She's Ready to Go...

Hey you! Come here! Give me an carrot!

Darling took the reins the other day. I was getting ready to saddle Jet up and Darling wanted to climb on. A mother hesitates a bit when their not so experienced child wants to climb onto a not so experienced horse, especially one that's 16 hands off the ground. But Jet, well...she's never given any reason to doubt she'd do anything but walk willingly around. So I said yes, and Darling lit up the world with her Mary Tyler Moore smile as we walked around the pasture a few times.

Yesterday I saddled her up again. The weather, thankfully, has held and given us some dry afternoons. With Quiet Storm out in the pasture and Sunny in the paddock, I didn't really have anywhere to ride. What the heck, I thought, I may as well climb on out here in the driveway. No fences or round pen panels to keep her mind focused on the here and now. That can be dangerous with a young horse. But I climbed on anyway.

And she listened to me... She walked around the cars and circled the drive way, did turns to the left and right, both pivots and figure eights. When we were facing out towards the road her pace picked up and it felt like she was about to pick up the trot. My girl wanted to go! But I didn't let her. We turned back towards the barn. There was no doubt she felt good, there was a spring to her step thats not there when we're in the paddock. Once we were past the gate she again pricked up her ears picked up the pace; we were now facing the back of the property where she knew the trail heading to the pasture was.

Yup, this girl wants to hit the trails. I'm going to have to put some time in the saddle this winter so that we can start walking down to the tree farm trail.

Desperate Horsewife

Wild Horse Calendars now available!

Big Blue Ball

Parelli Fanatics, rejoice! What do we see here? Is that a flag on a stick?

Why...no...no it isn't. It's a flag on a rake. Totally and completely different. Hahahaha!!!

There was an actual break in the rain today and I took advantage of it. I'm set on getting Sunny accustomed to things moving over her body. Things, of course, meaning me. But little steps are still a must. She used to freak out over things reaching towards her, but these days she's fine with the rake reaching out and scratching her. She doesn't give a rip about the flag portion. So I felt inclined to bring out the...

Big
Blue
Ball

At first I bounced it around while leading her around the driveway. She wasn't fond of the noise it made nor the movement. However, she tolerated it. I bounced it up close, even brushing up against the stirrups on both sides. Tense, she was, and a couple of times she tried to fly away. But I kept at it until she stood without trying to leave town. Then I lifted the ball up into the air.

Oops. That was scary. Back to bouncing. But then up into the air again, this time setting it into the saddle. The first time she flew out from under it, so we went back to me bouncing and her following before working back up close again. Eventually, the ball went up into the saddle again, but this time I gave it a bit of a push and let if bounce over to her right side.

I was ready for her to jump, but it happened so fast that she didn't react like I'd anticipated. Which was good. She turned quickly to see where the ball had gone, and she jumped, but it wasn't huge.

The ball, hopefully, will get her accustomed to having something big up there on top of her and swinging down onto the other side. Kind of like me, eventually. Although, knowing Sunny, she'll accept the ball and still freak out over me.



Now, if you're interested in getting a custom felt horse for Christmas, let me know! I'm running two weeks out already, as they've been quite popular. $25 each.

Desperate Horsewife Wild Horse Calendars now available!
http://www.cafepress.com/mustangfever/3572746

Internet Issues...

I don't know what's going on, but I haven't been able to log into either blog for the past two days. Right now I'm on City Boy's laptop before the battery goes dead. And no pictures...sniff!

Thanks for the encouragement regarding the rescue. The felted horses have begun to sell...scroll down/back a couple of days, I think I posted a pic here. Customized to look (almost) like your horse, $25 each. Folks are getting them as Christmas gifts for their kids.

I've also signed up for Country Care, where they send me 5% back with any sale that types in our care code, which is wildrehab. The link in on the rescue website if you're interested in taking a peek.

Okay...I've got soap to make and some more ponies to felt. Looks like there may even be a break in the rainfall...I may have to go outside and spend some time with Sunny! Thanks for stopping in and again for your kind words of encouragement!

Desperate Horsewife
Wild Horse Calendars now available!
http://www.cafepress.com/mustangfever/3572746