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The start of my new life

10K views 150 replies 19 participants last post by  twixy79 
#1 ·
Thought it was time I make a journal area for me. I think it would be really neat to read back all the stuff I write in maybe years from now.

The reason I have titled it the way I did, is that my life is completely different now. A complete 360. I have never lived anywhere, in my entire life, that didn't have an HOA. I am grateful for my parents raising me and providing for me in the way that they did, but ever since I was a child my heart was in a different place. I wanted the open land with no HOA and whatever animals I wanted. It took 22 years, but it's finally happened. I have my own little slice of paradise! It's a homely 2.5 acres but it's enough for me!

Not even counting all the other benefits, but I've been overweight my whole life, and I'm at a point now, finally, where I really care about myself and want to do right by myself and my body. All of the physical exercise I have been doing is making me feel fantastic. My mental health has greatly improved, as well. Nobody told me how exhausting it is to unload 12 bales of hay! Lol. But I love it. You'd never find me in a gym, but working outside on my farm? It's where I've longed to be forever.

So anyways, today was the new start for me, and for my animals! I have a lot of animals, but since this is the horse forum I'll mostly be focusing on my equines. I have Winnie and Winston, they are two miniature ponies that I bought from Kaufman kill pen. Winnie is a silver dapple 10 year old mare, and Winston is a paint 1-2 years old colt. (He's getting gelded soon.) A few people have expressed they think Winnie may be pregnant, so when my vet came out today I had him take some of her blood for a pregnancy test, I will find out in a week if she is. It would be very unexpected but I'm prepared to deal with it.

Then I have Walter. I met this special boy in January of 2016. I've owned two horses in my life, Beauty and Kaya. Unfortunately for Beauty she was my first horse, and I was quite young with novice parents, and ultimately things didn't work out. I bought Kaya when I was a little older, and we went pretty far together, but depression caught me (Even as young as I was...) and it all fell apart and I just told my dad to sell her. I was around 11 or 12 at that time. I leased horses throughout the years, but it was until I was 22, that I bought another horse. This time, I was an adult and was much more knowledgeable about horses and what I wanted. I could make my own decisions about everything. I shopped for a long time until I met Walter, but it was an instant "YES" for me. He was exactly what I was looking for. He had a few problems, namely his pushy-ness and mouthiness, but it was nothing I couldn't fix. I bought him, and the rest is history!

Well not really, lol. When I bought Walter I was still miserable living in a townhouse with no yard. My poor dogs couldn't run off leash, I was surrounded by people and an HOA. I decided enough was enough, I knew I would never be happy until I moved to a farm. I looked for such a long time for the right house but there was nothing. Until I found this one, and it's everything I could have wanted and more. I feel so blessed to have this house and property in my life.

I spent months working on getting everything ready for my equine companions. The minis were in quarantine in Texas, but they were coming home so soon, so I quickly got them a shelter and paddock built. Next came Walter's area, it took a while but he now has a beautiful shelter and a safely fenced area. I still have more fencing to put up (Boy is it expensive!) But what he has right now is suitable!

When the minis got home and I saw them for the first time, I was in love. I've never seen or been around miniature ponies before them, I just love them!

They were very wary of me in the beginning. But soon enough, after sitting in their run-in for a ridiculous amount of time everyday, feeding and watering them with no pressure, not even extending a hand towards them. Winston was coming around!
I discovered where he loves to be scratched, and realized how much of a lovebug he can be! Winnie is getting more trusting, too. She will finally let me clip a lead rope to her (If I have grain lol) but our relationship only improves every day. Considering what they went through at the pen, these ponies are incredible.

As for Walter, he came home today!! It still hasn't even really sunk in that Walter is AT MY HOUSE. I know that's such a basic thing for some people, but it's like a fairy tale for me! Haha. To be able to go out on my porch and see my ponies and Walter.. I'm still pinching myself.

