since that's what Roxy is haha. The horse coat colors I love are the buckskins with eal stripes and black markings, flea bitten greys, or gruellos.
> And that's one thing I've been wondering about actually, with Ren having such a white face and the skin being pink is what I'll have to do in the summer. I've never had to worry about a horse getting sunburn before. Do you just use normal human sunscreen or do you get something specific for horses?


There's a ton of different options! I always have baby/kids sunblock on hand, so thats always been my go-to but unless its applied everyday, sometimes twice a day depending on if your horse plays in water (Rodeo does) it won't work. I bought the Crusade full flymask, and its worked really well, but after so long, Rodeo would tear the nose part and it would start coming undone, and he'd get sunburn lol. @ evilmc had some awesome stuff though! Cant remember the name, I believe SmartPak sells it, and its waterproof,sweatproof, smells amazing, and would actually last all day!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> There's a ton of different options! I always have baby/kids sunblock on hand, so thats always been my go-to but unless its applied everyday, sometimes twice a day depending on if your horse plays in water (Rodeo does) it won't work. I bought the Crusade full flymask, and its worked really well, but after so long, Rodeo would tear the nose part and it would start coming undone, and he'd get sunburn lol. @ evilmc had some awesome stuff though! Cant remember the name, I believe SmartPak sells it, and its waterproof,sweatproof, smells amazing, and would actually last all day!


Alright, good to know, thanks! I'll definitely keep that mind and see what I find when summer rolls around again. Hopefully she manages to avoid getting sun burnt this year. Though she didn't have any sunscreen on this last summer when she was younger so maybe she'll be fine without it if she's already built a bit of a resistance to it.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

SummerBliss said:


> Alright, good to know, thanks! I'll definitely keep that mind and see what I find when summer rolls around again. Hopefully she manages to avoid getting sun burnt this year. Though she didn't have any sunscreen on this last summer when she was younger so maybe she'll be fine without it if she's already built a bit of a resistance to it.


If she's smart and stays out of direct sunlight she might be just fine! Rodeo isnt the brightest crayon in the box and Id often catch him sleeping in the sun mid-day so that def didnt help lol


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> If she's smart and stays out of direct sunlight she might be just fine! Rodeo isnt the brightest crayon in the box and Id often catch him sleeping in the sun mid-day so that def didnt help lol


Lol, some horses just don't connect the dots with certain things it seems. And I suppose I'll just have to wait and see how things turn with Ren.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*My 2019 Goals *

I've got so many goals for the new year lol However, I'll just stick to posting my horse related goals. I'm hoping to be able to accomplish at least half to a majority of them done, though would be awesome if I got all and more accomplished. It'll be a wait and see to find out how many I really manage to get done. 

1. Continue Ren's training and start talking her for walks off property to go exploring. 

2. Build a better bond with Roxy. 

3. Starting a bit of training with Smokey, my grandma's 6 year old pony.

4. Take more lessons through the year to improve my riding skills as well as to learn how to train horses under saddles more so I'll be better prepared when it comes time to train Ren for that. 

5. Do some liberty work with all the horses. 

6. Teach the horses and pony some tricks. 

7. Get Roxy back into top physical condition and work on fixing her issues as well, like being cinchy.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Ren's Genetic History*

I’ve become very curious as to Ren’s genetic history since her parents were wild and came from a herd that ran wild on a reserve in BC. In the US, wild horses are typically called Mustangs, yet in Canada, they’re simply known as wild horses. This made me wonder if there was a difference between Canada’s wild horses, and the Mustangs of the US. 

I managed to find the name of the reserve that the wild herd runs in BC which is _Nemaiah Velley: Chilcotin Wild Horse Sanctuary_. Researchers have begun doing tests to see what the genetic make up of these horses is and were surprised by the results much as I am to be reading these articles and discovering what they have learnt. BC’s wild horses seem to truly be a unique breed of their own. 

To put it simply, BC’s wild horses from that particular reserve are not related to Mustangs due to the fact they did no originate from the Spanish horses that were brought over. While a few due have traces of the ancient Spanish blood, it is not common in them. Instead, they seem to come from Canadian and/or French origins instead with a touch of Siberian roots as well. 

When America was first being discovered and settled, the French sent the newly forming Canada several horses to help breed more stocky ranch type horses. The result of this breeding process created the Canadian Horse which once numbered around roughly 30,000. These horses had and still have the perfect physic for both driving as well as being ridden as they are nearly a perfect cross of draft working horses and the more athletic, slimmer warmbloods. Unfortunately, this breed is becoming rarer as there are only now roughly 2,500 of them left. 

The Siberian roots is the most confusing to the scientists, as they don’t understand how that particular breed made it to Canada and able to mix into the gene pool. These rare horses are known as Yakut’s. They are more of the pony size, ranging from 13 hh to 14 hh and being very stought. These guys may be small but they are very tough as in Russia, they live where it gets to be -60 to -70 c during the winter months and can survive that easily thanks to their special skin and coat. 

So with the wild horses of the reserve in BC, these are the two most dominant genes and that go the farthest back that they are able to find at this point. There are still plenty of questions and some information is more speculation than certain at this point. So the wild horses of BC are not Mustangs, but instead, entirely its own breed. 

(By the way, this is just the stuff I've found so far, so I may be wrong about a thing or two, just found this interesting enough to share with you guys)


Pics of the Canadian Horse and the Yakut horse breeds mentioned above:

















































*Roxy's History*

Roxy is a purebred Thoroughbred who’s registered name is I’mnaughtyandnice. She was born in Florida and has managed to find her way to Canada and now into my care. As a purebred, I decided to dive into the internet to see how far back I could trace her bloodlines along with the help of one of my sisters.

One of the first things I discovered about her lineage is that she is a descendant of American Pharaoh which means that she is also related to Secretariat which is pretty amazing. It also seems that she may also be related distantly to Seabiscut as well. So she has quite the lineage running through her veins. 

Roxy has also had roughly 5-7 foals to date, the last one foaled in 2016. I also managed to find several images of her sire, foals, and herself from her racing days as well as a few videos. She definitely has a lot of speed in her which you’ll see in the video I link with how she pulls ahead of all the other horses. While I don’t care for the racing industry, it is amazing to see just how fast she is compared to the others that she ran against.

As a side note, I absolutely love the name of Roxy’s last foal. That filly was named “Hilariously Naughty”. It honestly makes me smile and laugh every time I hear that name. Though it is sad since the video I found of her, the dates put her at just over a year old roughly and the people have already trained the poor filly to carry a rider and all that other fancy collected movements and such. The girl never got a chance to just be a baby. 

Anyways, enjoy the pictures and videos I found of Roxy and her legacy. 

Roxy's Race:





Hilariously Naughty's sale video:





Pics of Roxy in the past









Roxy's offspring


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

SummerBliss said:


> *Ren's Genetic History*



The white one looks like Squishy!!!! He's a Yakutian, not a Pryor Mountain Mustang lol

How awesome what you can find! Thanks! Very awesome info!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> The white one looks like Squishy!!!! He's a Yakutian, not a Pryor Mountain Mustang lol
> 
> How awesome what you can find! Thanks! Very awesome info!


It does look like Squishy! I didn't even think of that when I first posted it lol 



*General Update:*

Did a bit of shopping yesterday after work and managed to buy a few things I needed to try to get rid of Roxy's thrush, along with a few extras. I came across some treats that a berry/apple flavor mix and also going to be trying a Lickit thing as well that's carrot flavored since I already know all the horses like carrots. Ren was instantly fascinated when I showed her the lickit and kept rubbing her lips over it and somewhat opening her mouth but not quite, though I'm sure she'll soon figure it out. Roxy was also curious about it but not as much. Little Smokey was the most curious about it though and even started trying to bite it when I hung it up lol. 
The new treats went over well too. I'm planning on using them with clicker training and see how that goes. I've never done anything like that before so it'll be a fun experiment. 

Also noticed that Ren's tail is becoming even more black and her mane also has hints of black in it as well. Can't wait to see what she'll look like in the spring when she starts loosing her winter coat.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 87*

So the Lickit experiment went over well. The first one was gone in 3 days. So I got 2 more. The second one was gone in 2 days, and the 3rd didn't even last 24 hours lol. Needless to say, the horses LOVE them xD So now I"m going to see if I can get some in bulk or something. Also got a jolly ball but none of them seem to really touch that.


*Ren Update*

A few days ago I took the horses for an off property walk. Ren did pretty good considering I haven’t worked with her outside of her pen/field much. She was a little hesitant initially but then followed without issue. I brought treats along so as we went along, I’d give her treats at times to make sure the whole experience was as pleasant and fun for her as it could be. 

There was also a point where there was a vehicle coming our way which would be something very new to Ren. She hasn’t even been around a running vehicle other than when she was brought to my property when I first got her. 
So I had her stand and face where the vehicle was coming from so she could see it. I pet her and remained calm, expecting things to go well. She stood still and watched it approach. She did pretty good. The driver also slowed down as he passed which was greatly appreciated. Though when he was directly next to us, that was when Ren spooked. She jumped sideways a bit but otherwise did nothing. 

As the guy drove on, I turned Ren around and her walk after the vehicle a bit to show she can go towards it. I’ve seen a similar tactic done with plastic bags before to help get horses not scared of them. Ren was fine with following after the vehicle and seemed curious about it. 
Later on in the walk, I started jogging and actually got Ren to trot along with me for the first time and she seemed to enjoy that quite a bit as well. So all in all, the walk was a success. 

Then about two days ago, I brought Ren out of the field again. Everywhere is super icy right now though, so we were only able to walk a short distance to a less icy area. I just went over everything she’s learnt so far since the ground wasn’t suitible to do much more. Also worked on getting her to lower her head which is new to her. She’s taking a little bit to figure it out, but once she understands the idea, she drops her head all the way to the ground even though I’m just asking her drop it a few inches. So it’s pretty awesome to see her willing to go the extra mile and drop her head even further. 

Also put a saddle pad on her back. I was working with Roxy with that, but since Ren came over on her own, I decided to just put the pad on her and she didn’t care. So I think the next time I work with her, I'm going to do a bit extra with the pad and maybe even see how she does if I put the bareback pad on her and do up the cinch a bit since she seems to be handling the rest so well. 


*Roxy Update*

When I took her for a walk, she did pretty good. She has a naturally fast pace when going somewhere new so I definitely got my excersize in for the day lol. When she’d get a little too carried away, I’d stop and get her to backup or disengage her hips to get her attention back on me. Then we’d be good again. 
Other than that, nothing really happened with that walk. She did good and was alert the whole time, but was starting to relax and take her time a bit more by the end of the walk. 

When I worked with her two days ago, I got a saddle that I wanted to test on her to see if it’d fit her. As soon as I held the saddle pad next to her, she lifted her head and pinned her ears even though it wasn’t even touching her yet. So I started to work with rubbing the bad against he and when she’d move her ears forward or just stop pinning them in general, I took the pad away. There was a few points where she’d reach her head forward and bite the fence railing in her annoyance/frustration. The railing is metal and thin enough that she put the whole thing in her mouth. 

It took a little while, but she finally was ok with the pad touching her. So then I put the pad on her, and she wasn’t exactly impressed with that. From there, I went to putting the saddle on her and again, she wasn’t happy with that but settled after a moment. 
When I reached for the cinch, I barely had my hand on her side down low next to her leg when her ears went back once more and she nodded her head. So I just rubbed that spot and didn’t go for the cinch. I kept working on that and slowly moving further down along her belly/chest area but releasing pressure when she’d stop pinning her ears. There was a time I heard her lift and semi stomp one of her back hooves as well. 
Once she settled down a bit, I got the cinch. I couldn’t do it up since it was too small, but I still worked with her on it. 

The thing with her is that when there is no saddle or pad, she doesn’t care in the slightest if I touch under her belly or all over. I can even take a rope and wrap it around where the cinch would and she’s totally fine with me playing with that and tightening it. It’s only when she knows the saddle is going to be involved that she starts throwing a fit. 

I think this is due to two reasons.
1.The person she’d been sold to in the spring had ridden her roughly in the wrong saddle so now she associates saddles with pain and discomfort.
2.She’s testing me and trying to push me around.

The reason why I think it’s number 2 for the most part is because of a test I did today. I watched a video earlier of how to deal with horses that like to pin their ears and I applied that today to see how it’d go. 

Basically what’s been going on is that whenever I go to the field, Roxy starts pacing around. Every time she comes in my general direction or sometimes just walking around in general, she has her ears pinned. She never bites, kicks, or goes after me though. But if I try to pet her, she just keeps walking off and basically I “can’t” pet her until I’ve put out the food and she stands there eating, or unless I go to catch her and even then she occasionally keeps walking off for a bit.

Anyways, so today when I went to feed them supper, I saw Roxy coming in my direction with her pinned ears like usual. She wasn’t coming directly at me, just in my general direction. So I squared up and stepped into her path. I took a semi aggressive step towards her and lifted my hands similar to when you go to lunge a horse and told her to go. 

She tossed her head and spun around, giving a little hop like she was threatening to kick me but trotted off a few feet before slowing with ears still pinned and facing away from me. So I then moved towards her again and this time clapped my hands at her as I approached her a bit more aggressively again and sent her off. 

