[SerenWish]

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#852481

Name: [You do not need to name immediately]
Age: 5 years
Breed: Mustang
Color: Grulla Roan (Ee/aa/Dd/RnRn)
Gender: Mare
Markings: Broken star/stripe/snip, stocking
Height: 14.3 hands
Vice/Fear/Special: This mare is always finding solutions to get what she wants- either sneaking out for food, other horses, or to play new games.

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❏ show name ;; The
Magician's Assistant
❏ barn name ;; Nine
❏ gender ;; Mare
❏ age ;; 5 (five) years
❏ breed ;; Mustang
❏ color ;; Grulla Roan
❏ markings ;; Broken Star/
Stripe/Snip, and Stocking
❏ height ;; 14.3 (fourteen
point three) hands

❏ fact ;; This mare is always finding solutions to get
what she wants- either sneaking out for food, other
horses, or to play new games.
❏ personality ;; Curious, almost to a fault, courageous, and social.
❏ likes ;; wip
❏ dislikes ;; wip
❏ fears ;; wip
❏ projected career ;; Cross Country

❏ pasture mates ;; Charge, Charlie, and Flurry
❏ favorite barn animal ;; wip
❏ favorite treat ;; wip
❏ favorite place to ride ;; wip
❏ favorite weather ;; wip
❏ favorite time of day ;; wip

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❏ full name ;; noelle ansell
❏ nicknames ;; noe
❏ gender ;; female
❏ age ;; 18 (eighteen) years old

❏ height ;; 5' 5" (five feet and five inches)
❏ weight ;; 125 lbs (one-hundred and twenty-five pounds)
❏ hair color ;; dark brown, almost black
❏ skin color ;; pale, fair
❏ eye color ;; light grey, sometimes blue
❏ body type ;; average: not too thick, not too scrawny

❏ personality ;; light-hearted, doesn't take many insults to heart. will become attached to
any animal she works with. an open, forgiving heart that will welcome anyone; however,
because of this, she is sometimes hurt.
❏ thoughts on mustang makeover ;; "AHHH! I'm so excited to do this again! If it's anything like
last year, it'll definitely be a lot of fun!"

[resolution]

training journal - day one


After checking the hitch to my grey two-horse trailer once more, I climbed up into the passenger seat of the farm's reliable silver truck. My father, the driver, and I were just beginning the drive to Cottonwood Ranch, where I would be picking up my mustang makeover horse for this year. As the cars and trees on the road begin to pass us, I close my eyes and think. Last year, our farm was much closer; however, we moved properties, so now we're nearly three hours away. Thus, my father and I decided to leave before the sun even cleared the horizon.

When we finally did pull in to Cottonwood's driveway, the sun was just beginning to climb its way to the high position in the sky and heat the day up. Somehow, we were early, so not many trailers were lined up, waiting to take a horse. Locating a staff member, I stated my name and was led to a paddock full of young mares. My paperwork pointed me to a smaller roan horse who was quietly grazing and stomping away the flies. A few other staff helped me to round her up and secure her into the trailer. Rather calmly, the mare was simply munching from the hay net as I lifted and locked the back ramp of the trailer. With a quick wave to the staff who had assisted me, we were off as more trailers began to fill the farm.

When we finally got back to the farm, I opened the trailer to see a bright eyed mare staring back at me, hay scattered across her forelock, mane and face. "How'd you manage to do that?" I thought out loud as I unclipped the chest bar and let her run off the ramp into a vacant pasture. There wasn't a double door like at the old property, so, foreseeing that my mustang would have a bit of a fright getting off of the trailer, I let her wander around a private paddock for a few minutes while the trailer was settled back into its original space.

After checking the stall and of course, the other horses, I made my way back to the paddock where the mustang was still quietly exploring the enclosed area. With a bucket of grain in hand, I made a loud kissing sound and rattled the pellets around. It was only a little since I would start her out on mostly hay and slowly increase the grain, but still, it was enjoy to attract her attention from a clump of grass towards me. Cautiously, she walked in a squiggled path towards me and sniffed at the unfamiliar pellets before eating. As she dug into the bucket, I reached out to pat her neck. Surprised, she backed up a few steps before snorting and returning to the small amount of food she had left. Gently attaching a lead rope to her worn red halter, I led her at a distance to a large, extra padded stall and closed the door calmly behind her. As she was sniffing at the corners and occasionally taste-testing the unfamiliar shavings, I had a stable-hand bring a full hay-net to the stall so she could occupy herself. Once I was sure she was secure and safe, it was already past the sunset, so I took care of whatever other horses were left to be attended to.