I got to see parts of his personality today that I'm really glad I did. I got to see him trailer for the first time, and after an initial hesitation, he jumped right in and right out when we got to the house! He is showing himself to be a VERY curious horse. He was really interested in his new surroundings and was trotting around and looking all over the place. He talked to the ponies a bit, even met my dogs which he loved. He is settling in very well! The ponies have mange so he can't be close to them yet, so for now I am keeping Walter in his shelter's paddock until he's used to the new place and then I will open him up to the main paddocks and slowly but surely take him all over and let him see his new digs. He's already experienced his first train (I live RIGHT next to a railroad track so it is very loud and sometimes the ground shakes) And he did fantastic! Didn't even bat an eyelash. He also showed me how he spooks. There were some imaginary dangers and he spooked a couple times, but only went about three steps before he stopped. Very glad to see he is not a bolter lol. I've been on bolters, they are not fun. He's spirited but easy going, as well. He also got his spring vaccines barely 30 minutes after he got here, and did super well. I am very very proud of him. I can't wait for every day I have with these horses.

Anyways, I will leave today with some pictures of Walter at his new house!






 
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#3 ·
Walter is VERY beautiful! Congrats on your new place! I hear you on HOAs.

BTW, That is a lovely fencing job you have there! I'm in an area where there are some pretty redneck set ups... lol.
 
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#4 ·
Thank you Avna :)

And thank you as well horseluvr2524! I spent a long time trying to get this fencing put up so I appreciate the comments :) Before Walter came home I wanted to make sure he had a safe area to explore in. Preventing injuries is good when you can lol!

Today has been a great day. It is day 2 of Walter being home, and his first FULL day being home. I decided to try out a rope halter on him. I was using a nylon halter, but with his bad walking manners I thought I should bump it up a notch, and I had GREAT success with it. He is so much more respectful on the ground now, in just one day and one small session of a rope halter. We are still working on his ground manners but I have plenty of time for that!

Today I released him to a larger area instead of his shelter paddock, and he got to graze and feel the larger area. Then when I felt he was ready, I put his rope halter on and walked him around the front of the house where all the good grass and open space is. (Most of my 2.5 acres is in the front) I walked him around first with the halter and he was VERY interested! Especially when people drove past lol. Then I took the halter off and let him go. Of course Walter being Walter he doesn't move a lot very quickly lol. He just kind of ate grass here and there but he seems the most happy sticking close to the minis. I really wish my property was big enough for another full size horse because I really think he would benefit from having a full size equine companion. But maybe in the future..

Anyways Walter has been free to roam the property for a few hours now. Once it starts getting dark I'm going to put him back in his shelter paddock. I want to get a routine down with him. Tomorrow I'm going to worm him and give him a nice long grooming. This is all still very new to him so I want to give him ample time to adjust. He's only had two owners his whole life (With me being the third.) But he is such a good boy. Gave him an apple today which he loved, as I didn't know if he liked them. That's pretty much all that happened today. Looking forward to tommorrow!

(It looks like the picture is cut off near his feet but that's actually my porch lol it's very bright in the sunlight)
 
#7 ·
Just want to second how pretty Walter is! I love his cute little spots. :) I'd love to see some pictures of your minis too!

I've always been most comfortable and happy living in the country as well, I'm glad you were able find your 'little slice of heaven'! :) Out of curiosity though, what does HOA mean?
 
#9 ·
I appreciate the comments, guys :) And thanks to everyone! @Dwarf - HOA means homeowner's association. It's typically in suburban neighborhoods where you pay "dues" every year which are supposed to go towards things in the neighborhood. But in being a part of that, comes MANY rules and stipulations. Every HOA is different, but the most recent one I dealt with was VERY strict. You could not do a single thing without contacting them, on your own property. They found ONE pile of dog poop in my yard and told me if I don't clean it they will charge me $100 for every pile they find. It was a horrible environment.