She moved off but it was clear she wasn’t happy and threatened to kick again. I then moved to cut off where she was going and got after her again. This time she really moved and circled behind the barn. I waited where I was and after a bit, she finally came out from behind the barn like I knew she would. However, this time, she took a couple steps towards me, her ears were forward, and had a much friendlier look to her. 

Since she was facing me and no longer had ears pinned, I approached her much more relaxed and calmly. Typically, if I go to pet her, she moves away with her pinned ears. This time though, she allowed me to approach and didn’t move away or pin her ears. She even let me rub her face a bit. 

Ren stayed out of my way the whole time with that which was really nice. But I guess she saw I was making Roxy move and she didn’t want any part of getting caught up with that lol. But as I pet Roxy, Ren decided it was safe enough and came over to get some pets as well. From there, when I walked off, both horses were wanting to follow me a bit. 

Due to this little experiment and seeing the results, I’ve come to the conclusion of the type of work/training I have to do with Roxy. I’m going to need to do everything liberty style. Basically, I’m not going to catch her before working with the saddle pad or such her. Instead, I’m going to let her be free as I bring the saddle pad with me.

This way, if she pins her ears, I’m going to get after her and send her off and make her work. When she’s nice and keeps her ears forward and is relaxed and lets me rub the pad against her or put it on her, I’ll give her a treat to make it a more pleasant experience. That way, she’ll start associating saddling up with getting treats and it’ll be a pleasant experience. She won’t necessarily get treats every time and I’d wean her from always expecting treats, but I think for the initial bit, this’ll be really helpful. And by letting her be free during this, it feels more like she has choices instead of being forced to stay with the halter and lead rope. 

On another note, I’m also going to be trying out 3 different saddles on her this weekend. Hopefully one of them ends up fitting and then as Roxy gets better with accepting the blanket and saddle, we’ll actually be able to go on rides. 
Her topline is also starting to fill out quite nicely. Her spine no longer juts out from the rest of her. It feels pretty much flat/rounded out when you rub your hand along her her back which is really nice. Still don’t want to ride her bareback though since she has rather prominent withers that would be painful to accidentally bump against lol.

































Also am using some hot sauce on the fencing to try to prevent cribbing since Ren is showing an interest in it since she's picking it up from Roxy. Thankfully as long as I heavily coat the fence rail, both horses leave it alone. Although it looks like there's blood everywhere now xD Also a pick of what the first Lickit looked like at day 2


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 89*

So excited this morning. Since I've been really getting on Roxy's case about having her ears pinned when she's around, she's started to stop doing that. This morning, she actually came over to greet me, her ears were forward, and she actually stood still to get some pets and loved on. I haven't seen her this open and friendly since the first month I had her. She didn't pace this morning either. She was a lot calmer than usual. I suppose I just had to reassert myself as leader and she feels calmer now that I've done that. Feels pretty great to make this progress. It may be a small step, but it's a building block to everything else I think. 

I think her hips are out though. Whenever I go to pick up her back hooves, she always tends to try pulling them back, her right hind leg being the worst. She's totally fine with giving me her front feet and even starts to somewhat pick them up a bit for me. However, her back legs tend to be a bit of a battle. Her previous owner told me before that the people that had her in the spring, due to how they rode her and such, messed up her back and hips a bit and had to get chiro treatment when she was taken away from them. So I think I'll look for a chiropracter to come out sometime soon and make sure everything's aligned in Roxy. 

Also, now that her topline is doing better, I'm going to be trying out some saddles this weekend. I tried one last weekend and it was so narrow that the whole saddle was elivated about an inch off her back and the slightest movement would nearly tip it off her back. Also, the cinch for it was waay too short so I couldn't even do up the saddle or get on to a short test ride or anything. But seeing how unstable the saddle was, it's pretty clear that it didn't fit her. So I've found 3 different saddles to try out this weekend. Two are western saddles and the third is an english saddle. So after this weekend, I'll hopefully have a new saddle and will be able to start going for rides. 

As a bonus, here's a pic I got this morning of Roxy. Couldn't help laughing a bit when I looked back through my pics and saw that her tongue was out xD


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 90*

*Ren*
Didn't do too much with her today. Mostly just hung out with both my girls. Though did work on getting Ren used to me draping both arms over her back. She's fine with me doing one arm and even giving a bit of a squeeze, but is a little more unsure when I put both arms over. She did pretty good today though and didn't react. I used the chance to do some spur of the moment desensitizing with my rake (forget the real name for it at the moment). She's always very curious whenever I use it to clean away the poop, so while the rake was clean, I lifted it around in the air and even leaned it on her a bit and like I figured, she couldn't care less about it. 


*Roxy*
Had a good day with her. Had 2 saddles that I tried out on her today since her topline is doing much better. Since in the past she's reacted quite badly to even having a saddle pad held near her, I wasn't too sure how today would go. So I made sure to catch her earlier in the morning and just take time to spend time with her, groom her, and just hang out. 

From there, I brought out the saddle pad and let her sniff it. She was doing pretty good with having it in front of her so I moved to pet the top of her neck and she did alright. Though once I started to move down her neck, she decided to pin her ears. So I made her back up and released pressure once she lowered her head and became soft. I let her stand and think about it for a bit before bringing the pad close to her again and pet the same area as before. This time she didn't react. 
Once I moved it over to her shoulders though, she pinned her ears and even bit the pad. So I got after her again. After that, she didn't react anymore. She even let me put the pad on her back several times without a reaction. So I then repeated the process on her other side, and I only had to correct her once on that side before she remained calm with it. 

It wasn't too long after that, that the people arrived and I brought Roxy out to try the saddles on her. I wasn't too sure how she'd respond to the saddles vs the pad considering the saddle is heavier and different. So I went in hoping for the best, ready for the worst. I somewhat expected her to at least pin her ears, but when I went and put the saddle on her, she didn't even care. I even wiggled the saddle around and there was no ear pinning or anything. Was definitely a nice surprise for her to be like that. 

So after that, I just let her go back to the field and hung out with my girls for a bit longer. I still have one more saddle to try out tomorrow and look forward to seeing how that turns out.


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

They're so cute! Glad things are going pretty well for y'all


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 91

Ren*
Again, just did basic training of exposing her to some things. I worked mostly with Roxy and Ren likes to stick her nose into whatever I'm doing with Roxy to see what I'm doing and what Roxy is doing in response. I think Ren is actually learning a lot from watching Roxy and I since she's seeing from Roxy how to respond to what I do. 

So while I worked with Roxy and the saddle pad, Ren was standing next to me and occasionally sniffing the pad when I held it to the side. So when I was done with using the pad with Roxy, I plopped the pad onto Ren's back without warning and just left it there. Ren didn't really pay attention to it and even walked around with the pad on her back and didn't care in the slightest. In the past, I've never just left the pad on her and I've only shown it to 2 other times and that was with weeks between the experiences. So I was pleasantly surprised at how chill she was with walking around with the pad on. I even took it off without any real warning and she didn't even look back to see what had happened or anything. She's definitely quite the filly. 


*Roxy*
Worked with her on allowing me to put a saddle pad on her and she did much better. There were no pinned ears at all with the saddle pad. However, when I tried on another saddle, she did pin her ears once but after a small correction, she was totally fine with it. I walked her around a bit and this saddle seemed to fit her much better than the rest. Not sure yet if it's really the right one, but at least I'm getting closer to the size of saddle she really needs. 

After that, I just took my time to gently massage her back, hips, rump, and a bit of her back legs in a way that helps get the blood flowing around there and ease some of the stiffness she has since her back is out. I'm hoping to get a chiropracter out here for her soon, but until then, at least I can do this to help her out a bit. She started to walk more relaxed and even let me handle her back feet much better afterwards so I'm glad it's working so well for her already. Also have the farrier coming out this week so that'll be nice.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Great work and great progress with Roxy! Sounds like you've got her figured out pretty well!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> Great work and great progress with Roxy! Sounds like you've got her figured out pretty well!


Thanks! And ya, it's taking some time but I'm learning to adapt to Roxy's way of learning


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 93*

Weather hasn't been too nice yesterday or today which is too bad. I also spent yesterday in the city an hour away to do some shopping since I live in a small town with VERY limited shopping options. To give you an idea how small this town is, the first swimming pool here is just opening in about a week or two. We do not have a bowling alley or most any other fun things similar to that. 
Anyways, so between being in the next town over and working today along with the weather, I haven't been able to do much with the horses.

*Ren*
Just been working on picking up her feet for the most part. For the last 3/4 days, I've especially made sure to pick up her feet in the mornings when the horses are eating breakfast since I have a little bit of time before having to go to work and such. She's gotten a lot better and will give her feet but still occassionally wants to take them back on her time. But figured I'd especially work on refreshing her on how to give her feet since tomorrow all the horses are getting their hooves trimmed which will be Ren's second trimming ever. 

One thing I love about Ren is how every morning she's always the first to greet me. She comes all the way to the gate and since I aparently don't get in fast enough, she has to stick her head through the fence to nuzzle me since she's too short to reach over the fence lol. She's the absolute sweetest horse I've ever had and is so affectionate and unbelievably calm. I think she's bonded to me more than she has with the other horses as well since she'll tend to chose to follow me and watch what I"m up to rather than hang out with the others. Only time she'll leave me is if something else temporarily catches her eye, or if Roxy comes over and tells Ren to leave. Despite that though, Ren always finds a way to circle back to me. And if Ren does ever happen to be worried about something, she'll hide behind me. She sometimes will use me as a barrier between her and Roxy since she knows I'm higher than Roxy in the pecking order so Roxy won't try anything with me. Though Ren doesn't do that too often. Either way, I'm glad she sees me as a source of comfort and protection. Means she trusts me which is always a good thing. 

*Roxy*
Working with Roxy is somewhat put on hold right now. She must've slipped on the ice a bit or something cause her back end/hips area is bothering her and her back seems out. She's been sore and tender in that area and I also notice it when I ask for her back feet. While she'll happily allow me to pick up and clean her front hooves, she always fights a bit when it comes to her back hooves. Also, in some of the latest pics I've taken as well as what I've observed in person, she tends to keep her back feet always tucked under her and in kind of a stiff looking posture. 

She also isn't trotting around and in fact, refuses to go to faster than a walk which is unlike her. Especially since it was snowing this morning and every time it's snowed, she's running around and kicking up her heels and trying to get Ren to play with her and run around. She'd buck, toss her head, and prance around. But lately, in the last few days, I've noticed she's stopped any prancing/fast walking that she'd normally do. And just reading her body language, I can tell she's not feeling too good. 

So I'm hoping she isn't in too much pain when she gets her hooves trimmed tomorrow. But either on Friday or on Feb 5th, I have a chiropractor scheduled to come out and work on her. I'm sure she'll feel much better after that. So until the chiro appointment, I'm not going to do much with her as I don't want to accidentally cause her more pain or make move in a way that makes her back even worse. 

*Other*
Managed to find some shims when I went to the neighboring town and I'm hoping to try that with a saddle I found. The saddle fits her perfectly except that it's slightly too wide and the pommel is too low. But it was suggested to me to use some shims to adjust the saddles fit so it works for Roxy. And the shim pad comes with 2 different shims so I can adjust how much padding I need. I'm really hoping that this will work out but at the same time, I'm not holding my breath. Basically, I'm hoping for the best but preparing the worst type of idea. 

Also went an animal rescue/adoption center where a lady takes in both dogs and horses and occassionally some other animals. I'm hoping to volunteer there roughly twice a month to learn what goes on with a rescue like that. She also had a tack store since people tend to donate horse equipment which she can then sell to help raise money for the rescue. I went looking in there and ended up getting a surcingle. I got it for 2 reasons. 1, to help Roxy with getting over her cinchiness and 2, to have it on hand and ready for when Ren's older and is ready for that part of training. 
Along with that I got some hay nets so that I can now hang up their hay since otherwise they pee and poop on it when it's on the ground :/ 

Last side update. I finally managed to get myself some salt to put on the ground to help get rid of the ice. There's an area that I could use for some training but due to the ice, the horses can't really walk properly and even I struggle at times to keep my balance. So it's high time to put down some salt and get a workable space once again.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 94*

Today there was rearing and the farrier got kicked. 
Now that I've got your attention, I'll explain what exactly happened today. 

Early this morning, I got Roxy and brought her to the driveway and tied her to the fence there before going back and getting Ren and then tied her next Roxy. There were some cute moments with those two and I'll share some pics. Was a sweet moment while we waited for the farrier to show up.

When the farrier arrived, we went with Ren first. She seemed to remember the farrier guy and as he approached, started to back up a bit. (for some weird reason, she doesn't really like men in general anyways)
Anyways, she soon settled and he picked up her first foot. She tried to walk sideways or away from time to time, but wasn't too bad. She was an angel for her back feet, but then when he went to her last front foot, things changed. 
She stood still for a bit, but then tried to back up or go sideways and when that didn't work, she decided it was time to rear. I made her back up after she did that and after that, she was an angel once more. 
The thing is, I even worked with her on her feet for the last week or so and she was fine. I was able to pick them up, wiggle them, and even tap on them with my hoof pick. 

