At the farm

Here is a photo of John and I when we visited Dakota in the evening. Mila joined us as well.

Success!!

One of my biggest problems with Dakota has been to get her to eat her vitamins!! Having been on green grass pasture for the past year and much of her young life, she had never seen an apple or a carrot, nor had she been fed grain. Her vitamins are pellets, which she looked at with utter disinterest. I did buy some molasses and oat cookies that she nibbled a couple of times (including during her lessons today, as pictured on the left--that's her munching a cookie), so I thought I'd keep trying things with molasses in it. I made a concoction of molasses and her vitamins and some of those cookies all ground up and mixed together. And today, SUCCESS! She didn't eat it all and she played with it a lot, but she DID eat some (pic on right)! You don't know! I was worried about this, since she needs her vitamins. She is a growing girl, after all!!

She's also doing really well with her lessons. Today I sent her away, which is the precursor and foundation of all future round pen and longeline work. She follows me everywhere, so it was hard to send her away and it confused her a bit. But before long I could see the gears moving and something clicked and she moved forward for a time without my urging. I then invited her back in and she came right up. This horse learns quickly and easily. My only problem with her will be keeping her interested and from getting bored. I understand, since I also bore easily!

Dakota at dusk in her pen. You can see the smokey haze left over from our two fires.














In her run-in. I often visit her in the late afternoons or evenings and we stand together in her run-in, very relaxed, just hanging out. It's been good bonding. She steps in closer and closer as we stand, eventually resting her nose on my arm. She loves being close and I think gets lonely without her herd. She has made friends with the large black horse next to her named Shadow. How appropriate...

She's doing great!

Dakota is a great horse! Let me just say that once and for all. Today was a good day. She stood quietly for grooming and let me pick up all her feet, including her right hind leg which for some reason she really does NOT want to lift! We ran together in the big arena and she followed me around like a puppy. I'm trying to get her to move away from me and work in the round pen, but I'll have to read more about how to do that. She is stuck to me like glue. She learned some new things, like the command 'back' along with different hand signals. We are starting to learn the 'yo-yo' game (Google Parelli games). She doesn't get it yet, but I can see her trying to figure it out. She seems to really like to learn and learns fast! She remembers almost everything I teach her the first time. Not used to that! I used to work with horses that were much more 'hot' and tense and harder to teach. I've decided Dakota is a 'left-brained introvert' in Parelli horsenality language. She could be a LB extrovert, but I don't think that is her tendency. She is confident and strong-willed, but not overly so. She learns very quickly but I need to balance her by teaching her to be more sensitive and move forward. I think this will be her 'learning curve,' though getting her as a youngster makes all the difference! Whatever tendencies she has can be balanced so much more easily in a young horse than an older horse.

Here is something I wrote on facebook yesterday:

My horse got her feet trimmed today. Saw the vet on Thursday. She is so sweet and lovely...when she's not being a bratty teenage yearling! Her face was too big for the fly mask my friend Trish gave me. She's going to be a big girl!!! I stood with her for an hour in her run-in and she snuggled against my arm and whinnied when I left...I love her...

First day

If there is a heaven on earth, I surely was there this morning. I went out to see Dakota for our first day together in her new home. Surrounded by mountains, lying in a valley, the stables itself is a place to visit! What a beautiful, peaceful setting. Allen, the stable owner, is funny, kind and very laid back. And he takes excellent care of the horses et al. It seems like a really nice, unpretentious group out there! My kind of folk!

Dakota was eating peacefully, though apparently there was a bit of whinnying for her herd last night. The rest of the stables responded, so I'm sure she felt welcomed and comforted by that! It must have made a bit of a din at the time, but she seems to have accepted things very well. We went for a long walk around her new home, walking down the aisles of other outdoor pens, getting to know the other horses a bit. We went into the barn, spent some time in each arena. She sniffed and explored many things. Even manure tubs are new and surprising to her! And the sound poop makes when I dump it into a bucket (have to clean up after my horse, after all!). I let her off her lead in the arenas, but she stuck to my side like she was glued there. Or attached by a long rubber band. She'd go towards something to look at it, then immediately come back to my side. In her pen, if I even go to momentarily check something out she follows. I feel like a horse whisperer, because it is just like that. She follows every move I make. So interesting how that behavior is imprinted in horses!