Today was quite interesting for Mr. Walter and I! I learned some things about him that make me interested for the future. He is responding very well to nose/face pressure. I got to see just how light and responsive he can be with just the smallest amounts of pressure. What a smart and willing boy he is. It makes me glad because I've been considering trying him in a hackamore, but was unsure how that would go considering he can pushy on the ground. But I think it will definitely be a possibility in the future.

He also got to meet my neighbors horses today. That was...interesting, lol. My neighbor has two sorrel geldings. One appears to be quite old, but that one was clearly the dominant one. Walter trotted a few circles, clearly trying to show off, and he completely stood his ground to the other horse challenging him. I believe Walter came out above them, but it was through a fence line so it could have gone differently if there was no fence. After the two geldings walked away, Walter finally walked away too and they were done. I gave him a nice long grooming session today which he seemed to really enjoy and need. I've started the process of breaking his pawing habit and his impatience. He's getting the clue. I think he would like me to think he's dumb and doesn't understand things but he absolutely does, haha. If you don't make him try he will just act like he can't. I just love this boy :P

Also since pictures of my minis were requested, here I am delivering :D

This is little Winnie, after she got clipped recently. She is just a doll! Winston looks absolutely crazy right now because he wouldn't tolerate a full clipping so he still has streaks of winter coat. When I had my vet come out a few days ago, I had him look at their skin because they kept biting and itching it, and he told me they both have mange so I'll be treating that as soon as I get the medicine. Other then that he says they look good, and he also confirmed that Winnie does indeed appear around 10 years old but that Winston could be anywhere from 1-5, so I'm not sure about him. I also had him take some blood from Winnie for a pregnancy test, because I want to know 100% if she is or if she isn't.
 
#11 ·
@Lisabaltic - I explained the HOA in my previous post ^^ Just glad to be far away from the wrath of HOA's lol

Today started off kind of frustrating. Walter was being extremely impatient and disrespectful, and he was "spooking" at some stuff. He pawed a deep hole in the ground which I had to fill. I just had to keep in mind he's only been home like, 3 days. A complete environment and lifestyle change, so it will take him some time to settle in, however, towards the end of the evening I saw my good old boy back. I finally got my saddle over and all my other tack and decided to tack him up. ALSO, Walter's previous owner said they use a myler bit on him, and so that's what I had used, but to be honest I wasn't a fan of how he worked in it.

A while ago I read a thread on here about bits, and someone with an icon of a black and white paint horse (I'm sorry I don't remember their username, maybe airesdraftymum?) And she mentioned this bit: Western SS Low Port Futurity Bit - Statelinetack.com And I decided to give it a shot with Walter. WOW! I LOVE it on him!! I truly think he likes it more than his old one. I didn't actually ride him today, just tacked him up and practiced groundwork. But he was very responsive with his new bit. By the end of our short session he had his head low and was licking his lips. I had him yielding his hind quarters with just my body language. He is not as great yielding his forequarters but one step at a time lol. I was very pleased to end this day on a good note with him.

Tomorrow I'm going to watch the Extreme Mustang makeover in Jacksonville with my dad, so that will be exciting!
 
#12 ·
I'm thoroughly enjoying reading about your journey! Thank you for sharing it with all of us. :)

Walter was the name of my beloved cat as a twenty-35 year old and I adore the name, not to mention that your Walter is a beautiful horse. I love horses with colors and markings!

You sound to be quite an adept horse person, and I can only imagine what a wonderful journey you'll continue to have with your three; especially given the freedom your new home affords you all!

Continuing to follow...

P.s. I've never been very open to the idea of minis, not being overly keen on the notion of hooves to maintain, teeth to float, vet bills that can accumulate, and training to complete without the ability to ride...other than using them to help others in a therapy setting, which I do feel is extremely valuable, I've always thought owning them world be a lot of care and worry with scant reward. However, I feel that the way you write about yours may just open my eyes to the blessings which so many people find in caring for ands loving minis! Thank you for that. :)
 
#14 ·
@Back2Horseback - Aww well I'm glad! And thank you, Walter is my special boy :) I was originally going to change his name, but I took too long and his name grew on me so I guess he's Walter forever now, lol.