I think what Ren's biggest problem is 1, she's only used to me handling her, so is unsure when someone else handles her. 2, for whatever reason, she doesn't like men. She will tolerate them being around at times, but often if a man reaches out to pet her, she starts walking away. And I know it has nothing to do with her past since I met the previous owners and talked to them. So I guess I'm going to have to work with her being around men and find someone who's also willing to work with me to teach Ren to listen to other people as well.

Also, when she reared, due to a few things, one of her hooves clipped my left hand/arm. It's been really sore all day with slight discoloration in some spots and a small blood blister. So that's a fun side effect from this morning  



As for Roxy, I warned the farrier ahead of time that she'd be touchy when it came to her back feet due to how much her back is out. What she used to do to me was just stomp her one foot if she was feeling a little touchy, but since I've bonded with her a bit more, the most she does is swish her tail and give me a certain look if I touch a tender spot. 

However, when the farrier went for her back foot, she actually kicked him in the back of his leg. Not hard enough to hurt him, but enough to show she wasn't in the mood for a stranger to work on her foot. The farrier gave her a bit of a smack in return (nothing too harsh) and she didn't kick him again. So he was able to work on her foot, but also held it lower than he typically would to avoid hurting her too much. She did pull away when he went for her other back foot but at least didn't go to kick him again. 

Otherwise, she was good. Turns out she has some other issues with her feet due to past farrier trims though from before I got her. One of her hooves has a touch of white lime disease enough that he had to scrape a decent segment out. One of her other hooves was trimmed a bit too short and straight, and others were a bit too flaired out. There was also that had a crack near the top of the hoof.

Current things to improve on Roxy:
- getting her hooves back in proper condition
- put on a bit more weight
- gain some muscle mass
- get a chiropracter to fix up her back

So ya, today's been interesting.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

How cute are those pics of them together?! Thats awesome! Sorry your farrier day didnt go as planned but overall didnt sound too bad! Im sure itll be much better for all next go around!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 97*

Today was a pretty relaxed day. Had plenty of company and my grandma had knee surgery a few days ago so I was busy helping her so I didn't get to do much with the horses. Pretty much just hung out with them really which was nice to do as well. 

I stood next to Roxy with her on my left side and Ren came over to stand next me on my right. I rubbed Ren's neck and sides and she enjoyed it enough that she tried to return the favor a bit and also rubbed her head along my legs and leaning into my hands. It was very cute and fun. After a bit though, I just rested my hand/arm on her back and pet Roxy with my other hand. However, as I ran my hand along her neck, I felt something weird. 

Turns out Roxy has roughly 5 knots in her neck and one on her shoulder. They were decently big which is why I found them and am not sure if there are more smaller ones anywhere else on her. But she's very tender in those spots that she threatened to nip me when I barely applied pressure to one of the spots. She had about 3 on the other side of her neck as well. But I'm also not experienced in finding that type of thing so who knows how many other sore spots she has. 

Things are feeling a little frustrating right now with Roxy. Not in the way of working with her, since her and I know have an understanding and equal respect so she listens to me and is friendly to me now and all that good stuff. The frustrating part is that it seems like one health thing keep stacking on top of another. Which also means I have to pour even more money into her.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind putting money into her to get her in health again, the only problem is the up coming bills I have. While I may be able to squeeze by with how things currently are, but if something happens and I have to pay another huge vet bill, I really will be struggling. I'd honestly be fine in the money area right now if it wasn't for the fact I had to pay a pretty expensive vet bill about a month ago which took a huge chunk of my reserve money. 

So now I need to try to figure out what to do that would be in Roxy and Ren's best interest. It's a tough choice to make as Roxy and I have made plenty of progress together and she's taught me a lot with how to adapt my training style to what works best for her and much more. I also know though, that no matter how well her and I get along, we're never going to have that bond with a horse you know is yours. I'm not really sure how to describe that sort of feeling, but I've worked with 5 different horses and 3 of those were ones that I adored and had a good bond with. But the other two were different. While I like them well enough, it was mostly just for the fact they were a horse and we had the occasional really good moments. But otherwise, there was no real connection or bond. In fact, the one nearly took out the joy of riding after working with her for a year. 
While working with Roxy isn't nearly that bad, I just figured I'd use that as an example. That regardless of how well her and I get along, we'll never have that true bond/connection of when you're with a horse, and the horse has also chosen you as their human. 

So ya, lots of stuff on my mind right now. Going to have to think about all this for the next while and make a decision. After all, I need to think of what would be in Roxy's best interest at this point, both in short term and long term situations. 
I'm also trying to find a better job as well to avoid this situation from ever happening again since it currently doesn't pay much and I don't have very many hours with next to no room for a chance to increase hours either. This may mean having to move to a larger city though as my small town doesn't have much in the way of jobs unfortunately. Not sure yet. Have to look into things more which will take a bit of time.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> How cute are those pics of them together?! Thats awesome! Sorry your farrier day didnt go as planned but overall didnt sound too bad! Im sure itll be much better for all next go around!


Thanks! And ya, I'm sure it will go better with more work between now and then. And Rodeo with Squishy is equally cute with all the pics with him looking like a marshmallow on legs lol


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 98

Ren*
Did some more training with her today. She's been getting really good with haltering too. I don't even have to wrap the lead rope around her neck first anymore. I just have to show her the halter and occasionally hesitates a little but then puts her head right in which is nice.

I introduced her to a large blue yoga ball. Both horses were quite curious about it actually. Ren didn't mind it. I waved it around in front of her, around her sides, bounced it on the ground, ran it along her her sides, and even rolled it around on her back. She didn't care about any of it. She only lifted her head in surprise the first time the ball was on her back, but after that, she just turned her head to sniff at it and then settled down and didn't care. I also ran the ball around her legs and rolled it underneath her and dropped it over the other side of her and she was falling asleep on me lol. 

Also just did a quick refresher on everything else she already knows and did great. I also swung the rope over her a few times and around her feet and again, she was falling asleep on me. She's quite the young horse, that's for sure. Pretty happy with how well she handles everything though. I look forward to when she's old enough that I can start teaching her under saddle and go on rides with her. But that's still a long ways off. 


*Roxy*
Didn't do much with her. Just groomed her and showed her the ball as well. Also tried a saddle on her again except this time with some shims to see how it fit on her. It looks like the combination works decently, but definitely want to get some second opinions on it. I've never used shims before either. And it honestly looks like the pad is almost the wrong design slightly, like the saddle flaps reach to far forward off the pad. So either the pad doesn't fit, or I have the saddle too far forward on it, or maybe a bit of both. Though I'm thinking I'll probably just have to pass on the saddle if the shims aren't going to be of use. But we'll see.
But otherwise, in general, didn't do much but hangout with her for a bit which was nice. 


Sorry some pics are blurry and the video is a tad blurry as well. My phone camera wouldn't focus properly and I didn't realize it until after I was done.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 99*

Today it was rather cold and it snowed a decent amount this morning and early afternoon, so I didn't do too much with the horses till later in the afternoon/early evening. Pretty much just hung out with them for a bit. Then I decided it was time to bring Smokey back in and see how things would go since last time they were in together, Smokey got so aggressive with Roxy that he refused to even let her eat which is why I had them separated. Smokey would also make her stay in the smallest area of the paddock and wouldn't let her go anywhere closer than that. 

For those of you who don't know since I haven't really mentioned it before, Smokey is my grandma's little pony. He's roughly 6-8 years old, halter broke, and knows how to give his feet for the farrier. But that's it. My grandma just has him as a pasture pet pretty much since she's unable to handle a horse of any larger size. Even Smokey can be a bit of a challenge on occasion but still manageable for her. He's also a very sweet little guy who LOVES treats and is very greedy when it comes to that, so you could say he's rather food motivated. 

Anyways, so I brought him into the pen with Roxy and Ren. They barely glanced at each other a bit but otherwise didn't really react. In fact, the next hour or so was rather uneventful. Once or twice Roxy and Smokey would pin ears and toss their heads, but otherwise that was it. They even ended up eating from the same hay bag which is a MAJOR improvement of how they acted the last time they were in together. I suppose it helped that their two pens were connected so they had constant exposure to each other.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 100*

Wow, can't believe it's really been 100 days since I got Ren. Feels like the time has just flown by. She's definitely an amazing youngster and am so glad to have her around as she's managed to bring a smile to my face every day. Wonder where we'll be at in another hundred days, or even once it's been a full year. 

So Smokey seems to fit in well with the other two. They were still getting along today when I went out to them this morning and evening. Pretty cute to see all of them together.

Sadly I won't be able to do much with any of the horses the next few days/week roughly since we're supposed to get a mini blizzard type of weather. We've been having such a mild winter this year that I was hoping it'd stay that way for the rest of the winter season. Sadly it seems that the weather has other plans. Supposed to get twice as cold as usual along with a lot of snow. Hopefully next week it'll warm up again.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 101*

Today was not too nice. It started off snowing, but then turned to rain half way through the day and over the next three days, it's supposed to sink to freezing cold temperatures.

Besides that, this morning I noticed Smokey starting to get aggressive towards Roxy again. First two days went great, but day 3 things changed. Once again, Smokey wouldn't let Roxy get within 3 or meters of him. You can see that in the last pic, while Smokey was standing next to me, Roxy was off at the far side of the barn sine he wouldn't let her get any closer than that. The only way she was able to eat was if Ren stood between them. 

Then tonight when I went to give them supper, Smokey was really getting after Roxy. I also noticed that Smokey kept herding Ren away from Roxy and if Roxy tried coming too close to Ren or him, then he'd chase her off again. Seems the two are having an argument as to who's taking care of Ren type of thing. Hopefully this gets resolved soon since I can't exactly separate them again. The "pen" Smokey was in before was actually the large garden that's connected to the main paddock. So it's not like he can be in there forever if him and Roxy never manage to settle things. 

And the other pen that would work for a horse, is so overgrown that a horse only has 2 trails to walk along so that means there's not even room to run and kick up their heels. If it were up to me, I'd clear it and actually turn it into an outdoor arena since it's pretty much perfect shape and size for that. But since this is my grandparents property, I can't do that. And my grandpa isn't inclined to clear it any time soon. 
This also effects Ren since she's never sure where to stand to be out of the way and if she wants to go to Roxy, then Smokey comes to take her away.

So I'm hoping things settle between Roxy and Smokey soon since they're stuck together now.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 102*

It's official. The snow has come to stay. 
It's been like a mini blizzard all day. It snowed roughly 4 inches last night and about another 1-2 inches during the day. So walking around the farm, the snow is up to my ankles at the shallow spots. Good thing about the snow is that it's covered all the ice so don't have to worry about slipping all the time anymore. However, it's supposed to get even colder and snow a lot more over the next 5-7 days. 

Had a nice surprise this morning though. When I went out to give the horses breakfast, I saw a little head poking out from the barn/shelter. It was little Smokey. As I started to open the gate, he came out and followed close behind was Roxy, and bringing up the rear was Ren. It was so cute to see all three of them come out of the shelter together. Gives me a bit of hope that Roxy and Smokey are going to work things out.

I noticed when I was giving them supper though, that Roxy was shaking like a leaf. Ren and Smokey were fine, but that's cause they have really thick winter coats while Roxy has a much thinner one. There wasn't really anything I could do but after work, I went out and bought a winter blanket for her. When I went to put it on her, she stood calmly and seemed actually rather happy for it. I put some hay on her first though to help soak up the moisture from her like people suggested. And when I went to do up the straps under her belly, she didn't care in the slightest which just proves how happy she was for the blanket. 

It was also nice to see her shivering slow down until she was barely shivering at all. The blanket is a bit too small for her though, so I'm going to get her a bigger one tomorrow. Until then, I'm leaving this one on her since she needs something to keep her warm since temperatures are dropping a lot more over night and tomorrow. Just glad I could do a little something to help her from being as cold as she was.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 104*

Weather's still bad. The snow has stopped, but the wind picked up today and flew the snow around in little snow tornadoes and the trees were swaying so bad, some of them looked like they were about ready to just snap. Forecast said it was only -24 roughly with the feeling of -40 (celcius) so it was very cold today. Tomorrow is supposed to be about 5 degrees warmer roughly, but then is supposed to warm up decently for Tuesday, though still below 0. But that's alright. I'll take a bit of a warm up. Tuesday is the day when the chiropractor is coming out to fix up Roxy's back so I'm really looking forward to that. 

Otherwise, all that's really going on is just hanging out with the horses a bit at times when I go to give them their meals. Every time I've gone out there, the three of them are huddled in their shelter. So I'm glad Roxy and Smokey are getting along well enough that they can stand sharing a shelter. Either way, Roxy is still wearing a blanket since she can't handle this cold without it. 

Ren has been unphased by the cold. I've not seen any shivers from her at all which I'm somewhat surprised about but glad. Smokey the pony is pretty much the same. He had slight shivers at times today, but not much. My grandma doesn't have a blanket for him though, and the stores in town don't have a blanket small enough for him either. But I think he'll be fine since 90% of the time he's unphased by the cold and it's supposed to start warming up anyways. 

