Growing up

After spending the first month with the baby horse learning to adult horse, we added some more things to the mix.  She learned to tie, lunge, got her feet trimmed, was body clipped, got a bath and learned how to wear a blanket. A few of these things she still needs to be familiarized with more, but she will when the time comes. 

a little fuzzy but you get the ideaThen came the surcingle. I tried one from a borrowed pony harness, but it was too small. As in about 3 inches shy of the buckle on the girth reaching the end of the billet strap. Bummer.   

We had an audience for our first attempt. The boorishly ignorant and negatively bitter person- otherwise known as MB, the miserable bitch was "hoping to see a rodeo" as she put it. My pony flinched once or twice the first time I put the saddle pad and surcungle on, but after that, she didn't give a rip. She is learning to trust me and figuring out that I'm not there to hurt her. I put things on and took them off her back, multiple times from both sides. She stood like a champ and endured the torture became slightly bored with the lack of entertainment. 

I am just not a fan of the MB and her ways. After some thought I decided that if she ever told me again that she's "hoping to see a rodeo" that I will tear her a new ass. Is she hoping to watch me get hurt? Just  becuase she's afraid of her own horse doesn't mean she should be watching for others to get hurt. 

I graduated Mazy to using a full sized surcingle. I had to if there was to be any long line work going on. As my little princess moved around and got used to the surcingle, she arched her back here and there acting like she may buck but never did. 

 She did get a little playful and spunky but then promptly acted like misbehaving would be too much effort.  Good pony!

She's really starting to shape up nicely and when I look at the photos, it doesn't seem like the same pony She looks a lot thicker in the photos but maybe that's just me.  

            

Standing quietly in the lines. She is learning to focus on me and that Whoa means stop everything now and relax.          

Miss Mazy is  really starting to shine like a copper penny and has developed dapples across her body, mostly on her upper hip, over her back and sides.

Her shoulders are starting to fill out and develop some nice muscling.  

And then I get photos like this one and whle it's not perfect, it shows my pony working in a very relaxed and balaced nature. She's going to make a nice driving and later- hunter pony over fences. 

All this hard work is wearing me out... As usual, my pony gets a few rest breaks in between to help keep her mind fresh and body relaxed. I am really love, Love, LOVING her thick gorgeous tail. 

Confirmed

Before Izzy coliced and had to be put down, I had purchased a harness for her in hopes that she would some day be a driving horse. I mean it looks like so much FUN! Obviously that was one of those things never meant to be. The  harness has been sitting on the living room floor, all boxed up and ready to be shipped back for a refund. Then I got Mazy, and while the harness is still in the box on the living room floor, I intend to try it on her if the weather ever decides to cooperate and stop f'ing raining.

The other day I had a moment of complete and total honesty with myself and a friend of mine when the following words came out of my mouth. "In all honesty..... I don't think Izzy was going to make it as a driving horse. Or maybe I should say I had my doubts. She may have, but it was going to take a lot to get her there."   There. I said it. I had my doubts. That was last week. 

Fast forward to this week and I get a text message from a friend of mine who knows horses well and knows nothing of this conversation. "BTW I think this pony might just have a little more potential than Izzy!" 

Great minds think alike much? I just found it odd and amazing at the same time, that we had not spoken in months and this topic had never been discussed between us- or anyone in fact, yet here we are. She was confirming my thoughts from last year and a couple thousand miles between us. 

I was seriously thinking to start Miss Mazy in harness before I start riding her. My friend had started one of hers in harness and drove the horse for 5 years before getting on him. Nothing wrong with that. She had also had the horse dragging stuff all over the yard and had even put him to a plow before ever putting him to a cart. When the day came to finally put him to a cart- they went down the road to a neighbor/trainers place and to his surprise and chagrin- everyone survived the whole ordeal.  

I'm looking for things my pony can pull and drag around. We should have a nicely groomed arena when I'm done. No reason she can't drag it and help make it nice for everyone. When it comes time to put her to a cart, she should have everything nailed down. Here's hoping anyways.

Au Naturelle

First things first, I tried another borrowed blanket on my pony to be sure she would be warm if the temps took a turn on us- which it did. It fit pretty well for the most part. A little shy of covering her butt like it should but everywhere else it looked perfect. If she doesn't change too much, I know where to get her one of her own for next winter.  

She seemed pretty happy with her new coat and even learned that it not only goes on over her head, it comes off that way too. This does not cause instant death, contrary to her beliefs.  

One of the things I'm really liking about my new filly is the way she carries herself and the way she moves naturally. She's pretty expressive and so far I've gotten a lot of great pics of her. 

So far she's got a nice length of stride, a good amount of overstep in the walk and most importantly she's relaxed in her work. 

Although this pic looks like she's racing around, she really wasn't. 

She's nice and round here, reaching deep up under herself and keeping the front end light.

Okay now she's just showing off... 😁

Of course here she's showing off a lot... 

What I have heard from my friends- "She has a very deep stride, even for a pony."  

"She's really engaging her hind end." 

"She's not just pushing off from behind but more like Shoving off." 

"If she's doing this good on her own, she's really going to be a bad ass when you start teaching her more."  

There are also the occasional swear words escaping mouths when these pictures come up. Two of them far out weigh the others. Lol

Clipped

A week after getting Miss Mazy home, I had her clipped. She was a bit ragged, shaggy and rough around the edges. Not much to look at really but I know so much better lies beneath. 

The girl who did her, did an amazing job not only on her, but with her as well. Mazy is merely 4 years old and hasn't really had anything done with her. At least not before now. She's getting a crash course in how to Horse.  



In about an hours time, my new little filly was sporting a much cleaner, sharper look and also now has a bridle path- see below.  Should I rinse her after a workout, she will dry fast.

