My three equines have kept me busy this weekend! I finally started working on the lower stall for Veronica to be moved into. It took me FOREVER to get through that stall. On the outside it just looked like pallets were in it lining the floor, which in reality that is all that was in it. The pallets unfortunately have been there so long that they rotted on the bottoms. This left me with pulling pallets out and half the time the screws/nails stayed in the ground. The time consuming part was pulling the pallet up and then going back through the dirt to find all the screws. Two hours later a 10ft by 4ft stall was finally as clean as I could get it. I only have to make sure the electrical is off (why did they put a line that was accessible to horses in there when they had horses in there I'll never know) and nail flat some nails in the wall and the stall, sans shavings, is ready to go. Butters approved of the stall immediately and stood in it for hours for whatever reason.
Yesterday morning I woke up with the determination to mess with Veronica. I visited her on Thursday night and she was downright nasty at the fence. This is most likely just not bonding with anyone on top of being alone in the pasture. I cut up some apples yesterday morning and then walked down to the house she is at. (my totally awesome neighbor) She was ancy at the gate right off the bat and my only real fear was her rushing through the gate once I got it unlocked. Thankfully, she did not rush the gate and allowed me to enter. I then just walked to the center of the pasture and then stopped and stood there. I sing to my horses and so just sang the first thing that popped in my head: Sesame Street. Took her a while. I never walked towards her, never asked her to come over, never pressured her to do anything.
I did notice that when I first turned her out with my boys she nervously ate grass. Constantly ate it when I had her turned out with the boys. She did the exact same with me, to the point of circling me and eating grass. I just quietly let her continue on until finally she got close enough to smell my boots. She backed off and came back to smell my pants, backed off and came back to smell my hands, and finally smelled my jacket. At that point I reached out to touch her and she let me for a second before moving away. This was not a quick process as she needed to know I wasn't going to rush her or hurt her.
By the end? Breakthrough. She was following me everywhere and I could touch her anywhere. We even did some slight pressure and release exercises (like backing for instance) before I called it quits. She is a super super sweet mule. Hopefully she settles back in with my boys in the next two weeks so I can let her in my pastures.
After working on the stall and in the garage with Joe putting away his car parts I decided, screw it I'm riding. Butters was first up. I had Joe catch him, halter him, and bridle him as Joe really doesn't know how to do most of that stuff. Joe did great! Now, we are going to call this ride Disasters lol. Butters needs to be ridden, we all know that. I and him are both out of shape; as I'm still trying to refind my seat again, while Butters is trying not to be fat. Hindsight I should have ridden just up and down the hill of the front pasture, but noooooooooooooooo I decided to try to go back to the shed which is very uneven terrain. Did I mention I was bareback and I don't 100% have my seat yet?
Butters had my number lol He took me up the side of a hill when I wanted to go down the base of it since it was less steep. Butters was going the normal route him and Memphis use to walk between the pastures, which puts us both on a slight incline. After near fall off, I stayed on and we continued towards the rear shed. All is well. Then back to the pasture we started off in, Butters picked up the pace around another steep incline and boop! Off I went. I was dying laughing and Butters was probably like "Hooray! Stupid human is gone!"
Round two was my neighbor brought over his wide tree saddle. Now, let me preface this with this saddle fits much better than the one I use on Memphis, but I have a tendency to not tighten the girth enough. Ever. I've had people get on me about it, but I just can't over tighten it or get close to that point. Do you see the disaster forming? So I get in and it's actually a really comfy saddle and all is well. Then I ask Butters for more speed.... shit went downhill. The saddle was slipping and I got it back to center and when I turned Butters around it completely slipped. I went off and Butters also went off.. galloping... around the pasture... with the saddle underneath him. Sigh. 2 issues here to point out 1. is the saddle wasn't tight enough 2. Butters is really too fat for a saddle to fit completely correctly.
Joe was like OMG get him! I'm like "He'll stop running, he can't get caught on anything". Took him a few minutes of freak out before he stopped. Slowly went over to him and got the saddle undone. Poor fella was terrified and rightfully so. I gave him a apple and lots and lots of reassurance that it was ok. I think for the time being we are going to stick with the bareback pad. He needs LOTS of saddle time. Lots. The goal now is to just walk up and town the hill. Boring, mundane, and boring. But for him and I this will be good. I'll get my seat back faster and he'll loose some weight. I can also do this at night when its dark since this pasture if clutter, rock, and hole free.
Finally, I got Memphis saddled. I wish I had a crazy story about him... but I don't. He was perfect. Like always. :) I love where he is now in how he's trained. Getting on him is like a sigh of relief. I know when he will freak out, know how he refuses anything, and know what he will do and won't do. LB even took him around with me leading.
Long post, but yesterday was a long day. Hopefully, I can get 2-3 days in this week after work in the dark. I also need to set aside one day just for grooming and that's it. Let them know that catching isn't always going to mean work.
That's all I got here for the day. Don't feel like editing this so deal with it. :D
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