Golden Butterfly's first ride!

The idea of the first ride on a horse when you know nothing about their history is always filled with some anxiety. You go on what you have observed, and hope your instincts are right.

I have not had a chance to play with her in a few weeks - family was here, we've been busy on the weekends, but we do now have a routine after every meal that she walks out of her stall into the aisleway and waits patiently for me to groom her from head to toe. She knows when I'm done and walks on out to the field. Or not - and I can carry on around her, clapping my hands, clucking, etc., and she just stands and waits for me to put the lead around her neck to walk her out.



In preparation for today - (and all I really planned on) - I switched out the rubber bit for a metal loose ring snaffle the right size, and pulled out the molasses. She was good about letting me put it on her and loved the molasses! Her mouth quickly quieted down as she accepted the bit and I put the saddle on. She turned to look at me with her ears pinned as I started to connect the girth and I said, "no" and she quit.

Out in the ring we lunged at the walk and trot both directions, and then went to the mounting block. Before doing anything else, I asked her to turn towards me on the ground using the reins as a cue - and she didn't completely understand, but then I did it like neck reining and she knew right away what I was doing. I put my foot in the stirrup and put some weight in it and she turned to look mad with her one pinned ear(her bluff) and I told her no, and leaned all the way over her. She stood very calmly, so I went ahead and slowly brought my leg around and sat up in the saddle. She still stood perfectly, so I dismounted and got back up on her again 2 times, and the 3rd time I decided to see what she would do if I gave her a cue to turn.



Before I knew it, we were walking around the ring, turning and halting. I could hardly believe it! I almost had tears in my eyes as I was so proud of her and she was being so calm and relaxed about it all. The worst thing she did was to want to turn back to the gate - like an old school horse trying to get out of work. But her body was otherwise calm and fine the whole time. Amazing. She stood calmly as I dismounted and was just such a good girl!



I am SO happy for her and excited to ride her again!

Golden Butterfly update

Yeah, she's looking better!

Here is a photo of her cute stumpy ear:



I had been waiting for Ms. GB to get up to weight before testing her out to see what she knows - and I suddenly realized I had a super fluffy mare that was well up to and past weight. :) So I started yesterday with her, and after grooming her and trimming her front feet, I put a saddle on her, and we went out to the ring to see what she know. I longed her both directions at the walk and trot and she did great - and then I put pressure with my hand in the stirrups. She wasn't too sure about me bouncing around on the mounting block, but it sure seems to me that she was at one time trained and ridden.

Today, when I went to get her out of her stall/pen, she did not want to be caught and moved away from me. So, I asked her to trot round the pen and when I stopped, she waited patiently for me to halter her. We've done this a few times before, and it's clear she has been worked in a roundpen at some point and knows that standing still is the way to do less work. I groomed her and picked up all 4 feet - she is still a little nervous about letting me have her back feet.

Whenever I am working with her, just as it is clear she did have training somewhere in her past, it is also clear that she was abused after that. You can tell she really wants to relax and trust again, but every once in a while, something worries her and she pins her ears, or tosses her head or kicks in worry. My job is to not react other than to remind her of her manners with a swift "NO" and then go back to being affectionate towards her. She really does enjoy the affection in spite of her fears - rubbing her all over, scratching her itchy spots, etc.

I did not put a saddle on her today, but took my long longe line and whip with me into the ring. We longed both ways at the walk and trot. Just enough to get her breathing up a little, which wasn't really very long. A couple of times when trotting to the right, she got frustrated and turned and went more quickly to the left. I calmly said "easy" and asked her to go back to the right again. One thing that I'm not sure about is that whenever I longe her, she turns her head to the outside to look around. Some might consider this disrespect or not paying attention, but as soon as I say "easy" or "whoa," she slows right down and turns and looks at me. If it was only to one direction I would wonder if it was an eye or body soreness bothering her, but doing the same thing both ways seems like it is just her looking around.

After longing, we went over to the mounting block - without the saddle. I pulled her up to the block and stood up on it and she moved away - she knows that me getting up on the block means she's about to get ridden, but that wasn't in my plan today. We worked to get her to stand well at the block, and started putting my arm over her. She pinned her ears and moved away. I told her "NO" about pinning her ears - and then got back up on the block and did it again until she stood still, then stepped down and rubbed on her forehead. We repeated the next steps also and ended when I could lay my arms/head over her back while she stood relaxed.

