Feeling better!

     Jellybean seems to have been feeling better this evening! She scarfed down her dinner like a champ.

     It was fun tonight when Robert and I went to a dinner program by the Brazos Extension and TAMU Vet School. Not only did we meet some new friends with Robert's last name, but they are related to Sam and read this blog (hi!). Small world!

Food!

Vaccines are no good!

     I went out to see Jellybean again today, hoping she would be feeling better. Unfortunately, she was still feeling awful. She let me clip her and stretch out all of her legs without any annoyance. She just stood there with her head down. 

So sad :(

     I thought she might not feel well because of muscle soreness, so I worked her in the round pen and tried to warm up her muscles and get her to move. She moved out, but she didn't perk up much. She did eat all her food though, so that was some improvement. :(

Not feeling well...

     Went to feed Jellybean last night and she was very uninterested in food. She didn't eat the rest of her dinner! 

So sad!

     I hope she feels better today, I imagine she felt sick from the vaccines she received Friday morning :(

Long Lining I

     So today we decided to take a few leaps forward in training and try out some new equipment. Maggie told me a strategy her mother and she used breaking babies previously. They own an old vaulting surcingle, and described a technique with two lunge lines and the surcingle. 

     Earlier last week, we tried on the surcingle and practiced moving around with this big annoying piece of equipment on Jellybean's back. Today we reviewed the surcingle in the round pen and then practiced responding to pressure in hand. 

     Jellybean didn't mind the lunging/surcingle ring, but when we were in the large arena she had a lot of trouble understanding the move forward cue. We took a step back, and started trying to learn to move forward in the round pen. She pawed the ground a bit before she figured out how to move forward. Then, BOOM. Jellybean was walking around the round pen in the rig and changing direction with my cues. 

     Next time we practice this exercise we will review in the round pen before moving out to the big arena! I am very excited about this exercise, because I love the idea of the horse already knowing how to turn and move prior to the saddling experience. And hopefully know how to stop :) Until next time!

I'm not really sure how this was comfortable... Or how she didn't fall over...

Bath day!

     Lots of new experiences for Jellybean today! She got to refresh her knowledge of being ponied around. Benny volunteered to help out with Jellybean and let me ride him while we drug her along. 

Benny was a rockstar!

     We managed to walk around both directions and then trot a little. 

Look what a cute little family we are :)

     After we worked on the ponying lesson, we decided to push the envelope even farther and play in the water! 

Yuk water!

This is so wet :s

We figured it out!

     This awesome weather almost makes the few days of crappy weather worth it!

Some more games in the round pen

     What a beautiful day!! About 65 today and nice and clear. We worked in the round pen trying to establish respect. I wanted her to walk consistently around the pen without giving in to the ADD. She didn't really understand, so we will work more on Monday.

Our first suicide attempt

     Well. Today was the day. Jellybean decided she was done with this nasty new pasture. The temperature was brisk, but not too hot to gallop around the pasture, searching for the way out. She galloped past the gate opening to the 200 acre field. No. She saw her opportunity... The wire fence beside the gate. Oh! But its so big! I don't want to... but the corner... I have to... ahhhhh!

     That was a tad dramatic. What actually happened was all the horses in the pasture were galloping around, and Jellybean evidently decided to jump the fence instead of stopping. 

Robert was kind enough to model the fence that she mostly jumped. He's 6'9" for those of you who have never seen him in person. She ripped the wire from the post during her exertion. She looks ashamed.

    Apparently she also dreams of being an acrobat. A witness reported her "graceful" front roll as she hit the ground. She was fine, though in a bit of a mood when I made it out this afternoon. I hope all of her suicide attempts are this minor. And who knows. Maybe she wants to be a jumper when she grows up.

Pedicures and Coats!

    Lots of adventures at the barn today for poor Jellybean. The farrier came out today to trim her hooves. Unfortunately he was late, and I tied Jellybean up long before he arrived. Needless to say, her patience was all out when he showed up an hour and a half later. Luckily, she was mostly sweet for the first two feet, but by the last two she was full on bitch pony. Her tantrum reached a crescendo when she lunged at the farrier, teeth bared and ears flat. But the dog also bit her ankle at the same time... Not sure whether she decided she would kill the farrier or wanted to kill the dog. Either way, she has healthy trimmed feet.

Good looking back hooves!