I can definitely see why people wouldn't want to have mini's when you can't ride them or do as much with them as a fullsize horse, but maybe if I explain some reasons why I personally like having them, it could help shed some light on the other side?

For me, I live on a 2.5 acre farm with 2 (soon to be 3) dogs, 6 snakes, 20+ tarantulas, 4 chickens, 2 miniature ponies, and 1 horse. I live alone, and so I am 100% responsible for every single animals needs and care. Now my minis got home about half a month before Walter came home. In my opinion, taking care of the minis was very easy for me! I had a great routine down. I would pick manure every day or every other day if I was particularly tired. They would get fed when I woke up and then again before it got dark. I refilled their water twice a day since I still don't have a trough. Then in between I would work on gaining their trust, etc. It was really nice and easy! Then I brought Walter home and it was a huge difference. Taking care of a full size horse is MUCH harder. Their poop piles are twice as big and just as numerous. They are much bigger animals in general and are more easily able to hurt you if anything happened. They eat more, they drink more, and because of their size you need to make sure they are well trained and respectful or else you will have a dangerous animal on your hands, so it's near constant reinforcing of positive behaviors. I'm able to be a lot more lax around the ponies for many reasons, but a lot of it is their size. Yes they can still hurt me, but not near to the amount that Walter could hurt me. My workload increased exponentially when Walter came home. In my eyes, it is 100% worth it and have always known it would be like that, but I think some people are blinded by how much they'd love to just look out their window and see their horse. Not thinking about how much care & dedication it takes to have them at your house 24/7/365.

So what I'm trying to get at is, the ponies relax me when I need it. They are so laid-back and I can just go in their run-in, relax, and scratch them, groom them, kiss them, etc. I have always loved taking care of animals, it's never been a chore for me. Grooming, worming, feeding, etc, the ponies is fun for me. And it's a lot easier than with Walter. Also, with my particular ponies, seeing them completely untrusting of people in the beginning to willingly coming over to me for scratches and love, and little by little every day allowing me into their world, it's SO rewarding. Knowing that I'm able to give them the life they deserve is really all I need to be happy and keep me going. I guess you could say, the minis elevate my mental health, and I don't care if they never do anything but that. Now, horses are ridiculously expensive so it's certainly not feasible for everyone to have 3 hooves to trim, 3 teeths to float, 3x the cost of everything, but it's worth it to me, and I'm able to so I do. Perhaps my explanation doesn't resonate with some people, but it's just my experience :)


On another note, I rode Walter today for the first time at the new house!! I know it hasn't been very long since he got home, but he's settling in so well to our routine I thought he was ready! It started off a little rocky, you all might know how lazy he is, so he was difficult in the beginning, but once he knew I meant business he straightened is act up and I left it on a great note! I'm sticking to riding in the back for now until I feel him out then I'll probably ride him in all the room up front. He earned his carrot today, I think :P Here's a little snapshot I took (He did GREAT riding next to the mini's pen, his ears were on me the whole time and not the minis.)



What do you guys think about this sweat pattern? Does it look even to you? (The bright spots near his spine are reflections of the sun through the trees) it looked pretty even in real life. I do want to get a different pad though as this one makes him really hot, I want to get a 100% wool one.

 
#16 ·
Walter colicked tonight. I'm very glad I am an online college student so that I can observe my horses most of the day. I saw him in the backyard laying down and rolling, which he loves to do so I didn't think much of it. Until he did it two more times and I knew something was up. I went out and he was hot and breathing slightly hard. I listened to his stomach and heard barely anything (He normally has loud good gut sounds) I took him to the water trough but he didn't drink. Offered him a treat which he normally looks for, wouldn't eat. Knew he was colicking so I called my vet (It was after hours but my vet is amazing and arrived in like 30 minutes) While I was waiting for the vet I kept him walking,

Vet arrived, checked his gums and his stomach sounds. Took a sample of his fresh poo to see if there were large amounts of sand in it, there wasn't. Sedated him, and did the tube through the nose bit. Then sent a bunch of oil and water into him. Stuck his hand up his butt but couldn't find anything there either. Gave him a banamine shot, gave me banamine paste (Only to use if the vet says ok first, so it's just sitting in my kitchen in case I need it) and put Walter in his paddock with only water. Instructed me to feed bran mash tomorrow, a little at a time for a few days slowly increasing it and then eventually giving small amounts of his regular grain and grass as well.