I also got a fleece blanket for Roxy. It's fairly thin, but I figured when she's getting her chiro stuff done, she can wear that to help keep her a bit warmer during it all as long as it doesn't get in the way of the lady's work on Roxy. Also figured that if I fix up my bareback pad a little, I can put it on over the fleece blanket and go for rides like that. That way she can stay warm while we go around. There's not really anywhere we can trot or go faster so the rides would basically be at a walk hence why the fleece would be nice as a little extra something for her on the colder days. 



Roxy gave me a bit of a laugh yesterday though. When I got home from work and went out to give the horses their supper, I saw Roxy's butt sticking out from the shelter. I don't know she stood like that since there's plenty of space for her inside. As I entered the pen, I called out to her and she didn't move. I peered inside next to her and she just looked back at me, unconcerned. Then, from next to her, I see two other white faces peering out at me. 

I was a little surprised and almost concerned when I started to bring out the hay that Roxy still didn't move. Usually she's the first to come to the food. But a moment later Ren decided she was done waiting for Roxy to move and just pushed past her. Shortly after Smokey did the same. Only when the other two were out did Roxy decide to come out as well. It just looked so funny to see her standing there with her butt out and then the other two's faces peering out at me.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 105*

So the Chiropracter didn't come out today. The weather is just too cold for her to be able to work with Roxy properly. So instead, we're going to try for next week instead when it's supposed to warm up a bit more. 
Roxy has actually been hiding in the shelter most of the time during this weather while Ren and Smokey tend to wander around outside when the weather is a touch nicer.

Also noticed today that it looks like Ren is growing a bit more in her back end. Her butt seems to be a bit higher than withers. Also hard to believe she's 10 months old now. Only another 2 months and then she'll be a year old! Cannot believe she's almost a year old already. Time is passing by way quicker than I imagined. Also, I absolutely love how blue her eyes are in the pic.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Im really looking forward to seeing how much improvement you see after the chiropractor! Hope it warms up for you soon! Its cold where Im at as well, been below 0 and quite lower with windchill. 

Crazy that Ren is almost a year old already! Time sure does go by fast!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> Im really looking forward to seeing how much improvement you see after the chiropractor! Hope it warms up for you soon! Its cold where Im at as well, been below 0 and quite lower with windchill.
> 
> Crazy that Ren is almost a year old already! Time sure does go by fast!


Same here! And I can't wait for the cold to be over with. I was enjoying the unusually warm winter but it seems the weather now wants to stay on the colder end with lots of snow mixed in. 

And with Ren being almost a year old, it kinda surprises me that she doesn't act nearly as energetic as your little Squishy. She's actually the complete opposite of him. She never runs around or bucks or does anything silly. Feels like I have an odd baby since I expected her to act at least a little how Squishy seems does with being so energetic. 
Should be interesting to see how both Ren and Squishy turn out to be when they're grown up.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

SummerBliss said:


> Same here! And I can't wait for the cold to be over with. I was enjoying the unusually warm winter but it seems the weather now wants to stay on the colder end with lots of snow mixed in.
> 
> And with Ren being almost a year old, it kinda surprises me that she doesn't act nearly as energetic as your little Squishy. She's actually the complete opposite of him. She never runs around or bucks or does anything silly. Feels like I have an odd baby since I expected her to act at least a little how Squishy seems does with being so energetic.
> Should be interesting to see how both Ren and Squishy turn out to be when they're grown up.


Squishy is pretty playful! Which for me, is a bit different as one of my own. Sounds like Ren is a lot like Rodeo personality wise! Rodeo was not playful at all when he was younger, was always very well mannered for his age and took everything in stride! He's become more playful out in the pasture just in the past year or so. Maybe she'll be more playful come Spring!

And yes! I cannot wait to see Ren grown up! I think she'll be gorgeous as ever! Squishy will probably look the same, just bigger Haha


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> Squishy is pretty playful! Which for me, is a bit different as one of my own. Sounds like Ren is a lot like Rodeo personality wise! Rodeo was not playful at all when he was younger, was always very well mannered for his age and took everything in stride! He's become more playful out in the pasture just in the past year or so. Maybe she'll be more playful come Spring!
> 
> And yes! I cannot wait to see Ren grown up! I think she'll be gorgeous as ever! Squishy will probably look the same, just bigger Haha


So not only do Rodeo and Ren look alike, but they also have similar personality. My Roxy is a lot like your Squishy though. If it's not too cold and if it snows, she runs and kicks up her heels. She's tried to get Ren to play with her but Ren want's nothing to do with her when she's like that lol 

And I'm sure Squishy will be a handsome little guy as he gets older. Wonder how fluffy he'll get in the winters to become lol.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

SummerBliss said:


> So not only do Rodeo and Ren look alike, but they also have similar personality. My Roxy is a lot like your Squishy though. If it's not too cold and if it snows, she runs and kicks up her heels. She's tried to get Ren to play with her but Ren want's nothing to do with her when she's like that lol
> 
> And I'm sure Squishy will be a handsome little guy as he gets older. Wonder how fluffy he'll get in the winters to become lol.


It sure sounds like it! Rodeo's just as cool as a cucumber 99% of the time! LOL....Squishy can be galloping, bucking, and rearing when Im riding, and Rodeo doesnt skip a beat, hes a good boy with a few quirks. Only thing with Rodeo, he loves kids but he's a one person horse, kinda funny.

Same! Im looking forward to shedding season but dreading it at the same time with Squishy, there's going to be hairballs everywhere! Haha


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> It sure sounds like it! Rodeo's just as cool as a cucumber 99% of the time! LOL....Squishy can be galloping, bucking, and rearing when Im riding, and Rodeo doesnt skip a beat, hes a good boy with a few quirks. Only thing with Rodeo, he loves kids but he's a one person horse, kinda funny.
> 
> Same! Im looking forward to shedding season but dreading it at the same time with Squishy, there's going to be hairballs everywhere! Haha


I think Ren is going to be a lot like Rodeo as she grows up since they already sound so similar lol. 
Definitely looking forward to your future posts of Squishy growing up with how different he is from Ren. Fun to see how different babies grow up and their personalities develop and change.


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Aha, my girls are the opposite. My older one, Blue, hates any form of movement that isn't absolutely necessary, lol. If Heidi riles her up enough she'll sometimes get a good buck and a gallop around the pasture in, but she'd much rather just mope around, eating. Heidi on the other hand, is exactly what you'd expect from a baby (technically she's going on four, but she's still very much a baby lol). She loves showing off her athleticism and beauty by holding her own little rodeos.  Yesterday, for example, I was playing with her at liberty and she had some fun bucking and playing around. She has the most gorgeous rear; I have to get a picture of it sometime, she's so beautiful and majestic <3
Heidi's always been prone to hijinks and it used to scare me a bit; she seemed pretty unpredictable and I wasn't sure if she'd be careful enough around a fragile human like myself lol. But yesterday I realized that even though she was in a playful mood in the crisp winter air, she was careful to keep out of my space while playing. She was still very close and connected to me tho; that one time she stood straight up, pawing at the sky, only a couple meters away from me. So close I could have almost touched her, but far enough away that there was no chance of a stray hoof catching me. Pretty cool  She'll be galloping right at me, having fun, but all it takes to slow her down is a hand up and a gentle word. She's very responsive to me, which is a relief, lol


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> Aha, my girls are the opposite. My older one, Blue, hates any form of movement that isn't absolutely necessary, lol. If Heidi riles her up enough she'll sometimes get a good buck and a gallop around the pasture in, but she'd much rather just mope around, eating. Heidi on the other hand, is exactly what you'd expect from a baby (technically she's going on four, but she's still very much a baby lol). She loves showing off her athleticism and beauty by holding her own little rodeos.  Yesterday, for example, I was playing with her at liberty and she had some fun bucking and playing around. She has the most gorgeous rear; I have to get a picture of it sometime, she's so beautiful and majestic <3
> Heidi's always been prone to hijinks and it used to scare me a bit; she seemed pretty unpredictable and I wasn't sure if she'd be careful enough around a fragile human like myself lol. But yesterday I realized that even though she was in a playful mood in the crisp winter air, she was careful to keep out of my space while playing. She was still very close and connected to me tho; that one time she stood straight up, pawing at the sky, only a couple meters away from me. So close I could have almost touched her, but far enough away that there was no chance of a stray hoof catching me. Pretty cool  She'll be galloping right at me, having fun, but all it takes to slow her down is a hand up and a gentle word. She's very responsive to me, which is a relief, lol


That's awesome! Sounds like a blast to hang out with Heidi when she's feeling playful. Also, that's awesome how connected she is with you. Sounds like you guys have a pretty good bond going on


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 106*

This morning was rather interesting. When I headed out to give the horses their breakfast, I had a bit of a surprise. Since the horses heard me approaching, Ren came trotting from behind the barn. She did a bit of a head toss which is unusual and I thought at first she might've just slipped a bit but then as they kept going, Ren actually did a little buck! It was so cute to see her kick up her heels like that. First time I've seen any sort of burst of energy from her and it was so neat to see. 

Once in the pen, Ren of course greeted me like she always does, but since she was obviously feeling a little spunky, I ended up running sideways a bit in a little bit of a circle and she ran around with me a bit which was cute. So ya, this morning was a fun little surprise.

She did seem a little cold though, for the first time, so I bought her a blanket after work. However, the blanket was too small for her and it was the biggest size the store had for her age range >< Thankfully by the time I got home, she wasn't shivering anymore and it's supposed to warm up a little over the next few days. She was still feeling a little spunky this evening too, and my cat has been feeling rather unusually spunky. I'm starting to wonder if there's going to be some sort of big weather change coming in the next few days. I've found that most of the time when my cat acts more nuts than usual, it means there's going to be a weather change. And since Ren doesn't usually act so goofy, I'm wondering a little more if there's going to be a bit of a sudden weather change coming. Hopefully it'll be blowing in some warmer weather again. 

Also, here's an extra pic of my grandma's pony, Smokey


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 118

Ren*
Weather has still been quite cold during my days off, and of course, warmer during the days I work so that's made it challenging to do much of anything with the horses. So due to this, I haven't done a whole lot with Ren. Mostly just play around with her, get her to back up at times and give to pressure. Most of this is done without the halter or lead since I just do it as I walk to the hay barn (it's built inside the horse pen) and it works well enough to do that. Also handy to do it since it gets the message through that it doesn't matter if I have a halter on her or not, she still has to listen to what I ask of her. 

I've also worked on having something random bumping into her legs from behind where she can't see. Like, when I go to clean up the poop, I'll bump her legs with the rake thing (forget what it's called) and all that. There was also one point where I was cleaning up some poop and of course, I bumped a turd the wrong way and it smacked Ren in the leg. She jumped slight in surprise, but otherwise, didn't react. It was honestly more like a twitch than a jump. So I'm pretty happy to see her so chill with that. 

I also swapped out blankets on Roxy the other day and while I was putting the new one on, I figured I'd put the other one on Ren so I didn't have to walk over the fence or drop it on the ground. Plus, it'd be good practice for her. So I pulled the blanket off Roxy and dumped it onto Ren's back. Of course I was gentle and didn't just drop it all on her back right aways, seeing as she'd never had something this big on her before. 
Initially, she lifted her head and looked back at me, the way horses do when they're on alert and a little unsure. But literally, not even 2 seconds later and she was back to not caring. I guess she realized it was just me doing something weird again so instead, chose to ignore it. 
I left it on her as I fixed up Roxy with a different blanket and when I went back, she still didn't have a care in the world about it. So I took it off and put it on her again a few times and she truly did not care. 



*Roxy*
Things with Roxy have been going better. I'm not sure what happened, but about two or so weeks ago, Roxy has suddenly decided she really does want to be my friend after all. She doesn't pin her ears at all around me. If she does, it's not at me, it's at Ren or Smokey since they like to bicker sometimes. And she's actually decided she likes coming over to get some rubs in. 

Actually, thinking back, I think I might know what's brought about this change. 
A little while ago, during one of the chilly days, I saw Roxy tossing out a few small bucks and trotting around, clearly feeling good. Ren and Smokey didn't care and wouldn't engage with her silliness. So when I entered the pen, I went over and pet Roxy a little before jogging away a few steps. This earned me the attention of all the horses, so I started to jog to the barn and go behind it. As I do so, I can hear footsteps behind me. As I jog around the barn, I glance back and see Smokey trotting after with Ren behind him, and Roxy bringing up the rear. 

As I got around to the front of the barn again and ran out into the small open area that there is, Smokey and Ren kind of trotted off to the side to get out of Roxy's way who was really coming now. She came trotting after with a spring in her step and decided to come towards me at a bit more of a sideways angle. I suppose she decided against doing any bucks, and instead did several crow hops towards with with a toss of her head before standing right beside me with her high. 
It was hilarious to see this and I reached over to her and started rubbing her neck. I managed to find a spot she really likes and she stretched her head up even more and started swaying back and forth a little to get me to rub all over the area that she wanted. It honestly looked like she was ready to just float up into the air with how much she was reaching up while enjoying the rub, her lip occasionally twitching. 