Back to me rubbing her forehead - that is actually something she would not let you do when she got here. She didn't want you to touch her face or get anywhere near her ears. Today in the ring, she was relaxed when I would rub her face, and even lowered her head to the ground as I rubbed the top of her nose. She had one moment where she got worried and lifted her head up and jerked it around, so I stopped for a moment and then went back and she was fine again.

Even cooler than rubbing her forehead, was that I was able to rub around her ears and poll without her being worried!!! THAT is a HUGE deal for her! Maybe she was distracted being out in the ring, but man, that was awesome. I just made it part of rubbing her head and took my hand along her good ear first, then even rubbed gently over her bad ear. I think they are finally feeling well - they were still very sore when she first arrived - and her stumpy ear has a lot more movement to it now. It used to be that it always looked the same, but now it turns back and forth and you can see a lot more movement. As her (current) human, I also have to pay extra attention to her ears - usually when I'm working with a horse I can see their ears out of the corner of my eye and quickly notice if they get mad and start pinning their ears - it is much harder to judge with GB with only one ear to see.

Overall, I was delighted with today - being able to rub her around her head so much - it was hard to believe that she was so relaxed about it. Yay, Progress!

I think we're friends...

This morning I was able to catch Golden Butterfly a bit quicker and without having to ask her to trot. I used a super soft rope halter, and I think she appreciated it. I think I am starting to see her eyes soften a little, but again, it is probably just her stomach talking. She nickers whenever I come out to the barn, as she knows I'll bring her another small meal of grain.

We took Golden Butterfly for a walk in the field to let her graze on some grass to get her body used to the grass. I guess it's not much different than hay at this point, but just in case, we are going to make it a gradual change. It will be at least a week or two before she has enough strength to go out in the field with the other horses. I may let her out for a few hours with Love at some point, though. Love is so gentle - I've never seen her be aggressive at anyone/any other horse. Sweetie did a good job with Crystal, too. But we all know Rocky will nip at a new horse at least. Well, at feeding time for sure. And little Arthur - he cracks me up. Some Napoleon complex he has. His run is right next to Golden's and he will charge at the fence and rear at her. She's got his number now, though, and knows he can't get to her so she just stands there and continues with whatever she is doing.

So, back to the field - I had 2 helpers at the end of my lead rope as we walked from the barn about halfway to the pond. Both kiddos enjoyed helping, but I still have to keep a close eye on them. The kids went back to the barn to play, and I led Golden back as well. I put her on the crossties, and groomed her. She seemed to like the attention, and calm as I gently touched her nose. I doctored her ears a little - I didn't get as far as I had hoped, but it is a beginning. I decided to try to pick her feet as well. She did give me the fronts relatively easy, but did not want to hold them up for long. She allowed me to pick up the back but wanted to put them down immediately. I gave her several treats which she enjoyed and put her back in her paddock.

I wonder how much she knows - with a few horses in the past, picking up their feet and being good about it has been a clear indicator that they were trained at some point to be ridden. Sounds crazy, but generally, if they pick up their feet for you well, it means they were cared for enough to be worked with and ridden. Right now, I'm not convinced one way or the other. I suspect she knows something with the way she walks onto the trailer so easy, but she is not yet comfortable with me picking up her feet for long. We will continue and see how we progress - she's only been here for a few days!

In other news, I learned that the sheriff's office had to cut her halter off of her face because it was on so tight. We often see that with young horses who have grown into their halters, but with an older horse - I don't know whether someone just put it on that tightly, or if honestly had been that long (if she is 12) since it had been taken off - those nylon halters seem to last forever. More things to wonder about, and be thankful that she is safe now.

"Golden Butterfly"

We welcomed a new foster horse to our barn yesterday. Here is a photo of this poor mare:



My 5yo daughter named her "Golden Butterfly" and we do hope she will make a transformation over the next few months. She is missing part of an ear and has a scars all around her poll and on her face. I hate to think about what she has been through, but even more so I am amazed that she still seems willing to allow me around her.



Yesterday when we picked her up from a temporary foster home, she was a bit irritated at first that she had not been served her dinner and took a few moments to catch. But once caught, she led well and walked willingly into the trailer where I had a full haynet waiting for her. She seems well traveled - or was at one time well trained. I don't know what happened to her, but I hope she will come around and learn she is safe again.

The cutest thing was my daughter sitting on the fence talking to her telling her she was safe now and that no one would hurt her again. She also introduced her to all the other horses and told them to be nice to Golden Butterfly.

