Tango Week 2

         Day 8.. since Day 7 had been a day off for Tango, I learned she doesnt do well with those at this stage of the game and we had to begin a few steps back. It was very windy and rather chilly, so she was fresh but onward we forged. The lesson plan for that day was leading, turning hindquarters and turning forequarters in whichever direction, and getting used to my hands near her face. That got exceptionally better with hand feeding her hay and then touching her with hay wisps all over her face and neck, shoulders, brisket. She is still very suspicious of cameras, and buckets, even though she's now figured out grain is awesome she will not come near the bucket even with grain it it.

       Day 9. Bucket day lol. I spent most of this session sitting on a mineral tub holding a little bucket of grain for her to investigate. And she did investigate all of an hour but would not eat from it, though she knew and wanted that grain. But the victory was that she came willingly and then of her own choice to right beside me, sniffing and yawning at everything and had no fear so we just hung out. The burros were very jealous lol. What I did with the last part of the session was lead her down to the other end and get some hay for her, she stood and did not attempt to run off or go see what the burros were doing even though she was free to- since I had to climb over the gate to fetch hay. And so I went back and picked up the rope and no drama, not even an eye batting. (Finally!) So I fed her and began touching her with my glove instead of hay, oh that was different! But ended it on a good note.

      Day 10. Today was a breakthough!A HUGE breakthrough at that. Today, Tango and the burros came out when they heard me talking to the dogs on my way over to the barn. I had grain and gave the burros a taste, just to get them freindly, and Tango was watching all this, and trying to join in, only Bugs wouldnt let her. So I gave them some hay outside and took the bucket inside, and Tango followed and watched me close the gate. That was breakthrough #1, she followed by choice and came all the way over when I picked up the rope. Again I set up my makeshift chair and offered grain and she came over as before but still would not eat from the bucket no matter how tempting it was. So we sat like that for about a half hour and then I decided to do more hay tricks lol. That seems to be her favorite and I make the most progress with her when doing it. Breakthrough #2 today was I can now pet her neck with no hay, just a glove or hand, and she was relaxed about it. After all that and heaps of praise I gave her the grain as she likes it too, just on top of the hay and she dug in- even though the bucket miraculously stayed right by the pile for some reason... When she was finished I did more hay tricks and petting her, to be sure it wasnt just a fluke thing, and then called it quits. Upon leaving the barn she followed me out and walked past while I was securing the gate- but then she turned and waited, watching what I'd do besides praising her for being so good and quiet. Day 10 was awesome.

 Some pics of the Hay trick in action.....

Day 11... was all about hay tricks and grain buckets to start, and then focusing on her left side. She's much more twitchy on the left and it takes far longer for me to get to her shoulder cuz she keeps turning to face me. While I dont want to discourage that, I also want her to just relax and realize she doesnt need to unless I tell her, so I have to be very aware of what my body is saying so she's not getting mixed signals. Boy, none of my other horses are near this level of "tuned" lol. She did get it eventually, repetition- repetition, repetition. Mostly today I learned she just really wants to be close without having to do anything, cuz she kept wanting to just "hang out" 

Day 12... we had a bit of a rodeo this morning. Everything was going hunky dory, no worrying about the bucket -but still no eating from it, leading was perfect, petting was happening, and she was following me around even without me holding the lead. And we were just hanging out "comtemplating" that bucket when a visitor came by. Something is different! But still, even with the dogs letting me know and her paying attention to them it still wasnt any big deal. The visitor came up to the fence and chatted for a few minutes, Tango being suspicious of her sunglasses (she hates not being able to see eyes) and the dogs, in thier excitement, knocked over the fork leaning against the fence which made a loud noise next to her. And she bolted away, and wishing to avoid a scene that might scare the lady I dropped the rope and then went to go recatch Tango and lead her back, all as calm as ever. And Tango was excellent about this and followed good as gold, but wasnt trusting the lady after that. We were at the fence a few more minutes and Tango had gotten close again till the lady moved her arms and Tango tried to bolt again, only this time I held and let her figure out it wasnt gonna work this time, and we went right back to the same place. The lady felt bad but I assured her Tango needs to figure all this out, cuz the world isnt gonna walk on eggshells just cuz Tango is in it, Tango needs to learn it's not scary. Then I fed Tango by the fence and dropped the rope to go let the burros outside. And here's where it gets funny, Tango left the food and stayed an arm's length away from me the whole trip over there like I was supposed to protect her. I wish I had a pic of that! But now I know we have homework- working with her when other people are around...

