It's been about five years since I was a horse owner, and I'm so glad to be one again! Dave had the idea of me keeping a blog of my horsey stuff and I thought it was an amazing idea. I kept a training journal when I trained Woody, my baby thoroughbred, and I'm actually looking forward to reading back to that as I progress with the new horse.
Since we moved to NH, I've been leasing a couple of different horses, leasing a pony for the kids, and desperately wanting to really get back into the horse world.
I guess the story of Chenoa/Lola (we still aren't sure what we are going to call her) begins about a month ago. I was reading www.nhequestrians.com as I do all the time. There were two pictures of a black and white paint filly, a "baby" picture and a more current picture, and I just couldn't get her out of my mind. I was obsessed with the pictures and kept going back to look at the ad again. I decided I had to go see her.
Here's the text from the ad:
Chenoa is a striking 2004 PerchXPaint filly, coming two years old. She’s black & white, flashy, and not too drafty – will be great for riding or driving . Very sweet and easy to work with. Great home only. Listed 2/21/06
I went to see her, and I just couldn't believe how sweet and gentle she was. Here's a horse, less than two years old, that has had minimal training, and she just obviously loves people. Dave and I talked it over and decided it just wasn't the right time for me to own a horse.
Emailed the seller and told her that I loved the horse, but just couldn't make a purchase right now. She emails me back and tells me she'll take $500 off the price, will that help? Of course I went to see her again. I couldn't stop thinking about this horse for some reason. Dave and I talked some more, and I wrote the seller back and told her the good news.
Last Thursday, I had a pre-purchase exam done, and all went well. The vet made a comment about how he was sure the filly and I were going to be a good team that we already seemed bonded. I just love that horse!
I had planned to leave her with the seller until after this next weekend because I've got to go away for a few days, but the seller was anxious to get her off her property. The seller didn't really want to sell her, but had a lot of horses and needed to thin things out a little bit. She said that having Chenoa at her house was hard because she kept looking at her and knowing that she wasn't hers any more. It was a bit crazy, but we managed to get the Coggins and Vet certificate on time, and we moved Chenoa on Sunday.
She trailered well and is settling in to her new home very well. She's living with 24 hour pasture access and 24 hour stall access. She lives with a 4 yr old Thoroughbred mare, an 11 year old Belgian Draft mare, a 25 yr old pony mare, and a mini gelding. For some reason she hates the mini. She pins her ears and chases him off. Thankfully, the mares have all been really good together. No one is being aggressive and they are getting along well.
I've been to visit a couple of times, but haven't had a chance to work with her much yet. Tomorrow is my big day! I've got a babysitter in the afternoon, and I'll have a couple of hours to spend with my new baby. I'm very excited! I've groomed her a bit, and fed her lots of treats, but tomorrow will be the first day I really get a chance to start working her.
My current plan is a Natural Horsemanship focus. I really like Pat Parelli's stuff, but I have read some John Lyons, and many others and plan to use my own little training program, but all with a Natural focus. I would love to be in a position to feel comfortable starting her very lightly under saddle this Fall, giving her the winter off from under saddle work, and then really starting her under saddle in the spring. It is going to be really interesting to see how I manage my kids, husband, part time job, dogs, house, and training a baby horse. I think I'm going to need a way to make more hours in a day.
Tomorrow's plan is lots of grooming, lots of leading around, lots of touching, patting, working with her hooves, and starting some basic yield from pressure stuff. I can't wait!
Since we moved to NH, I've been leasing a couple of different horses, leasing a pony for the kids, and desperately wanting to really get back into the horse world.
I guess the story of Chenoa/Lola (we still aren't sure what we are going to call her) begins about a month ago. I was reading www.nhequestrians.com as I do all the time. There were two pictures of a black and white paint filly, a "baby" picture and a more current picture, and I just couldn't get her out of my mind. I was obsessed with the pictures and kept going back to look at the ad again. I decided I had to go see her.
Here's the text from the ad:
Chenoa is a striking 2004 PerchXPaint filly, coming two years old. She’s black & white, flashy, and not too drafty – will be great for riding or driving . Very sweet and easy to work with. Great home only. Listed 2/21/06
I went to see her, and I just couldn't believe how sweet and gentle she was. Here's a horse, less than two years old, that has had minimal training, and she just obviously loves people. Dave and I talked it over and decided it just wasn't the right time for me to own a horse.
Emailed the seller and told her that I loved the horse, but just couldn't make a purchase right now. She emails me back and tells me she'll take $500 off the price, will that help? Of course I went to see her again. I couldn't stop thinking about this horse for some reason. Dave and I talked some more, and I wrote the seller back and told her the good news.
Last Thursday, I had a pre-purchase exam done, and all went well. The vet made a comment about how he was sure the filly and I were going to be a good team that we already seemed bonded. I just love that horse!
I had planned to leave her with the seller until after this next weekend because I've got to go away for a few days, but the seller was anxious to get her off her property. The seller didn't really want to sell her, but had a lot of horses and needed to thin things out a little bit. She said that having Chenoa at her house was hard because she kept looking at her and knowing that she wasn't hers any more. It was a bit crazy, but we managed to get the Coggins and Vet certificate on time, and we moved Chenoa on Sunday.
She trailered well and is settling in to her new home very well. She's living with 24 hour pasture access and 24 hour stall access. She lives with a 4 yr old Thoroughbred mare, an 11 year old Belgian Draft mare, a 25 yr old pony mare, and a mini gelding. For some reason she hates the mini. She pins her ears and chases him off. Thankfully, the mares have all been really good together. No one is being aggressive and they are getting along well.
I've been to visit a couple of times, but haven't had a chance to work with her much yet. Tomorrow is my big day! I've got a babysitter in the afternoon, and I'll have a couple of hours to spend with my new baby. I'm very excited! I've groomed her a bit, and fed her lots of treats, but tomorrow will be the first day I really get a chance to start working her.
My current plan is a Natural Horsemanship focus. I really like Pat Parelli's stuff, but I have read some John Lyons, and many others and plan to use my own little training program, but all with a Natural focus. I would love to be in a position to feel comfortable starting her very lightly under saddle this Fall, giving her the winter off from under saddle work, and then really starting her under saddle in the spring. It is going to be really interesting to see how I manage my kids, husband, part time job, dogs, house, and training a baby horse. I think I'm going to need a way to make more hours in a day.
Tomorrow's plan is lots of grooming, lots of leading around, lots of touching, patting, working with her hooves, and starting some basic yield from pressure stuff. I can't wait!
posted by Lisa @ 4:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home