Another pic of Traveller & me

Mom wanted to know what Traveller would do if I leaned over him. Not much. He looked around, noticed it was me and just stood there. Not a good picture, he is in a hole so he looks funny. He is transforming from a brownish color to a black beauty-even has the little white star. I have been working all 3 with trailer loading, hooves and backing, our 3 worse things. Trailer loading is going great all 3 are following directly behind me and go right on and follow me off. Backing is still hard, they hate to back and nothing seems to work. I've tried tapping their front legs with a flag stick, pushing on their chest, pushing against their nose. The only thing that seems to work is just old fashioned pulling back, but we are working on it daily and we are getting much better. Trot with Mia is great, still working with Traveller-flag stick works great with him, but I'm not quite coordinated enough. Halona is wishy-washy on the trot-sometimes she does it sometimes she doesn't. Hooves are alright, they still don't stand perfectly still, but I can pick all of them up.

Halona

Dad made a small platform for me. He figured we could start low and gradually add layers as the horses got used to it. Here Halona walks right on.

More Training.

Unlike Mia & Traveller, Halona loads and unloads from the trailer like an old pro!

Ain't He Sweet!!!

Traveller shares a loving moment with me.

I still can't believe that this is the same horse I brought home in May. He is the sweetest little guy I know.

Mia finally lets me pick up her hind hooves, she still kicks out a little, but this is a definite improvement. At least she's not kicking at me anymore. I guess a little persistence pays off.

Training continues

Traveller finally lets me lift up his hind leg without the help of a rope. I even got to pick it. Look real close at my boot, you will see the hoof pick sticking up out of it. The rope is just layed across the fence, he is in no way tied to the fence. I was so proud of him.

Training continues

More Beautiful Eyes!

Here's a picture of Traveller & me. Beautiful, isn't he?

Miakoda

Here's Mia. This was taken last night. I think she's grown a couple of inches since I brought her home. I'm 5'4" and she's not that much shorter. I can't believe how big she is.

Traveller

This was harder than you think. Traveller is very good at dropping his head with the smallest amount of pressure, so he kept trying to lower his head. But, at least I know that he remembers this lesson very well.

Halona

Here's Halona. I haven't posted very many pictures of her. That's usually because by the time I train her, it's getting pretty dark outside so her pictures come out real dark. Dark horse, dark picture=a dark blob. I have mentioned that I think she might be a rubicano. She has quite a bit of roaning esp in the flank, the tail is kind of skunk and she has a white bar across the tail head(she has scratched most of it off). She has a very unusual white blaze.

Traveller

After doing a little of round pen work, Traveller follows me where ever I go.

If you were able to see Traveller the first 1 1/2 months that he was here, you wouldn't think this would be possible. He was so defensive, his front hooves were his weapons. He would become quite angry and impatient esp. when it was feeding time. He is a totally different horse now, he will even eat nicely out of your hand(mom's fault-she gives him alfalfa cubes as a treat) He really has come around nicely. I am really proud of him.

Traveller & the barrels

Here I am flagging Traveller. I wanted to get him to jump the new obstacle. After a couple tries he finally figures out what I am asking him to do. We were actually able to do this several different times.

BEAUTIFUL EYES

I'm thinking of singing Beautiful Eyes by Taylor Swift for the talent contest. My mom is working on a montague of beautiful eyes for the contest. I couldn't resist posting this picture of me & Mia. She definitely has beautiful eyes, doesn't she? So kind and trusting.

I decided that it was time for Mia to try on the saddle. I used the lightest saddle that we have, (it's an Albetta) cinched it up-not too tight, and then we walked around. The only thing she did was try to eat the stirrup. I then slid it off her back without any problem from her. It was getting late, so the picture is kind of dark, but I was really excited about this.

This was Traveller's first time to be sprayed off. He went in circles for a little while and then realized that the water wasn't going to eat him and that there was grass below him. I was able to get both sides. Mia on the other hand has been sprayed down a number of times, but this was the first time that she got a bath-that was fun. Halona didn't take well to the water, so I will be working more with that on her.

The tarp was a fun experience. Mia looked so funny walking around the round pen draped in the tarp. Putting this on her as easily as I did made me realize that it was time to introduce the saddle to her. I couldn't do this with the other two-they barely like walking across the tarp. Mia is a lot of fun because I can do just about anything without getting to excited.

Traveller was OK with the ring on his head, but didn't like it one bit when I moved it across his back. Will keep trying.

Silly Clown Horse

This was so much fun. I had the beach ball and swim ring and I was bouncing it around the horses(all three went through this) and even bounced it off of them. My mom would throw it at them from the fence and they wouldn't even flinch. So I decided that I would see how they reacted when I brought near their face and this is what happened.