I checked on Walter a few minutes ago and he appears to be alright. Just need him to make it through the night now. Very scary evening :( Came out of nowhere, he was fine this morning.
 
#18 ·
Thank you egrogan, it was definitely scary :( But it's been two days and Walter is recovering so well!! He was very happy to be able to go out to graze again today lol. I wish I knew what caused his colic but with there being so many different possible reasons you never really know. On an unrelated note I adopted a cat today :eek: Everything is going good on the farm again. It rained ALL day yesterday so that was really needed and I finally got to see how my property looks when it has heavy heavy rain. THERE WAS NO MUD OR FLOODING!! I couldn't believe it. Whoever setup this property did it right. All the puddles and such that were collecting during the heavy rain were totally gone the next day. Really happy about that, because since the horses are making dirt go everywhere I expected a lot of mud
 
#19 ·
Wow...I just typed my entire reply and then it was gone. I want to cry -_- Here it goes again:

It's been quite a long time since I last posted. Long story short, I moved again. But this house I'm at now was truly one of the best decisions I've ever made. It's unfortunately away from my family, and in a brand new town, but I absolutely adore it. It's very horse friendly too, there's even an equestrian center right near my house! Also it has 5 acres, AND a barn. Never had a barn before and now I don't know if I could live without one. My horses love it here too!



Now for Walter, since this is really who this thread is about! Well I basically haven't ridden him since I last posted here. I didn't feel very good about myself, and my anxiety (for other reasons) was really high and preventing me from doing almost everything. This new property though has done a complete 180 for me. Walter, also, had a big hoof in that. Not just for myself, but mostly for Walter, I've put all of my effort now into losing weight and becoming more healthy and fit! One of the reasons I didn't ever want to ride him is that I simply felt too big on him. He never ACTED like I was too big for him (He always stood perfectly still for me to mount, and never braced when I mounted) but I still felt like that. Because of that, he was basically a pasture puff for the whole time and now he's fat and out of shape. HOWEVER, we are BOTH now working towards getting in shape! I've already lost almost 15 pounds, with no chance of stopping now!

Because he was so out of shape, I started with lightly lunging him. Something I love about Walter is that he's very obvious when he communicates with you. He makes it very clear what he's thinking, and after some trial and error, I feel like HE taught ME how to lunge him correctly. It was rough at first, as he is so particular, but he is much more pleased with the way I lunge him, and it makes me happy that I'm able to read him so well. I then started lunging him until he worked up a sweat, and decided that it was just time to ride. What better way for us both to exercise than to ride? But don't worry, his health is ALWAYS my number one concern, and I do not ride him hard or long since we are both out of shape. Due to my anxiety, I've taken to riding him at night. It completely alleviates my anxiety because nobody can see me (Don't worry I wear a head lamp), and when I'm calm, Walter is calm.



When I started actually riding him for real, I quickly realized we were not in tune. I decided to go back to the basics with him (And when I say basics, I really mean the very beginning), because I think he was trained in a way I don't ride. I think that someone trained him heavily in Parelli methods, and no offense to Parelli people, but it's not something I do. So that's why I've decided to start over with him, in essence. I'm teaching him what my body movements mean. I'm getting him in tune with me, and I feel like we are really becoming more in sync now. Tonight was one of his best rides yet! I am so proud of him. I would also like to say that he has completely changed his ground manners. If you remember, he was SO incredibly pushy and disrespectful on the ground. He literally physically pushed me out of the way once with his body. Now? He's a model citizen. I never backed down ONCE with him. He has one of the most stubborn and smart minds I've ever met in a horse, and it took a very long time of consistency, but I couldn't be happier with his ground manners now. He never tries to eat grass when I am leading him, he yields to me completely, he doesn't get crazy over his grain anymore, doesn't whack me with his head, etc. I guess because I wasn't riding him, it gave me time to constantly improve his ground manners, and I really can't believe how much better he is. Hard work really pays off.

