I work Monday-Friday.  Most of my horse fun is on the weekend, especially in the winter when there are more barn chores to be done.  Winter is just beginning--Lord, give me strength!  lol 

Yesterday, Saturday, I had a visit from a high school friend and her four-year-old grand-niece.  This girl was so full of energy!  Can I bottle some of that??  She brushed Lucky for a bit and then ran around the yard, climbed on hay bales, and in general made us old folks look like slugs.  Rosie was afraid of her, which  didn't really surprise me.  Lucky was being a little stubborn when the girl tried to lead her around.  I had to keep intervening to keep Lucky going.  Maybe Lucky doesn't like kids that much after all???  Lucky is my rock solid "safe under any circumstance" pony.  She's the one I call on when I need something super safe.  Babe thought the child was unique and kept staring at her as she ran around the yard.  I think Babe found it entertaining.  Mac couldn't see much of what was going on because of his blindness and really didn't react at all.  Lucky and Babe have always had appropriate and kind handling.  They are confident and calm to be around, even if things in the environment get a little crazy.  I don't think Mac has been technically abused, but he tends to be more of a worry wart and gets concerned about things he doesn't understand.  Rosie ... well, she has a lot to  learn about people and the happenings of the world.   

I worked with Rosie quite a bit yesterday and today.  Mike also spend some time with her yesterday and she came a long way toward buddying up with him.  "I guess he's OK after all."  Rosie is a little hard to figure out sometimes.  She can get worried and nervous if she doesn't understand something ... but then she will get a child-like "I don't have to listen to you" way about her the next minute.  Fortunately, the good-girl times outnumber the bratty times by quite a bit, so I guess we are on the right track.  I am finding that what works best with her when she has her bratty moments is to remain calm and insistent that she do what I want.  I don't need to get pushy with her; just let her know that we are doing what we set out to do, and that I'm making the decisions, she's not.  She always comes around and goes back to her "good girl" mode pretty quickly.  It's like she is trying to figure out where the boundaries and limits are and she has no clue where to start.  I've never worked with a youngster with this level of neglect, so it's definitely a learning experience for me as well.

I work on leading lessons with Rosie quite often.  I want her to be solid as a rock with leading--never know when something might spook her, and I need to know I have control of her.  And she needs to also know I am in control and that she can count on me if things get a little scary for her.  I noticed something today.  She had tried to nip me a couple of times while I was leading her, and I responded with an instinctual "NO!" and a small bop to her jaw as the mouth came in toward my hand on the lead.  Well, that stopped the nipping and didn't seem to make her scared, but it made her reluctant to lead forward readily.  She lagged behind and I couldn't get her to walk beside me--it's like she didn't think she could trust herself to not nip, and she didn't want to risk getting bopped again.  It took me a while to figure this out--why is she lagging like this????  I know, I should have made the connection sooner, but this neglected clean-slate weanling thing is new to me.  I took a risk and brought out treats and gave her a treat when she walked at a good pace beside me.  Of course, this made her pushy for treats, but in the end it worked out pretty well.  When the treats stopped, she got over the pushiness in just a few minutes, but retained the more forward motion and learned that she could walk beside me without 1) nipping at me--she learned some self-control; and 2) that she didn't have to worry about getting bopped in the jaw.  I decided to halve my response to future nipping--keep the sharp NO, but no bopping.  I think that will work.

We worked on handling her feet.  She was great!  She is learning to balance better and hold her feet up for longer periods of time.  I bet I got five seconds out of each hoof without her struggling to put them down.  Next, I will start tapping on them and mimicking what the farrier will do when she gets trimmed on January 21.  This is such wonderful progress for a baby who just a couple of weeks ago became very nervous when I tried to just touch her legs.  We also did "sacking out" with the end of the cotton lead rope.  I flopped it all over her body, including her head and legs.  She hardly moved.  I was so proud of her and told her so.  She loves it when I tell her she's "such a good girl" in my reassuring, you-are-making-me-so-proud voice.  I also hold her head in my hands, talk to her in my "cute" voice and give her a kiss on the forehead or her nose, all of which she likes.  She is great about having her face handled, which surprises me for a previously untouched weanling. 

