by jkpjcp37 » Mon Aug 24, 2015 3:14 am
♥ 1. -First encounter
I walked up to the round pin containing all of the newly catches. I looked around at all of the different tolters to see which one I might be lucky enough to end up with. I looked around at the different ones and caught the eye of a stallion who I really liked. He was a dark bay appy and next to him was the most beautiful tolter ever. She was a buckskin near leopard appaloosa. They must have been the alpha and omega of the herd. The groundskeeper walked around the pen to try to startle one of them to go into the fenced in walkway that led to the trailer. The two that I had my eye on started to canter this way. The guy inside the pin blocked the stallion from the gate and pushed the mare into the walkway. He closed the gait behind her as she tried to turn around and get to the stallion. I watched as she was loaded into the trailer and my vet closed the doors to give her the shots to prevent diseases. She reached her head up to me and let me touch her muzzle. It was soft and she was gentle. I knew that she would be very fun to work with.
♥ 2. -Adjusting to the new home
I unloaded the mare into the stall of my barn and gave her the food and water. She looked around and started curiously sniffing different things. I giggled to myself as she was acting this way. She looked around to try and find the stallion from earlier today. She let out a loud whinny that sounded like a small child's shriek. She started to throw a fit when she found him no where near. I walked over to her stall to try and calm her, but she just backed away in fear, still being new around humans and all. She didn't seem to quite get the feeling of being in a stall, so I thought that I would try to take her out to the paddock to see how she would like it. She seemed to love it much more than the stall. I left her out there for a little while before I took her back to her stall. She had calmed down a lot more than I thought she would have. I filled up the feed and water bucket for her diner of the night. I lay a treat in between the bars on her stall door. She snatched it up before I left. I turned to her and said, "Good night girl. You are done for the night."
♥ 3. -Introduction of the halter (here you can describe or draw what their halter will look like)
I went into the tack room and grabbed the light blue halter that belonged to my tolter who I decided to call Lacy. I brought it back out to her stall and showed it to her. She looked over at me and stood in the far corner. She trusted me more than she used to, but she was still disturbed at the sight of the tack and other humans that weren't me. She took a step forward and sniffed the halter. I stood there and let her do what she wanted to do. She seemed interested in it and I reached out and tried to put it onto her head. She didn't mind me putting it on and buckling it up. She just stood there and liked it. I gave her a treat for being a good tolter and took her halter back off.
♥ 4. -Meeting a friend (can be another horse or other animal)
I lead Lacy out to the paddock to where my friend's tolter was standing. I took off her halter and let her out into the paddock. She noticed that it was the stallion from the pin and started prancing around with him. I closed the gait and walked over to my friend, Sadie. "How's Forrest doing for you?" I questioned
"He's doing fine for me. I had to get him gelded because he started getting all snazzy around my other mare. How's your tolter doing?"
"She is great; very calm and curious. I finally came up with a name for her, Lacy."
We watched the two gallop around the small paddock. You could tell that they were very happy to see each other. When the sun came closer to the horizon, my friend asked if she could leave Forrest here for a night. So, we lead the two into the cozy four stall barn. We gave each of them an apple/carrot treat and went to the house for a sleepover.
♥ 5. -Gaining your horse's trust
It wasn't all that hard to gain Lacy's trust because I had been working with her for a while now. She would now start coming up to me whenever I would approach her stall. She was friendly and hasn't nipped or kicked anyone lately. She was also getting better with her halter and being lead around the area. I could tell by the way that Lacy was moving that she was more comfortable around me and she got used to the place. I thought that I might try her out with the saddle and/or bridle tomorrow after her paddock time.
♥ 6. -First time with saddle (how they react to having the saddle put on for the first time)
I lead Lacy out to the round pin next to the paddock where my tack had been sitting. I tethered my girl to the post and went to get the tack. I let lacy sniff it and rubbed the saddle pad up and down her side. She had her ears pinned back, so I took it off her side. I let her sniff it again and tried the same thing. This time, she was one with me rubbing it up and down her side. So, I put it on her back and showed her the saddle. She looked at me as if I were crazy or something. I went to her back and slowly and gently placed the saddle on the side of her back. I reached for the girth and loosely strapped the saddle to her. I untied Lacy from the post and let her walk around the arena. She started throwing a fit until she realized minutes later that it wasn't going to come off. I tied her back up and took off the tack. I lead her back to her stall and gave her a treat.
♥ 7. -Ground work (work done without someone in the saddle)
I walked into the barn early in the morning and fed the tolters. I walked out to the arena and set up some ground poles/small jumps. When I returned to the barn, Lacy's food had already been chomped down. I buckled her halter onto her head. This time instead of adding a lead rope, I added the lounge line. I lead her out to the arena and stood in the center of the circular shape of the poles/jumps. I clucked and Lacy went around at a trot and went over the poles but slowed when she came close to a jump and then stepped over it. I lead her around again, and she did everything perfectly. So, I decided that I would go ahead and try her off on try her out with me in the saddle tomorrow. I lead Lacy back to her stall and let her rest.
♥ 8. -First ride
I haltered Lacy up and lead her to the cross ties. I started off by grooming her (brushing, curry combing, hoof picking, hair combing, etc.) Then, I went to the tack room and grabbed her saddle, saddle pad, bridle, and bell boots. When I came back, I found Lacy chomping on the lead ropes holding her in. I laughed a little while and I set the tack down on the gate in between the other cross tie station. I started by placing the saddle pad on top of her back and withers. She took a step forward and I lead her back. Next, I lightly set the saddle on top of the saddle pad. I reached under her belly and grabbed the girth so I could tighten it up. I took off her halter and placed the reins over her head. Then, I asked her to open her mouth so I could put in the bit. She did, so I finished putting on the halter.
I lead her into the arena near the mounting block. I mounted up and she took a few steps forward so, I pulled back on the reins to tell her to stop. Once she did, I nudged her sides to go forward. She started to walk around in the arena. She did what I asked her to do today and I thought that I would try to do a small cavaletti. She trotted up to it and she stopped right before it, and I almost fell off, but managed to stay on barely. I decided to try again, so I turned her around and walked in an oval. Then, I tried to get her to trot back over the jump. She actually cleared the cavaletti this time. I patted her on the side before I started to cool her down. During the cool down, I walked her around and trotted a little. I dismounted her and patted her on her side and gave her a treat.
♥ 9. -Free spot (you may choose your own topic for this last one. It can be placed anywhere in the order above or it can be the last piece you do. up to you ^.^ )
First Show-
I decided that I would start Lacy off in a beginners level show. The classes I wanted to enter with her were small to medium jumps, walk trot canter, and halter. The first class (halter) went very well. Lacy places second with an amazing performance. She did just what I asked her to do and I was very pleased that she placed in a large class.
The next class of the day was walk, trot, canter. Lacy was calm and placed first in this class. She had a very smooth canter and a trot that was very easy to post on. Her walk was a good pace and very calm. She was on the bit the whole time and didn't try to race he other competitors.
My final class was the small to medium jump which had jumps ranging from one foot to two. There were a total of 12 jumps and 32 competitors. Lacy and I placed a second because of one rail that she barely brushed. She was also .05 seconds from placing first in this class. I was very proud of my girl an was so excited that all of our hard work payed off.