All in all Walter and I become more in tune to each other each day. I have big plans for us, and I can't wait to spend every day with him. We also teamed up with a wonderful new farrier (He has a crack in his hoof we are working on).

I can't even list all the good things Walter has done for my life. I am no longer sedentary, thanks to him. I'm moving more than I ever have in my adult life, seriously. I feel so great, my healthy eating gives me so much energy now, my weight that keeps going down is making moving and bending and lifting so much easier, my life is improving in so many ways it's almost ridiculous lol I'll never be able to repay Walter for what he's done for me. He is always my inspiration to keep going. Once I've lost enough weight to where I feel comfortable riding in front of people again, I am thinking about possibly adding a second horse to the family. It took years to find Walter, so it's not going to be a quick process by any means, but I am thinking about it. Walter would love to have a friend as well. I'll be honest, I'm kind of dreaming about a saddle trained BLM mustang. But that's just a dream for now ;)

As far as property updates go, my dogs keep running under my fence into my neighbors crop field, and the dirt road next to my house. So I've begun putting up a wire barrier to stop that. It is a very tedious process and it's going to take me forever to do the whole perimeter, but it feels so good to do something like this with my own hands. I've always been the person to hire someone else to do things for me, I can't tell you how good it feels to do this myself, and it really makes me feel pride in myself and my property! It may not look the greatest but I'M doing it!



This was a long update lol Sorry about that. All in all, I am so excited for the future. Goodbye for now, from Walter and I!
 
#21 · (Edited)
I just came across your journal and wanted to comment.

I hear you about hoa's. I have never lived in that environment and have never wanted to. For me the cons would far out weigh the pros. I live in a historic district and can be a pain. Thankfully they are not that strict here (Yet). Gotta get out before they change their minds LOL.

Like you, I dream to have my own property where I can have my horses with me. Depending on other people to take care of your animals the way you want them taken care of is rough. I don't find caring for them very hard to do because I enjoy it but when other people get into the mix it can get a little convoluted. Example: I don't think horses need hard feed unless they need hard feed. The owner of the place I'm at now feels like if she doesn't feed hard feed she's not feeding her horses even though they are eating grass and mixed hay all day long. Also, finding empty water troughs ticks me off too. So, basically, I pay someone to take care of my horses and feel like I have to be there all the time to do it myself. I would be way happier to go out my back door and do my own thing.

I wouldn't worry too much about what other people think about you and your riding. There is a saying that goes like this. People in their twenties worry about what others think about them. When people get to their forties they stop caring what others think about them. When people get to their sixties they realize that no one was thinking about them at all.

Walter is a really pretty horse and he looks great. You seem to be doing a great job caring for him. I glad to hear that he's behaving for you. How are the mini's liking their new place?
 
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#22 ·
@LoriF Hi! Thanks for the reply :) I can very safely say I will never go back to living with an HOA. I hate strict rules and regulations lol

I completely get what you mean, it can be very frustrating to not be able to care for them the way you want to. I feel extremely blessed that I'm able to keep them at home, and I really hope that will be a reality for you too in the future! I'm learning all about pasture management now too, and like you, I find horse/farm work not a chore, but fun and fulfilling. I like dragging the pastures, fixing the fencing, stocking the hay, etc. I actually wish I could be out there more than I already am! But I feel bad that my dogs can't be with me, so I'm working as hard as I can to get the wire on the fence up so they can free roam outside with me.