I've been suspecting that Rosie has stomach ulcers.  Babies commonly get ulcers.  I would think stressed out babies are even more prone to them.  She was not finishing grain and she didn't like her sides/belly being petted--I can pet every other area of her body without a reaction, but the belly gets a head toss, pin of the ears, and she turns her head around like "stop it!"  I decided to put her on the gold standard of ulcer treatment--omeprazole in the form of a "curative" dose of Ulcergard, which is Gastrogard without a prescription.  Fortunately, she is small and a curative dose for her size is 1/4 of the tube, rather than a whole tube that a "regular" sized horse needs.  That stuff is expensive!  She's been on it for 4 days, and I think she is doing a little better.  I probably won't know for sure until it's been a couple of weeks.  She's been through SO much stress for such a little one--taken off her mother, loaded in a trailer and sent to an auction, run through the chaotic auction, loaded in the trailer to go to the rescuer's farm, getting used to new horses and a new environment there (all in one day), later loading in the trailer again for a trip to my farm, and then having to get used to yet another new environment and new horses/people.  I'm getting an ulcer just thinking about it all!

I've seen Rosie trying to play with buckets and even flags I put on the fence to help Mac see it.  I decided to order her a couple of pasture toys.  I chose these: 

http://www.amazon.com/Jolly-Pets-8-Inch-Tug-n-Toss-Red/dp/B0002ARYV6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419789777&sr=8-1&keywords=8+jolly+ball

http://www.amazon.com/Jolly-Pet-8-Inch-Romp-n-Roll-Red/dp/B0002DK9OW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1419789777&sr=8-2&keywords=8+jolly+ball

I wasn't sure about whether she would like the one with the rope better, or the one without ... decided to just get both.  I may need to cut the rope loop in half so she doesn't get her hoof tangled in it--have to see what it's like after it arrives.  Should be here in a couple of days. 

I had been feeling sad that Lucky is being bossy and unfriendly towards Rosie since her arrival.  Now, I'm wondering if this is a good thing.  Rosie has turned to me for companionship and follows me around like a dog so much of the time.  We have a lot of interaction while I'm just doing barn chores.  I wouldn't be half as interesting if Lucky were her friend, would I?  Lucky also doesn't let her get away with anything.  Rosie is learning lessons about respect.  You don't want a 10-year-old child running your household ... a six-month-old filly shouldn't be running the barnyard either.  Lucky is taking care of that situation.  She's softening a little--I see Rosie getting closer to her before Lucky pins the ears and chases her away.  Things will get better between the two of them, but for now I think this works.

I don't have any pictures this time.  I'm one of those behind-the-times non-tech people who does not have a smart phone.  I have to take pictures with an actual camera.  I'll have the camera with me next time.

First post of my blog! Here we go ...

Hi, My name is Dorothy and I live in gorgeous Upstate New York.  I have been a horse lover forever and have owned horses most of my 54 years.  The past few years, though, have been a little tough ... OK ... a LOT tough.  I led a charmed life up until around 50 years old.  Then my body decided to fall apart--literally.  Since 2012, I've had bilateral hip replacements, tendon surgery in both my upper right leg and my right ankle, carpal tunnel surgery on the right (left needs it too), elbow surgery, and now the ankle tendon has re-torn and needs surgery at some point.  I have always owned "regular" sized horses for riding. 

My current "regular" horses:  Babe (chestnut QH mare) and Mac (appaloosa).  Both are 19 years old, and I and my then boyfriend, Mike, bought them when they were 8 years old.  Mike and I are no longer a couple, but we have remained good friends.  Although Mac technically belongs Mike, he is not really a horse person and doesn't do much with him.  He does love and care about Mac, though, but I'm the one who was always the horse person of the two of us; therefore, Mac still lives here and I consider him one of my own.  Mike helps with their care on weekends and does a lot of the heavier work that has become more difficult for me.

Here they are.  Sorry their gorgeous faces are obscured by fly masks, but it was summer when the pictures were taken: 

Mac--

Babe--

 

 

I have a small farmette with a shedrow style barn that you can see in the background of the pictures.  Mac is permanently retired.  He has the type of insidious uveitis common to appaloosas and is near blind.  His right eye is completely blind, and he can see a little bit out of his left ... but not much.  Poor guy.  But he does remarkably well.  The only thing that really throws him is if something changes.  I just did a very small fence re-routing and it threw him for a loop for the first 24 hours, but he got used to it and is back to normal.  Babe is doing fairly well, although she has some arthritis in her left knee.  She is in semi-retirement, but I plan to ride her more if my body will allow.  Sad to say, I haven't been able to ride comfortably in about 5 years.   Which brings me to my next point and explains the title of my blog ... Equine Downsize!!  

