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New Horse, not mine, I had nothing to do with this

5K views 53 replies 15 participants last post by  AtokaGhosthorse 
#1 ·
I refused to encourage this. I didn't go get her, I didn't ride along, I didn't help her sneak it in like I did with Sally. I told her if she wanted her, she'd have to sit down, discuss her long time plan, show commitment to handling her, and be responsible for all bills, otherwise, with her papers, she will be sold, no questions asked.

Meet Little Sakem Dancer. Daughter went to someplace near Fayetteville Arkansas to get her. She's an unhandled three year old, and I'll be darned if she didn't get her home and discovered a swollen fetlock and a wound. *headdesk* (HOW did you MISS that?) When asked of the previous owner, it's said to be SINCE NOVEMBER - which tells me there's something in it and it isn't healing, but hey, fun. Not my horse. But no vet in the state of Oklahoma can look at her due to liability, until she can be haltered.

Dr. Hannah did eyeball it yesterday, has some concerns there is a foreign object in there, as I had thought myself, or possibly even a bone chip. She needs x-rayed, needs it opened up and cleaned out ASAP. She doesn't seem to be favoring it, she's not limping in any way.

So. Daughter, J, and our friend K, who Gina adores and takes such good care of, are now working on gentling her. It seems to be going well - she's like Trigger, a right brain extrovert and wants to be friendly, she's curious, but she's also flighty.

I am in a consultant position only with this horse. She's going to have to earn her trust first and foremost. I did warn her early on that if you go back far enough into her pedigree, there is a LOT of Hancock in her. There's also a lot of Doc Bar blood lines. I'm hoping the more sensible Doc Bar will help cancel out the notorious Hancock traits.

She has no barn name yet.

She did go from being terrified of people yesterday to eating out of Daughter's hand, but still too shy to permit touching her. Daughter is working on her again today by just standing around or sitting in a chair in the pen. I suggested she take her college books with her and read out loud. She's a curious horse, so anything to keep her wondering what you're up to, without being worried, is going to be helpful. Jealousy has been helpful... just standing nearby, ignoring her, and making a big deal out of Gina, on the other side of the pen, has really gotten her moving in close.


As I told my daughter: I don't question the horse. I question her commitment and her grit.
 

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#2 ·
Driftwood on top, Doc Bar on bottom can be a really nice cross. I'm trying really hard not to buy a yearling for sale bred similarly. Generally they are friendly and smart, and as long as you are fair and give them a job, they do fine. Not overtly broncy, but are the type to sometimes buck on a cool morning or after not being ridden all winter; not a big deal. I like your daughter's filly a lot. It shouldn't take her long to come around. I'd put her in a round pen and start working with her, and she should be able to be handled by the vet within a week, easily. Her leg is worrisome-- I hope it's simply fixed.
 
#4 ·
Yeah. That leg bothers me. I think given her ease of movement, and that it's not gotten WORSE (But not better) that hopefully it is an easy fix, just something jabbed up in there. Gina did that once - got a locust thorn in her neck and for a while, it looked just like that, wouldn't heal. Abscessed, led to fever in the area - I had to lance it with a prolapse needle and squeeze it out. It was disgusting and stunk to high heaven, but the thorn came out on the last hard squeeze - right when we thought there couldn't be anything left in it.


Hopefully this is something similar.


Glad to hear the breeding is okay. I'm not a fan of her getting another horse so soon, I wanted proof of her desire to dig in and learn, and make a hand first. Husband took the opposite approach - the horse will be registered to our cattle company, if that's possible, and she will be sold summarily. I don't have time to care for another horse. Outback is coming around quickly, she'll knock me over for a butt scratching when a week and a half ago, I couldn't touch her.


But between her, AJ, and Trigger, I am full up.
 
#3 ·
Also, she's going to have to have an actual TRAINER teach this one, IMO. And she's going to have to choose wisely. A horse this untrusting could be turned into a monster by the wrong trainer - be they too rough, or too permissive.
 