Haha, I have never heard that saying before but it makes sense. When I worked at walmart a few years ago, the older people (60's+) were honestly some of the happiest care-free people I ever talked to. They just loved living their life, so I think there's truth in what you're saying. Unfortunately my anxiety has always had a hold on me, but I am working on it :)

Thank you very much! I need to bathe him soon, but he always rolls right after! D:

I didn't even update on the minis!!! Oh gosh lol. The minis are always loving the new place! Their pasture is twice the size (It's also a dirt lot already, because the previous homeowners had a mini donkey, so it's perfectly set up for the minis!) They have always been too chubby from their grass intake, so they are mostly only on the dirt lot now with occasional hand grazing, and they have controlled diets. No grain, and small amounts of hay. They really don't need much to balloon up lol

Something else that's very exciting about the minis, is that I'm going to start teaching them to drive. Horses of all kinds do best when they have a job, and I hate the minis just standing around all day looking like lumps on a log lol. So I've bought some starter equipment such as a surcingle, side reins, etc, and the first step is just teaching them how to lunge since I don't know if they've ever been taught. It will be a fun side project for me. They are already getting better each day with basic regular handling. Winston stands perfectly still for the farrier now, he lets me halter him, groom him, etc. He's a lovebug. Winnie is still not as trusting, but she is much much older than him, and could have had many more bad experiences than he ever did. I will never give up on her, though. I CAN halter her, but I'd like to get her to the point that Winston's at, where she /wants/ to be haltered. I'm actually going to start the drive training with Winnie first, because I think that Winston is still to young to do actual work yet. The vet estimated him between 1-5 years old, but probably the closest to 2 years.
 
#23 ·
I have been making sure I do /something/ with Walter each day. Whether that be riding, lunging, groundwork, or even just grooming and hanging out. He likes to supervise me when I work on the fence. He's learning more every time I work with him. He's always been super good at yielding his hindquarters, but I can now yield his hindquarters while I'm standing behind him (a safe distance) which was very interesting! He's so smart and he really does try. He's lazy but I'm ok with that as long as he tries.

I've been working on his reaction times as they were pretty pitiful before. I believe he was ridden by people that just went straight to kicking, etc. Truth is, he's an incredibly responsive boy if you just give him a chance. I was riding him bareback last night and all I had to do was super lightly touch my foot to his sides to make him walk on. I think he might even do it someday without leg, just by my body. The more forward gaits like trotting and cantering take more of an effort according to him. He pretty much disregarded my clucks before, but he's starting to respect them, and he's being really good at picking up the trot and once I get working with him for like 10 mins, he's good about the kiss to canter as well. I didn't much like the way he was holding himself while he was trotting tonight, but my goal for today was getting him to trot the FIRST time I asked him, instead of the third of fourth, and we did achieve that and that's where I ended the lunge lesson today.

I also worked more on the wire fencing, I've got almost the whole back side part done. Did 100ft of fence today, and there's still SO MUCH MORE. But little by little it's getting done. The mosquitos were really bad tonight though so I didn't lunge him that long. I've ordered a new english saddle that I can't wait to get in. I've been riding him western or bareback this whole time, but even though he's a cow pony, I want to english-ify him lol. Hopefully the saddle fits him.
 
#24 ·
I worked with Winnie today. I really haven't done much at all with the ponies in a long time. When they first arrived from texas, I spent a very long time getting them comfortable with my presence, letting me touch them, picking their feet up, grooming them, haltering them, standing for the farrier, etc. But besides those basics they've really just been pasture puffs. (Dirt pasture puffs now since they are fat lol)

Winnie is my older mare, she's estimated around 10 years old. She's definitely got that mare attitude and she has always been less trusting than young Winston. But there are times when she interacts with me that I see her very comfortable and that makes me happy. The first issue I worked on with her was haltering. I think the problem I had was that she was always in a large space when I wanted to get the halter on. This time, I threw some hay in her stall and then shut the door behind her so now she only had a 12x12 space to evade me. Somehow...maybe because she knew there was nowhere to go, she was very receptive to the halter. Whenever she would turn away from it, I would bring it closer to her, and when she would face me and look, I took it away. Every time I interact with her I teach her the idea of pressure and release, because as you guys know that's really the foundation of horse training. This eventually led to her putting her own nose in the halter, which was incredible. I eventually put the halter on, then took it right back off. Did that another time and off we went.

