Lots of leading.

Vesta was phenomenal today! I worked her a little inside the pen with leading and following me and she did marvelously1 So I called my dad out and had him on another rope while I led her to the round pen. This was her first time out of the pen ever! She did great.

Once in the pen she was trotting and loping and generally enjoy herself. She seemed very very happy to have more room to run around in. I worked on moving her feet a little but pretty much let her have a calm, relaxing day.

I decided I could lead her out of the pen myself because she was so mellow. She led like a charm and was very good. I was also able to lead her into are "dark and scary" hay barn. Over all it was a wonderful day. Enjoy the pictures !

A Larger Turnout.

Yesterday, my lovely grandparents swung by for a quick, overnight visit. They were heading back from a vacation down in California and were able to swing back through Reno on their return trip. They were very excited to see Vesta and we had a lovely visit.

Double Meaning! So while my grandparents watched me play around with Vesta, my dad suggested we open up the connecting small turnout and walk her around in there while the other horses where confined in the large turnout. I decided it couldn't hurt and we gave it a go. Boy, I was glad we did! Vesta was phenomenal. She lead so easily and listened so well. I was amazed. She will be able to be lead outside of the pen very soon! I also learned she gets over things that are "scary" very quickly. I am so blessed to have such an extraordinary horse.

Oh, kudos to my dad for the title. He is such a clever man.

Gates, feet, and water!

Alrighty, man it has been a while. Sorry everyone!

Vesta has been doing great! She leads very well and I am going to start working on getting the leave the pen. She is adorable and very smart. Once on the halter and lead she comes right up to me. It is amazing! We have another side pen which is bigger, I let here into it and we practiced leading through the gate. It was scary for her at first but she finally learned it wouldn't eat her and came through it quietly.

Feet. One of my main goals was to get her to pick up her feet.The faster I got those feet up, The faster I could get them trimmed. Vesta has progressed so much faster than I ever expected. I used a rope to get her used to things around her legs. After that, I rubbed down her legs. After some work, I am now able to pick up and clean all four feet and man, they need a trim.

Today it was terribly hot and I noticed Vesta was sweating bullets, so I decided trying a bath would be a good idea. She actually did very well, a little scared but very well!

Sorry I haven't posted more! Oh I also am keeping in contact with my friend Emma, she is very interested in horses and sheep and she will be helping me out occasionally!

Halters!

 Oh boy! Here comes halter training! Some of these pictures may look a little rough but it is a work in progress. Nothing hurts the horse, it is simple pressure and release. I take a step forward and apply increasing pressure on the lead rope, as soon as she takes a step forward I release the pressure. Horses learn how to avoid pressure, so why not teach them how to avoid pressure while doing what you want them to?

 She mainly tries to avoid pressure by turning, but she is doing quite well and is getting the hang of it!

This horse is so smart and she amazes me everyday with what she can do!

Double Whoops

Whoops 1: Well I am back from break. I had a very lovely time with my mom, but we got rained and even hailed on virtually the entire time. I realize I failed to post any blogs, but I did do some research into where Vesta came from. These discoveries lead us to our second whoops.

Whoops 2: While researching about Vesta and looking over her papers, I noticed she was from the Triple B range. Doing some quick research, I noticed that the Triple B range is in the Ely District. This means that my horse is not a Calico Complex Horse at all. So that is the second whoops, I thought everyone was getting a Calico Complex horse, but I guess not! I love Vesta none the less though.

Break Time

Training Vesta has been going so well lately! I have established I am in charge, but she is not afraid of me, just respectful. Today I was able to walk up to her and slowly remove the halter that had been put on her at the BLM, man was I happy to get that off. She seems so much happier now that the halter is gone! She is becoming much more trusting and is almost taking steps towards me. Almost . . . She will be walking up to me in no time though. I am leaving for a spring break trip with my mom tomorrow, so I will not be posting major progress reports until Sunday, which is when I will be able to work with her again. My dad will be working on keeping her friendly and getting her adjusted, so I am sure I will get reports from him. While I am away, I will still be posting, after all I said I would address mustang issues and facts as well right? So have no fear, even though there will be little Vesta news I will still be posting! Have fun everyone!

I'm in charge.

Like the title says that is what our past few sessions have been about. Vesta has attempted to bite me a few times telling me to move away from her food. This disappointed me at first but then I realized that this meant I was part of her herd and we just needed to establish the pecking order. Because of this snapping I have been making her feet move and getting her to face up to me, this has helped majorly! Today she shook her head with ears back at me again after I had finished petting her neck. This immediately resulted in more feet moving and facing up. Our 2nd session consisted of me going up to pet her with out hesitation, letting her relax with that, then me making her move off before I pet her next. This gained her respect and trust of me enough for me to get the drag line off. All an all it was a good Easter Day! Happy Easter!

Progress overload!

Today was a fantastic day. Absolutely great! Vesta made so much progress, it was unbelievable! I went out for a short trust session this morning and started by using my stick method on her right side, which seems to be her better side. After about 10 minutes of that I was able to walk right up to her ( slowly mind you) and rub her neck on that side without the stick. I ended that session there because she did so well. This afternoon, I went out to work on her left side. It took some time but in the end I was able to go up to her with out the stick and rub her neck on that side. After all this I sat outside and read aloud which she seemed to enjoy. I noticed she laid down and rolled but remained on the ground and I was slightly worried she was colicky since she was laying down for so long. So I went in the pen to try to get her up and she let me come right over to her and rub her neck and face while she was laying down. This blew me away that she trusted me that much. She eventually got up and started walking around again. All in all it was a fantastic day and we made so much progress! I am going to post loads of picture so enjoy!