     Jellybean entertained herself for most of the rest of the day, until I came back this afternoon! When I arrived, it was barn nap time (again) and I caught Benny taking a nap:

Leave me alone, I'm napping!

     After I rode Benny bareback in the cutting pen (whew legs!) I brought Jellybean back to the round pen and worked on bossing her around for a few minutes, getting her to walk and trot 3/4 or the round pen and then changing directions often. Next time I need to grab the whip, she doesn't really care about the lead rope and I sense a challenge in the near future.

     The highlight of the day came when I decided to introduce her to the blanket. The weather has been meh, and I want to make sure she doesn't mind the blanket if we get a real cold snap and rain and need to put it on. Anyway, we played in the round pen and sniffed the blanket Maggie was generous enough to lend me. Then when she was bored sniffing, I put the blanket on her back. She couldn't have cared less. So I finished strapping her in and threw her in a stall to feed her. After dinner, she just let me slide the blanket off her rump. I was so pleased that she didn't care! Maybe Samantha blanketed her at one point...

Look! It mostly fits and she doesn't care :)

     Anyway, last appointment on the schedule. One more vet visit to finish out vaccinations and she's finished. Hopefully the weather will stay nice and I can keep trying to stretch Jellybean's world.

Change in the weather!

     Today was much nicer than the previous few days, although it was significantly colder. Jellybean seems pleased by the addition of the round bale to her pasture, and spends lots of time eating. She's going to be fat soon :) 

     I groomed Jellybean today, and she is getting really smart about picking her feet up and enjoying being brushed. Except of course the other day, when she managed to back up and break her lead rope. Robert rigged it back together and hopefully it will be solid in the future. She also got her first experience up close and personal with the cows. They were lowing (?) at her while she was eating.

     Farrier appointment is all booked for Wednesday morning, hopefully the visit will be pretty boring and easy :) We should start working more in the round pen as the weather drys out. I am also a little more excited to start riding Benny more and ponying Jellybean off him. Robert and I also decided to try and put together some caveletti, for some more fun exercises. 

    Now all we need is decent weather!

But I'm a Pony! Not a duck...

Does this halter make my butt look big?

I will walk around!

I want the treat so bad!

Maybe...

Nope. Not a duck.

     Just another day in the rain :)

Swimming in the pasture...

     What a rainy day!! Again... You can almost see how the field is under water, rough day. Jellybean is on the right in the photos. She was excited about eating dinner.

     We had a short lesson about manners tonight, it was warm and windy in the field and Jellybean wasn't sure about the other horses running around. She almost forgot I was attached to the other end of the halter...

     Over dinner we had another lesson about who is in charge. I ran her off her feed a couple of times, letting her return only when her ears perked forward. Eventually she will learn that I am completely in charge. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

     Before I let her go free, I decided to let her play in the mud a little, and tried to walk her through a deep puddle in the driveway. She didn't buy it, so we compromised and walked through the shallow part. One day at a time i suppose. 

By popular demand...

From the desk of Arielle Milstein: Jellybean, the legless horse! 

Welcome to the Farm!

     I finally bought my own horse!! Dusty Summer is a 1.5 year old quarter horse (grade) mare. She doesn't know much about manners, but she is in good health (according to the vet bill) and should mature in the upper end of 15 hands. I tried to think of a good nickname, but my friends came up with one for me. Since Dusty Summer was only $300, they asked what was wrong with her. Apparently, a little research (via Bonanza) tells us that a good horse in the 60's could be sold for that price. So did she have legs, or did she look like a jellybean? Naming was easy after that.

     Jellybean made it to farm safe and sound on Saturday, January 5th. She met her new pasture mates with minimal fuss, and then seemed sad to be left with horses instead of people. That first night, she had some reluctance to accept the halter, deciding eating leftover hay would be better than paying me attention.

     Since her first night, I have been coming out to groom and feed her. We also took care of worming on her first day (Ivermectin). She was reluctant to pick up her feet at first, but last time I groomed her she didn't hesitate. She isn't very patient, and likes to paw the ground if she is tied. 

     Today, it was almost dark and the farm was buried under a newly formed lake, so we didn't groom. However, Jellybean came running down the pasture with the other assorted horses when I called her in the pasture. Seems shes a creature of routine. 

     As soon as it stops raining we can get started in the round pen, and working through some of John Lyon's weanling and yearling exercises. She also has a vet appointment to receive vaccine boosters and a visit from the farrier coming up.