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...