[resolution]

training journal - day two


I was awoken at four o'clock this morning to a loud clattering coming from the barn. Somewhat afraid, I hurriedly rushed out, still in my night clothes, to check on what could possibly be going on. When I swung the door open, a pair of innocent-appearing brown eyes shone back at me through the dark. Upon turning on the lights, I saw that it was my mustang, her head halfway in a ripped bag of grain.

At this moment, three major questions adorned my thoughts. One: how did she get out of the stall? Two: How did she get into the feed room. And three: How did see get into a fresh bag of grain. Luckily, she didn't eat too much of the food before I took a gentle hold of her halter and led her into her stall, which had been opened as though a person lifted and pushed the latch on it. Figuring that I might have just made an error in latching it, I made sure that it was secure before I began to clean up the spilled grain.

Just a few minutes and a series of metallic clicks later, as I was kneeling to sweep the grain into a dustpan, I felt a hot breath on the back of my neck. Turning my head back, I fell forward when it was the face of a roan mare with a broken face marking. The stall door was hanging open again, and she was freely roaming. Puzzled, I placed the mare in her stall once again and inspected the lock. It was functioning perfectly, so I had no clue how she was doing this. Turning my back and beginning to walk towards the grain again, I looked back as soon as I begun to hear those metallic clicks.

Behind me, the mustang had extended her upper lip to successfully lift and push the latch into the unlocked position. She then proceeded to easily push the door and leave the stall until I stopped her and made her back-up into the stall. Somewhat amazed, I let out a small chuckle, then shook my head. I had never had a horse been able to open the locks on my stalls before. However, after supplying the mare with a few flakes of hay, she halted her escape attempts and allowed me to clean up the grain and get properly dressed.

By the time six o'clock rolled around along with the stable-hands, I was beginning my first attempt to groom the mare in our groom stall. She seemed a bit curious about the new tools, but she let me brush her and after a few attempts, pick up her feet and clean her hooves. I was even able to brush out her mane and forelock but she was a bit touchy about her tail, which was to be expected. As the sun began to rise in the sky, I thought that the hot weather of today would make a great day to walk her around the property by hand. It would be good to allow her to inspect the facilities before she began working in them.

The first stop was the pastures, where my other horses were peacefully grazing. I was planning on isolating her in pasture today and finding her some pasture mates tomorrow, but she looked curious and intrigued by the grazing mares and geldings in the paddocks. She did pull me a bit towards the other horses, but I was able to brace myself and lead her into the outdoor arena. The sand was freshly watered, so the mare seemed curious at the new texture. I ended up taking the lead rope off and letting her wander to see the jumps, poles and flowers, but I had to fetch her when she tried to eat the faux grass on one of the fences.

Throughout the day we saw the indoor, the beginning of the trails and the manure pile, but she seemed happiest when I turned her outside in her personal paddock. Satisfied that she was secure by double locking the gate in an intricate design, I headed back to the barn. I would have to find a name for her soon, probably something related to her 'habit', but that would come tomorrow.

[resolution]

((had this written, just forgot to post it yesterday :|))

training journal - day three


Due to the heavy duty lock that I put on to the stall, I was able to wake up at a normal time and head out to the barn. Today I would attempt to turn the mustang, who I've officially decided to call Nine, out with a few of my mares in a large pasture. I decided after much though to use Charge, Charlie, and Flurry; a few good-natured mares who would have patience when interacting with the curious young mustang. After a bit of introduction between the horses, Nine began to frolic around with the other youngest mare, Charlie. She looked to be safely having quite a ball, so I decided to leave her out for a few hours before beginning my work with her.

