When I first brought her out of the pasture, I decided to take her straight up to the arena and turn her loose so she could burn off some of that excess, pent up energy. When I lead her into the arena, I noticed one of my cavaletti poles was in the arena, wondering to myself how that got in there. Then realized that with all the rain we have had, it must have floated in there during one of the torrential rain storms. I lead Chance over to it and went to kick it back out, and as soon as I did that is when Chance decided to sit on the ground like a dog. She actually spooked, but when she spooks she doesn't take off running, which is a good thing, but she went backwards so fast that she just went down on her haunches. Oops, kinda forgot Chance had never seen a cavaletti pole before! Oh well, she needs to get used to stuff like that at some point! She eventually came up and sniffed and snorted at it for a bit. Once I let her go, I ran out of the arena and Chance just followed me to the gate and wanted to hang out with the humans. "Look mom, I am wearing my big girl halter now!"
Okay silly filly, your free, go run and play! Nope. It took some encouragement from all of us to get her moving.
Once she starts running, she would run up and down the fence line by us, bucking and farting, then she would stop back at the gate and wait for us to pet her. Okay, seriously silly filly, you need to go blow off some steam!!
We shook the fence panels and she finally took off running on the far side of the arena. And when she slowed down, she looks like she has a really nice lope!
She got a couple more good bucks in......
Before she became interested in a lone cedar branch in the middle of the arena. She walked up to sniff it......
Then she picked it up and by doing that she spooked herself, so she flew backwards (I just missed the actual spook with my camera!).......she dropped it and went for the approach again......a little more cautious this time.
She got bored quickly with the cedar branch and came back to us humans......
Then she got bored with us humans and went to go nibble grass on the far end of the arena. She wasn't too interested in running around anymore, so I went to catch her and I took her down to the house for a good grooming and a refresher course on picking up all four feet since my farrier was coming out the next day.
Once she was all cleaned up and she picked up all fours like an old pro, she didn't even try to pull one away at.all! Then my sis and I took the horses for a walk up the driveway where my OH took a family picture. She got to experience her first car drive by at close range and jumped forward.
We then walked them up the road to our second driveway and another car drove by. She jumped again but not as bad as the first time. We walked through the yard a few times.
Where she got to walk over a railroad tie for the first time and only with a little bit of hesitation.
We brought out the measuring stick and sticked her. She measures 14.1 hh. She is standing a little down hill from me in this picture. I can't wait to get Brandy out and do a comparison photo with Chance and Brandy next to each other. She is getting very close to Brandy's height and I even think Chance's butt is higher then Brandy's right now. She is also quite big boned and stocky now.
I can't believe my silly filly is going to be 2 years old next month! I have a long list of training goals for her this spring and summer. She is on my priority list for when, or if, we get some good weather! This is one smart filly and I have never been more excited to get the ball rolling on training this beautiful creature!
29 comments:
Love the "family photo" Standing next to your sis's boy it looks like Chance is going to be a good sized girl.
I think its so funny that she spooked herself picking up that branch lol
btw I noticed the double halter on "My Boy", does that mean he's being a stinker about being caught again?
She is looking great. She looks so relaxed with you. And the halter makes her look special.
Chance has really grown in the past year.
cdncowgirl~ Chance's mom is 14.3 hh, I know she will get at least that tall, but I am hoping she will get bigger. That way my OH can ride her someday! (He's a big boy and the one time I put him on Brandy, he was so big on her! Although Chance is a lot stockier then my little 1/2 Arab!)
My sister keeps a halter on her boy all year now, she doesn't have the time to work with him and he did give her a lot of catching issue's before she decided to keep the halter on him full time.
I can't wait to see how she looks when she sheds out this year.
As stocky as her barrel is, I bet she has no problem carrying your OH and taking up his legs. She looks pretty sturdy.
She's looking really good this spring and has really grown up and filled out.
She sure has grown up ito a lovely horse! Glad you got some time in with your own horse !
I love how deep your footing is in your arena / paddock. I could ride in that and not worry about falling. Plus it helps keep younger horses at the slower end of each gait because it offers some resistance, just like when we try to walk or run through sand at a beach. It builds up muscles too. My D.G. just keeps getting washed away and absorbed into the ground.
Love the top lip action in that third picture :)
She is truly a special girl and all that time and effort you've invested in her is going to pay off this spring/summer!