Tonight I wanted to halter her and let her graze on some grass. I went into her paddock with the halter over my shoulder, and at first she did not want me to get close to her. I would approach and retreat when she would step away, and we played that game for a while, but we didn't seem to be making much progress - I still was not interesting enough for her. I recalled how we had caught her yesterday, and asked her to move out (trot) or work if she would not let me catch her - and it only took twice around before she decided it was easier to stand still and be caught than work.

She gave in, I easily put the halter on her, led her around, and then took the halter right back off to make sure the experience was a good one.

More soon.

Love at the Expo

Here is a photo of Me with Love at the Expo

We competed in the Rescue Horse Training Challenge, and won first place in the experienced foster home category! We were within one point of the other contestants, so it was very close! Her best scores I'm sure were based upon improvement and conditioning. I'm so proud of her!

Moving Forward!

Love had a day off yesterday with kids swim lessons in the morning and getting a load of hay last night (just for Arthur - he is particular!) This morning when I fed, I also still had to stack the 30 bales of hay, which meant restacking some of the 200 bales we bought a few weeks ago. It was very humid this morning, so when I was done with the hay and dripping with sweat, I needed to cool off before coming back out to play with Love. Of course, she watched everything I did and was waiting patiently for me and you could tell she just wanted to play and didn't want me to go yet. But I scratched her withers and told her to take her morning nap and I would be out in a bit.

When I got back out to the barn, she was waiting at her stall door with shavings in her mane from her nap, and nickered to tell me she was ready! She loved her grooming - and has started grooming my "withers" in return - it's hard to decide how much of that is okay, and how much I should stop to make sure she doesn't get any bad manners. Right now, it is part of our connection, so I only stop her if she gets over zealous about it. :)

Today was the first day that Love stood perfectly still about putting the saddle on and tightening the girth! No steps backwards at all! Yay!

I made the mistake of putting molasses on the bit before I had taken her halter off/down around her neck - and while I was trying to do that with the bridle over my arm, she started putting whatever part of the bridle she could find into her mouth! Thank goodness I was quick, and she grabbed right onto the bit when I offered it to her. I've never used the molasses trick before, but man, I will always start a new horse that way from here on out. She just loves it!

Love still chews on the bit pretty constantly. There is no anxiety associated with it - I'm not sure if she's trying to eat it or what. I may need to play with a few bits to see if this one is too "thick" (it is rubber) or that the give in the rubber is too much (she thinks she can eat it) and she would prefer the taste of steel. I get a sense it is a little of both.

I have not put any reins on the bridle yet - I am waiting for her to stop chewing the bit before I do that - so I have a rope halter on over the bridle. She is a little stubborn about leading out of the barn the opposite end of where I let them out. But once out of the barn, she leads well.

We went to the ring after our groundwork which is improving. She stops when I stop - but I need to decide if I want her to do that behind me, or at my side. Today she stopped right next to my shoulder and loved a few pats on her forehead. In the ring, we tightened the girth, pulled the stirrups down and I lead her over to the mounting block. She stopped well, but then took a step away from the block. Hmmm.. I thought. After moving her back, I tossed the rope over the saddle and bounced up an down a few times before mounting up and sitting in the saddle. She stood perfectly still and did not take a step for about a minute before I wiggled back and forth and dismounted! I was so proud!

So I got back into the saddle a second time, and this time I wanted to see if she understood anything about cues to move forward. I gently squeezed my legs, and she took a step back. I tried turning her head to the side, and she took a step back. I kept gently squeezing, and each time she went backwards. I made sure I didn't have any pressure on the lead, but still she took a small step backwards, and then nibbled on the grass in the ring. So I decided to sit there and wait for her to take a step either forwards or sideways (generally forwards) and when she did, I praised her and told her what a good girl she was! I then asked again with my legs and her head turned to the left, and when she moved the right direction I immediately released all cues and praised her again. I got several steps forwards/turning and then decided we'd better try it to the right. So I moved the lead across her head to the right side, and asked again with my leg cues - and as a green horse would do, she thought I meant to the left again... but we got her nose turned to the right and she stepped right and I praised her. We did this a few more times with forward movement, and then I sat up and said, "whoa!" and wiggled back and forth and dismounted. What a good girl!

So today we took our first few steps forward! :) I sit here and think to myself about the way I am going about this and wonder if I should be doing more longing to teach her voice commands for walk, trot, and canter. I'm sure I will start including more of that here soon, but right now, she is just so calm and relaxed about everything, I really don't want to get her excited thinking she needs to move fast. A lot of what she is allowing me to do is based upon 1) her personality and 2) the bond we have created - she really trusts me and knows I won't hurt her, so is willing to let me do these things. I wonder if she is part Arab with the way that she wants to connect with me so much... No matter, I accept and am really enjoying her affections and helping her learn so much!