Day 13... 

just a really cool pic, even with straw in her mane lol. Today was just miserable weather so I didnt stay out in it long, nor make the burros stay outside either. 

Day 14.... somebody was rather squirrelly due to the stormy weather and Jake being present as well. So we worked on confidence with other people around, and petting, and Im trying to figure out how to get videos on here from my phone...

But all in all very pleased with how she's done for her 2nd week! 

Tango's First Week

Well, the first day was quite the adventure, and Im finding nearly every day since is about the same.
This was Tango on the second day morning,

she's a bit more settled in, not as flighty, but ever so watchful. This horse is so tuned to body language that even how a person breathes is measured up by her so I have to act super relaxed about everything. On day 2 I worked on picking up the rope. She still thought that's a cue to run, so nothing to do but stand there and let her see it's not, and eventually she did. However, the burros got bored and rather disgusted with her always trying to be by them that they went inside the barn for some peace. (They are forming a clique it seems!) She did not like this at all and attempted to run and join them. Here is where my work comes in cuz she did get away from me that time, and I should have closed the gate off so she couldnt follow them in there. But all I could do at this point was go catch her inside the barn and prove that it was a place to work too, not an escape route. After several more circles at being caught indoors she was figuring out the rope is not going away nor am I and she yielded. Again, I took it down a notch and let her digest it while I just sat on a bucket talking to her. She still needed 10ft of space before she settled.
  later in the afternoon I came back, fed the burros in the barn and closed the gate; and made a haypile out in the corral. (Nobody had a clue what grain is, though the burros were discovering oats on the hay, nobody was eating it)
    Once again I caught her rope and she did look for getting in the barn, but with the gate shut she couldnt, and with a few snorts began to focus on me. That afternoon we worked on the concept of pressure and release, and the beginnings of leading. Just moving one foot. I was suprised at how fast she caught on, and reveled in praise, that once she figured it out she was taking 2 or 3 steps in whatever direction. This is how she got her name, because she was crossing over like a dancer would do a "grapevine" move, or dressage horses do. We practiced leading to the hay, have some to reward, and leading away with lots of praise and a mouthfull that I carried with me. When she was acting like she'd done it all her life I let the rope down at the hay and let her eat, but stayed in the pen hanging out. I spent about n hour with her at both sessions, including the "wind-down" and she was becoming more curious and soft eyed than that spooky look
   Day 3 was a repeat of Day's 2 routine, and she was starting to give up the drama about picking up her rope. The burros had also laid down the law that she couldnt be in thier clique and she was keeping a safe distance now. This also opened a window that she would have to depend on me for any companionship because they were not gonna let her have any, at least to the point of a 10ft radius lol. Leading on this day was top notch, she did everything perfectly, and the space was shrinking to about 6ft away.
 Day 4 I did not shut the gate because we were going to learn leading to/from/inside/outside and while initially she was antsy about leading inside the barn, once she got it it stayed with her. She did have a fuss about it though, so most of the time was done inside to get her over it and help her confidence. Hay has been a great reward as well as heaps of praise and no pressure when she gets it. I really want her to want to try instead of just doing stuff cuz she's scared. When she was leading nicely I ended the session and just hung out with her. She began to do alot of sighing and sleepy eyes
  Day 5 was more work on Day 4's lesson and she trooped right along, I love the brains on her. And the burros finally discovered what grain was and the shaking of the bucket was an angel's song lol. Tango still no luck, though in the afternoon she did eat it off her haypile. Finally! That will help in my plans lol! I added a new feature in today's routine and that was feeding her tufts of hay, but only after I touched her face and neck with it, to get her used to my hands being there or touching her.
  Day 6, she leads like a dream and doesnt do any drama at the picking up of the rope, doesnt move off but stands and waits if I climb into the pen. She loves the touch with hay idea, so that's how she got fed today. She also stayed within arms distance and enjoyed her grain-though is still suspicious of the bucket, silly girl. She also started to follow along when I wasnt holding the rope so I think that's very cool.  These are all good signs!
  Day 7 she had the day off cuz we were doing feildwork and it was so dusty and windy out there thanks to the combines and such stirring up dry weather harvest. I only had time for a short visit but my kids spent time with the burros and Daffy is becoming quite the cuddler, Bugs is only interested in carrots :/ .....
  So her first week and she's learned alot and I'm tickled about it all
  

Tango's first day

This is several hours after she got home. As you can see, she just wants to get away or hide and has quite the spooky eye going on. She spent most of her time just circling the pen, even long after the burros had settled in.

