Quality Rio Time

****Before I get into how Rio is doing, PLEASE send your thoughts and prayers out to my sister, Ranch girl, her ranch boy, his family and to everyone else effected by the Taylor Bridge wildfire that is raging out of control in her small town, which is 2 hours east from where I live. They can see the fire and smoke from their ranch and thankfully their ranch is safe due to winds that went in their favor, but numerous families have lost their homes to this devastating fire. It has burned at least 28,000 acres, destroyed at least 70 homes and is said to be 25% contained as of last night. There are 900 firefighters in that area trying to get this fire under control. Numerous horses, cattle and other pets have had to be set free and evacuated to safe locations. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone during this very difficult time.

The first week Rio was home, I spent a lot of time just sitting in the corral with her. Her comfort zone with humans has been for her to not approach closer then 4 feet or let humans get closer then 4 feet to her. I just wanted her to get used to my presence and for her to know that I was an okay human being and not out to hurt her. 3 days after she was here, I took Chance up to the arena because I was planning on riding her. Well, I didn't get very far up the lane that takes me up to the arena when Rio exploded. She was terrified and took off running. I was watching her and not really paying much attention to Chance when Rio couldn't stop in time and went up like she was going to jump the panels. She slammed into the panels and then continued running like crazy. Chance jumped and turned around to see what was going on. My heart literally jumped out of my throat. I thought she was going to break a leg. Rio would not settle down and was in a total panic. I continued on to the arena with Chance, who took the whole Rio explosion quite well. But I decided that I would not ride Chance and opted to just lunge her (for the safety of myself and Chance). Chance was a little worked up in the arena but calmed down pretty quick. Rio can see everything I do in the arena and she could not take her eyes off of what I was doing. She continued to trot and run around.

Once I was done with Chance, I took her back by Rio's corral and just stopped and watched her. Rio was still in panic mode. She obviously is not used to seeing humans lead horses around with saddles on their backs. Chance's pasture butts up to Rio's corral. They can't sniff noses, but they do hang out together, so Rio didn't panic because she had never seen Chance before. It had to have been the combination of me leading Chance and her having a saddle on. I knew that I was going to have to work on this with Rio. Chance would become my "Rio training tool" to get her used to horses being led by her corral.

Rio on guard.

After the whole panic incident, I went up and sat outside Rio's corral. She still was worked up but not quite as much as before. She walked and stopped by the panels in front of me and I stuck my hand out. Rio sniffed my hand. She snorted and trotted off. She ended up doing this 3 times. That was the first contact made and she initiated it. I was so happy for this moment. You know how you get chills over something? Yeah, that happened. I had chills running all throughout my body. To have this wild Mustang, who has a "4 foot contact rule" with humans, actually sniff my hand, not once, but 3 times, is an amazing feeling.

The next morning I took my book and read while I sat in her corral when she was eating breakfast. She kept her "4 foot" distance, but she eventually started inching forward. She ended up being about 3 feet from my feet. Then she moved within 2 feet of my feet. She also does this thing where she stretches her neck out towards me, bobs her head and sniffs. Under my observation of her body language I have found this to mean she really wants to come closer and check me out. But she doesn't have enough trust yet. 

Beautiful girl.

The day after that I was doing the same thing. My feet were right by her breakfast and she kept stepping closer and closer and she got to the point where she was stretching her neck, bobbing her head and she put her nose on my knee, sniffed then hurried away from me. Chills. I was starting to figure her out. Anytime I tried to move closer then 4 feet to her, she got uncomfortable and would walk away. But if we did this on her terms, where I just sit and do my own thing and basically ignore her, she would move closer and closer to me and eventually be curious and trusting enough to start touching me.

The following day I was again sitting in her corral and she was comfortable eating a foot away from my feet. I did not want to reach out to her because I knew she wasn't trusting enough to let me try to pet her. And she ended up sniffing my foot, then she mouthed my foot. She kept her nose on my foot longer this time before she turned and walked away. She feels like if she touches for too long then I might do something, so she retreats before that might happen.

I also took Chance back to the arena without a saddle. This time I would stop about every 5-10 feet before I got to her corral. Rio was on high alert again and started trotting around. I would walk Chance and once Rio stopped, I would stop. Then I would move forward another 5-10 feet. I did this the whole way up the lane and Rio didn't run into the panels, but she did trot around quite a bit. I lunged Chance for only about 5 minutes then let her graze along the fence outside of Rio's corral. Rio handled it better then she did before. I think after a few more times of me leading Chance by her corral, she will be fine. She just doesn't understand this horse/human relationship yet.

Sweet, kind eye on my girl.

I didn't get to do anything with her over the weekend. And I think that set us back a little. I had been able to get out there 2-3 times a day until the crazy, hectic weekend we had and this week I am working at the Arab farm. I have noticed since I haven't been able to spend our "quality" breakfast hour together that she has been a little more nervous around me. The more I hang out with her in the corral, the better she gets with me. But if I can't get the usual couple hours a day of good Rio time, then we almost have to start over.

Last night I went out to get that "quality" Rio time. I just sat in there while she was eating dinner. She hasn't touched me since last week. It was just me and her (sometimes it's Rio, my OH and I). She did eat about a foot from my feet but she did not touch. I decided that I would again try to approach her. The "4 foot distance" rule still applied. If I tried getting any closer, she would walk or trot off. I decided to change things up a bit and when she walked away from me, I would just keep with her which means I would walk with her wherever she went. She cantered away from me a couple times but I would always be right back within the "4 foot distance". She eventually relaxed and I was able to get within 3 feet. Once I knew she was comfortable with that I would move away from her, giving her that release and reward for not walking away from me. Off and on she would walk or trot off and I would stick with her. Again, she would stop and let me get within 3 feet. I even stuck my arm out where my fingers were only 12" from her nose. The last few times I have tried that, she would retreat. I was always getting too close. But last night she accepted my hand within a foot of her face. She didn't try to sniff my hand but she didn't try to walk off while my hand was outstretched to her. That was good enough for me and I called it a night.

I just love Rio!

Progress. Any little bit of progress is a good thing. I am not in a hurry to get her gentled. I want her to trust me. That is the most important step when gentling a Mustang. Once you get a Mustangs trust, they will trust you wholeheartedly. Each Mustang is different and some you can touch within a day and some take months to years. Luckily Rio is young and should come around pretty quickly. I don't want to put too much pressure on her to soon. But I want to try a little pressure. Even when I put pressure on her and she gets uncomfortable with it, she has NEVER tried to kick, strike or charge me. She does NOT have a mean bone in her body. She just doesn't trust yet. And can you imagine the chills I will get when I can put my hand on her for the first time? I can't wait for that day to come, because I just want to groom and love on her so bad!!

It is in the mid to upper 90's here today and tomorrow, which is not normal for my area. Last year we never even hit 90 degrees. So I am in the house trying to stay cool. You can't even breathe when you go outside. I went to the farm early this morning and got all the turnouts done before it got too hot. So once it cools down tonight I will go back out for some "quality" Rio time.