Such a cutie patootie! She's looking very grown up! I just love it when they spook themselves with stuff like picking up branches and stuff! It's so funny to watch!
Chance is getting so big and filling out so nicely! She is such a pretty girl. It's nice that you were able to get outside for a chance...stupid winter weather!!!!!
She's looking great! I think she's going to be a wonderful horse for you. I can't wait to see all the fun stuff you do this summer with her.
*waves to Pony Girl*
Isn't it amazing how fast the time goes?
I still think of Beretta as my baby and she is a coming 2y/o too. Shooter is a coming 3y/o. Just blows me away.
Chance looks fantastic. She has definitely grown up this last winter and looks very much like a young lady.
She does look good! And, once again, I'm jealous of the sand in your arena...and your green grass.
Awwww!I am so happy for you! Looked like the sun was shining for a while that day. What a treat to be able to get outside and work with your gorgeous little filly. She sure has grown up and filled out. Her back looks like it's going to give you the most comfiest ride, too. She's silly, but also very brave to go back and desensitize herself to the cedar branch after it spooked her...and even getting over the car drive-bys, too. Good Chance!
I love the photo of the 2 PGs and their ponies. So sweet!
~Lisa
ps, please send us some of your rain. It hasn't rained here since last August. We are very dry!
I'm glad you had some time to work with Chance! I can't believe she is almost 2!
Love the photo of you and your sis. Nice to catch a glimpse of PonyGirl!
Hope you have the time and good weather this summer to work with Chance and meet all your goals.
I'm loving the lip in that third picture! So cute!! She's really filling out nicely and doesn't have a bit of "awkward youngster" to her at all!
Hi Mikey! And everyone else!! :-) Your little 'stang looks so different in all the pictures! Sometimes like a half-Arab, sometimes like a Morgan, and in that last pic, a little stocky QH! She is going to look so cool this summer when she's all shed out and muscular!
It was fun to get the horses out for some fun, I'm looking forward for better spring weather to do more!
To answer the halter question: My Boy wears a breakaway halter in the pasture. I can't catch him or risk chasing him in that muddy pasture (for my safety and his) but must be able to bring him out for farrier appointments and grooming and the many abscesses I had to treat this past fall/winter! When I am leading or longing him, I change the halter to his rope halter so the other won't "breakaway" when I don't want it to, LOL! Or, I get lazy and put the rope one over the other...as that day when we just led them around the yard a bit.
PONY GIRL
Aww shes growing up! She sure looks good and sounds pretty smart, should be a lot of fun this summer with her, when you get the time.
Wow she has gotten big!! Look at that gorgeous forelock and mane she has!!!
Great to catch a glimps of Pony girl!
I bet its good to be back home!!
ah, chance looks like a quarter horse with a nice round rump! she is adorable! glad she is behaving and being good.
We didn't get a break in the weather on Sunday. I'm jealous although I did laugh that nervous laugh of having been there done that, over th pole floating in with the water. That really sucks you had that much water. I don't think our creek has been at normal levels in months.
I wondered if Chance was going to spook herself with that sprig of fir. Funny to watch when they do those silly things.
Chance is just beautiful! A friend of my brother's in Wisconsin said she just got a mustang. I will hve to tell her about your blog so she can see this post. Chance is going to be a GREAT horse....
Wow I can't believe she turns two next month. Chrome turns two in May. It's funny a bunch of us have young horses the same age. Fantastyk's filly Yalla is right around the same age too. It's fun watching them all grow up. :)
Chance is looking gorgeous. She is definitely getting stocky. Do you think she will make it to 15hh? Chrome is already 15hh and I have no clue how tall he's going to end up. His sire was 16.2hh and his dam was 14.3hh so there's a wide range lol. Anyway she looks fantastic. I can't wait for your weather to cooperate so you can start having some fun with her and we get to see more pictures.
She os sp cute and fuzzy. And don't you love those pictures of her moving so fast? She is going to be so fun to ride!! I hope you get some dry weather soon. the rain is no fun. The only thing worse might be roaring wind. So fun to see Pony Girl and her boy!
What a cutie she is! Wow...she's built like a brick house! Our weather is slowly climbing in warmer temps but still cold! Lots of rain which means..mud. Ugh!
She is such a cute girl and she has really grown since you have had her. I must say she is built really well for a mustang. Glad she has you in her life! Tell your pony girl sis we miss her!
She's getting to be a big girl. It must be exciting to start off, having brought her up from a baby.
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