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Bath Time!
This morning, I woke up before my alarm clock went off. Rolling onto my side, I glanced at the alarm clock. The red, robotic numbers read 6:45 am. I wasn't scheduled to be up until 7:00 am. I sat up and got dressed, taking a little more time with my morning routine than usual. Daniel came into the kitchen on time, and got to making breakfast. He scrambled up some eggs while I started the coffee maker. We finished breakfast, exchanging a little conversation with how we slept and our plans for the day. Our plans basically chalked up to cleaning. Cleaning the trailer, cleaning King. "I think I decided a show name for him." I added, setting my dish in the sink and turning on the water.
Daniel looked up from his plate. "Oh really? What did you decide?"
"On the Throne, like you suggested." I responded, cleaning the plates in the sink and putting them in the drying rack. I toweled off my hands and leaned against the counter.
"Awesome." He said as he finished his breakfast. He moved next to me and cleaned his plate.
We left when he finished and made our way down to the barn. Immediately we got to feeding the horses we had in the barn. I let Daniel finish up and grabbed Prim's halter. She was one of the gentler mares that I could use to socialize King. I grabbed the lunge line and whip, leading her out to the corral. I lunged her for about fifteen minutes, getting some of her energy out before I put her in the mare pasture.
I looped the lead rope around a board in the fence and turned, walking over to where my new mustang waited. He stood in the middle of the field, appearing rather content. I clicked to him, calling his name. He lifted his head up to face me, and I held a treat out. King tilted his head slightly, causing me to laugh. He then dropped his head, ignoring the apple cookie I held in my hand. My eyes widened slightly, the treats always worked! This boy was stubborn. I tossed the treat near him, only to have him turn away and flick his tail at a fly. He was ignoring me. I opened up the pasture, slid in, and closed the gate behind me. I hung the lead rope on the fence, normally reserved for the bucket of grain.
Daniel strode up to the pasture, resting his elbows on the fence. "Didn't fall for the treats, eh? I knew he was a strong-willed boy." He conversed, leaning against the fence.
"Yep." I bit back, slowly approaching the gelding. He had let me approach him the day before, but today, he backed up, tossing his head. He went right back to his old ways and habits. It was as if all the work I had done before was pointless. I grabbed the lead, deciding to improvise and do a little join-up and see if he retained anything from the day before. The pasture was a rectangle though, and the corners would prove to cause some difficulties.
Daniel hopped off the fence. "As much as I would love to sit here and watch you all day, I'm going to have to get some of the other horses some exercise. Call me when you need me." He said, handing me the lunge whip before walking back out to the barn.
Sometimes, I could swear that he was flirting with me. I smacked the lunge whip on the grass, and it barely made any noise. What it did make though, was movement. The sudden movement caused King to get moving, just as I had predicted. He attempted to stop at every corner for a while, to which I would hit the ground and step closer, pressuring him to move. This practice of moving around in a rectangular area would pay off later, when I would ride him around an arena.
A while later, he quit stopping at every corner. I worked him around a few laps, giving him a chance to relax. He relaxed a lot faster today, showing he was already getting used to my presence. I paused, and he slowed, turning his head to look at me. This time, on the first try, he joined up with me. He approached me, with his head lowered. I grinned and reached out a hand to stroke his nose. I gave him a quick scratch under his hair chin. He needed to be groomed. I lifted the lead rope to clip it to his halter, and he whinnied, almost in a laughing manner, and bit at it.
"No." I scolded, clipping him to the lead line. He tossed his head, and I stepped away, lead line in hand. He took a few steps towards me and I released the pressure on the lead. I tried again, and this time he took a few more steps than before. I was so close to fully leading him. By the fourth try, he followed in a straight line, but would stop if I tried to turn. On the fifth or sixth, he allowed me to lead him for longer distances. By the seventh, he let me lead him completely. He had a little trouble stopping when I did, but I figured that would come as well over time. I led him to a the posts we had outside, which served as both cross-ties and outdoor washrooms. I figured it would be easier to groom outside, instead of trying to lead him through the barn to the cross-ties, where other horses would be.
I tied him up and left to grab the supplies I would need. When I returned, he had turned himself sideways and was eyeing the world around him. He hadn't been to this part of the stable yet, it was all new to him. I let him adjust while I grabbed the hose. I turned it on low, and directed it over the gelding's legs. He picked up his feet, hesitant at the unusual situation. "It's okay boy." I cooed, easing the stream higher. He started settling down and let me wash him. I finished and dried him with a sweat scraper. I used a soft brush and started in his back. When I brushed down his legs, he would tense up and lift another leg to kick. I backed off and repeated this process many times. He tossed his head, but didn't threaten to kick.
