[SummerBliss]

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.

 

[tinyliny]

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?

 

[SummerBliss]

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?

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

 

[SummerBliss]

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.

 

[SummerBliss]

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

 

[SummerBliss]

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

 

[csimkunas6]

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

 

[JoBlueQuarter]

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)

 

[SummerBliss]

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

 

[SummerBliss]

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.

 

[SummerBliss]

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.

 

[JoBlueQuarter]

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!)

 

[SummerBliss]

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

 

[JoBlueQuarter]

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

May I ask which province you come from?

 

[SummerBliss]

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

 

[SummerBliss]

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.

 

[SummerBliss]

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.

 

[SummerBliss]

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.

 

[SummerBliss]

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.

 

[SummerBliss]

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