I have a progress report!
Misty got her mane untangled and brushed this weekend. She still walks on a lead line very well... she does challenge a bit, but doesn't pull back as hard as she used to, she only tests wether or not you will hold your ground. As soon as she sees that you will, she happily gives in and walks quietly.
I have started to touch her pretty much all over... so my hands can go on her face, neck, ears, withers, shoulder, arm pit, front legs down to her hooves, back and croup. The only place she is very uncomfortable with is her belly and udder / inner thighs. She kicks out, she doesn't kick at anyone, but just out. I have also pushed the enveloppe and picked up both her front feet for about 10 seconds each. She didn't pull so much and I held the foot easily until she settled and stopped pulling on it, then I set it down and scratched her ears. I picked them up again and the next day for about the same amount of time. I have not yet gone close to her hind feet to be honnest, I am very affraid of the result... so I will use another method... probably hobbles to get her used to the feel and to let her know that she can't kick like that all the time.
The impression I get is that she was visited over the fence all the time, so her face got petted and handled a lot, but not the rest of her body. When I first got her, you couldn't stand facing her shoulder, it made her uncomfortable and she moved away, now, she is only uneasy with me standing directly behind her. Next step is trimming her front feet... this time, I will take before pictures and after pictures!!!! Her hooves look tiny to me, we'll see what the end result is... I think she is halter bred, given her massive muscle mass and tiny feet. I will try to get her feet to widden up a bit, but there is only so much wider that these hooves can get. I will be taking new pictures, including her feet on all angles (top, bottom, underside, etc.). She will have plenty of time to get used to her new feet before her first ride. She has stunning gaits and they will probably improve with trimming.
So that's the news on Misty!
We have a brand new calf on the ground. He's a male and a butterscotch colour. I didn't have time to take pictures, but I will as soon as I get a chance. I will also take new pictures of the whole crew (horses and cattle)... Dandy is pretty well all shed out.
Misty got her mane untangled and brushed this weekend. She still walks on a lead line very well... she does challenge a bit, but doesn't pull back as hard as she used to, she only tests wether or not you will hold your ground. As soon as she sees that you will, she happily gives in and walks quietly.
I have started to touch her pretty much all over... so my hands can go on her face, neck, ears, withers, shoulder, arm pit, front legs down to her hooves, back and croup. The only place she is very uncomfortable with is her belly and udder / inner thighs. She kicks out, she doesn't kick at anyone, but just out. I have also pushed the enveloppe and picked up both her front feet for about 10 seconds each. She didn't pull so much and I held the foot easily until she settled and stopped pulling on it, then I set it down and scratched her ears. I picked them up again and the next day for about the same amount of time. I have not yet gone close to her hind feet to be honnest, I am very affraid of the result... so I will use another method... probably hobbles to get her used to the feel and to let her know that she can't kick like that all the time.
The impression I get is that she was visited over the fence all the time, so her face got petted and handled a lot, but not the rest of her body. When I first got her, you couldn't stand facing her shoulder, it made her uncomfortable and she moved away, now, she is only uneasy with me standing directly behind her. Next step is trimming her front feet... this time, I will take before pictures and after pictures!!!! Her hooves look tiny to me, we'll see what the end result is... I think she is halter bred, given her massive muscle mass and tiny feet. I will try to get her feet to widden up a bit, but there is only so much wider that these hooves can get. I will be taking new pictures, including her feet on all angles (top, bottom, underside, etc.). She will have plenty of time to get used to her new feet before her first ride. She has stunning gaits and they will probably improve with trimming.
So that's the news on Misty!
We have a brand new calf on the ground. He's a male and a butterscotch colour. I didn't have time to take pictures, but I will as soon as I get a chance. I will also take new pictures of the whole crew (horses and cattle)... Dandy is pretty well all shed out.
She's looking pretty good, and it sounds like you have made a lot of progress with her, good job!
ReplyDeleteYay....sounds like you are doing all the right things! I hope she continues to progress, and becomes a loyal, trusting mount for you. Looks like you are taking things slow and easy, which personally I think is best...too much too fast can end in disaster! She sure is pretty, she'll look gorgeous under saddle, good job!
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Wow, thanks! I am taking things really slow. Every time I put her halter on, I go back to the last things we saw, to make sure she still understands... I work on several things in a session, I don't want to do repetition. I want her to know what to do with each cue and not do a whole pattern every time, because it might be different. I will take more pics this weekend!
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