I stopped and praised him, patting his neck. King was behaving rather well. He let me pick up his feet, after some hesitation. I picked out all the dirt and debris. Getting him shod would come later. I applied some hoof oil and moved onto the mane and tail. King stood silently as I struggled, for quite a while, to comb out his mane. I eventually did it though, and I trimmed it evenly. "You are a handsome boy, not covered in dirt and dust." I praised, stepping back to admire my handiwork. He was handsome.
Daniel walked over, leading Cat. Cat was one of the feistier mares that we owned. "Don't." I said, looking over at Daniel. "I plan to put him in with Prim first. Prim's less high strung. Take Cat around."
Daniel listened and stopped Cat, starting to back her up. King stuck his head up, looking over at Cat. He tossed his head and tried to rear up a little. I used tight slip knots to tie up the higher-strung horses, in case one of them spooked so that they would not injure themselves. King yanked the knot loose and struck the air with his hooves. This was the second day in a row that something had gone wrong. It all seemed to lead back to Daniel. King bolted, running and bucking towards the woodlands.
"Get him!" I screamed, panicked. Cat was rearing a little as well, spooked by what was going on. Horses could sense each other. It was getting late, and I had lost my mustang. This was against everything the Mustang Makeover stood for. I took the mare from Daniel and told him to get the truck. Together, Cat and I set off after King. Cat was a very responsive horse, and she didn't need a bridle to be ridden. I slowed her down a notch and unclipped the lead rope from her halter. King was still wearing his halter, I remembered. I used the rope to stabilize myself on Cat's back. We came to a clearing, where Daniel had cut off King. Daniel used to participate in rodeos, so I was only mildly surprised when he had King lassoed. Surely enough, the mustang stood panicked in the field. I dismounted Cat as Daniel walked around and held her halter.
I clipped the lead rope onto King's halter, murmuring soothing words to calm him. We definitely had to desensitize him to other horses still. "I'll ride back to the ranch on Cat. Why don't you head back and feed the horses."
"I'm sorry Alaska. I know how much this meant to you." Daniel said, running his fingers through his dark brown hair.
I'm not sure whether it was the guilt on his face or his cute slight southern drawl, but I couldn't stay mad at him. "It's fine Daniel." I said and mounted Cat. "Thank you for your help today." I said, mounting Cat. I looped the end of the lead rope through her halter, tying the horses together. The gelding didn't hesitate to follow Cat and we slowly made our way back to the pasture. I released King back into the pasture and dismounted Cat, clipping the lead rope onto her halter. I led her back to the stable, putting her in her stall. I scratched her chin with a small smile. "You were a good girl today, you know that?" I grabbed Prim from the mares' pasture and put her in with King. The two were slow to approach each other, but they seemed to get along fine. I grabbed the camera and took a few pictures, before leaning up against the fence with a sigh. How many times could I mess up before King was effected? He could have been seriously hurt today. Night was quick to fall, and I perched myself on top of the fence. I was scared that I wasn't doing it right, that I wasn't taming the mustang correctly. There wasn't exactly a set of rules or a giant cookbook to walk me through this. It was me, figuring it out with Daniel.
I turned my head as I heard someone approach. It was Daniel. "The other stable hands are locking up the stable for the night." He said softly. I just nodded in response. He held a jacket in his hands, which I hadn't noticed before. He put it on my shoulders. "You're doing great, you know." He said, almost as if he had read my mind.
A small smile crossed my lips. "I almost lost the mustang. I wouldn't call it great."
"Look me in the eyes." Daniel said, turning me towards him. "King is fine. Everyone makes mistakes. You are amazing, and you did amazing."
I faint blush rose to my cheeks. I turned to look at King again. He stood with Prim, and they grazed together in the field. They were relaxed.
One of the stable hands walked out of the stable and whistled at Daniel. "Careful! That's your boss!" He called out with a laugh and jogged into the stable hand quarters.
Daniel shook his head slightly, turning back to me. "You're doing great." He said, before turning and heading inside, leaving me to ponder what the stable hand had meant. I shrugged it off and headed inside. I ate a quick meal of leftovers and said goodnight to Daniel.
Then, I was off to bed.
journal entry wrote:Today was an interesting day. I lost the horse. I got him back. I washed him too, and now he looks all shiny. One of the stable hands was acting kind of weird when Daniel was talking to me. On the Throne is definitely the right show name for him. I washed the mustang, and Cat was walked behind him. That's what caused him to spook and run off, actually. He's acting fine around Prim though. He is one stubborn boy.
King after we washed him. This was before the cleaning up of the mane.
King once he was all cleaned up and shiny. Pretty boy. <3
Daily Achievements
-cleaned him
-led him with ease
-socialized him
-desensitized him to grooming
To-do
-desensitizing with tack and misc. noisy, scary items
--Alaska Culver