After finishing my morning riding with my other horses, I returned a few hours later to the pasture where Nine was quietly munching on the thick grass with the other three mares. Heading out with a halter and lead, I began to head towards her and without much resistance, she allowed me to slip the halter over her ears. Beginning to walk, the mare followed at a steady distance behind me, looking back at the other horses every so often. Even so, I herded her out through the gate and shut it behind me. Today I would be doing a bit of free-lunging in the ring, just as I did with the other young horses.

Being that I didn't truly have a clear idea of what this mustang would be most suited to, I would first simply see what her movements clued me into. I had a few small fences set up on the outside of the ring, just in case she would prefer to jump instead of gallop. Unclipping the lead rope from her halter, I set it outside the gate while Nine began to wander and attempt to stick her head through the fence to reach the grass on the outside edge.

As soon as Nine caught sight of the black lunge whip held pointed downwards in my hand, she began to gallop, more out of excitement than fear it seemed. With her mane and tail flowing in the wind, it wasn't hard to believe that she was a wild horse just a short time ago. She nimbly weaving in and out of the various obstacles in the ring, so I decided to try pushing her outwards to jump the small, two foot vertical on the outer edge of the arena. Stepping out towards the outside, I raised to whip gently to urge her to gallop towards the fence.

Nine was surprisingly cautious and careful over the small fence, taking extra care to make sure all four feet went safely over. Satisfied with this, I allowed the mare, who was barely breathing more heavily than usual, to be finished for the day. Out of curiosity, she approached me as I put the lunge whip in its original place again. Turning around, I saw Nine just inches away from me. Tentatively, I reached out a hand and softly stroked her muzzle. Although she was a bit suspicious, she allowed me to pet her.

I decided that today held plenty of progress, so I led the horse back out to the pasture where the other three mares were eagerly awaiting her return. Once I made sure the gate was securely locked and Nine trotted out to the rest of the herd, I headed back to turn in for the night.

[resolution]

training journal - day four


Being that I left the horses out overnight in the fair weather, I was half-expecting Nine to be in some sort of shenanigans. To my surprise, she was simply standing peacefully and grazing next to the other horses. Not being able to suppress a grin, I went in the barn to begin fixing food for the horses. Normally I'd let the stable-hands do this but occasionally I get in the mood to put the grain buckets into the golf cart and feed the horses myself. Doing this, I went around to the various paddocks and dumped the grain in the buckets. It was somewhat amusing that each horse knew who ate first and whose food I dumped into each container.

Eventually I made my way to Nine's pasture, which I saved for last. Quickly I dumped Flurry, Charge, and Charlie's grain into the various buckets, which they promptly dug into. At this point, Nine was just starting to make her way over to where I had her grain, seemingly confused by the process. Once she realized that it was grain, though, she ate just as ravenously as the others. While the horses ate, I helped the stable-hands to check water troughs and throw hay to the horses. Today was extraordinarily hot, so I figured that I would go with something simple and non-demanding for the day's training. I figured that I'd work on a full grooming session.

Pulling the roan mustang into the outdoor wash stall, I held her lead rope in one hand and the hose in the other. Starting with her legs, Nine seemed a bit confused about the water and stepped back, forth, and side to side to try and avoid it. After I began to work my way up to her sides, she seemed to relax and find the process soothing. I thought that she might even fall asleep as I hosed her neck and even her entire face. She seemed even to enjoy getting her face hosed, which I thought to be rather odd.

I managed to lather her completely with soap from head to hoof. It rinsed off to reveal a sleek grullo roan coat and a shining mane and tail. Once I sweat-scraped her, she let me run a brush through her forelock, mane, and even through her tail. To my surprise, her tail turned out to be full and healthy. Attaching her to the fence with a safety knot, I waited for her to dry in the sunshine while I twisted her mane into a running braid. It turned out looking well, and as I led her back out to the pasture, it seemed as though she was prancing to show her fancy hairstyle off to the other horses. Even though I was fairly sure it wouldn't last until tomorrow, it made me happy to take care of her.

[resolution]

training journal - day five


It was gonna be another hot day today, so I woke up early to work with the horses before the brunt heat of the sun came. The horses spent last night in their stalls, so Nine was just beginning to wake up and munch on the morning's hay when I came to her stall. Today, instead of letting her free-lunge in the entire ring, I would see how she would react when put on an actual lunge-line. She seemed rather mellow as I put her on the cross-ties and brushed the dust off of her coat. Her braid had long since fallen out, but it was still silky and untangled.

