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Post by meganmarch on Nov 29, 2008 19:18:06 GMT -5
We moved Sasha to her new home at Pond-a-Luce-A Stables today (about 2-3 mins from KCJ). She really enjoys the indoor arena and her new stall. She was excited and unsure of the trailer and it took a little longer than we'd hoped to get her loaded up. But, the Barn Manager at the new stable pulls her trailer into the arena once a week for practice loading and unloading (there are a lot of green horses at the stable--so Sasha will fit right in). I'll be taking advantage of that so she gets used to it and doesn't forget it's something she's done before. When we got there, we walked the arena and she was such a good girl! She's turning into quite the little showmanship horse with her willingness to stop when I do, back and turn on the haunches when I ask. She's a very quick study and I can't wait to get her under saddle. Next Saturday she'll have her teeth done and hopefully her feet (if not next Saturday, the following Saturday). I forgot the camera to take pics of her in her new home, but will take it tomorrow and take some shots of her to post for everyone. Megan
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Post by mswan on Nov 30, 2008 18:28:25 GMT -5
Thanks Megan for the update on Sasha. She was getting good about the trailer but maybe a different trailer was the differance. I'm so glad you have her in a barn that has an indoor arena now. Sasha is very smart, keep her busy.
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Post by meganmarch on Nov 30, 2008 22:39:47 GMT -5
Yes, I hope to work with her regularly on loading and unloading so she gets used to it. The trailer she went into was the slant-loading types so it's possible she wasn't sure of the small space. I've noticed she also doesn't liked to be cross-tied--did you have that trouble with her as well? She tends to pull back or rear up if in them for a period of time so I plan to just tie her up for a few minutes at a time so she associates it with a positive experience. We did some lunging today and she was very receptive to learning the voice commands (walk/trot). She is really a great horse and fun to teach--very willing to learn and so smart! Megan
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Post by schwung on Dec 1, 2008 0:38:32 GMT -5
Megan, I don't think Sasha was ever taught to cross-tie, so I would be very careful with introducing her to them. You don't want her to start pulling back because that can very quickly become a dangerous habit. It's better to work with her on the ground and straight-tied (using a quick release tie or even just running the lead rope through the tie ring but not tying it, just holding the other end) to teach her to reliably give to pressure (forward to pressure on her poll, backwards for pressure on her nose) before attempting cross-tying, which is really designed for horses that already know how to tie quietly. Just my $.02.
I am glad to hear that she is coming along so well and that you are enjoying her so much!
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Post by mswan on Dec 1, 2008 21:49:33 GMT -5
Re: Tieing Sasha... Be very careful about using the crosstie! i have known horses to flip over in them. I think it's a dangerous way to tie a horse. While Sasha was here I would tie her up to a tree with the tie ring that lets the rope slip through. She was getting better about standing at the tree but not ready to be tied fast. You don't want her to start the rearing thing again. Maybe pactice her ground tieing instead. Or just loop the rope through the ring. Good luck and be safe.
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Post by meganmarch on Dec 1, 2008 22:17:47 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, I guess I assumed with her quick learning ability and Merle's magic touch that she'd be ready for that. I honestly don't care for cross-ties myself. I'll continue to work with her on ground-tying/regular tying. I had tied her up a few times at KCJ down by the arena when I brushed her and she seemed to do quite well. Generally she seems to give to pressure and before I tied her, I did the old John Lyon's trick to check if a horse is okay to tie (putting the lead rope over her poll and pulling down--if they lower their head, they are safe to tie). I forgot the camera again. Hopefully I can remember tomorrow. I will say that she's doing very well with the brushing. She even let me brush her tail tonight! M
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Post by schwung on Dec 1, 2008 22:27:56 GMT -5
I do use cross-ties, but again, only on horses that are proven to not panic or pull-back, not on all horses and always with safety clasps and even better, a loop of baling twine between the tie hook and the cross-tie clasp that will break if the horse pulls back. Also remember that cross-ties work two ways - against the poll when they go backwards, but also on the nose when they move forwards, so you should work to establish yielding to pressure both ways before introducing cross-ties (and again, only on a horse that already reliably straight ties). I also prefer (although I don't have them at my house) having a grooming stall area where there is a wall behind the cross ties, which really helps with horses that have a tendency to pull back.
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Post by Whitewolf821 on Dec 2, 2008 3:46:33 GMT -5
List of things to do:
Build grooming stall for Jaime's farm ;D
Got that, Jet? Jaime needs a fancy grooming stall. We need to add it to the list of millions of other things that need done! LOL
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Post by coconut on Dec 2, 2008 15:19:02 GMT -5
List of things to do: Build grooming stall for Jaime's farm ;D Got that, Jet? Jaime needs a fancy grooming stall. We need to add it to the list of millions of other things that need done! LOL Got it! Maybe we can sneak it in .... but where would we put it? I did see a nifty portable water heater that attaches to the hose on Craigs List the other day...says it can go anywhere!
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Post by mytwoponies on Dec 2, 2008 20:32:20 GMT -5
Megan, If you ever need anything I am not too far away from there.
Remember she is just a baby and so many things are new to her. 3 & 4 year old's can be very wiggly, impatient and still testing boundaries. If you take things very slow and I'm sure you'll be fine.
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Post by schwung on Dec 2, 2008 20:55:14 GMT -5
Jet - actually, someone donated one of those portable water heaters and its in my garage. The only problem with it is it takes several hours to heat up the water so you kind of have to plan your bath day.
My new barn, when I am finally able to build it, will have a wash rack/grooming area, a tack room, and a hay loft - mandatory!
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Post by trillium on Dec 2, 2008 21:16:17 GMT -5
Hay loft, yes that would be grand. I remember the hay loft at my neighbors house. It seemed huge to me when I was a kid. You could walk over all the stalls and they had chutes to drop the hay into each stall. I used to like to eat the rock salt they put on their hay. You know we are crazy horse people when we would rather have a dream barn, rather than a dream house. LOL
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Post by coconut on Dec 3, 2008 19:20:12 GMT -5
Maybe SAFE could get an Extreme Make-over Horse addition!
...as long as we're dreaming
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Post by meganmarch on Dec 7, 2008 0:35:01 GMT -5
Happy Saturday to all! I hear you on the dream barn. I think I'd probably clone Pond-a-Luce-a with a few slight changes. They have a nice hay loft and a wash rack with warm water. It came in handy today when Sasha had her first dental! She did very well and had two baby teeth come out after being floated and then the vet pulled two wolf teeth. One was very long and the other was a little nub. One of the baby teeth that came out during the float was actually poking into her gum and I'm sure it was causing some type of discomfort to her. I had noticed she was a bit crabby the last couple of days. Megan
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Post by meganmarch on Dec 21, 2008 18:51:17 GMT -5
Good Afternoon~ I hope everyone is hanging in there with the snow. Sasha is doing well--she had her feet trimmed last week. I've been continuing to work with her on ground training and keeping her engaged. She is very smart and gets bored easily so I've been mixing it up (e.g. going over ground poles, tarps, etc). I plan to start to work with the Trainer next month after the holidays. I finally remembered the camera and here are some pictures of Sasha at Pond-a-Luce-A! Here we are working on the tarp (it took her about a minute to be fine with it and she walked over it and was fine to stand on it. She didn't spook at all!): Here she is turned loose. She's coming along well with her comfort level in brushing her body, including her tail--see the braid! Here we are standing somewhat square (hubby snapped the picture before I was done asking her to square up). You can really see her dapples coming out: And lastly, here we are cuddling: Stay safe & Happy Holidays!
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