Sweet Wild Syringa

[Rhodie Ranch]

I was thinking about her the other day. Thank you for the update. I love them.

 

[baymule]

MOM! WAKE UP MOM, I'M OUTTA HAY!!!!!



That is so cute.

 

[thistlebloom]

Today is day 81 since bringing Syringa home.
She has been making steady progress and seems to enjoy our "class" time in the round pen.

I have been getting advice and help from my friend who is very experienced in "natural" horsemanship with over a decade of personal hands on instruction herself from a great horseman. She gives us a weekly list of exercises and goals to work on, horsemanship homework as it were.

Among all of Syringas progress with groundwork was a few personal goals I had for her to attain. One was being able to walk closely around her rear side maintaining a hand on her body as I came around into her other vision side. This had previously been something that rattled her and made her anxious and jumpy. But last week she allowed me to rub her along her barrel, over her hips and hindquarters, stepping around and continuing up her other side to her head. Insert enormous grin here.
That was a fantastic feeling of accomplishment as I had to trust her as much as she trusted me. I left the leadrope
lying on the ground at her front feet during this because it would just get in the way as I moved around behind her.

The other thing was picking her feet out. She has allowed me to pick them up since she came, thanks to Matts work with her, but to hold them up and pick the rocks out was another big step. She is getting much closer to me believing she will be okay when my farrier comes to trim her for the first time.
Last Friday I was doing some ground work with her in the roundpen halterless, and between exercises I decided to see if she would stand and let me pick out her feet while she was at liberty. She stood calm and relaxed! Another very quietly happy moment, but the tickertape parade was going off inside me, haha.

Sunday I wanted to see if I could pony her off my horse Luke,this would be a great thing as they could both get out and she could stretch her legs more. She is getting a little plump.

So I did a lot of preliminary warmup to that end with them both. Finally we did several circuits of the property with me mounted on Luke, leading her without incident, so I ventured out to the gravel road.

Everything was great, but Luke did exactly what I anticipated he would do when we turned toward home.
He's an anxious horse and I think his little brain got a bit fried before I got him. I've been working on his issues and he's made progress, but he is definitely not pony horse material. He started jigging and I was thwarted from doing the usual work with him by having a horse on a line. He took advantage of this and I ended up dismounting and leading them both home as his silliness was alarming Syringa, she was balking on the lead, and I didn't want to lose the rope. It was predictable, but I needed to try it anyway to satisfy my own stubbornness.

My friend and I rode up in the mountains yesterday, me on Luke and she on her young green mustang mare. That little mare is amazing, and next year, God willing, it will be me on Syringa enjoying the fall colors and mountain views.

 

[ninnymary]

Just keep chipping away. You are moving forward and that's good. I'm sure in a year she will have come a long way and you'll be enjoying those fall colors without me.

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

I'll take pictures! You can be there vicariously, haha.

 

[canesisters]

OH WOW!!! You're doing GREAT!!
Having been down a similar road with a horse, and a couple of cows, this just makes me celebrate with you! Such joy when they finally 'get' something new.

 

[Carol Dee]

I came late to this discussion. Syringa is BEAUTIFUL You have already made amazing progress with her. Happy and relaxed around you does show her trust. She is SMART And very lucky.

 

[ducks4you]

i'm just glad to read about this second hand. i don't think i'd ever willingly walk behind a horse ever. i love 'em, but from a safe distance...

as for the mane, can you clip a little at time? just to gradually do it instead of making a big issue out of it. thinking out loud/aka at the keyboard...

the continued story is fun to read.

Wise move, but once there is trust it's unlikely that your horse will kick you.
How did I miss this thread?!?!?
You are a blessing to get this mare a good home.
I agree, chop the mane. I have so much less burdock this year that I don't have to pull from the "dreadlocks", which are especially bad on my two Mountain Horses, what with their typical long and thick manes and tails.
Tired of "Eva" puppy coming in in the morning and poo-ing on the carpet so we looked for a good doggie job this morning to keep her outside for an hour. There we were, me, Pyg and Eva, IN the dark, 5:30AM. I decided to finish draining the water tank and moving it.
ALL 3 horses had to "help".
That is what they do, when they know you and trust you...and sometimes get in the way.

 

[ducks4you]

Take the hoof pick and spend a few days just tapping on the bottom, avoiding the frog, very much like pounding nails like when shoeing. I don't think many horses like people digging with a hoof pick. Just sharing.

 

[thistlebloom]

Thanks, and yes, that's how we started. She's solid now, and it's time to start getting her accustomed to the rasp, and allowing her leg to be pulled forward as a farrier would.