Saturday, November 28, 2009

Venturing Out

I have again altered the way I behave around Scout. She is a strong, independent mare who is happy to please if asked in a no nonsense, polite way. She is not to keen on touch and I finally realised that I am constantly invading this boundary by wanting to pat her. I thought alot about this the other afternoon when my lovely border collie, Storm was pushing my hand and being very insistent in asking me to pat her. I have had Storm in my life for over 10 years now and I adore her however she often invades my personal space begging for constant attention. It does get quite irritating to me as I have a strong need for respect of my personal space. It finally occurred to me that this is how Scout feels and this is why she tends to walk up to me, sniff my hand and quickly walk away before I play out my unconsious response to want to touch her. So I have been tuning in to her much more and feeling her energetic boundary when I enter the paddock. I will sit down at the point that I feel her boundary extends to and she will happily stay near me and have a nap. I had an arabian mare who was much the same in this way. I quickly learnt not to touch her unless invited and she was undoubtedly one of the greatest horses I ever owned. She would look out for me when I was riding her and when I was working other horses. She would always appear to supervise a training session I was doing with Sienna and on one occassion when Sienna took fright and I jumped off her, my arab mare quietly blocked her exit and sent her back to me. I feel that Scout will be one of these types of horses.

Scout and I took our first short stroll off the property the other day. She was alert and very soft and responsive the whole time. I only took her a short way up the road and stood with her so she could eat grass and get more relaxed about it all. The other horses were going absolutely crazy with her not being in the paddock. Scout called to them a few times but willingly walked beside me on a slack lead. A couple of cars passed and she did not flinch. After returning to the paddock, I let her go and after letting Lacey have a drink she left the other mares and followed me up to the house. I took that as a good sign.

I haltered her again the next day and took her out. I let her eat grass in the gateway whilst I took Lacey for a short look around outside. Despite only being haltered and led twice, she is very soft and easy to lead. She comes off the pressure instantly and walks with the rope slack. She didn't know which way she wanted to go first. She was alert and very excited, although somewhat nervous about the new surroundings. After she had been out for 10 minutes, I put her back in the paddock and she banged on the gate and pawed the ground asking to come back out. I didn't want to have to manage the 2 of them walking so I left Lacey there with the other mares and took Scout further away up the road out of sight of the property. The other mares galloped around calling Scout. Scout raised her head a few times however she did not call back as she had the day before. I let her eat some more and then we walked a little further. She was really enjoying the change in scenery.

Watching her over the past few months has taught me a lot about her personality. She is by no means a doting mother and has given up all baby sitting responsibilities to Kiowa my stockhorse mare who very willingly accepted the job. Kiowa seems to adore Lacey and is gentle and calm with her. Scout tends to go off alone a lot or stay with Sienna. She will find Lacey when her udder is getting full and prompt her to drink. Lacey will also seek her out to feed and then go back to Kiowa or take off on her own. They are both incredibly independent and I wonder if this is common with the Spanish Mustangs...

I also have started setting up a paddock paradise in the front paddock. It seems to be working fairly well so far and the girls have certainly been moving more than usual. I spread their morning and afternoon hay right around the track. I intend to setup all the paddocks to adjoin this track once this oppressive heat subsides a little and I can get out and do some more work.

Poor Lacey has really been feeling this heat. She has been a bit grumpy the past couple of days and I suspect it is due to her suffering with that thick coat of hers and the high, humid temperatures we are experiencing at the moment. As you can see she is starting to shed out however not as quick as I suspect she would appreciate. She is a slightly more golden colour than Scout. She has kept the white shading around her muzzle and flanks also. This afternoon I decided to start pulling the hair from her legs (she does actually like this) and I was pleased to find some lovely dun striping on her front legs. She does not have it on her hind and they seem to be shedding out a very light colour. The barring on her front legs is a slate grey. She really is going to be a stunning little filly in her summer coat. Her nose has healed up nicely and the only indication of the accident is she has grown slightly lighter hair in the impact area. The people in the USA were not wrong when they commented on the extraordinary healing ability this breed has!





Sunday, November 8, 2009

.... and here's one I prepared earlier!

I just uploaded a video I took awhile ago of Scout and Lacey. Enjoy !!!


Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Playtime

Scout was very attentive yesterday so I decided to have a bit of a play with her. She is not at all interested in doing to much ground work. She gets it right then looks at me like 'Next'! I got on her the first time about a month ago. She did not even flinch.

I had a little ride on her again yesterday. I cannot believe she has not been started yet. She is so incredibly quiet about the whole thing. Not the least bit phased. She seems to be saying to me, lets just get on with it. She is all business and no nonense.

As you can see in the video, I probably should be doing more ground work with her so she understands my cues when I am on her back. I am hoping to start taking her walking on the trails soon. I think she will enjoy the change of scenery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPYX6EqadbQ


Lacey also had her first halter session yesterday. After watching the video back, I think I could have been alot softer and more sensitive in some parts. She was so good though and was following me around after we had finished. She is going to be just like her mum when it comes to boldness and no-nonsense attitude.

http://www.youtube.com/user/spanishmustangoz#p/a/u/0/FQc1tXh9fyE

The videos were recorded by my housemates 10 year old daughter so they are a little bumpy but you get the idea :)