The arena was recently drug, so the ground was moist and loose. I left the lunge whip by my feet and raised the coiled end of the line. Nine attempted to walk straight out but was a bit confused when I asked her to walk in a circle around me. Eventually she was tracking in a mostly rounded circle, so I slowly and smoothly raised the whip and held it parallel to the ground. With a bit of excitement, she picked up a long extended trot, her tail sticking straight out. She seemed to forget for a moment about the lunge-line. I kept tension on the lines, signaling her to continue in the tidy circle.

Soon she relaxed and fell into a working trot, her gait smooth and seemingly effortless. Even her canter, when asked, seemed comfortable and calm. Asking Nine to stop in order to reverse the direction that she was going in, I was surprised that she was barely even breathing above a normal rate after fifteen minutes of moderate work. It made me realize just how fit the wild horses really were. Moving on, she went about the gaits a little stiffer when tracking to the right; however, I was able to dismiss it as a simple lack of work in this direction. Happy with her work, I rubbed the roan mare's ears: they seemed to be her favorite place to be petted.

I decided that this was enough, so I let Nine relax in the stall before it was even noon. Luckily our barn was always relatively cool and each stall had a personal fan, so the horses wouldn't overheat very easily. I had it scheduled for my vet to come out and take a general examination of Nine tomorrow, which is something that I had skipped with last year's mustang. The mare seemed content enough just to stand in front of the fan with her hay, so I left it at that for the day.

[resolution]

training journal - day six


While walking out to the barn in order to prepare Nine for her vet check today, I was shocked to find the roan mare peacefully grazing on the lush grass entirely outside of her pasture. Looking over at the pasture, I saw the gate securely closed, and there were no breaks or cracks anywhere in my over four foot high paddock fencing, which was also equipped with an electric wire on the top and bottom layers. So, there seemed to be no logical explanation as to just how Nine was able to escape from her pasture to the yard behind the barn.

Luckily, although I don't have any way to see the inside of the barn, the farm has security cameras on the outside, designed to begin recording at any possible sign of movement. After leading the mare into her double locked stall, I went to the office and decided to check out what evidence the camera picked up. To my surprise, just about two hours after the stable-hands had left and the horses ran out of the hay we supplied them with and began to fall asleep, a wily grullo roan mare was busy galloping laps around the paddock. After about five times around, she locked her vision on to the white fence, which, mind you, stands at about four feet and three inches tall. Once I saw her going full-steam towards it, I already knew what was going to come next. The mustang cleared the fence, not even coming close to the electric wire or the top of the post. From then until the time I came out, she simply grazed on the more abundant amount of grass on the other side.

My mouth was gaping open like a fish when I saw this. In all of my years, the worst I'd ever seen a horse do in the paddock was become frisky and receive a shock from the wire when it tried to run through the fence. Then it left it alone for the rest of their life. But no, Nine had illogically managed to jump right over the post which, for her size, should have been fairly impossible. I rubbed around my temples with stress. In the overall outcome of things; however, if it hadn't been for this, I don't think I would have found the discipline I did for my mustang.

The vet came out later that day and gave Nine a very clean bill of health, taking a real note on her natural athleticism. I almost laughed, considering what she had done earlier that morning, but I kept my mouth shut because it didn't seem like a natural thing to say at this moment. Once the test was finished and the vet had packed up and left, I went out to the ring again with my lunge line and horse. This time, I had a small vertical set on a pair of lunging standards, which I let Nine investigate while I moved two poles on either side of it to make a chute of sorts. After having the mare walk, trot, and canter on the lunge line, a process which she adapted to quickly and seemed to enjoy, I moved my circle to include the lunge jump.