I have also been fielding a number of questions about her at the barn. Some of them well intentioned and others thickly coated with jealousy. I was also warned that "Since she is so skittish, you need to tie her up short in the stall IF you're going to clip her." This coming from a brashly ignorant person who is always on the negative and incredibly bitter. 

Miss Mazy stood like a rock for the most part, no need to be tied and what started off as cleaning up her head and neck soon turned into including the shoulders, then belly and the only thing left was her butt so why not??? 

If you notice she still has the hair on her legs. I got a lot of questions about that, but here's the deal. She was being good, take the Win! I don't think this filly has had her legs and feet messed with much. Sometimes it's best just to leave it alone and come back another day. Besides- blankets don't exactly cover the legs so the added hair would help keep those warm. It made sense to me, so we're Gucci.

She also had a rampant  bit of hair in her mane that was a little longer. Playing with her for a few minutes, the longer hairs were pulled and now it looks much neater. It's amazing how a few minutes spent on a few things can make the horse look so much nicer.

First Impressions

The first week she was here at the barn, my new pony was admittedly pretty "scrappy" looking. Not much has been done with her in her past life. Supposedly.... she was raised by the woman I bought her from, but I also found out thru a friend of mine, that this pony had been run thru a sale a few times...

Lovely movement

While the idea of running thru a sale may be offputting to some, to me it just adds to her story. Supposedly- "Her momma was named Lucky so the filly was named Clover." While I kinda wanted to stay with that, I also wanted to go with a name with double ZZ's in it. I had a couple picked out for her already.  

Really reaching out and traveling uphill.  Nice. 

One of the girls at the barn looked down on her for a bit. She had a lot of hair, it looked sort matted in places, she had no bridlepath, her feet needed timmed and the list goes on. Plenty for her to turn her nose up at.

While she may have turned her nose up at my pony, (for which I'm perfectly fine with, because I know what I've got) she also asked if my pony was started under saddle. When I explained to her that the pony is not broke and knows next to nothing- she admitted she would not know how to start a horse under saddle and would be terified. 

I have heard her make a few comments since about how good my pony looks, how well she's doing and each time I can hear a bit of jealousy in her voice. Sometimes the scent of jealousy is overwhelming but I politely ignore it.  

I have had my pony a little over a month now and she has made a rather bold statement for herself. The horse across the aisle from her came from the sale barn about a month prior. She was a bit thin and also scraggly, had a coat like a yak and could be ridden...  but she still has a bit more weight to gain and thanks to her owner allowing, if not causing a trainwreck in the barn aisle, she has not been ridden by her owner since.  

Wearing a borrowed cooler for the first time ever, after her first rinse- she was not a fan and still gets a bit apprehensive about water running over her body. She has also since worn a blanket for reasons soon to be revealed and learned that blankets can and do- go on over the head and she will not die in the process. 

Rezzurection

Wordless Wednesday

Horse hunting April fools

After losing my princess pony, I knew another one would soon come along. I looked at a Lot of horses. I mean, seriously, a LOT! So many in fact that they all started to blur the lines and it got a little confusing at times which phone number went with what ad.

There was the thin mare who looked like she was either wormy as hell, pregnant or both. Her story was that she's hard to catch (to read: damn near impossible) & they tried to pen her up with panels but she jumped those.



But wait a minute....   Isn't she standing in front of fence panels? Yes. Yes she is. I was going to drive out and look at this horse but the plans kept getting side tracked or delayed for one reason or another.  When I contacted them about coming out the next weekend- they replied asking if I was coming to buy firewood? Um, no. Pass.

I had also looked at this mare, She's 9 y/o well bred, greenbroke and had just weaned a foal. I was ready to send payment now and figure out how to get her home later.

The seller wanted cash only and that was that. They also said they had a lot of tire kickers. Then they text me a week later to see if I still want her. Yes I do but I can't just drop everything and wouldn't be able to get up their way for a week or so. I'm willing to pay for her now and sort out hauling, but again they wouldn't budge. Pass.  Then there's a 7 y/o gelding. Not broke, a little on the thin side but easy to catch and they just wanted him gone. He looked nice enough and the price was fair so why not go look? When I asked when would be a good time to come see him- They never responded. Okay then, I will keep looking. Pass.Then there was a bay colt standing next to a fence. The ad claims he is 15 hands, approximately 3, grade but they think he could be standardbred and he may grow to 16 hands. Judging by the height of the fence panel next to the horse- there's no way he's that tall. When I spoke to the woman I got quite the story. He's cryptorchid and she's selling him because she needs rent money, but if I wait a couple days until the weekend, she has 2 more horses coming in. She also had another horse for sale...A 4y/o mustang mare that in her words, has gorgous dressage movement.  Okay that sounds reasonable, but the asking price was not. It was more than I am willing to pay for an unbroke, unpapered horse of questionable abilities. Then I find an ad for this mare- same contact name and phone number- for lease. $150 a month, she will feed the horse and you need to ride her at least twice a week and take a lesson from her once a week on this mare.  I have no idea what happend with this one or the gelding. Time to go look and she stopped all contact.  Pass & Pass. There was two black horses-that fell thru.  Pass. Pass. A black and white half Arabian mare- 500 miles away. She's at a rescue, halter broke and that's about it. At least she's pretty healthy looking. Pass. A grey pony with lovely movement, but a bit edgy. I actually found this one for a friend and now she just wants her gone. The price is right, but apparently this pony has been abused and is pretty unpredictable. My trainer friend having dealt with horses like her, may be able to bring her around, but I'm not looking for a v.e.r.y. long term project horse at the moment.  Pass.The grey gelding fresh off the track with a hefty price tag that was Super quiet, which turned out later as not exactly quiet. Pass. So I'll just keep looking for now. Maybe something will catch my attention and the seller won't be such a whack job.