 This is one of the only photos I will post a comment on, she was so curious about the camera she came right up to my mom and sniffed it! Not scared at all.

This is how you tame a horse!

Scritch Scratch

Making fantastic progress with Vesta! Today I tried the stick method and scratched her with a stick while gently working my hand towards her. By doing this I was able to rub her neck a bit. She is still not entirely sure what to think of humans but she is growing acclimated to us. She doesn't mind us standing by her when she is eating or drinking which is a good sign! The reading was also a very good idea which I will continue to do. She nibbled my hair today while I was reading to her. She is adorable and I cannot wait to see what she grows into.

Here are our other horses looking on curiously. Left to right they are Tracy ( My mom's horse,) Sheila (My gorgeous girl,) and Flappy ( Our lovable donkey.)

First full day!

Well today was Vesta's first day home! She is very anxious and paces. She also seems to be fascinated by our other horses and freaks out when they run off with out her. While working with her today, I realized that since she was caught so young she never really lived in a social hierarchy, so has no understanding of respect and acceptable behavior. So our lesson today was that you never *never* turn your rump towards me. It was a difficult lesson for me to teach because I felt like I was an enemy when really I was a teacher.
I also believe I am expecting too much of her so I am going to reroute my teaching and just go to socializing, which I noticed worked well with her. My dad has just been talking to her and standing around and she is much more accepting of him. So it is time to bring out a good book, a nice chair, and read aloud to her. Cheers!

We have a name!

So many posts and so many messages and calls! We have settled on the name Vesta for my lovely yearling. Vesta is the greek deity of the fireside and hearth which suits her very well!

Here comes the mustang!

 Alrighty! Here I am earlier today ready to go pick up my new addition. I left school early with my best friend and we eagerly headed out to the BLM. Upon arriving I signed a few papers and heard what my horse looked like. I was disappointed that it was not a gelding, but upon learning that no geldings were selected I was fully happy with my horse. Let's meet the pony!

 Here she is! She is an 11 month wild filly. She is a very petite red roan with no markings. Her tag number is 4872 and she is from the Calico Complex which is close to Winnemucca Nevada and the Black Rock Desert. So far she is very calm and thinks before she reacts. This is exactly what I wanted! She appears to have a lot of spanish influence and has one of the cutest faces I have seen. I met another girl, Heather, who was also picking up a horse for the Youth Employment Program. Her horse was a stunning Grulla Overo with a white face, big rear legs and white splashing down the front. I wish her the best!

Her she is at her new home! She has a drag line on which I am all to anxious to get off! She is very interested in our other horses but she is learning that when I am in the pen she needs to focus on me. She is a very very smart girl who could use a good hoof trim. I am thrilled with my new little horse!

The Back Story.

The background story:
    I am your average teenager, I like to hang out with my friend, play sports, and a do a mishmash of other things. My main joy in life are my horses. I got my first horse after getting my black belt at the age of 10. At the time I was the youngest in my dojo to get a black belt. Shortly after getting my black belt I got a horse like y parents had promised me. My first horse was a lovely 3 year old Palomino Paint mare, whom I still own today.
     I had found an fell in love with a vehicle, a '92 Toyota deluxe pick up truck, but realized I would need more money. So I set about doing odd jobs to make some money. In the mean time I was wanting to get a young horse to train. A mustang or some other yearling was my first choice. But I would need money to do this as well. It seemed as if I was in a rut.
     About a week later I received an email from my 4-H leader informing me on a opportunity run by the Mustang Heritage Foundation. People between the ages of 15 and 18 could apply for a position in which they could train a  yearling mustang for 12 weeks and get paid a maximum of 750$ while doing it. Needless to say my jaw hit the floor. Looking at the due date I see that it is due in less than 2 weeks. I set off to work.
     My lovely parents were also very eager to hear about this opportunity and they have helped me become more prepared. I wrote all of the three essays and my mom revised them for me. I also completed a resume and a facility form and sent those in with the application packet. Now all I could do was wait.
    I remember the day with perfect clarity. It was Thursday, March 29th. I had come after a rough day at school. No one was home and I was moping about. I saw the light on the message machine flashing and my heart jumped to my throat. I played the message and was gravely worried when I heard it was for me. The speaker had a very serious, fatigued voice so I was worried that all my hard work had gone to waste. Then she said those wonderful words, " You've been accepted into the program." My breath was swept away and I nearly fell to the floor. All of a sudden this overwhelming happiness and fulfillment  began to seep up from my toes all the way up to my head. I was elated and over joyed. None of it had seemed real. After that everything was a blur. I remember calling my dad and remember him asking, " Do you need some weights? You sound like you are about to float away."
     Over the following days I set up my appointment to pickup the mustang, arranged to get the trailer we were  borrowing, and rearranged the corral.  Now, I anxiously await Wednesday to finally see my future 12 week project.

Excited!

The adoption day is drawing nearer by the second! On Wednesday day, April 4, 2012, I will be picking up an American Mustang Yearling from the Palomino Valley Adoption Center. I am so excited and I hope this experience will make many memories!