#7 ·
THIS is why I made her sit down and look her DAD in the eye and ask HIM for permission. I refused to even be in the HOUSE when she did it. She got NO support from me. I expected an absolute no. To my surprise...


She is gorgeous, like oh my goodness. Honestly I can't blame your daughter one bit!! :lol: This should be fun - please keep us updated! :)

I hope she finds her grit. Because this little filly is going to take grit, she's going to take patience, she's going to take a gentle hand. She's not going to let anyone do anything with her until trust has been earned. She's not going to blindly grant it, like Oops or Gina has done. I HOPE daughter will learn this time. I mean truly learn from this filly.


The good news is, we've build up a better class of horsemen as friends since we first started down this path. My trailriding friend, T, has been a tremendous help - she's very familiar with horses that show the Hancock breeding - she rides one on barrels, has a 2 year old filly that came to her unhandled and untrusting.



I'm hoping this one continues to show an interest in what humans are doing. She keeps inching closer and closer on her own, a bit like that video of the Ninja cat - you look away, she's Over There... you look again out of the corner of your eye, she's a foot closer, but motionless. She's creeping in.
 
#8 ·
Lord she's pretty though... I hope everything works out and that her leg ends up ok. Seems to be a common thread in dads; It used to be me and mom wanting to drag in animals all the time with dad raising heck about how we weren't going to have cats and dogs in the house, no hamsters, no small pets, etc... now mom's the sensible one and dad would probably let me bring anything in the world home (Not that I would, I have a very close eye on budget and what I can and can't afford for now.)
 
#9 ·
She's a pretty girl. I just hope everything turns out okay with her leg...that doesn't sound good. :sad: But, congrats to her!! It is a huge responsibility, & I hope she knows it will be a lot of work, considering she's a filly! She will definitely learn a lot from her. :) It will teach her TONS of patience.
 
#10 ·
Just had my phone blow up with FB messenger alerts:

MOOMMMMMMMMM!

MOM! MOOOOOMMMMMM! OMG MOM!

Me: What?

THIS (see pic below).

She's on cloud 9. Filly has been shadowing her, and they're developing a little game, like I had with Trigger when he'd step closer to take a snack, then I'd step closer by one step and he'd step back one step. Kinda like a dance. Now we have it refined down to the Greeting Ritual. I told her she'll likely have to develop a greeting ritual with this filly as well and never fail to use it, just for consistency sake.

She just messaged me again: IM GONNA HAVE A HEART ATTACK...

She's just thrilled. I hope the rewards keep coming for her AND the filly. THIS is the kind of thing that makes it all worth it.

Also - my client in the lobby just farted hugely... and we have two wooden church pews as benches out there. Wow.


Update: She gave her two snacks, then walked away. Decided to end on a high note for now. She's going to mow the lawn and then resume this evening when I get home and can observe.
 

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#12 ·
Not the right kind of grit. LOL



She gets too easily spooked that she'll get hurt. She may be big, she's 5' 10" and wears a size 11 shoe, but she's not tough and she doesn't have a lot of 'stick em to it' when things start going bad. She gets discouraged quickly and that won't get her anywhere with horses. I get discouraged too, sometimes as often as I get ENcouraged, but I don't give up. She does.


That's why I said I don't question the horse, I question HER.
 
#14 ·
I truly hope she gets the same experience with this horse as I have with Minnie ... there will be SO many big hurdles with small successes in between, and it is SO hard to remained encouraged with horses like these. Definitely following!
 
#16 ·
THAT is what I thought!

She let me look at it fairly close this evening. The sore is a fresh scuff - looks like she whacked in on the trailer somehow on the ride home. Swelling has gone down considerably.

I'm not as urgently concerned as I was, but it still needs looked at. Vet said for her liability, she doesn't even have to be halter BROKE, just get one on her face, that's it. I think by the end of next week, that's doable. She could probably pin her in the chute we have and do it, but I think that's ill advised and would take her back several paces in terms of trust.