"Dont look at me, for I must away"

The 3rd pic is her look when I picked up the end of her rope- shortly after that she reared at the sensation of feeling a person on the other end, but I held and she had plenty of slack to try it and make circles at the end of that rope. She ran/trotted/pranced for about 15 minutes and then did the most mouthy gapey display Ive ever seen a horse do and try to face me. When she quit moving I slipped the rope to the ground and called it a win with lots of praise....

....and here she is thinking about what just happened. I must say Im so tickled with how pretty she is. 

And we got through the first day with many many new things to figure out-- but mainly each other!

So much has happened...

the last 2 weeks that it's not going to fit all in one post! But some VERY cool horse adventures have happened and it was as if fate tried to make up for all the 3 years absense of horse happenings, in 1 week! So let's start at the beginning of Adventure 1.....
  The BLM had an adoption in the area now a couple weeks ago, and I was so curious to see what was offered! After website browsing, a call to the BLM with a million questions, it was now a tortuous wait to the day when the mustangs could be seen. From online pics, which are hard to judge by, I had 3 canidates as "maybe".. for 1 that I hoped to bring home. 2 geldings and a bay roan that I hoped was one of them, but couldnt tell from the website

These were the yearlings that I was to choose from, I wanted a youngster, and hopefully a gelding, so there were only 2 available- the sorrel and the black. Watching them interact with each other, the black was eliminated as a choice, he spent all his time being aggressive and bullying all the others, to the point of just being a little jerk and enjoying himself- I really didnt want that type of personality on top of being unhandled-  so he didnt change in the hour I was watching them, nor the several hours the next day of watching them. 

Second choice, the little sorrel guy- he was as quiet as foals Im used to seeing, nothing rattled him, even the black's antics. But he had such a short neck,

as you see here. It was short enough that he had to do the giraffe thing to reach hay on the ground. I realize yearlings have an awkward stage and he was probably in it, but at the same time compared to all the others he just seemed really thick or short necked and I know that would factor in as he got old enough to ride. Still I kept him as 2nd choice and switched over to the bay roan who was really a filly..

Watching her, she spent most of her time just trying to get away from the black, or hiding behind the others so he wouldnt chase her, so that told me she was low pecking order. At feeding time she was still low place, only 1 other in the same rank as her and these 2 were hounded by the black at every opportunity. But I loved her long look and clean legs, she had the best conformation of the whole group. The only factor I was worried about was her color- everybody else wanted her cuz of that color! I figured I didnt stand a chance.

Here you see the 2 together and he looks very short compared to her.

The adoption was set up as first come, first served, and started at 8am the following day. Knowing that I left the house at 5:30 and waited at the office they had on site. It was dark, it was cold! But it was worth it!!! 

I did get this filly, and 2 burros...and she is (was!) Wild - not by any exaggeration, for she had been captured in Feb so really only been wrangled and not handled. She went straight up in the chute at the point of getting her halter on and I was really wondering if I made a good choice at that point- but "Up = Fear" and most horses wouldve probably done that in a squeeze chute so benefit of the doubt...

And here she is at her new home, with her burro "frenemies"who really want nothing to do with her cuz they have important donkey buisness to attend to... which involves carrots and taming down alot faster than she is. We were able to remove Bug's halter the same day he came, apparently donkeys will do anything for carrots!

So the journey begins.... So far I have had her and the boys for 10 days, but thier progress will be in another update before this is too huge lol

just for fun

I know it's been awhile since an update. Summer is flying by and the Herd is enjoying thier extended vacation lol. This morning was one of those misty, cool late summer early mornings where the landscape is half hidden in mist and seems so surreal.
  It was also the day for baling hay so the horses needed to be moved to the far pasture so access to hayfield could be had, without horses getting out or at risk of being in the way of the baler rig and moving bales as well. Now some may laugh how horses get moved here, because most of our pastures are connected, the way that I do it is to stand by the gate I need them to go through and call 'em. They've been doing this for years because I taught the Ol Man (Cimmaron) when he was young, and 20 years later he has taught them as well. Of course they always get lovins and fussed over when they do it, and they soak up the praise like they just saved kittens from a barnfire ;) .
 Some may also laugh that should the herd need to be moved to other areas, I need only halter one and the rest follow, and again Cim ensures no stragglers- he believes his job is to be wingman and keep everyone together. So it makes for quite a sight for people who arent used to seeing it, and it just developed from being the only person doing the work with the horses.
  But such a morning as this presented photo ops, so I had to grab the camera...

Twista, sticking her tongue out again

Who knew Thistles were tasty?? Though Dusty seems to like them more than Twista- she only had one and he chomped several blossoms off. Eyeore was all I could think of lol.

