Mustang Savvy's blog

Saturday, I decided to take Lily out without Kiowa for some one-on-one play in the open BLM land across the street. Mom brought the new mini along so he could explore and they could bond. Lily was a little excited when we first left, especially when our neighbor showed up ground driving her gorgeous mule, Lucky! Lily and Lucky were very interested in eachother, so it was good practice for both my neighbor and I to manage both equines behavior effectively. Lily did great.

Mom and I decided to take the horses on a walk Sunday to get them out of the bog that the corral has become. Mom took her horse Kota and the new mini, now named "Ponytah" (my 8 year old nephew's idea!) while I had Kiowa and Lily. They all did great as we walked around the neighborhood meeting neighbors whom will hopefully soon be friends. As we were nearing the the homestretch, we were walking on a wide easement seperated from the paved street by a very deep ditch.

Went out to spend some time with the horses before heading back into town for a doctor appointment. I haltered Kiowa and brushed both of the girls out. They loved every minute of it! I realized that I have not been as consistent as needed for Lily to appreciate that I am not a chew toy. I watched how Kiowa and Kota would allow her to do only so much before they corrected her. It showed me that I have been very lenient and not very effective when it comes to defending my space. After a few times of throwing a Kiowa-like reaction when she was disrepectful, Lily's whole demeanor changed.

Kiowa of course.....I enjoy the ability to walk independently too much to entertain the idea of getting on Lily anytime soon!

It has been raining all day! UGH! I did go out and spend a few minutes with the horses, but I had to run in since the rain was turning to snow and it was getting COLD! Lily did a few very soft yields of her forehand with the driving game at liberty....I was very impressed! Apparently something we did last time made sense! Kiowa was wonderfully responsive, as I have come to expect, and even backed through a squeeze between the fence and the tire feeder with only phase one porcupine game. I am continually awestruck by how talented and willing these formerly wild horses are.

AHHHH! Finally, the sun is out and there is a glimmer of hope that the girls' corral will be dry by June..lol! When I got to Mom's house Sunday morning (where my horses live due to my husband's severe allergies) I found all five of our equines (3 horses and 2 donkeys) sprawled out soaking up as much sun as they could in the only dry spot in the corral. I couldn't wake them up, they looked so peaceful and relaxed! I ended up just spending some quality time with Mom for a few hours.

What a weekend! In spite of the sleet/rain/snow, we had an amazing weekend, the girls were fantastic. I think I can even see the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel that is Lily's journey! We started off with some unfocused play on Saturday, with some struggles. Lily is still not a fan of circle or sideways, and she was VERY sensitive. Sideways along the fence looked something like this: Stick waving towards neck, up phases until I touch her...barely.... followed immediately by a rearing lunge.

 I went out yesterday to play since it was finally dry enough and Lily's sprained left hind fetock had resolved and was pleasantly suprised to find my girls waiting at the fence. Oh Boy! I grabbed one halter and the 22ft line because I really only planned to play with Kiowa and let Lily's leg rest a little longer. Kiowa caught me very quickly and I sent her to the small car tire (about 13" in diameter) in the pen, where she put both front feet in! She has nevered offered this before without a lot of coaxing.

This weekend, Mom and I set up obstacles to play with all over the arena. Lily LOVES the tarp! She paws and chews and stomps it to death. It's nice to see her losing fear over objects. She also loves barrels and cones, and chewing on the small tire...very cute! She was in sucha good frame of mind, I decided to try out the bareback pad and see how she felt. Well, she tightened her own girth! She was a little nervous when I fist held it up to her back, but with approach and retreat, she accepted it in a matter of minutes.

That has become my new mantra for dealing with my extreme RBE/LBE, Lily. After a nice long walk on Wednesday, we were on our way home and I failed to notice that the horses being ridden about a block away from us were having a strong affect on her. It began with head shaking and fidgiting, which I, at the time, attributed to her LBE energy so I began giving her little jobs. Then she got MORE upset and to the point that she was rearing and  shouldering over the top of me and had become very right-brain.

So, today with all the muck and ice in the yard, my husband, my mom, and I decided to take "the girls" for a walk to dry out. My mom took her 12 yr old, usually LBI, Quarter horse cross, Kota, and my husband Earl took my mustang mare Kiowa (18 yr old LBI). This leaves me with the newest member of the herd, Lily the Nevada estray (mustang). She is a VERY extreme LBE/RBE with some RBI tendancies when she's learning.