 

I was hoping to be able to ride Babe in 2014.  Mac needed a babysitter for when Babe was away.  Lucky, the miniature horse was found and brought home to the farmette Memorial Day weekend.  Lucky is 13 years old and an adorable, extremely gentle and sweet little 33 1/2" (yes, the 1/2" matters in the world of mini's, lol) mini mare.  She came from a mini breeding farm where she wasn't needed any more and her owner was looking for a pet home for her.  Well, she makes a very nice pet--her favorite activity.  Lucky tends to be so laid back, she could be called lazy ... but we won't tell her I said that.  Lucky will be working in 2015, though, because she is going to learn to drive and pull a cart.  We have done quite a bit of ground driving prep work, and she does great at that.  A little lazy ... but she will be very safe and a good one for me to start with.  Here is little Lucky and the beginning of my "Equine Downsize."

 

Lucky--

 

Lucky and I standing in a town gazebo last fall when friends and I walked around town with our ponies for a "pony parade day"

 

 

After having little Lucky around, I realized how wonderful miniature horses are to work with and how much easier things are with the small ones vs. the large ones.  A light bulb went on in my head--Hey, this is a way I can stick with horses in a way that I can physically handle!  Time to Equine Downsize!

 

Babe and Mac will stay here, and I would like to try riding Babe again if my body will allow it without some other part objecting and breaking apart.  But, for the most part, I think my days of the larger equines may be over.  

 

But, let's not stop with little Lucky.  Around Thanksgiving, I heard of a young weanling auction rescue filly--either a large mini or a small pony--looks like a mini, so she may just mature to be a large mini.  Went to see her and fell in love.  I'm amazed that I did--she was wild and had never been handled by humans.  It took 1/2 hour to even touch her!  Once I did, though, I could tell that she was very kind and wanted to be friends, even if I did scare her too much for her to get very chummy with me at the time.  I went back to work with her one more time and sealed the deal.  She was christened with the name "Rosie" and was to come home with me after a quarantine period at the rescuer's farm. 

 

Rosie is home now.  She needs to learn pretty much everything.  She is a clean slate and like a little sponge soaking up knowledge and the big world around her.  She is in awe of so many things and learns so quickly.  I have had her home for 2 1/2 weeks and she has learned to lead, pick up all 4 feet, stand tied, tolerate some "sacking" out with a floppy cotton lead rope, and just generally letting me touch every area of her body.  It's amazing how difficult learning to tolerate body touching can be for an unhandled almost 6 month old to get used to.  Leading and standing tied were a piece of cake for her, though.  I believe she has the early makings of a great driving pony.  She should be a blast to work with--it's nice to have a little youth in the herd to remind me of how much fun it is training a young horse, but in a smaller, more manageable size.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of Rosie at the rescuer's farm.  Her mane is just as wild as she was then!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, another after she was home and starting to feel more comfortable.  Here's the little girl saying hello after experiencing her first snow!

 

 

It never ceases to amaze me the wonderful horses people will dump at auctions.  Rosie is cute as a button, has an adorable sweet disposition, and is becoming very people oriented now that she is finding out people can be good.  Why on earth would someone breed a mare, never handle the foal, and then turn around and just dump her at the auction??  I can't imagine where she would have ended up had rescuer Barb not bought her at the auction.  Slaughter house??  Dealer circuit going from auction to auction??  Poor thing--what a terrible life for such a sweet innocent little girl.  Rosie will probably dominate the pages of my blog because I'll be working with her a lot, and she has just so much to learn.

 

I also have 5 cats--yes, 5 cats.  I never planned to have 5 cats ... but as a friend said--"no one does."  They just appear at your doorstep and need a home.  Here is one of the cats--Tiger, who is the most "in your face" cat of the bunch.

 

 

And, last but certainly not least, my two dogs Lucy and Heidi.  Lucy is an Australian Shepherd mix adopted from a shelter where she was picked up as a stray wandering the back roads of rural Pennsylvania.  Never claimed.  A great dog that I can't believe no one cared enough to look for her ... or dumped her off, whatever the case may be.  Heidi is an Australian Shepherd with a full tail (LOVE her tail!).  Both very sweet.  Heidi is active and energetic, but Lucy is wired so tight I keep telling her some day she is going to explode like a balloon when the air is let out, lol.  She worries about more things than she needs to.  They are my babies.  Animals are a huge part of my life. 

 

Lucy on the left and Heidi on the right:

 

 

 

So, there you have a quick introduction to me and my family of critters.  Stay tuned for more ... particularly Rosie's continued training and life adventures.