I guess it's been ever since then that she's decided she likes coming out to see and to get some rubs. She's also no longer head shy with me. I can reach out and rub her forehead without her trying to take her away which is nice. And even today, she was all about getting attention. As I was petting her, I felt several knots in her neck and so I started to rub my hand more firmly down her neck to try to get them out and boy did she like that! She'd move closer or farther depending on where I was rubbing her. I ran my hand down an area that really needed the work, she'd lean her neck right into my hand. So basically, I spent several minutes just listening to her of where she needed the most work done on her neck. She definitely a pretty big knot in there. I counted roughly 5 or 6 knots on one side of her neck alone, with another 3 on the other side. 

It was an interesting and rather cool experience with her. It feels like her and I are starting to connect. Kind of like she's decided to actually work with me instead of against me or just "tolerating" me type of thing. So it was interesting how her and I were listening and reading each other to work on her neck, as well as to have fun and play around. 


*Smokey*
I may start doing updates for the little smokey pony as well. He's had no training so I'm thinking about working with him on certain things to get his manners to improve. He really isn't that bad though. He's about 6/7 years old and is only halter broke. So it should be interesting to see how it goes working with a mini. Especially since before me, he was used to getting treats from whoever came around and if they didn't have treats, then he wanted nothing to do with them.

All I've really been doing with him so far is getting him used to the fact that it's not up to him on whether or not I'm going to be in his space. Basically, if you go to pet him, his typical response is to walk off immediately. So I've just been going in and starting off with just a quick pet on the mane or back, but have the contact brief enough that I'm the one moving away first, not him. To show that "hey, you let me pet you, so now I'm not going to pester you" type of thing. It's really helped actually. Now I can go and rub along his mane, back, and butt a decent amount before he starts thinking about wandering off. And if he does wander off, I just keep gentle contact with him until he stops walking around. Once he stands still for a bit, I stop touching him and walk away. 

This is pretty simple and basic so far, but I can tell he's starting to warm up to me a lot more now. He often greets me when I first enter the pen with Ren and will occassionally come over to get his face or mane rubbed while I'm just hanging out in the pen as well. He's also becoming less jumping of new things moving around him since I let all the horses just hang out together when I work with them so when I work with stuff with Ren, he gets exposed to it at the same time too. 




So ya, all in all, it's small steps with all 3 horses, but these small steps are going to help the bigger steps later on. 
And now a spam of lots of pictures I"ve taken over the last few weeks lol Roxy is a very photogenic girl, while it's nearly impossible to get any good pics of Ren since she's always glued to my side so is too close to get any good pics haha


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 123*

Had some fun with the horses after work yesterday. The temperatures had dropped a little and it was snowing with quite a bit of wind. This weather always makes Roxy extra frisky so I ran around the pen with her, which she loved since Smokey and Ren don't like playing with her lol. It was so funny to watch her occassionally run past me and once at a safe distance, would toss out a buck or two. 

A little later I went and caught Roxy to bring out to the front yard though, since the chiropracter was finally coming! Been trying to get the chiro done for a little over a month now, but had bad weather constantly stopping it, but today it finally worked out. 
While waiting for the lady to show up, I just walked Roxy around and worked a bit on her ground manners to help her calm down and focus on me since she gets a little excited whenever she gets out of her field. She did pretty good and I did a light lunge which was basically me just asking her to walk around me, nothing more than that and that's was basically all she wanted to do as well it seemed. She did good and listened better than the first time I asked her to lunge a while ago.

Once the lady showed up to do the chiro work, Roxy was very uneasy being around her at first since she doesn't trust strangers, plus feeling frisky in this weather. But once the lady started working on her neck and got a few things to line up again, Roxy decided she kind of liked this lady lol. With the adjustments in her front end, Roxy ended up even leaning into the lady to get things fixed up and was very willing for it. 

However, when it came to her back end, things didn't go so well. Roxy is really messed up in her hips and general hind region (which you can see in some earlier pics of her when she has the hunter/jumpers bump) and even the Chiro lady said she was really bad back there. There were roughly 3 spots at least along her back and rump of where the nerves where being pinched and such. Roxy would kick out at the lady if she went too far down to her hip area, and since it was getting dark and Roxy being a little frisky (especially with starting to feel better), she was only able to adjust the side of hip that wasn't as bad, and two spots on her upper and mid back. However, even just doing that, made Roxy's bump go down and pretty much not be visible anymore, as well as helped to walk more correctly and made the right side of her hips want to start adjusting on it's own already.

During this whole process, Roxy did kick out a few times. Never to hurt the lady, but more like warning her that she was in pain and didn't want more pain there type of idea. However, as she was starting to feel better and such, there was a time or two when after getting part of her midsection or back fixed, she'd start getting a little prance off to the side and give out one solid buck before settling down a little again to get some more done. 

Since it was getting dark, couldn't do much more than that. But here's a comparison of how much that little bit did for Roxy:

Before:
Was a little frisky but not too much. 
Would rather walk when doing a small light lunge.
Semi mellow, as in would love to run around, but at the same time, didn't really want to.

After:
A lot more alert.
More prancy and wanted to move.
When I walked her, she'd have a very hard time listening to me since she wanted to just run. (I would've only have had to given the slightest cue and she would have bolted if I'd asked her to xD )
Gave several happy bucks.
Was trotting beside me as I walked her back to the pen. Basically, she was staying beside me but was acting like a 3 year old pretty much with how good she was feeling now.
Legs were pointing in the right direction better which led her to carrying herself better.


So I'm very happy that things finally worked out for the lady to come out and work on Roxy. 
Still going to need to do plenty more adjustments in the future, but it'll all definitely be well worth it.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

So awesome that the chiro was able to come out and that theres already so much difference in Roxy! I bet she feels a million times better!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 130*

Well, I officially really dislike the current weather patterns. There are times it warms up, but it's always during the middle of the day of when I'm working, then back down to the freezing cold temps for my days off. So between those, I haven't really been able to do much outside. 

During one of the warmer spells, that only lasted two days, I took the blanket off Roxy. Yesterday, when I went to go put it back on in the evening since temperatures were going to drop massively again, I decided to take the moment and work with it with Ren. I put the blanket on her and she didn't care. I was able to slide it on and off and even held it up high over her. I also held it beside her and shook it a bit. She got a little uneasy about that since she's not used to a large black blob shaking and making weird sounds. But after a second or two, she settled down and went to sniff it and check it out. Once she was good with that, I held it against her when I was shaking it a bit and she couldn't care less by that point. 

Also, when I went to pick up her feet, she actually started to pick them up for me which is a first but is awesome. She's still not too relaxed with allowing me to hold her back feet for too long, but she's getting better, especially since she did willingly give me her feet before I'd fully asked for her to. 

Everything I've been doing with Ren lately, I've actually been doing without using her halter or lead rope. Thanks to how much she's bonded to me, she always comes back to me and won't leave me too easily. So it helps that she wants to be around me and trusts me that when I introduce new stuff to her, she doesn't freak out. I also see it as a bonus that if she'll do this stuff for/with me without a halter or rope connecting us, then that means she'll be just as willing to do it when I do work with her with the halter on. 

Also, only 2 more months, and then Ren will officially be a year old. Hard to believe, but it's also super exciting to think about.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Wow! A year old already?! Thats insane!! Crazy how fast time goes! Squishy is officially 9 months old today! So awesome Ren is so relaxed and chill like she is! Should make further training fairly easy! She sounds a lot like how Rodeo was, the main issue I had with him when I started riding him was making him go forward. He was so relaxed and didnt care about much so it made forward movement a challenge, our first trail ride was a disaster! We ended up shooting backwards at an insane speed and almost went into a pond! Was quite the first ride!

Hope the weather warms up for you soon! Its currently -20 F here with a windchill of -42 F!! Looking at the weather forecast, it is supposed to get above freezing next week and looks like it stays there! Cannot wait!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> Wow! A year old already?! Thats insane!! Crazy how fast time goes! Squishy is officially 9 months old today! So awesome Ren is so relaxed and chill like she is! Should make further training fairly easy! She sounds a lot like how Rodeo was, the main issue I had with him when I started riding him was making him go forward. He was so relaxed and didnt care about much so it made forward movement a challenge, our first trail ride was a disaster! We ended up shooting backwards at an insane speed and almost went into a pond! Was quite the first ride!
> 
> Hope the weather warms up for you soon! Its currently -20 F here with a windchill of -42 F!! Looking at the weather forecast, it is supposed to get above freezing next week and looks like it stays there! Cannot wait!


Ya. it's hard to believe she's almost a year! Time really does fly with little ones. And it looks like Ren is only 2 months older than Squishy. Hearing how Rodeo was with riding, makes me really wonder what Ren is going to be going to be like when she's old enough and ready for her first ride. Guess I'll find out in another two years lol. Feels like a long ways off, though I'm sure it'll come sooner than expected.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 133

General:*
Today was so much fun! The other day I posted a little something about my horses on Facebook and my aunt ended up messaging me, saying she'd like to do a photoshoot with me to take some pics of the horses and I together. Usually I hate having pics taken of me, but I'd honestly like some decent pics of me and my girls together and it'd be nice to have some decent pics of Ren since it seems tough to get decent pics of her. And so that's what we did today. Had a photoshoot. 

Roxy was, of course, a star. She's so photogenic it's funny. She poses so well for pictures. It's like she knows what's going on and does her best to pose for the pics. Though when it came time for Ren, Roxy of course, had to photobomb at least half of those pictures xD Oh well, makes for some fun memories. 
I also absolutely love how these pictures turned out! My aunt is so skilled at taking pics. Definitely hugely appreciated her coming out to do this and we both want to do this again in a few months time which could be really nice to have a summer background. 

*
Ren:*
Before my aunt showed up, I decided to do some grooming before hand to make sure she looked her best. Despite not having a halter put on for the last month and a half (been working with her without it), she was more than happy to put her head into the halter which was nice. I also took the oppertunity to work with her on being tied as well. So I had her tied loosely to the fence and went about brushing her. The air was dry and with her thick fur, there were plenty of moments were her fur stuck straight out which looked really funny. I also brushed out her mane and tail for the first time and she did really good with that. I've touched her in those areas enough that it didn't really phase her when I was brushing. 

For the actual photoshoot, she did pretty good. She stood still and was patient most of the time. Roxy kind of messed with it since Roxy likes to stand behind us like you'll see in some of the pics, and of course that makes Ren unsure of what she should do. But when we took some pics in the driveway, she was a lot more relaxed and happy to stand around. Having her out in the driveway also made me realize how tall she's getting! When I first got her, her back/withers came to my waist or just slightly higher. Now her back's pretty much up to my chest. She's getting to be a big girl! Not surprising though since she's almost a year old and she is supposed to mature at about 15 hh. 

Best part though, was at the end. As I headed back to the pen, I draped the lead rope over Ren's neck and told her to walk on as I started walking. She actually started following me back to the pen without me having to hold onto the rope! It was such an amazing feeling to have her following me when in an area she's rarely been in and could've easily have wandered off. She stopped when I stopped, and kept walking when I walked. There was only one spot where she got distracted, but that was at the very end just before I was going to open the gate to put her in, so she did really good since it's not a straight shot or short walk back.


*Roxy:*
Like I mentioned before, Roxy was great. Though before my aunt showed up, I also took the time to groom her. I gave her a slight massage as well since her back was feeling rather tense. She seemed to feel a bit better and did some licking and chewing as I did this. Going to need the chiro lady to come back in the next week or so again to keep working on Roxy. But otherwise, Roxy was good. I finally managed to some knots out of her mane since it was warm enough today that my hands were going to freeze off or have the detangler freeze which was nice. 

However, the knot was bad enough I didn't get it finished until a bit after my aunt showed up. Don't really mind though, since got some good pictures during that. Roxy did good with the pictures and it was a lot of fun posing with her. Wasn't able to get her in the driveway though since my aunts camera was getting too cold and ran out of space on her memory card lol. Regardless, I'm really happy with how the pics turned out. 

Some of these pictures really hit me though. It was nice to be able to see from a different point of view of how Roxy looks when she's with me. One of the pictures was in a sequence where she was looking somewhat at me and I gave her a kiss and in the next pic, her eyes are half closed and she's more relaxed, looking like she's just totally content and happy which was really cool to see the transition like that.

*
Uncertain Future*
Tough thing is, some expenses I have this year have doubled. Not because I took on more than I did last year, but because the government raised taxes. One bill actually doubled in cost. Before finding this out, I had my finances strategized to make things work out that I could could keep getting Roxy the chiro and food she needs so that I could keep her. It would be a tight squeeze, but I'd be able to do it. 
However, finding out that the taxes/bills have added on an thousand (roughly) dollars has really put a dent in this plan. I don't see a way of paying this off, and still be able to give Roxy the care she needs. So I've put Roxy up for sale. 

This has been extremely hard to do. Actually cried a little writing up the add. Quite something to think a few months ago I would have easily sold her, and yet now, it's the hardest thing to do. There's even a lady who's interested in buying her and is potentially going to be coming out in 2 weeks to look at her. 

I'm honestly feeling so protective of Roxy that I don't want to let anyone else handle her since a part of me doesn't trust anyone else to take the best of care of her or to understand her and work with her the way she needs to be worked with and treated >< 
I'm still holding out hope though, that something's going to happen to allow me to keep Roxy. I almost managed to sell my old saddle (that doesn't fit Roxy) which would have made enough of a difference that I could keep her, but that fell through. 

