ANNIE - 2003 chestnut Saddlebred mare

[schwung]

A recent photo of Annie:

[honeyfish]

One of the gals from the U of O equestrian team had a chestnut Saddlebred gelding. I didn't have any exposure to the breed before meeting him, but he was a great ambassador and I fell in love right then! I think Saddlebreds are so cool, and maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to own one.

Annie is just gorgeous. I love reading her updates.

[monicabee]

Yesterday I tried to make the most of a break between rain showers. With the help of Ashley, who boards her horse at Edensgate, and her friend Hailey, we put Annie through her paces.

blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsebytes/

I hope to supplement this at some point with some footage under saddle, but she looks pretty good just out in the field!

If you want to just go direct to the video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCXtGBffxqs

[schwung]

Beautiful!!! Thank you Monica! My favorite part was the part at the end where Ashley(?) was petting her right behind the ears. This from a mare that would throw her head up and pin her ears if you brought your hand anywhere near her face! What a transformation!

[jodycat]

FYI, the link to Annie's thread that's on the SAFE website under the Carnation horses' webpages doesn't work - nor does the link for Phoenix or Holly. Maybe because the threads have been moved to Horses Available for Adoption? (I'm emailing people about these horses on occasion, trying to promote them, and just discovered this.)

[Whitewolf821]

Wow. Annie has absolutely beautiful movement. She looks like she'll be very smooth to ride

[schwung]

Update on Annie from Julie:
I am now riding Annie in English tack with no problems. She is going well
under saddle but has tried to buck when asked to trot - not sure what that
is about! She continues to improve with listening to leg and seat aids. I
have now ridden her outside of the round pen and she did very well. I have
also ridden her near other horses and that didn't seem to bother her.

Here are some of the things she now does!

Allows all four feet to be picked up, held, and cleaned - wow, huh!
Will allow to be blanketed and unblanketed and fine with rear leg straps
Will allow to be groomed all over including back end, all four legs, behind
pasters down near heals, all over face, poll area, ears, girth area - allows
currying and brushing
I have pulled her mane lightly
I have brushed out and sprayed her tail with conditioner
Pretty good with fly mask both on and off (still doesn't like the initial
velcro sound)
Will go to the back of her stall and wait without being asked when I pour
out her grain
I have tied her loosely (but not cross-tied yet)
Has been tacked up outside the round pen in a completely different area
Still stands quietly to be mounted
Always easy to catch in the pasture

Areas to work on:

I have started trying to desensitize her to clippers
I want to get her used to having water sprayed on her from the hose and
poured on from a bucket
Desensitizing her muzzle area - still doesn't like anything around her mouth
including the bit (not pushing the bit thing as I don't want it to hold up
her being trained under saddle for now - will visit the issue later)
Continue to ride her outside the round pen and increasingly in unfamiliar
areas

Areas of concern:

the bucking thing, but so far it hasn't been a big deal
A bigger concern is that she will pull back and bounce her front feet off
the ground when she gets anxious or scared; she has also reared all the way
up in the past

[shekaberry]

Annie looks like she is smiling in this picture!!


And her beautiful, graceful neck

[shekaberry]

Annie loaded into the trailer like a champ, but was very nervous when she couldn't see Willow. She is still so insecure about her place in this world and hopefully her training at Half Trak Farm will help her confidence in people and herself.

When Annie got put into her stall, across from schwung's infamous Tessa, she was more interested in what was happening in the aisleway than the hay on the floor. She is so social and wants to be involved in everything, even though she is a little afraid. I can't wait to see how she progresses under saddle.

[Sara]

Any update on how our beauties are settling into training?

[schwung]

Annie's doing well. So far Andrea (the trainer) is just getting to know them and working on ground work. Willow is learning to lunge and have things blankets thrown over her back and such in preparation for the saddle. She's doing more desensitizing work with Annie as she is still the more sensitive and reactive mare even though she has had more training, Andrea wants to establish trust with her before she rides her. Willow she described as "spunky, but very sweet". I think she was surprised at how nice they both were and how nice of movers!

[Sara]

I can't WAIT to see what andrea does with these two. They are gorgeous, gorgeous girls

[schwung]

Last report I had from Andrea (which was on Saturday) is that Annie is doing well, but of course is much more reactive than Willow and Andrea is going slow with her...working on desensitizing, learning how to tie and have baths and all that. She's tacked her up, lunged her in tack, and had a rider lean over her and walked her around, but not up on her yet (even though she's had some rides on her already, Andrea thought it best to start from scratch with her). One of Annie's biggest issues continues to be having her mouth handled. She does not like to be touched in the mouth at all which makes bridling a challenge and also things like worming are nearly impossible. So getting her over that has been a recent focus - just getting her used to having fingers in her mouth and around her face, bit in and out, and using a lot of treats as a reward to get her to associate it with a positive experience.

[Kea's Crest]

I hadnt watched the video of Annie until now. What a beauty she is. Such a smooth mover and a real natural grace. It sounds like she will come along well. Spirit is a bonus.

[schwung]

Lots to write about Annie! She is doing great!! She is now off the lunge line and walking and trotting in the big arena!

Annie, our little hotheaded redhead, is doing amazingly well. One thing that is clear about Annie is that it takes a while for her to trust people and she is really looking for one person to bond with. Right now, that person is Andrea's assistant, who has been her main handler and rider. Annie LOVES her and I guess it is very sweet how much she has latched on to her new person. Andrea had her doubts about Annie at first because she was so distrustful and reactive at first and with new people and being in a new place she reverted at first to some of the aggressive reactions to something she didn't like or scared her. Now that she is comfortable with her handlers, its completely gone. She's still reactive and sensitive, but she's also a lot more brave than you would think and very easy to train under saddle. They were dropping hay bales in the arena from the loft today and she did one little spook and that was it. She has also gotten way better about having her mouth handled and Andrea came up with the coolest idea for getting her over her bridling issues. Normally, for hard to bridle horses (like my horse was), she uses sugar cubes as an incentive to take the bit. But Annie HATES sugar (thinks you are trying to poison her), so she was having none of that. So Andrea tried wrapping fruit roll-ups around the bit. She LOVES it! I would never have thought of that, but it lasts a while and she has to take the bit to get it because it is wrapped around the bit. Her bitting issues are now completely resolved. What flavor does she like best? I asked Andrea. She said, any flavor is fine, but she likes the kind with the tongue tattoos. ;D ;D ;D

Anyway, as soon as the weather clears I am going to get up there and take some video of her. Andrea really likes this mare and thinks she has natural ability for dressage. She describes her as very supple and she goes naturally on the bit with just a slight close of the fingers. I can't wait to see her!