She did follow me around, wanted snacks. Let me scratch her chin, touch her nose (SOOOO SOFT, aren't horse noses the best?) and briefly touch her shoulder.

Just to see what she did, later I ignored her went over to the trough, stuck my arm in and started flipping water like a horse does when they play with it. She came right over, stuck her nose in too, flipped water too. I flipped a little on her - she startled a little, then came right back. So - her willingness to play games and her interest in what people are doing give me hope she just needs gentling down.

Hubs came out, watched me with her, watched daughter with her, nodded and looked at daughter and said:

She's going to be a one-person horse... and if not YOU, then it'll darn sure be someone else...

Leave it to him to work a reminder that he'll sell her in a heartbeat if daughter doesn't hold up her end of the bargain. I was impressed with how he worked that in.
 
#17 ·
Can you get a photo of the leg in question?

I had a gelding born with an odd leg deformity and from a distance it looks similar. But it's probably unrelated. He was born with it and was sound for the entire 8 years I had him and then I re-homed him and he's doing great for his new owner as well.

Probably not the same type of thing, but my curiosity is peaked.

She is really, really pretty by the way!


Edit: I re-read that this is new since November. Probably not something she was born with then. Unless that information isn't accurate.
 
#18 ·
No, she took an injury from a tussle with a fence. I don't know if it was a wooden fence, a steel pipe fence, a wire fence, or what. But she wasn't born with it. It is a confirmed old injury.

And thank you. She's lovely to look at. If she'll just show us she's not just pretty, but smart too, I'll be happy. I think she is - she's far too curious about everything and everyone.

Edit: She's smart enough to realize when I just push the smaller entry gate shut but don't drop the bar to secure it shut. I usually do that when I'm coming and going, just drop the bar and then push it shut, the bar won't let you push the gate out. Trigger and Supes figured out if it's dropped on the other side they can push it open and walk out. She figured out if it's on her side, she can grab it with her lips and pull it to her and open the gate that way. I had to start securing it behind me this evening after my third or fourth time in and out or she was going to be a flight risk.
 
#20 ·
She was chilling out in the chute this morning - I was up before anyone else except Hubs, went out there coffee in hand. I always like to lay eyes on all our equines before I leave for work, just in case something is amiss.


With her, I worry she'll get silly and try to jump out of the pen or try to paw it and get a leg hung up. She's not done that yet, but y'never know.

So anyway, just chilling out in the chute, standing there like she belonged in it. She was uneasy when she realized I was close, but allowed me to scrub her shoulder. I want daughter to start asking her to allow shoulder scratches, not touching the face, for a snack reward. I also told her it might be a good idea to pull the catch rope off the pen, where it hangs in waiting, and just have it draped over her shoulder. No plans to use it, just have it where she can see it, and get used to it being around.


The humans playing in the water trough just demands her attention though. Did it again this morning. She likewise came over and flipped water around. Daughter has class this morning, Babygirl is in daycare today. Daughter plans to come straight home and fiddle around with her horse.
 
#21 ·
ALSO: Going to suggest, since it's going to soar to upper 80s here today, that daughter dump the trough, which is down to 1/3 full and getting weird colored. Rinse it out good, refill it. See if she can get Miss Filly (Who still has no barn name) to play in the water with her.
 
#23 ·
Foolery is afoot in the pen today. This is B, wearing my Mow the Yard hat, my chinks, and messing around with various ropes and buckets.


She and daughter are 'playing' and being loud, on the opposite side of the pen, with plenty of room for new horse to feel safe, but not too comfortable, with their shenanigans. So far, she's super curious, a little nervous, but not badly so.


Also, she's allowing lots of touching on the shoulder, neck, and jaw today. They've strung halters, lead ropes and lunge lines all over the place. I told them to be careful to not push her too far, too fast, emotionally. She will either shut down, or jump the pen and be gone... and she can, indeed, jump the pen.
 

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#24 ·
Well. She's held up her end of the deal. I don't have any new pictures because I'm intently watching/observing from my 'throne' (My mom says I hold court from that chair) outside the tack room... why is it so much easier to watch and say, now move her feet or stop and let her come to you now than it is when you're doing it yourself?.... Anyway!