Last night I went to my youth playday awards ceremony. My first year participating in the series and came home with 4th overall. I have a wonderful horse that I ride; Trigger-my mom's palomino. He doesn't have any special training; he hasn't had any formal training of any type, but he loves to compete and be in front of people(show off)-see the pics of him & me at the bottom of the page. I took Mia with me. She hasn't been off of our place in a while. She loaded alright, was a little hesitant, but after she walked on. She did great at the arena, even got her to trot the length of the arena-yeah! Got ready to leave and she planted her feet and refused to load. Had to get some strong men to push her on the trailer. I guess I worked for close to an hour trying to get her to load before seeking help. But finally got her home and unloaded, did a little work with obstacles then put her up of the evening. I'm taking a break for a day, my Popo wanted to take me to the lake, so I decided to go with him. My parents are taking care of my babies for me.
Got Halona to trot. Their trots aren't immediate, I have to jog for a while and then they finally decide they should catch up. Traveller hasn't trotted yet, but he is speeding up so I figure a trot is on it's way.
I feel like I'm running out of time. There is still so much I would like to do or that I feel like I should be doing. Almost forgot, I put a saddle on Mia. She didn't mind it at all. She tried to bite at the stirrup, but she was OK with it being cinched up-not very tight. I walked her around the pen and then slid it off of her back-no problem. That 's about it for now. Will be uploading some new photos this week-some are really funny, so check back often.

Last night's training went great. We didn't do anything different, just touched on the basics: leading, picking up hooves, grooming, tieing. I enlisted the help of my mom and dad because I thought the babies would like a change of scenery. I'm sure that the round pen is starting to get old and boring. We all went for a joy walk down our driveway. It was a totally new experience for all three. I had Mia, my dad had Halona & mom took Traveller(she calls him her baby). My dad was even able to get Halona to trot a little. All three did fantastic, heads held high taking in the newness of the experience. We went about half way down our drive(it's half a mile long) and turned around and headed home. I think we might start making these little excursions a part of our daily workout; after all, my parents have 120 acres for us to explore. Maybe next time, we will head down to the tank and see how they like the water.

My First Mustang

This is a picture of Sakari, the Mustang mare my parents adopted for my 12th birthday. Mom says that she has the sweetest eyes that she has ever seen in a horse and she does. Her temperment fits her eyes.

My Babies

Here I am the day I picked my Mustangs up in Elgin. I was so excited when I saw the three that loaded in my trailer. They are all so beautiful. I have to thank my Popo for helping out, mom's not good at backing a trailer and my dad was deployed during this time. It was an exciting day for everyone.

Thanks everyone for your well wishes. I love my Mustangs. My parents adopted my first Mustang for my 12th birthday. Her name is Sakari. My mom says that she has never seen a bond between horse and human like the bond I share with Sakari. If you've seen the film Flicka, that's me and Sakari. And yes, she did protect me from harm. She jumped in between me and a charging colt. The bad side is that not everyone can handle her-she really dislikes men. I make my babies sound like they aren't very well trained. But contrary. All three of them lead wonderfully, all load very easily on a trailer, they don't have issues with scary things. The only thing that I am really worried about is the trot at a lead, I'm the one doing all of the trotting. I am starting to get a little worried about the possibility of the freestyle performance. Trying to figure out what would be good to do. Any suggestions?
All of them will make someone a great horse, they are so loyal and love people. They can be handled by anyone. I have learned soooo much about horses since I started this project. I am hoping to keep one of mine or possibly adopt one of the older horses that have already been trained to ride. I am sure the day of the auction you will see me with tears streaming down my face.
I would love to meet all of you who have been posting here and on the EMM blog. I know that the timeframe is short. Look for me on the "Stang" Stage. Mom claims I have a good voice, so I entered the talent contest. We'll see how right she is. I will probably do a Taylor Swift song.

Last night was very interesting. I decided that Mia was being just a little too pushy, not dangerous just not respecting my space, so I decided that I would put my older Mustang mare(Sakari) in with her for a little while. It didn't take Sakari long at all to put Mia in her place. At first Mia wasn't giving very much to the pressure from Sakari, but before it was all said and done Mia was knocked down a notch or two. I then decided to try ponying her-I have never done that, but my old gelding did a fantastic job. Still can't seem to get her to trot at a lead. It was then Halona's turn. We started out with ponying her, she did great. Then with the help of my dad we were able to get her to trot at a lead. Picking up hooves with her is a breeze. We ended the evening with Traveller. He impresses me the most. I have only had the halter on him since 7/12 and he has become so accomadating. Does just about everything I ask of him. I was having a problem picking up his rear hooves, he didn't like to be touched on his rear legs, but last night I was able to get both picked up without any difficulty. I still feel that I am so far behind, but I keep reminding myself that these are still very young horses and what I have done up to now is pretty amazing. I love the feeling when I go outside and the minute they see me, they neigh. I know that I'm doing something right.

Aug 3, 2008

I took the two youngest yearlings(Halona & Traveller) to my drill team performance/playday this weekend. They did amazing. Nothing seemed to phase them. I had them penned directly behind the announcing stand, with the music/announcer blaring. When my drill team went by carrying flags, that didn't even bother them. I led them from the trailer to the pens and vehicles were passing by and even that didn't bother them. I was so relieved because I wasn't sure what I was getting myself in for since they hadn't been that far from home before or exposed to so much new stuff. They loaded right onto the trailer like they have been doing that forever-it was only their second time. The topper, I didn't start working with these two until 3 weeks ago because they had pulled their halters off and I couldn't figure out how to get them on. We finally got them on the weekend of 7/12. I am so proud of these two. And the topper, I walked away with First place in the Barrels.