I took her out for a few minutes of hand grazing. She is really bad about diving for grass constantly when we walk. So I taught her that when I drop the lead rope on the ground (But still with me holding it) she is allowed to eat grass. But when I go to pick up the slack in the lead rope, she has to lift her head. She catches on pretty good, and I would say after maybe 10 times of doing that, she understood. I walked her all over my property, and practiced yielding her hindquarters which she's pretty good at but could use some work. She's still not used to walking next to people properly. I also trotted her as I jogged beside her.

The other main thing I did was bathe her. Well, I bathed some of her. I didn't want to do TOO many things with her, but she was very dirty on her left side, so I wanted to see how she would bathe. I've never bathed her since I've owned her, whoops. She took is surprisingly well. She wasn't sure at first about the hose, so I lowered the water pressure and that made her more comfortable. After she was done bathing, I hand grazed her for a few more minutes, and put her back in the pasture. She did so so good today, I was quite proud of her. Her tail is so long now it's past the floor so I think I'm going to cut it.

I'm going to ride Walter tonight and practice some things, but I'm giving him saturdays and sundays off. He's went from 0 days of work a week to 5. Do you guys think that's too drastic? I mean I don't work him into the ground, but how many days of work do you think is reasonable? Don't want to make him sore of lame or anything.
 
#26 ·
Just had a great ride!! Amazing, actually. I felt so good, relaxed, in control, HAPPY. I think this is the first time I've actually "enjoyed" our ride! You know that last time I ever properly rode, with like a trainer, was when I was 13. That was 10 YEARS ago. When I sold my horse back then at 13, I didn't even get on a horse again until I was 18 when I leased a super cute appaloosa mare. I then leased a few more horses over the years. Then of course this year I bought Walter. The first horse I ever bought myself. Even then I was just doing it all myself all those years. Luckily I still retain most of my knowledge, but the actual physical part of riding horses my body had to get used to again. As well as the mental aspect.

I've never had anxiety with horses until I didn't ride for 10 years. Then all of a sudden I was scared to mount, I was anxious in the saddle, and I was scared to dismount. I'm so glad that I bought Walter because he is the perfect horse for someone with high anxiety. He is a calm horse with more woah than go, which is what I prefer. When I tested him out, I specifically tested his woah the most. He rarely spooks and when he does he takes maybe a few steps and then forgets about it. The last horse I owned would spook at just about anything and also was a bolter, but as a 13 year old it didn't bother me. Now I don't want to ride bolters. I want my slow paint lol

Anywho... I've come quite a way recently. Tonight, I only hesitated ONCE getting into the saddle. Walter is the perfect gentleman and always stands still for me. Even when I first bought him and hesitated 10 times trying to mentally get myself in the saddle, he stood there and waited for me. Some days I couldn't even get in the saddle. I'd tack him up, bring him to the arena, try and get on and just couldn't. He really was and is the perfect horse for me.

But the more I force myself into that saddle and ride him, the easier it becomes. And I only hesitated once this time. I'm proud of myself, and I don't say that often lol.

Also, I've mainly been riding him in the back near the barn, but tonight because he was listening so well, I took him for a little wander around the property! We went near my garage, near the front gate, on the sides of the house. He really enjoyed it and so do I! He was listening super well, responding to my hands and legs. He also was quicker to react to my cues. Remember how I said he's lazy? Well, I think my re-training of his cues is really helping. He is starting to respond to very light cues, even to walk on, which is just fantastic.

He was being a little of a butt when I got near the barn, as he kept trying to go into it, so I made him do some tight circles right next to the barn, then when he was refocused I walked him away from the barn, farther into the pasture, and then dismounted. I always try to end it on a good note! It was a really great night :)
 
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