We did some foot lifting. Definitely have to keep working that one, but she learns quickly and we made progress. I can touch and scratch her everywhere. I threw my jacket on her back, rubbed her with it, tossed it around on her head (doesn't make a very good hat), did all kinds of crazy things with it and she didn't budge. So I guess she trusts me! We are doing some yielding work as well. She's doing great with that though she definitely has a 'piggy' side. Her left side moves away quickly and she will yield her left legs to me no problem. Right side, a bit more stubborn!! So that is her piggy side, the one she'll be pushier with. Harder to get her to yield, to pick up those feet, especially her right back foot. She also has a bump on her pastern, so it may be a little painful too.

But she's learning and I'm amazed and happy at her progress. She's a smart horse with tons of common sense, which will come in very handy on our adventures to come! Yay, Dakota!!!!!

All moved in!

Yesterday we moved Dakota from the place where she was born and lived her whole life up till now. She'd been handled as a weanling then turned out with the herd of brood mares and babies, where she'd lived for the past year. A good life for a horse to lead! A beautiful pasture and great socialization while living a more natural life. But she hasn't been handled much, so it was a huge deal to bring her in from the herd and start to work with her. She did really great. Not a big fuss when we brought her in, and she learned things very quickly. She went from not letting anyone touch her past the neck to letting me touch every inch of her body in about five minutes! Gotta love those natural horsemanship techniques! Then I started teaching her a little about how to yield to my touch. She picked that up very quickly. And we did lots of walking around with the halter and lead. She showed herself to be a very quick learner, confident and calm.

But I was VERY nervous about moving her. She'd had about four days of handling and not as much of it as she should have had for such a big event. It was hard to get out to her since she was about 40 minutes away. She did not load immediately as I hoped she would, but got up to the ramp then stopped. While John chronicled the whole thing (link to photos), I led her in, or tried to, and Allen, the owner of the new stable we were bringing her to, and Robert, the ranch hand at the old stable, both worked to put more pressure on her to get into the trailer. It took about 15 minutes or so, but at one point, she finally decided to go in and once in, she stayed in! I did what I had thought about doing all along, which is to ride with her in the trailer! I think Allen thought I was kind of nuts, but it seemed the right thing to do. I'm really glad I did. She of course was pretty surprised when the earth, i.e., the trailer, started to move! It was a bumpy beginning, since the road we were on was gravel. She pulled a bit, tossed her head a bit, stomped loudly and snorted a bit. But that didn't last long and she settled down nicely. I believe it was very helpful that I was with her. I wanted her first trailer experience to be as non-traumatic as possible, and without the presence of an older horse to guide her, she had me! We did a good deal of bonding in that situation, and I got to see what a horse goes through while being trailered. It's a lot of work for them to compensate for all the moving! It's also very noisy and there are lots of sudden jolts and bumps.

All-in-all, I think Dakota did really well. She was so calm by the time we got there that she backed out very easily and slowly. She was very curious about her new environment, but the only time she seemed a little wary was when she saw dogs for the first time. Understandable, since they are a predator species! Mostly she was very alert and curious, and when we got to her pen, she went right in and started sniffing the place out. She nibbled some weeds and a bit of her hay, and followed me around wherever I went. Allen stayed out with me for a bit, then John and I spent a bit of time with her. I had planned to take John home then come back, but it was late and I was tired and she needed to settle in. So I said my goodbyes and John and I went home. Dakota watched me as I left.