She's starting to come around and trust Daughter. Not so much anyone else, so for now, she's a one person horse. I think she'll come out of that in time.

Daughter has been out there with her in that pen for hours and hours, every. single. day. with two exceptions: Yesterday evening - we were expecting large hail, high winds, possible tornadoes so we let her out of the pen so she could seek cover in the horse shed; and last Saturday because we had torrential rain, also expected hail. Both times we just got rain, but better safe than sorry. She's not been hard to pen up again. She associates the pen with good things like the round bale that's in there, and the feed trough, snacks.

Daughter has her allowing her to rub her shoulder, withers, back, neck, and jaw down with a halter and lead rope. She remains 'shy' on the left side though. Absolutely does NOT trust ANYONE on that side. I don't know if her old injury has anything to do with that or not. For now, I recommended she just continue to earn her trust and get her to settle down, and she'll come around to allowing the left side to be touched.

The swelling on that back left has gone way down. The scrape from whatever she did in the trailer has healed. As soon as she can get a halter on her, she's getting her to the vet. She'll be sedated and x-rayed, then doctored accordingly.

She has been dubbed: Taco.

Daughter's new BF said the filly reminds him of Mexican or Spanish horses because of her current size and build. He swears he didn't mean Taco as a rude term. Daughter was outraged, that's a stupid name, blahblahblah. I suggested middle ground: Sangria since she's kind of a wine color.

Apparently, sadly, Taco stuck. But who doesn't love Taco Tuesday? So... IDK.
 
#26 ·
Same. I hate to admit it but I kinda like Taco as her name. And the bay on her head kinda wraps around and then there's that star and a snip.... so it sorta looks like a bay colored taco shell anyway. LOL
 
#27 ·
I like her name. A friend's rope horse is named Taco and he is the BEST horse.... I hope this little filly turns out just as nice.

Or call her "Taca" -- means 'stain' or 'blemish' in Catalan Spanish. We had a dog named Taca for several years-- she had a big black splotch on the side of her face, hence the name. I found her in the pasture, thin and with a broken leg. The tech at the vet was calling her Taca when I went to pick her up after her surgery :)
 
#28 ·
I like her name. A friend's rope horse is named Taco and he is the BEST horse.... I hope this little filly turns out just as nice.

I think she will. She's come a long way in a week and a half. So far she's responded well to simple pressure and release, no weird personality traits that I can see. That said, the honeymoon isn't over yet, so who knows.
 
#29 ·
Pictures from yesterday. Yes, I've told her and told her to wear good footwear when messing with this horse, but what do I know? I'm just mom.

She'll learn the hard way eventually.

Anyway. Momentous weekend. Note the rope halter on her back... note touching her on the left side - she's been very shy about that until this weekend and the rope spooked her until this weekend.

She has gone from concerned about and feeling threatened by Tiny Hoomans to being curious and relaxed. The foot that's cocked is on the leg with the swelling - but I've seen her stand with her full weight on it, and the other foot cocked, so I dunno if she's was feeling sore there or that's just the leg she wanted to cock.

First picture is when she saw Daughter walking her way. You can see the swollen area on her cannon. Cannot get her to the vet soon enough, IMO, but she HAS to get a halter on her first. She's working on it.

Video will be coming soon.
 

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#31 ·
Last night. HUGE progress.



Yes, she's resorted to bribery, hence the feed bucket. But she's putting less and less feed in it every time to 'wean' her off reliance on feed for comfort and safety. We're hoping she can get a regular halter on her sometime late next week and get her to the vet to get that leg checked.






 
#33 ·
It really is!

I think that reward is what will keep her (Daughter) going on this project pony. Earning the trust of a skittish horse and these little steps forward make it all worth it. I told my husband that right up there with being a Wife/Mother/Grandmother... working with horses has been the most rewarding thing I could have done in this life.

Daughter is now understanding what I meant.
 
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