The girls have settled in nicely. I have been working with both of them on picking up their hooves so we can have their hooves trimmed. I keep working on leading willingly, stopping and backing. So far Faith is backing the best but Dakota is calmer and stands better when I'm working around her.
I have started to desensitize them with a plastic bag attached to the end of a whip. Dakota is not as reactive to the bag as Faith is and stands calmly while I rub the bag on her body. Faith, on the other hand, is still very cautious and weary of the bag. She backs away and does not like to have it anywhere other than on her shoulder and neck. I will keep working slowly on moving the bag to more sensitive areas.
They are now eating a 14% pelleted grain along with brome and alfalfa hay. We had fecal egg counts done on both of them and they came back with very low counts. Once we've had some more freezing temperatures we will give all of our horses a broad spectrum wormer. Both fillies have had their 5-way immunizations and booster shots. Neither had a bad reaction to the shots.
Faith's shoulder cut has healed well and so has her brand. Dakota's ankle is healed, too, but it went up and down with swelling for a couple of weeks. Her brand has also healed. She is scheduled to have surgery for an umbilical hernia soon. We have been waiting for cooler weather to avoid flies. Faith still has a cyst on her shoulder that will also be removed later.
I have set some show goals for the spring. The Iowa Quarter Horse Association hosts the Mayflower Show in Des Moines. My goal is to show one of the fillies in the yearling halter class and showmanship and if I'm able to keep riding this winter I will also enter Dunny in the barrels and poles.
As the weather cools and the days grow shorter I will continue to work with the girls as many days of the week as possible. I learned a few weeks ago that if I miss a few days they seem to go back a few steps in training. I am going to be working with one of my mom's friends on teaching them to lounge. I will also keep working on the desensitizing and picking up their feet. I need to work with them on learning to be tied up. I will probably only blog once a month until spring when I'm doing even more with the girls.
I have started to desensitize them with a plastic bag attached to the end of a whip. Dakota is not as reactive to the bag as Faith is and stands calmly while I rub the bag on her body. Faith, on the other hand, is still very cautious and weary of the bag. She backs away and does not like to have it anywhere other than on her shoulder and neck. I will keep working slowly on moving the bag to more sensitive areas.
They are now eating a 14% pelleted grain along with brome and alfalfa hay. We had fecal egg counts done on both of them and they came back with very low counts. Once we've had some more freezing temperatures we will give all of our horses a broad spectrum wormer. Both fillies have had their 5-way immunizations and booster shots. Neither had a bad reaction to the shots.
Faith's shoulder cut has healed well and so has her brand. Dakota's ankle is healed, too, but it went up and down with swelling for a couple of weeks. Her brand has also healed. She is scheduled to have surgery for an umbilical hernia soon. We have been waiting for cooler weather to avoid flies. Faith still has a cyst on her shoulder that will also be removed later.
I have set some show goals for the spring. The Iowa Quarter Horse Association hosts the Mayflower Show in Des Moines. My goal is to show one of the fillies in the yearling halter class and showmanship and if I'm able to keep riding this winter I will also enter Dunny in the barrels and poles.
As the weather cools and the days grow shorter I will continue to work with the girls as many days of the week as possible. I learned a few weeks ago that if I miss a few days they seem to go back a few steps in training. I am going to be working with one of my mom's friends on teaching them to lounge. I will also keep working on the desensitizing and picking up their feet. I need to work with them on learning to be tied up. I will probably only blog once a month until spring when I'm doing even more with the girls.