Above is Gladys with Serene....  not sure why I want to take her photo.

Sienna just positive that there has to be more grain there on the ground.  :-)

Update

Another new day has arrived.  I have heard that the court date for Sienna's and Gladys's custody is finally coming next month.  They have really adapted to life on the farm here....  Sienna is such a pushy little girl, but continues to be extremely friendly.  Gladys has gotten more settled and less threatened when someone is around her.  I can now walk up behind her and touch her on her rump without her threatening to kick.  Such lovely ladies.

I hope to be able to get out soon and work with them more, as I am now retired and it will be warming up soon.  They both need ground work and I need to get myself more ingrained as the herd boss.  :-)

I'll try to get some updated photos loaded here soon.

Hasn't been a lot to report lately on Gladys and Sienna.  They are both healthy, happy horses right now.  To see them, you would have no idea that they were so starved and emaciated.  :-)  They both willingly come to me in the pasture, are easily haltered and lead well.  I had my trainer come on Sunday to help me get Gladys started with her training.  She worked on getting Glad to give to pressure on the halter, walking and watching body cues as to when to start and halt.  When she tries to barge through me, I am to circle her in a tight circle, or at times make her back.  She was also introduced to the lunging whip.  Just taking in over her body and getting her used to the feel of it rubbing over her body.  Gladys is a very intelligent mare.  You can tell she's constantly thinking about what you are asking her.  She is not going to be an "easy" mare to train and ride.  I'm thinking it will need to be a rider that absolutely is confident in their ability to ask and gain her trust and partnership.  SO, not too sure she's going to be the horse for Jerry.... :-(  But, that's OK...  I'll ride her. 

First work session

Holly came last night and helped me work with Glad & Sienna.  She actually first worked my TB, Buddy, getting him back into some semblance of a work ethic.    Before she left, she put a halter on Glad and just worked on getting her to give her hindquarters and getting her to move in a circle... this is in preparation for starting lounge work.  She did the same with Sienna and Holly was very complimentary about Sienna's intelligence and willingness.  Holly thinks that Sienna could possibly make 16 hands when she is full grown, and that she might be part TB... which is good news to me. 

Now I have some things to work on over the next few weeks with them both.  I hope to attempt to put a blanket and, possibly, a saddle on Glad this weekend.  I have no idea if she's been under saddle yet or not.  I am anxious to give this a try.  :-)

More later.

Wednesday musings

Glad and Sienna continue to gain weight and are looking quite posh.  They are now starting to get their winter woolies in and are quite fuzzy feeling right now.  My instructor will be coming out tonight to give me a riding lesson on my Buddy.  She will help me evaluate the amount of training that Glad may or may not have on her.  I will enlist her help at getting Glad started under saddle. 

Will post more about the evaluation tomorrow!

Friday musings

Glad and Sienna are now out in the big pasture.  They are running and bucking going to and fro from the hay field that they are able to graze in.  It's lovely seeing them so carefree.  They are in good flesh and in good health now.  I will continue to work with them on their ground manners and picking up their feet.  I plan to try to see if Glad has been started under saddle yet, or if we need to move forward with her training in that respect.  Sienna is a bit on the cheeky side, but then she's just a baby and we will also work on that.  There is still no news in regards to when they will be available for adoption.  The court is trying to decide how long to wait as far as trying to locate the man that owns them.  So, patience is in order.  Right now they are safe and well cared for. 

Thanks to all who are following this blog.  I will once again make a plea for donations for the Lawrence Humane Society to help with the monetary needs as far as the care for Glad and Sienna and any other horse that needs to come into foster care.  http://www.lawrencehumane.org/

Working with Sienna

Last night I decided that I really had to start working with Sienna more.  She's feeling better and becoming more of an assertive and pushy little girl.  I got her haltered and started leading her down the drive, doing walk/halt/back every few feet.  She was actually pretty good about it.  A couple of times she decided that she was going to try to barge through and past me.  This was met with a sharp tug on the halter and a firm whoa!  She is very intelligent and picked up quickly that she was not going to be allowed to get away from me. 

We then moved onto working with her picking up her feet.  She's been running through Jerry when he tries to hold her for me while I pick up her feet.  I thought I'd try to put her on one side of the hitching post and Jerry holding her on the other side.  This worked out fairly well.  She quickly learned that she could not shoot forward and through Jerry. We are still trying to get her to hold her feet up for more than a few seconds, but that will come with time.