So now I'm working on opening some art commissions in the hopes I'll be able to make enough to at the very least, pay for part of Roxy's cost to keep her in good/improving condition. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do this since I'm on a time crunch of like, 2 weeks. Crossing my fingers and praying this ends up working out. 

If you guys have any suggestions of how it'd be possible to make an extra few bucks, I'd love to hear any suggestions! 



Anyways, enough of that. Enjoy some pics of the photoshoot  All pics taken by my aunt. There were a total of 112 pictures, so I'll only share a few of those now. Perhaps I'll share more later since there are so many good ones. I might make a second post just for pictures xD 
*Most Pictures on Next page*


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Ren Pictures:*


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Roxy Pictures
*


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## Elsie (Nov 14, 2018)

You guys look great together. Both of them look healthy and happy! And great to see how much you love them. Roxy is looking so much better from the day you got her.



As a side note. I noticed that Ren's back hooves are starting to take on that windswept look. Speak with your farrier when he/she comes again, from experience, it is better to start treating this from a young age, than having problems later. It may be the horses natural conformation, or just a trimmer that is trimming unevenly (hopefully by accident, as younger horses can be more difficult to work with).


Again, lovely photos  I love Ren's markings, going to be so beautiful once she's all grown up


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Fantastic photos! Ren is too funny! Roxy def seems to really like the camera! They look great! So sorry you had to list Roxy up for sale! Dont have many suggestions here...hopefully you're able to get your saddle sold! Best of luck!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Elsie said:


> You guys look great together. Both of them look healthy and happy! And great to see how much you love them. Roxy is looking so much better from the day you got her.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks  And I did notice that bout Ren's hooves a bit, but I think the biggest reason they look like that is cause she isn't standing totally square or in one direction too much in the pictures which throws it off a bit. And she only got her first trim when she was around 7-8 months old and hasn't stood 100% nicely for the farrier but we are working on making sure it all balances out in the end. So hopefully it should get better as she gets more trims and continues to get better with standing for the farrier ^.^





csimkunas6 said:


> Fantastic photos! Ren is too funny! Roxy def seems to really like the camera! They look great! So sorry you had to list Roxy up for sale! Dont have many suggestions here...hopefully you're able to get your saddle sold! Best of luck!


Thanks! They were a lot of fun to take. And I hope so too. After seeing photos of us together and also just going through that process just cements things further that I don't want to have to say goodbye to her. So hopefully something works out.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I love the pictures. You guys look great.  Ren is just adorable too, I love her markings. Look at that face!! Eeeek!! So adorable.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 140

Ren*
So I had an interesting day with Ren. The weather was really nice today and since I didn't have work, I worked with Ren on teaching her some new things. She tended to get distracted a lot while I was trying to work with her at first. But I did still make some progress! I finally got Ren to do a very simple moment of lunging. Basically, just getting her to walk around me in a circle and not crowd in on me. I really had to increase my own energy as well as have the rope end smack into Ren's shoulder and rump a bit as needed, or else she wouldn't move. Didn't have to do it too much, just a bit initially for her to realize I was serious and that she needed to pay attention and move. 

After a little bit, she got the point of it and would move off when asked. Still have a ways to go to get this down, but at least we've got a start on it. 
Also worked on her giving me her feet again. I think I've been a tad too soft with her since she tends to often do things slowly, takes her time, or half does what I ask and partially protests. So when she once again decided to lay down when I was holding one of her front hooves, I got after her and made her move her feet more than I typically do along with making her move faster. 
After that, she didn't try anything again with her feet and let me hold them and do what i wanted with them. Still need to work with her more on this. 

But all in all, the session went well and I look forward to doing more things with Ren later on.



*Roxy*
Did something different with her today. I put some clip on reigns onto her halter and hopped onto her bareback. However, this didn't go well. I don't have great balance when riding bareback anymore since I haven't ridden in several months, and it's been a few years since I rode bareback. And Roxy has had the winter off. She stood great for me getting on, but then decided it was time to walk off. From there, she'd toss her head up and didn't really want to listen to moving forward. Since I didn't have the greatest balanced and i knew if she spooked or crow hopped, I'd be on the ground. So I just rode in a straight line for a moment before getting her to stop and got off so that it ended on a good note. 

After that, I put the lunge rope on her and started to lunge her. This actually went fairly well over all. There was one point though at the start, that she was being a little rude and actually kicked out at me. So I got after her and she decided to buck again. However this time, she launched into a canter herself without me asking her to, and proceeded to slip and fall onto her side. After this, she actually listened and and didn't try srpinting around me again. I barely had her shifting between walking and trotting for a few minutes. Less than 10 minutes I believe. But by the end, she was on the verge of starting to sweat.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 143*

Roxy has had her second chiro appointment at last! And despite the fact she completely wiped out flat on her side two days prior, it didn't throw anything out again. In fact, she was still looking better than before her first visit which is good. Also a bonus that Roxy actually was very chill through the whole appointment, except one small moment where she gave a small kick but that was it so the chiro lady was able to pop her hips and everything properly into place. There's still a bit more work that needs to be done, but Roxy's body is working on putting itself back into the right places which really helps this whole process. 

Also had an interesting moment when the lady took Roxy to lead her so I could see how she was moving now compared to before, and Roxy got rather confused about it. And when I went to get treats, Roxy tried to follow me and actually got a little worried and anxious when she couldn't. Even the chiro lady commented on how bonded she seems to be with me. It was rather cute to see that since Roxy typically acts like she's all independent and doesn't need anyone and likes to give some sass. So it was nice to see she does actually care xD lol 

I also looked back and saw some of the pics I took of Roxy the day she arrived and it's quite something to look at her now compared to them. In the pics, depending on the angle, you could see her spine jutting out a bit, could more often than not see her ribs, and her shoulder blades were fairly obvious.
Now, you can rarely see her ribs, her back has rounded out so her spine doesn't stick out, and her shoulder blades are less prominent. It's also actually comfortable to sit on her bareback now, versus when I first rode her which was uncomfortable even with a bareback pad between us. 

I think next month, since it'll mark 6 months of having Ren and Roxy, I'm going to do a post showing the physical comparison between where they were at when they first arrived, and how they're doing now.


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## Elsie (Nov 14, 2018)

What fantastic news with regards to the Chiro visit. You are doing so well with this mare that you weren't so sure about in the beginning. Already in your photos it is clear to see that she is picking up weight, and this is something you should be proud of, esp. considering you are in the middle of winter. I am happy for you that you are bonding, and crossing fingers that you can keep her


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

PoptartShop said:


> I love the pictures. You guys look great.  Ren is just adorable too, I love her markings. Look at that face!! Eeeek!! So adorable.


Thanks! They were definitely a lot of fun to take  



Elsie said:


> What fantastic news with regards to the Chiro visit. You are doing so well with this mare that you weren't so sure about in the beginning. Already in your photos it is clear to see that she is picking up weight, and this is something you should be proud of, esp. considering you are in the middle of winter. I am happy for you that you are bonding, and crossing fingers that you can keep her


Thanks, I'm glad it's visible for others to see Roxy doing better. Definitely been a real challenge with Roxy, but it just makes it even more worth it in the end with how far we get.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 146*

Went and picked up my younger sister today since she came for a last minute visit and is staying for a week. Should be fun since she loves horses too so now I have someone to help me out with Ren for getting her used to other people handling her. Today I just introduced her to Ren and Roxy so while I'm at work, she can hang out with them and do stuff with them if she wants to.

*Roxy* actually took my sister fairly well considering how much she dislikes strangers. She was the first one I got for my sister to meet and we spent some time grooming her since she really needed it. Though she was shedding so much that after each stroke, we had to pause to pull the hair of the brush before continuing. Hopefully this means the warm weather is here to stay. Also thinking of trying to go for another ride on her tomorrow and see how that goes.

*Ren *did good, though she didn't want to stand still when I tied her to the fence. I think part of it was because she wasn't used to having a person on either side of her, and Roxy was hovering around. But after a little bit, she settled down and was practically falling asleep on us as we groomed her. She's getting better with being more responsive when i ask her to do things as well. I barely have to tap her side and cluck to her and she moves over instantly. Thinking of introducing her to a tarp tomorrow and see how that goes.


Last but not least, some pictures. Roxy of course, is being her usual goofy self and providing me with yet another silly picture of her xD


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 147*

Had a pretty busy day, but I managed to make some time in the evening to groom Roxy a bit, and try on a new saddle that was sitting in a store for the last three or so months. I compared it to some others and finally caved and got it since it looked like it would fit her. So when I managed to put it on her, I noticed that it seems like pretty much a perfect fit. I've never ridden in an endurance saddle before so it feels a little weird since I'm used a western saddle, but it wasn't too bad. 

Roxy didn't care for the cinch, but that's due to a home she was at before where they were really rough with her so now every time she's going to get cinched up, she's expecting pain. But as I pet her and eased her with the cinch, she eventually relaxed. Since the saddle seemed to fit her well enough, I decided to hop on and see how it felt for both her and I. I simply rode her around the pen a bit and she seemed to really look forward to it and wanted to trot around. Sadly there isn't enough room in there thanks to the left over snow, but I'm hoping to go for a better ride tomorrow or at least some time this week and see how things go.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 149*

Well, today has been both good and bad.

Roxy was a champ today. She stood perfectly for the farrier since her back has been fixed up which is nice to see. She did everything I asked and awesome. Ren on the other hand, was the complete opposite. 

Since the weather has warmed up, a lot of the snow has been melting. There's still some ice in the pen, but as soon as you get to the gate line and past, it's water and mud for a foot or two. Despite there being puddles of water inside the pen too, Ren decided the mud and water at the gate was just downright scary. She refused to step into the water and if her foot did touch it, she'd freak out and reverse very quickly a few feet. Now, I'm not exactly proud of what I did next. The thing is, in the past, I've been taught to "just make them go" type of thing. Since it's what I've been taught, I just reverted to that, but that didn't work. 

I realized after one or two attempts, that this just wasn't the right approach. I tried gentle encouragement too with 0 results. I tried to bribe her with food. While that worked for a step or two, that was it. So then I tried to go for the approach of getting Roxy to lead the way. This failed as well. Roxy went through without a problem, but Ren was just like "Nope!" to it all. One thing I'd learnt though, was that you can't just let a horse win something like this, otherwise they'll just keep doing it every time. 

Well, while I was all frustrated and trying to figure things out, I got some hay out so that Smokey would stay out of the way, and gave a small pile to Roxy as well to keep her busy. I tried another few times to get Ren to go through the gate but it wasn't working. After taking a breath or two to calm myself, I ended up crouching down on the other side of the gate, a little to the side on some snow and had some hay on the ground from when I'd tried to bribe her with food. Well, while I was crouched there, Ren started to look more curious and started sniffing the ground once more (I'd let her sniff the water and such so she'd figure out it was nothing scary). She nibbled at some of the scattered hay and finally deciding to walk along the very edge of the gateway to come over to get some more hay. With her finally walking through, I praised her big time and gave her more hay to eat. 

After a few moments, it was time to go through again. Once again, she put up a fuss. But instead of doing anything else, I simply got a handful of hay, then set it down where Ren could see on my side of the gate, and once more, crouched. After some hesitation, she walked forward and into the mud and water to eat the hay. She even stood in the water!! So I suppose I did just as much learning today as Ren, since I discovered both food, and crouching down equates to Ren going water. I'm definitely glad that this part of the day could end on a good note, despite a rough start. 

Another thing I learnt today, is that Ren is scared of the farrier. There's no reason for this, at all! The last 2 times she had her feet trimmed, she did act out a little, but nothing serious and the farrier was very patient and gentle with her. But today, as soon she realized who he was and he took a step towards her, she bolted. It took a few seconds of him slowly walking towards her and her moving in a circle around me before she settled and he was able to pet her. However, if he even slightly bumped her in any unexpected way, or patted his leg, or something like that, she'd flinch. He was able to pick up her feet to look at them and there were no problems. I'm not sure why she's decided she's scared of him, but at least that ended on a good note too with a few pats that she accepted.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 158*

Looks like spring is here to stay. Mud is somewhat starting to dry up which is nice, though it is a bit of a slow process. Roxy is shedding a huge amount so I'm brushing her a bit more. Ren is also starting to shed at long last, but the only spot she's really shedding, is on her rump lol. Can't wait to see what Ren is going to look like without her winter coat. I've also noticed her mane is starting to lighten quite a bit. One week there was only a tiny patch of white in her mane, and then a week later, there's a whole stripe along her mane that's white. Her tail is also staying mostly black with some white in it as well. So I'm curious to see if she's going to end up with a flaxen mane like her mom, and a mostly black tail like her dad. Would look pretty awesome if she did. 

Also had to go out and buy a new halter for Ren since she's out grown her last one. I also cannot use rope style halter on her since they don't fit her head right. I can put a weanling sized halter and it'll be too small every way, except for the fact that that the end part basically slides off her nose. Only a nylon type of halter actually sits properly on her face. Sadly though, the only one the store had for yearlings is pink, and I was hoping to get something blue or turquoise in color. But as long as it fits her, that's all that matters. I can get the colors I want for her adult gear once she's done the majority of her growing.

