Everyone has calmed down around here and no longer panics during turnout/feeding time, and the fence that keeps the two new ones in the paddock is getting torn up a bit, so I figured yesterday was a good time to let them out into the main field for a few hours to begin eating grass a few hours a day (there is some in the ring, but not a lot at all). (I would not do that with the thinner ones yet, but these two seem to be fine so far). So I let them out for about two hours yesterday.
Here is a link to Arwen's Webpage
Arwen was so excited to be out in the pasture with the grass and galloped around with her tail up. She also strutted her stuff at the trot and I have some great pics of her movement - she is a gorgeous mover!
The gelding trotted a few times, but basically just walked casually around. He did not feel the need to get involved in the excitement at all - which really only lasted a few minutes before everyone was back to grazing. The gelding seemed a bit of a "loner" and I had to always go find him because he was away from the herd - not in distress, not upset at all, just calmly not paying them any attention.
I got the barn ready for dinner, called them all up to the barn, and my herd came up fine - that is, everyone but Penny and the new guys. She was glued to Arwen's side and saw no reason to convince her to come eat. I looked around and found the gelding just standing, relaxing, and brought him in first. Penny & Arwen saw that I had put him in but did not budge from their grazing spot. They made me walk almost halfway across the property to get them! But once I got there, both girls were happy for me to put a halter on, and I walked them in together.
The new guys went back in the paddock for the night since they need their hay, and then I kept them in a few hours this morning to eat more hay before I turned them out in the field again. Arwen was excited to be out and about and she and Penny buddied up immediately again. The gelding found a nice spot on the other side of the ring to just chill - he did not follow the herd around, just needed a nice snooze. But I kept checking on him - and more than an hour later, he was still in the same general spot, just standing there. My grass is short right now, and I remembered hearing his teeth sounding weird once, and realized that maybe this poor old guy had trouble biting the grass off - he has all his incisors - I've looked, but maybe they don't meet quite right or he has something bothering him. He has not been quidding or anything, so I hadn't yet realized there might be an issue. So I put some hay in the ring/paddock, and put him in there until dinner (will get the mare in a bit). Within a few minutes, he had rolled and started eating the hay. I have put the hay in a giant manure-type bucket for them so it doesn't get mixed up with the sand there - a neat trick I learned from the trainer working with some of our fosters!
I also worked with both horses this morning with the help of my 3yo daughter, Samantha. She always comes with me to the barn! We started with the gelding and he stood quietly on the crossties and let both of us groom him together, but tossed his head about - maybe just to hear the crossties jingle, I wasn't sure. :) If I was riding him, I'd want to check his teeth. Sammie was so cute, she said, "Look, he has a cutie mark!" (Cutie marks are what the My Little Ponies have on their butts) :) I explained that it was actually a number 10, but it was still adorable. She also commented on Arwen's "cutie mark" and that it was a number 9. But what blew me away this morning was how good Arwen was. She stood quietly on the crossties and let me groom her - I am always anxious about Sammie grooming a new horse - especially TB's since I have one that has trouble standing still. But since Arwen seemed calm and was standing quiety, I let Sammie come up - she loves to pet the horses on their foreheads, as she has watched me do so many times. And Arwen saw her, and slowly lowered her nose all the way to the ground so that Sammie could pet her forehead, and kept it there quietly while Sammie rubbed, and Arwen even closed her eyes in relaxation.
Sammie also groomed her a little, and Arwen gently turned her nose to look at her - in a very gentle manner, not at all worried. It just touched my heart how gentle she was being with my daughter - and how thankful she must be to be here.
While grooming, I noticed her tail was not yet grown all the way down - like she might be younger than 15, and after looking at her teeth, I am certain she is less than 10, maybe as young as 5 - I'll mess with that again later after I check my charts. I also found that she has a tattoo in her lip - so I'll also have to give that a look to see if we can actually identify her and her breeding, etc.
I've always loved horses, but every once in a while, one of them really touches my heart with something that they do, and Arwen's gentleness did that for me today. And yes, I named her after the beautiful, dark-maned, gentle elf princess in Lord of the Rings. :)
Hugs to all of you and your horses,
Elizabeth
No comments:
Post a Comment