It was a huge day for all of us, for me, John and Dakota! But now she is five minutes away in a lovely stables under the good care of Allen and surrounded by other horses and horse people. I feel we are both in very good hands! And I get to see her any time I want. I plan this morning to wait till she's eaten, then head out and take her all around the property to check out her new home. I have to start working with her in earnest now. Do a lot more of what we have started to do, learning trust and respect, working with her to pick up her feet, getting her used to being handled, then some round pen work to try more new techniques and learn more new things. I plan on many long, long walks with her, taking her to the places I'll eventually ride her through. We are off to quite an adventure. I felt like, riding with her in the trailer, she and I were crossing a threshold together into a whole new life. I'm so glad I shared that moment with her.

More to come...

She's a yearling

She's going to get taller and a good deal bigger. No riding for a while. No saddle until the spring when I'll introduce her to the saddle and slowly build on that. She's quite young and I have a lot of time to prepare for the bigger stuff! I love having a young one to train!

I have a horse!

On September 11, 2009, the anniversary of a profound and pivotal event in our collective consciousness, I have begun my own healing by inaugurating this day with something amazing and wonderful. I am the proud owner of a new horse! Her registered name is Peacocks Hottie, and I chose to not use that name! No offense to the wonderful breeder, Bill Warne, though I'm not sure who actually named her that. I don't go much in for registered names unless they happen to fit the horse. I believe each entity has its own name that represents its essential nature. The name that was coming to me for several months before I found this little filly was 'Cody.' I didn't feel much connection with it and find it to be an 'okay' name, but nothing special. After meeting my new best friend, I thought about it some more and thought that perhaps it was a nickname for something else. As soon as I had this thought, Dakota popped into my head! Dakota. A lovely name that means 'friend' or 'ally' in Lakota Sioux, according to online sources! Perfect. And what is the nickname for Dakota? Koti! So it wasn't Cody but Koti that I kept hearing. And this is her name. Dakota. Koti for short!

How I found her: I had heard from a friend about a fellow who needed to sell off some of his horses. I went out and found a collection of some of the most beautiful Quarter Horses I've seen in a very long while! All from ages 6 mos. to several years old. The horses he is selling are mostly young ones. He showed me 2 two-year-olds that were lovely. Then a group of yearlings (around 1.5 years old), two of whom I really liked. Liked, but didn't go 'yes, that's the one.' I stood there, unable to decide between them, liking qualities of both. Bill then said he had another yearling out with the 'wild ones,' meaning the herd that lived in a large pasture. They are not true wild horses, but they are largely left alone, which meant that, while she'd had some handling as a weanling, not much had been done with her. We went out for a long ride on his scooter and there she was, among a family of horses. She came right up, ate hay from my hand, and I watched her for a while. Then, I approached her and, while she was shy, she was very curious and willing. I was able to scratch her all around her head and neck and it was when she closed her eyes and leaned into my hand, which was scratching around her ears, that I felt the 'yes, this is the one!' She was so sweet and what I got from her was that she was totally ready to connect with a human, with me, but just needed the chance to do it.

I came back the next day and got a halter on her very easily, then we led her in. She did really great and went right into her pen. For the next three days, until today, I've been over working with her. She has come along so quickly I think it surprised everyone! She's beautiful and intelligent and curious. She learns very quickly and remembers everything I teach her. It sticks! Today I bought her and got her papers and she is all mine. With animals, I'm not sure what that means to say 'she is mine.' Nor with inanimate things. How can something that has its own integrity and, in her case, life be "mine." But still, she is mine to take, to play with, to love, to teach, to learn from. She has shown herself so far to be willing and highly interested in learning new things.

Tomorrow night is a huge test. I pack her up onto a trailer and move her to her new home, Ashland Hills Stables. It's about a half hour drive and will be traumatic for her in a way. So many new experiences for her. And a brand new place to be. The stables is five minutes from my house, so I'm ecstatic. Just have to get through the next 28 or so hours! She'll be moving Saturday evening, so by Sunday AM she'll be home.

I pause as I write this, absorbing the miracle of the past two months, being in Ashland, now owning this amazing horse. Dakota, friend, ally in the work, on my journey.

Here are a collection of pictures gleaned from the past four days of my encounter with Dakota and then my working with her. It's just the beginning of course of a hopefully very long and very amazing relationship.

Photos: http://gallery.me.com/pootiwriter#100099