Buddies Kaz and Dusty, giving scritchins'

Kaz the mini

Sierra 

Cim the Ol Man

Pheonix and the salt block

Cim & Pheonix

Misty mornings in the pasture are the best...

"Indian Ponies" pics as promised...

First to model the new beaded feathers is Pheonix :)  Strike a pose!

And my 3 paint girls (Pheonix is Breeding Stock registered, and is Sierra's aunt)

Sierra wanted to have a try....

but at this point Twista had wandered off to the far end of the pasture (needed the maximum zoom on the camera!) and I needed to get back home so she will have to wait till next time... Im also determined to make one for each of them, so had better get crackin! 

Native American mane decoration

This turned out to be a fun and "learn on the fly" type of project. I took step by step photos in case anybody's interested, but the main ones are here.

First thing to do was bead the medallion, using fabric stabilizer. Now I've done this technique before but it was more a freeform style, and for the medallion "look" I figured it was harder so off to the internet where I printed a page to guide me through it. What I learned from that was either buy a book on medallions/ Indian beadwork, or trust my own eye; because copying every single bead made my design a bit off and I admit it is. However for a first try and its' intended purpose Im happy with it, but Ive since ordered a couple of books to aid the next attempt.

The beadwork took the longest, naturally, but Im hoping as I get more familiar it too will get faster. Next up was the feathers, so I raided my fly-tying stash for some nice ones that would work, and trimmed turkey feathers to be rounded on the ends. the others are hackles for fly tying....

...and used my fly tying thread to make a few wraps to secure the smaller feathers to the large ones. A dot of elmers glue was enough to secure at this point. I also cut off some of the small feathers' shafts to eliminate bulk under the leather. 

Both feathers waiting, it was time for leather. I cut 2 strips about 1/2" wide or so, and about 16" long, I didnt measure, just eyeballed it. I also cut 2 circles to fit the beadwork. 

I dont know how authentic this method (below) is, but it's what I chose to connect the feathers and make the ties to hold it in the hair. I just made it up as I went. First a dab of E600 on the back to start things, and laid 2 colors of embroidery floss so the skiens were next to the feathers and the tails were on the feather shaft. More E6000 on the shaft and I wound the leather down about an inch. Then chosing which color of floss, began to wind that tightly, first around the feather to make the same bulk as leather, and then onto the leather itself. This makes the glue squish at the seams but that's ok, it's gonna hold the thread too. 

For changing colors add a dab of elmers to help hold the thread at the back of the feather, and start winding the other color, burying the first color's tail. Do NOT cut the floss yet! It is like those freindship bracelets I did as a kid, but not quite.

To end the floss and make a neat appearence: When I had what I wanted of the floss,  I go to the back of the feather, make sure I have E600 on the feather shaft, and lay the thread tightly underneath the leather, then wrap the leather as usual, effectively hiding the ends of floss. 

When I reached the end of the shaft, I made an extra "winding" beyond it. Made sure it has E600 inside, and squished it flat, or fold it over. Immediately I had to sew it to the leather circle, once the glue dries it will be a pain to deal with, so figured out the placement of the feathers and begin sewing. I used Outdoor thread I got at Wallymart and a few stitches also on each side of the shaft to help strengthen that area. Keeping in mind that how it's sewn is going to affect how the feathers hang, frequent checking how they look is important!

Place the second circle of leather on the first, and press it to see where the ties lay. Marking with a pen  on the second circle of leather where they are, so I know where to cut 2 slits for the ties to go through. Thread the ties and then E600 the leather pieces together. I used a butterknife to push the leather down around the feather shafts so they were covered and not "gappy" in that area. 

Next I carefully alligned the beadwork to the front and E6000 the back of it to the leather. Sometimes more rounds of beads are added to finish the edges using picots or whatever a person wishes, but being this is going to be on a horse I dont want the edges to get caught on horsehair and threads break, so I am skipping that step for this particular  item, and will see how it fares in use. 

 To use it, all I have to do is start a braid in my horse's mane, and then using the ties as part of the braid continue on and secure the end. My horses are used to this kind of fuss, but if anyone wants to make thier own to use --Make sure your horse is used to such things, because the feathers have weight but will still fly around! If you are nervous he may spook, get him used to the concept by using wide ribbons or such rather than something you just spent hours on, and when he is no longer fazed by it then try your art piece. I cannot and do not accept any liability for any accidents, what's presented here is simply something I made for my horses and the steps needed to create the item.  

When it ever quits raining round here I will have the horses model it properly :)