At first, she stopped dead at the fence and just stared at it, like she was unsure what to do with the situation that she had handled perfectly just days ago. On the second try, she also stopped, but this time I had my whip ready. One look and she jumped from a standstill over it. Third time seemed to be the charm as Nine trotted forwardly to it and cantered away neatly. She definitely had a natural aptitude for jumping and an even bigger talent for getting out of what she didn't want to do. Changing the direction of the horse and taking away the chute, it seemed that Nine was beginning to enjoy the whole jumping exercise, for she eagerly cantered and, although it was sloppy, she did what was half a jump and half a step over the rail. She seemed very proud of her self as she galloped and threw a few bucks: almost to the point that she was ripping the lunge line out of my hands.

I decided that was plenty of exercise for the mare, so I simply groomed her and let her relax in her stall for the rest of the day. At some point this week, I was thinking of setting up an actual chute, like how they do with the prospective yearlings and two year olds, and see how she handled that. Oh, and I finally figured out what discipline I was going to attempt to train Nine in. Cross country sounded the most ideal for the energy-filled and eager to jump mare.

[resolution]

training journal - day seven


Today was unbelievably hot; I couldn't even think to work any of the horses today. Every horse was inside and in front of a fan on the highest power. I decided that today would be a good day to leave Nine to herself while I set up the chute I had thought of from yesterday. The weather forecast predicted heavy rain for tomorrow, so I had the stable-hands help me to bring in all of the fences into the storage shed that we used to protect the paint from any chipping or damage.

Luckily, Nine stayed put in the "maximum security cell", which is what we called her stall considering that it was so tightly locked shut. I retired back to my house early so that the horses could easily relax in the cool breeze that blew through the aisle of the airy barn.

training journal - day eight


As forecasted, it was raining fiercely outside. Again, all the horses were inside, but the fans could be turned off due to the fact that the rain cooled everything down considerably. Pulling Nine out and on to the cross ties, I noticed that she had even more energy and excitement than usual. This was probably due to the fact that she did very little in terms of work yesterday, in addition to the fact that it was cooler than usual today. She seemed to have gotten better with the whole grooming process as she let me pick up all four hooves and carefully brush through her thick, dark tail. Equipped with just my mustang, I headed toward the indoor.

As soon as I had the gate locked on the arena, I unclipped the lead rope from Nine's halter and reached for the lunge whip. The opening and closing of the chute was blocked off, so Nine would only be able to flat first. Our chute was fairly simple: just a small bounce followed by three full strides to the oxer, which would be the jump we would raise as we went along. It was currently set at an easy two foot and six inch vertical, with the bounce being barely single foot tall verticals. Nine free-lunged in the remainder of the ring as easy as usual, which left me with no concerns to begin the actual chute. She energetically trotted towards me to investigate as I unblocked the entrance and exit of the jumping chute.

I started out by moving Nine towards the bounce at a lively trot. She looked a bit confused as a new fence came directly after the first one, and smacked the pole to the ground before stopping at the vertical. The roan mare was breathing rather roughly, so I dropped the whip and hurried over to her. After patting her neck until she was calm, I took down the poles and let her out of the chute. After setting the fences back up, I decided that the safest option would be to take down the fence after the bounce so that she could get used to it. Starting the chute again at the same forward trot, Nine returned to the fence with a renewed confidence and seemed to have figured it out. Although it was unrefined, she made it safely through the combination. I patted her graciously and gave plenty of praise before adding the third fence back to the chute.

This time, Nine took a step of canter before the bounce, finally getting the hang of the jump before chipping an extra stride before the two foot six inch vertical. Although it was a bit sloppy, the mustang made it safely over the fence. This time, I added and raised the hind rail to just under three feet. There was only about a foot of spread on the fence, but it would make for a different jump than just the vertical. Nine seemed excited by the larger fence, so after taking the bounce strongly, she eagerly filled the three strides inbetween and leapt right over the oxer. After another round of praise, I decided that one more time would do it for today. This time, I made the oxer's rails even at around three feet and three inches. Because of this, I also raised the bounce just a few inches more, and spaced out the standards just a small amount.

Nine came cantering towards the bounce and comfortably jumped over the two rails, seemingly used to the odd combination which had tripped her up at first. One look towards the bigger, airy obstacle: Nine was locked onto it. Cantering the three strides eagerly, she cleared the top rails effortlessly. She was so happy with herself, trotting around the ring with her tail held high. That was an adequate exercise for today, and depending on the weather tomorrow, we might continue the chute exercises tomorrow.