I sat on her! :)

Over the past few days, I have continued to saddle Love after nearly every meal. We go out and practice leading, turning, moving her haunches away, halts, and backing. I finally put the rubber snaffle on the cob bridle and it fits just right - and I was delighted with a "trick" someone mentioned recently - I put just a drop of molasses on the bit, and Love smelled it, and she put the bit right in her mouth herself! That was SO much easier than her lifting her head up as high as she could (pointing her nose up, too) while I opened her mouth with my thumb in the side! So we have kept doing that - and every time she puts her head right into the headstall and brings the bit right into her mouth. She is still chewing on it pretty constantly, but she is not anxious about it. It's just something new and she's getting used to it still.

I have been flapping the saddle flaps around and took the stirrups down (I'm riding english) and her reaction to all that has quickly become little to none. It really surprised her the first few times I did that - her body quivered each time the flap came down on her side, but we've kept doing it and now she understands it's not going to hurt her. She still turns her head around to see what I'm doing all the time, but she isn't anxious anymore (it's only been 4 days!). I keep doing the "tail test" to see whether her tail is clamped down or not, and I have continued to find it relaxed.

Yesterday, I took her into the ring (after leading her around in the field) and put some pressure on each stirrup to see how she would respond - she turned her head to look at me, but was not concerned about it at all. So I led her up to the mounting block, and climbed up there. I put my hands at her withers & on the cantle of the saddle and bounced up and down a few times. She stayed calm, so I took a chance and pushed myself up on to my belly on the saddle - I didn't want to sit on her quite yet. Love turned towards my feet and mouthed my foot, then turned to look at my head/body hanging on the other side. She took one step back to steady herself, but otherwise was not worried, so I stayed that way for 20 seconds or so before getting down and doing it again.

This morning, I fed the horses and then came in to the house for a bit to let the horses digest a bit. When I got back to the barn, Love was laying down in her stall. I had come there to work with her, and was thinking about trying to sit on her, but I didn't think it would be polite to force her to get up to work - it's part of her routine to take a nap in her stall after breakfast. I waited a few minutes, and then opened her stall door and went in - and I sat down on her hay while she napped a few minutes, and rubbed her forehead a little. She is so sweet. After a few more minutes, she got up on her own, and I stepped out of her stall towards the grooming area, and she followed me (like she has been doing for the last month or so to be groomed before turnout) without a halter. I did go ahead and put the halter on since it was work time, and when she would move her feet, I would gently remind her to go back to where she was by putting my hand on her chest and gently pushing back. She really understands that well. She got carrots for being so good. And then molasses on her bit again! :)

We did our normal ground routine in the field and went into the ring. I tightened the girth a hole. She didn't move her feet for that but still turns to look at me. We went over to the mounting block and I flapped the saddle flaps, pulled down the stirrups and gently tossed the doubled lead over her back/saddle to continue desensitizing. She seemed relaxed about everything - tail check was good, so I put my foot in the stirrup and leaned over her back. She took a step for balance, and then stood well, so I brought my other leg over and sat up in the saddle! :) Yay! She stood well and then I said "whoa" and wiggled in the saddle and then dismounted. I can't remember who taught me to do that as a signal for dismounting, but it seems to work well. I got on her again and she stepped back once and stood well again - and I took a picture of her while riding! (Ok, not the smartest, but she was being really good!) I dismounted again, and then got up on her again, and this time she stood perfectly, and I hugged her neck and rubbed her all over wherever I could reach, and finally gave a super good scratching to her withers. That was so good she was stretching out her upper lip so far and wanted to turn around and scratch me back. :) I said "whoa," wiggled back and forth in the saddle, dismounted and gave her lots more scratches and a bath before turnout.

Love has become so affectionate - well, she always has been, but even moreso now that I am working with her so much. She always looks at me with these big eyes, "Come play with me! Scratch me!" and willingly tries whatever I ask of her. I wouldn't normally get on a green horse quite so quickly, but she has continued to show me that she was ready and willing to try.

I connected with Love the first day I saw her at a dental clinic in April, but have tried to not get too attached because I have not been sure whether she would work out for Sammie. But working with Love every day, I find myself in the midst of a wonderful connection with this horse, and she has firmly planted her hoofprint in my heart. I don't know what the future will bring, but I do love this little mare more than I'm willing to admit to myself sometimes...