I'm also really looking forward to tomorrow since I'm going to go on my first real ride on Roxy. Not a clue how it's going to go since she's had the whole winter off and is obviously full of energy from the warmer weather. So I'm hoping there won't be any spooks or bolts due to her energy levels. But I'm hoping for the best and that after this, i'll be able to start going on some more regular rides and once Roxy and I are doing well with rides, then I'm going to start ponying Ren along which should be interesting.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 159*

Despite my original plans to go for a ride, things didn't work out for that since some family came to visit. However, I was able to still spend some time grooming and pampering the two for a bit and work on Ren's tying skills which are getting much better. I was also able to have her tied inside the pen without her getting all fidgety either like she usually does with having Roxy and Smokey around. I think she'd get fidgety because she would become confused as to who she supposed to listen to since she's at the bottom of the pecking order and couldn't go anywhere if Roxy or Smokey came up. But I think she's finally learning that when I'm there, I'm at the top of the pecking order and when she's tied up, the other two know not to mess with her or me.
Also, used the new halter on Ren and boy does it stick out lol. It's also a little big on her but she'll grow into it and the other halter is too small for her. 

I've also found out Roxy likes playing in water. When I put fresh water into the troughs, she came over, drank her fill, then went about splashing water around with her muzzle lol. Would love to see how she'd react if I took her to a lake or something like. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day for going on a proper ride. Also found a saddle for her that fits perfectly, and recently got some papers for that saddle to say it's worth $1200 + as it's also a costum created saddle, and I was able to get it for just under half the price. The person had been trying to sell it for months and had to keep dropping the price. But at least with these papers, I know the company name so when I need a new pad for the saddle, I can order one from them since they're not easily accessible around here.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 167*

So today was the day I finally attempted a full on ride with Roxy. At first, I hopped on with only the halter but the stirrups were a tad too short on the saddle, and Roxy started acting up. I ended up lunging her a bit since she wanted to run and I got her trotting around for a little bit and she settled down. When I went to ask her to flex her neck, she was getting confused so I figured her acting up was due to confusion with the halter. So I went and got the bridle and put it on her.

Once the bridle was on, things went smoother since that's what she was used to. Since it was going well around the small area around the property, I headed off along the dirt road with her. We walked along for a while and she did fairly well, though was clapping her lips together the whole time. After a minute or two of this, I turned her around and after a few steps of heading back, she wanted to run. I was going to let her trot, but she kept wanting to canter and was refusing to listen. So after I managed to get her to behave for a few steps, I stopped her and hopped off. By this point, we were a few feet away from the driveway so I just walked her back the rest of the way. Though even with this she didn't want to listen so I made her move in a few circles and she settled down and walked nicely back. By the end, she was sweating where the saddle was sitting.

I would've tried to do more, but I haven't been feeling good so if she'd spooked or bucked or reared like she was threatening to do, I would've gone flying and I know she would've just booked it and ran. So I stuck with a short ride. She definitely needs to go to boot camp though, to get back into shape as well as to get her behaving again since she's had the winter off.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 170*

The last few days have been a lot of fun. With spring being here, all the animals seem to have doubled their usual energy. Roxy also getting much more vocal in greetings. Sometimes she just gives one small nicker in greeting, and the next time she's talking the whole way as she comes over to me from the other side of the field lol.

The other day, when I went to bring them their breakfast, I went behind and the barn and called out to Roxy who was at the other end. She called out to me like usual and I decided to see what she'd do if I ran. So I turned and started running back to the front of the barn, calling out to her. Well, a second later i can hear the thundering of hooves as she comes barreling over and past me, kicking up her heels and tossing her head. As she turned to come back, I turned and started running again as well. This time, Ren and Smokey started running after me and Roxy brought up the rear, though quickly outpaced us all and went flying around. She kind of went too fast at one point with the mud and nearly wiped out haha. 

She's also becoming my shadow a lot more. If I go somewhere in the field, she has to follow. She doesn't want me to leave her sight and it's rather amusing. The only time she won't follow me around like that, is if I've put food out. However, even then she has to move to be eating from the pile that's closest to where I am. 

Things are going well with Ren too. She's starting to get a little sassy, though never to me, and not towards Roxy either. She knows she can't get away with anything there. But she's starting to really test her limits with little Smokey though. She often pins her ears at him and tries nipping at him. She even kicks at him at times. I see her trying something at least two or three times minnimum whenever I'm out there. Smokey tolerates a lot, but will correct her if she gets too irritating which is amusing to watch.


One thing I'm considering doing, is potentially changing my hours at work. As it is, I'm finding it hard to have the energy after work to be able to do anything with them. So I might see about getting out work an hour or two earlier than usual and use those hours instead, to do something productive with the horses. I have a few other ideas too, but still need to sort it all out to figure out what will work best. But i definitely think I need to do a little something different to make more time for them.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 173*

It's becoming increasingly amusing to watch the horses. The wind has really picked up, so that's making them act extra frisky and with each passing day, Ren is starting to test her boundaries more and more with Smokey. Once in a while Ren will try pinning her ears at Roxy, but Roxy won't take any sass from anyone else and promptly puts Ren back in her place so my little filly pretty much never dares to mess with her haha. However, she's constantly pushing it with Smokey. 

Yesterday I was hoping to work with Roxy and maybe even try some more riding after work. I thought it'd work out perfectly since a transformer blew in town, causing the power to go out which would allow me an extra 2 hours to work with the horses. I was rather excited for this, but as I headed home, it started raining pretty hard. So I got home, I hung out with the horses a bit and had a large blue yoga ball that I ended up kicking around a bit and none of the horses cared too much. They ran around a bit and Ren actually ran semi tripped over the ball at one point as she ran by it since it was rolling, and she didn't react in the slightest so it looks like she's fine with the ball. 

However, there were a few moments were Roxy decided to turn her butt to me. First time, I thought she was doing it to Ren since was near by, but the next time she did it, it was very clearly towards me. So I got after her but since she was moving away slowly, clearly not taking me seriously, I smacked her on the rump, standing up taller as well and that got her attention. She took off forward with a buck and ran off a few yards. She remained over there for a bit before rejoining me and the other two horses, acting nicer this time. After a few minutes though, she decided to turn her butt to me again. As she started to do this, I stiffened my posture, making myself taller and looked over at her in a warning type of way and she immediately walked off. Next time she came over, she came much more respectfully with her head lowered and slowly walked up behind/next to me until her nose was touching my back and just relaxed there like that. She didn't try turning her butt to me again which was good. 

A few minutes after that, the weather got worse and now mixed in with the rain was snow and hail. So I figured I'd call that good, gave the horses their food, and headed off. Today I was hoping to do some stuff, but it's been raining off and on most of the day so haven't been able to do anything today either which is frustrating. Hopefully we'll get some warmer wind soon to help dry things up since the whole farm is like a giant mud pit right now ><


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 174*

Managed to get out to the horses for a few hours today. Started off with just hanging out with them since they all looked lazy and Ren was laying on the ground, napping. I sat next to Ren and hung out like that for a while, all the horses enjoying just napping in the sun after the last few days of rain. 

A little later, I dewormed Roxy and got a syringe of apple sauce to give Ren in order to make it a tasty and pleseant thing so that she wont mind as much when I deworm her as well. Smokey came along and he was all for the syringe and apple sauce and since there was some left, I gave it to him which he loved lol. 

Once that was over, I caught Ren which was easy like always. I worked on her feet and she did the best she's ever done with that so far. I also introduced the concept of flexing her neck. She got it after a few seconds on her right side, but it took a bit longer with her left side, but she eventually got it. After that, I figured I'd work on her patience and started braiding her mane. I also ran my hands all over her body again since I haven't done that in a little while which she fine with. 

After I took off her halter, she stayed by me so I draped the halter and lead over her back and then rubbed her down with it and even tossed the rope around her a few times. I even wrapped the rope around her mid section where a cinch would go and tighten that and even pull on it and never got a reaction. I then went over to the yoga ball and rolled that over her back and lightly bounced it against her side a bit and rolled it under her. Still no reaction, though she was curious about the ball. I also used the ball on Roxy and also got no response from her and also played around with the rope around Roxy and she did good for the most part too. 

So it was an all around good day.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Day 179

So yesterday, my grandparents had a visitor that I got to meet. She has several of her own horses as well so we had a bit of a chat which I found rather helpful. Thanks to a few things she said as well as some advice I've heard from people here, I've come up with a plan for Roxy. 

To help with getting her used to being away from Ren, I'm going to put Roxy in a different field that's getting cleared. I'll put her in there before I head to work, and then after work, I'll put her back in with Ren. I'll also start working Roxy in the yard which includes doing ground work along with riding. But when I ride, I'll have little obstacles set up as well to get her mind thinking about where she's putting her feet instead of worrying about Ren. Once she does alright with this, I'll start walking her off property and go for short rides and eventually go on to longer rides. 
I'm also planning on doing some online riding lessons since I cant find any instructors around here. So basically I'll record my riding session and send the video to the instructor and she'll critique me and give me things to work on.


Another thing actually got brought up by my grandmas guest. She apparently has a gelding who's well trained, but is a real challenge to catch. In fact, he's such a pain to try to catch that she's thinking/planning on sending him off to auction for around $400. 
Now, I live in Canada and since she'd let him go that cheap, theres a pretty good chance meat buyers would snatch him up. So I'm thinking about possibly getting him and work on his catching problem. 
I've worked with a hard to catch gelding in the past and by the end of a month, he would come over to the fence and stick his head over for me to halter him so I never had to step foot into the pen to catch him. And if this works out, then I'll either keep him or sell him to a better home where he'll be looked after and not end up on a meat truck. 
Nothing about this for sure yet though. This gelding was only briefly mentioned yesterday. So I plan to get in touch with the lady again and find out what her plan exactly is with him as well as more info about the gelding as well.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Day 180

My mom came out for a visit today and wanted to go for a walk. So I figured I might as well bring Roxy along since she needs to get out and see more of the world around her, along with get used to being away from Ren. 

The walk actually went surprisingly well. The last time I tried walking her, she would prance around and be overall very difficult. 
This time, she walked fairly nicely. She did walk a step or two ahead of me most of the time, but since she was listening and there was constant slack in the rope, I allowed it. Her only problem was crowding me from time to time since she'd get distracted looking at something and her feet would follow her gaze. But all I had to do was poke her shoulder with my finger or thumb and she'd move over again. 

When we were heading out, she'd walk with her head up and alert and she'd look around constantly. On the way back, instead of getting worked up like she usually does, she actually lowered her head and her pace even slowed a bit. It was quite something to see her so relaxed when we were out walking since she's usually going crazy. 

So ya, I'm very proud of her today. 
Going to do some more walks with her yet and also do some walks with her all tacked up and so on. Cant wait until we can go for proper rides and have her more relaxed.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 185*

*Roxy*
Had a pretty good time with Roxy the last few days. I took her on another walk, but this time it was just her and I. I realized that I haven't really talked to her much. I tend to be quiet around the horses. So, I made the effort of talking to Roxy as I walked her. She was actually calmer than she was the last time we went for a walk when my mom was around. She didn't insist on walking as far ahead so instead of being shoulder to shoulder with her, my shoulder was more in line with the center of her neck. Once in a while she stopped since something would catch her eye, but there were never any freak outs. She also would brush her nose against my arm once in a while, and i've heard before when they touch you with their nose, it can mean that they're checking your heart beat and if you're calm, then they relax. Well, that seemed to be the case with Roxy as she'd brush her nose against me when she got a little nervous but since i was calm and talked to her, she'd relax and remain calm as well. 

We stopped in one area near a farm/ranch so she could eat some of the longer grass there which she enjoyed. There were some cows nearby which she isn't used to seeing so that caught her attention several times. After a few minutes of grazing, we started to head back. She got a little speedy for the first few steps heading back, but then she slowed down and walked calmly beside me again. Had no issues coming back as she settled back to walking calmly beside, her head lowered this time. I'd also brought treats along so whenever she was doing good, I'd give her a treat to help make leaving the property and her friends behind a good and pleasant experience. 



*Ren*
She's been doing pretty good and is starting to get a little lippy. No biting or nipping, but she likes feeling up my hand with her lips. As long as it's purely just feeling and she's being polite about it, I let her. Once she tried a little bit of a nip and I have her nose a bit of a smack and she hasn't tried it again since. 

I was very proud of her today though. The horses got their feet trimmed today and the past few times haven't gone great. The last time, she literally bolted as soon as she saw the farrier. So I was hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst basically. I actually led both her and Roxy to the front of the yard together at the same time which is a first. Both did good with that. I tied Ren to a tree while Roxy got her feet done first but Ren kept undoing her rope. She wasn't even doing anything spefic to the rope, just walking around the tree and the rope came undone despite me trying three different ties to keep it there. The last time, she truly got free and came walking over to us to check out the farrier. I grabbed her rope and held the two of them at the same time instead of trying to retie her. 

Once it was Ren's turn, I wasn't sure what to expect. Surprisingly enough, there were no fireworks this time. No bolting, no rearing, no rushing backwards. The most she did was try to pull her leg back for a few seconds before relenting and allowing him to trim her feet. That was it. So I am VERY proud of her! That is literally the best she's ever done for the farrier. I also gave her a few treats now and again when she was being good and the farrier also gave her some afterwards to reward her good behavior and help her associate the farrier as pleasant to be around. Also feeling pretty lucky since the farrier chargers $40 for horses 1 year old and up. And Ren has just turned a year old, but the guy said he's willing to leave the charge at $25 for her until she's 2 years old. 


