I did not spend as much time with Sign this weekend as I had hoped to. The extreme cold caused me to retreat to the indoors. However I did accomplish lots in the little time I spent with Sign.
Friday night I spent about 15 minutes getting her out of the stall and a little work on the lead with lunging and yielding and basically moving her feet in all directions.
Sat AM I worked more on leading in the barn aisles. I delayed going into the indoor, since it is much colder in there than in the barn. It is ~35 degrees in the barn, I guess the indoor to be in the teens? I worked more on the mud, superficially it appears to be mostly gone until you feel her "undercarriage". I took out the cowboy magic green spot remover, closed my hand on the lead, made sure I was not blocking her escape and sprayed 2x away from her body and then turned the spray to her barrel in rhythm. No reaction...just a slight indication that she noticed, so I soaked as much of the remaining mud as I could. If you have a light colored horse, this stuff is awesome. You can almost see the green (manure and urine) dissolve. I don't know what is in it, but I imagine it has enzymes which breakdown manure, mud and urine to remove "green spots". I am hoping by the non-reaction I got with the spray bottle, that bathing will go as smoothly. I spent lots of time on her tail and have most of the mud-dreadlocks out. I also picked up all her feet a few times...no issues.....she was more responsive and respectful then lots of domestic horses. So...since I was doing good, and of course it was nice to be in the warm barn, I got the new blanket a boarder (thanks Donna S. :) had given me to try on her.
At first, Sign snorted a little and didn't look like she was going to allow it within 10 feet of her. So we all went to the indoor, Sign, I, and "the blanket". I lunged her around it for a few minutes from all directions. I let her stop at it if she showed interest and then rubbed it all over her body. I then put it on her without any buckles and continued to lunge her until it slid off her butt. At that point it was "dead" and she showed little interest in it. So I put it on, hooked the belly and leg straps and chest and now she is warm and looking more like a domestic horse.
Sunday was a little more lunging and then a lesson in being tied. She had the typical reaction once a horse learns it is tied for the first time. She figured it out pretty quick and did some pawing as she thought it through. Cherish came in with her horse Kodi and Sign stood quietly the whole time. Her feral intuitions did present when I approached her to untie her, she tried a few more time to pull away when I approached, but once I could put the stick on her wither and settle her, I was able to untie her and lead her back to her stall. As expected, after the tying lesson, leading was a little easier.
Looking back to last Sunday, when I could not touch her directly, she has made tremendous progress. I truly believe she is smart and will make a great horse for whoever takes her home in April.
Friday night I spent about 15 minutes getting her out of the stall and a little work on the lead with lunging and yielding and basically moving her feet in all directions.
Sat AM I worked more on leading in the barn aisles. I delayed going into the indoor, since it is much colder in there than in the barn. It is ~35 degrees in the barn, I guess the indoor to be in the teens? I worked more on the mud, superficially it appears to be mostly gone until you feel her "undercarriage". I took out the cowboy magic green spot remover, closed my hand on the lead, made sure I was not blocking her escape and sprayed 2x away from her body and then turned the spray to her barrel in rhythm. No reaction...just a slight indication that she noticed, so I soaked as much of the remaining mud as I could. If you have a light colored horse, this stuff is awesome. You can almost see the green (manure and urine) dissolve. I don't know what is in it, but I imagine it has enzymes which breakdown manure, mud and urine to remove "green spots". I am hoping by the non-reaction I got with the spray bottle, that bathing will go as smoothly. I spent lots of time on her tail and have most of the mud-dreadlocks out. I also picked up all her feet a few times...no issues.....she was more responsive and respectful then lots of domestic horses. So...since I was doing good, and of course it was nice to be in the warm barn, I got the new blanket a boarder (thanks Donna S. :) had given me to try on her.
At first, Sign snorted a little and didn't look like she was going to allow it within 10 feet of her. So we all went to the indoor, Sign, I, and "the blanket". I lunged her around it for a few minutes from all directions. I let her stop at it if she showed interest and then rubbed it all over her body. I then put it on her without any buckles and continued to lunge her until it slid off her butt. At that point it was "dead" and she showed little interest in it. So I put it on, hooked the belly and leg straps and chest and now she is warm and looking more like a domestic horse.
Sunday was a little more lunging and then a lesson in being tied. She had the typical reaction once a horse learns it is tied for the first time. She figured it out pretty quick and did some pawing as she thought it through. Cherish came in with her horse Kodi and Sign stood quietly the whole time. Her feral intuitions did present when I approached her to untie her, she tried a few more time to pull away when I approached, but once I could put the stick on her wither and settle her, I was able to untie her and lead her back to her stall. As expected, after the tying lesson, leading was a little easier.
Looking back to last Sunday, when I could not touch her directly, she has made tremendous progress. I truly believe she is smart and will make a great horse for whoever takes her home in April.