*Other*
I may be getting a promotion at work soon which I'm excited for since it means an increase in wages. So if I play my cards right this next year, then i'll be able to buy an acreage within the next 1-2ish years. From there, I'd rent out a few bedrooms and have that money go towards the mortage. And with the land, I'd be able to actually start rescuing horses that would otherwise be doomed to slaughter. Which means, I'd be be able to run my own horse rescue. I still have a ways to go, and plan to do plenty of work with trainers as well to prepare myself for that. But my dream is actually starting to become that I'll be able to accomplish in the next 2 - 5 years which is crazy to think about, but also very exciting! 

Also noticed Smokey has a random bald patch on his shoulder. No idea what that's from and it doesn't look like the skin is broken. Makes no sense at all to me how he could have such a huge patch of fur missing all at once. I plan to talk to my grandma and see if she knows anything about that.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 187*

Hung out with the horses for an hour or two today. Had a lot of fun with them and did some grooming too which they all seemed to enjoy. After that, I lunged Roxy for a few minutes. She was very frisky at first and decided to canter around for a while even though all I was asking for was a walk or trot. But after a minute or two of this, she settled down and I had her going over a small log to keep things interesting for her and keep her mind focused on other things as well. She was a little unsure about it at first but settled soon enough, though there were several times she decided to jump much higher over it than she needed to. 

Planning on going for a ride tomorrow, so hopefully that goes better than the last few attempts.


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

Nice update. Roxy looks really good!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

JoBlueQuarter said:


> Nice update. Roxy looks really good!


Thanks. And ya, she's really been putting on weight and starting to fill out now that spring's here


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 189*

Got off work a little early today so I went out to the horses and tacked up Roxy. From there, I lunged her around over softer type ground to help her building some muscles. She did pretty good and was fairly calm today actually. After lunging for a few minutes, I decided to hop on her. And again, she did really good. This time, she didn't start walking as soon as I got on. She actually stood still as I adjusted my stirrups and only moved when I told her to.

I walked her around a bit which went well, and later asked for a trot. We got a few good steps forward but then she started making a fuss again. I settled her down and got her back into a calm walk. We repeated this a few times, and every time I asked for a trot, she would start up her antics. I have a feeling that if we had enough space that allowed me to ride out her fit, then things would start to go a lot better. So I'm hoping the little field here is cleared soon so that I can use that. 

Either way, todays ride was a much bigger success than the other rides in the past have been so I'm happy.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 193*

Weather hasn't been great so I haven't been able to do much with the horses over the last few days. That, and the process of getting another horse that was unplanned. 

Anyways, today was a bit better. Still decently windy and I'm a little short on sleep so I decided to just spend time with the horses and groom them. Roxy has very little winter coat left. There's just a few patches on her face and legs, but otherwise she's got her summer coat. I knew thoroughbreds had thin coats but didn't realize just how thin until now. She also seems fairly sensitive when it comes to brushing so I don't use curry combs or anything like that. Only the soft brush for her. I've also been putting some hoof ointment on the outside of her hooves since they've been drying out too much and started cracking. It's only been about a few days to a week of using it and there's already starting to be a difference which is nice to see. 

Ren has FINALLY decided to let go of her winter coat. She didn't start shedding until a few days ago and now I'm able to get some large clumps off of her. However, she has a lot of dandruff. So I'm going to have to look into a way of getting that under control. Her feet are good though, no issues there. And she's getting some new growth going on with her mane which is 3 different colors now lol. Her mane is mostly chestnut, like the rest of her body, but she's getting some large patches of white and black mixed in as well. So I have no idea what her mane is going to end up looking. Her tail looks like it's going to be 80% black as well with some brown mixed in and a dash of flaxen/white on the under side and a little in the middle. Can definitely tell her dad's gene's are trying to shine through since he was a black and white paint looking feral horse. Either way, I look forward to seeing what she looks like once all her baby fuzz is gone.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 194*

It was another very windy day today, and family also came over so there wasn't much chance to work with the horses. I did manage to hang out with them a bit in the evening though. I gave them their supper, and then just sat with them for a bit. Ren of course, couldn't resist coming over to check me out and get a bit of loving before going back to the food. 
*
Ren*
When I got up, I decided to do some desensitizing with my rain coat since it makes a decent amount of noise when shaken around. Ren glanced at me a bit initially but then didn't care. I tossed it onto her back like we'd done this a thousand times and she was fine. I stepped back and was about to head to her other side when she suddenly spooked and bolted a few steps. The dog had come barreling out of the bushes and surprised her xD A random green jacket she's never had around her didn't faze her. Yet, when the dog, who's she's around 24/7 comes barelling out, she decides to spook lol. Once she knew it was just Sheba, she settled down and came back over and didn't freak out again. 

*Roxy*
I then went over and swing my jacket around Roxy as well. She actually spooked a bit and and took a step or two to the side, but then settled a little. I stopped moving when she relaxed to give her a bit of release. When I waved the jacket around again, she didn't even look over. So I went over and showed her the jacket and she saw it, but as I touched it to her side, she flinched. So I worked on touching her with it for a bit longer. Didn't get any more reactions though. Was even able to toss it onto her back without her worrying about it. I have a feeling that if I bring a tarp out, she'll have a bit of a reaction to it. 



I've come to the conclusion that I need to seriously face my fears. I've been putting it off, but I think it's time to stop and just face them cause I'm tired of it. I want to be around Roxy and ride her without feeling queasy or anxious. I think the reason I get scared to ride her, is because I always remember the past with a different horse I worked with that caused me to nearly hate riding. Roxy shares some similar personality traits to that other horse which is why I think I get anxious when it comes to riding her. I don't get anxious to ride other horses, just Roxy. And I think it is cause she shares some of the same personality. 

So I need to facet his and get over this. I want to enjoy riding again so I need to get over it. My plan of attack, make myself actually ride Roxy at least 3 times a week, if not more. I find myself giving excuses as to why I "can't" ride that day, but I need to just make myself do it. If I don't, then I'll never get over this. If any of you have other tips on how to get over this anxiety when it comes to riding, I'd love to hear it.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Roxy really does look great! Ren looks like shes getting so tall too!


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

csimkunas6 said:


> Roxy really does look great! Ren looks like shes getting so tall too!


Glad you think so! It's finally to the point that you can't see Roxy's ribs anymore unless the light shines just right and she stands in the right position. Now we just need to work on a bit more muscles. And Ren is getting tall! She's a little over 12hh now! They grow up so fast lol


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

*Day 195*


*Roxy*
I went for a ride today. 
I actually managed to make myself leave the house and head out to the horses early in order to be able to go for a ride. I started off the day with just doing some grooming and it looks like the flies and mosquitos have come out, so it's time to get some bug spray. So far they seem to like Roxy the most lol. 
After the grooming, I tacked up Roxy. She's getting with the saddle, though still isn't impressed by it. When I went to put the bridle on, she was determined to keep her mouth shut. She didn't take her head away or anything, just kept her mouth shut. So I figured I wouldn't make her wear it for the ride, but made sure she still took it and wore it for a while so that she didn't think I'd just drop it when she said no. I let her wear it as I went to grab an old hackamore. When I went to take the bridle off, she again wouldn't open her mouth and just held onto the bit lol. So after letting her just hold the bit for a minute or two, she finally dropped it and I slipped on the hackamore. Turns out, it doesn't fit her shape despite the different adjustments I made to it. So I ended up going with just her halter. 

Once grooming and tacking up was done, I lunged her a bit to help get her initial bit of energy out since she always acts like it's time to race around in the past when I'd hop on her. She ended up being fairly lazy on the lunge line and we only did it for maybe 5 or so minutes before I attached some reins to the halter and hopped up on her. For the second time, she actually stood calmly and didn't try walking off as soon as I got on. We walked around a bit which she did pretty good with, so then I encouraged her to trot. That's where we hit some snags. She started off decently, but after a few steps, she'd start wanting to go faster and throwing a fit of a fit again. This time though, instead of making her do a sharp turn that would result in us stopping, I did a gradual circle around one of the trees and she settled down, so then I got us going straight again. 

We went straight for a little bit and then she started to get excited again, so I got her to start moving around in another circles in the opposite direction which helped to get her settled down again. It wasn't hard to get her to slow down to a walk and she'd walk around nicely enough. We did another one or two bouts of trotting and circles and stopping as well. This ride was definitely an improvement from the last since we actually had a few successful trotting moments which was really nice. 

One thing that I think has helped, is that I've been working her inside the field where she's comfortable. Once we get things ironed out in the field and things are going smoothly, then we'll work on riding around the front yard. Once good there, we'll start working on going off the property. I'm just glad that we're finally starting to make some progress, and that I also seem to be calming down. I had barely any shaking today when I went to mount which is a huge improvement since a few weeks ago, all I had to do was think about riding her and I'd start shaking like a leaf. So I think all in all, both Roxy and I are doing better. 


*Ren*
Didn't really do too much with her. She just observed Roxy and I a lot while I rode around. At one point, I stopped Roxy near her and at first she was a little unsure, but then she approached and sniffed my foot and I was able to lean down and rub her head a bit. Once she realized it was just me and nothing bad was going on, she relaxed and enjoyed the head scratches until Roxy and I moved off again. 

She was a little turd with the grooming bin though. When Ren gets curious about something, she has to paw it. And that's what she did with the bin. She made it flip over and send the grooming supplies flying around. She didn't care that it hit her or that stuff had gone flying, she just went about sniffing it all and would occassionally still paw at it. She did this another two times until I finally just chased her off. She came back around again, but didn't try pawing it anymore, though still sniffed at everything lol.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

So between being sick and the rain that's come pouring down, I haven't been able to do too much with Roxy or Ren. Riding is currently not an option as everything has returned once more into being a mud pit around here unfortunately. I literally sink up to my ankles or slightly deeper in some spots xP 

I did manage to go for a walk the other day with Ren though. I decided to lead her around off property to get her used to seeing new stuff and let her explore more of the world. She did great, just like I figured she would. She was a bit more alert once we left the property since it was new to her, but she did great. Roxy went crazy though, since I took Ren away. She was running around the enclosure, calling out for Ren. I'm so glad Ren is as independant as she is since it means she has no problem leaving her buddies behind and following me and ignores it when they call out for her. 
Once we got back to the pen, Roxy heard me opening the gate and came barreling out of trees and straight to us and finally started to settle now that Ren was back. 


I'm also even more sure than ever before that I have a jumper on my hands. 
During the two days between me getting better and before the rain had started, I put Roxy and Ren in a different pen to eat the grass before my grandpa turns up the ground to turn it into an outdoor arena for me. I went off to go do another thing or two and after about an hour, went back. However, when I went back, Ren was standing outside of the pen. I put her back in and walked along the fence line to see if there were any holes in the fence. I couldn't find anything, but I had some fun with the horses by running around with them, which they seemed to enjoy. 

The rest of the day went without a hitch and Ren stayed in the pen, so I figured that was the end of that. However, when morning came, she was once again outside of the pen. With not seeing any holes in the fencing, the only thing I can come up with is that Ren jumped the fence, and cleared it since there's no cuts on her and it's barbwire fencing. She's only a little over 12 hh, a year old, and the fencing is between 4 - 5 feet high. Though, at 7 months old, 10 hh, she was able to clear a 4 foot snow fence. So I'm not surprised she's now able to clear this fence. Just means she can't be in that pen and going to have to make sure she's always in a pen that has higher fencing to prevent her from her jumping out. 

So ya, I think I've got a jumper. I don't really mind since I want to get into jumping at some point and it looks like she'll definitely be good for that when she gets older. I can't wait to see how high she can jump once she's all grown up. If she's clearing over 4 foot high fencing now, I can't imagine the scope she could potentially have later on.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Not a whole lot has happened in the last month. It's been really hot out or raining so that's made things a tad challenging to do much with the horses, especially since I have to balance my time out between 3 of them. But one thing I have managed to do was give Ren her first ever hose down. She was rather unsure about it and kept walking around but was decent with it. She didn't have any freakouts or anything. And since it was quite a hot day, she ended up not minding it too much and even stuck her face into the stream of water. 

Roxy on the other hand, loved her hose down. As soon as the water started up, she moved so her side was closer to me and just moved right into the stream of water. So she was hosed down all over since she was enjoying it so much and of course, as soon as she was let loose in her pen, she went and rolled xD 

Also, I got in touch with the people of the stables and am going to try to get Roxy boarded there in the paddock with a gelding I have there. That way I can work with her more easily as I have not enough cleared space on my farm to do much work. I though one area was going to get cleared, but it just isn't happening, so I'm hoping to take her to the stables so that I can work with her more since they have a round pen, indoor arena, and massive outdoor arena. Along with that, there's tons of trails around the place and you're allowed to ride horses in town so I think it'd be a good place to expose her to more things all around. 


And here are some pics of which show how cranky Roxy is in the morning before she's had a chance to eat her breakfast xP


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

^^Ultimate mare glare in the last pic- love it :wink:


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