A little addition

[poiuytrewq]

Aww! Super cute.
My favourite horse is my little old Welsh A that was/is really nervy. Every break though is just so meaningful. Mines 32 and I’m still so happy if I get to touch him in the field at the wrong time of day
Good luck with her!

 

[Lucky Snowball]

She's lovely. Lucky pony.

 

[silv]

She is just a little bit cute! What is her story and what are your plans for her?

 

[scats]

She is just a little bit cute! What is her story and what are your plans for her?

She’s just been a companion we think, with very little handling. It looks like she only started being handled 4 weeks ago when she arrived with 2 other horses who were being purchased to sell on. She’s had some kind handling in the last 4 weeks and they had sorted her overgrown feet out, but they just wanted a nice home for her as they didn’t have space for her to stay long term.

The plan is that she will help break the girls attachment slightly. They are very good in the stables and are used to the other coming and going, but I couldn’t bring one in from the field and leave the other out, so it would be nice to have more flexibility in that sense.

Aside from that, just watching her blossom into a confident little pony. I’d like to do a lot of inhand hacks with her, for my fitness as much as hers, but generally just enjoy having a little pony again to spoil (its been nearly 20 years since I had my last section A).

I turn 40 this year, so this is my mid-life crisis!

 

[LadyGascoyne]

She has a lovely expression. I bet she’ll be fabulous when she has settled properly.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

What a little darling and such a sweet expression, she will be a lovely girl to have around and so rewarding to see her blossom.

 

[Trouper]

She's adorable.

 

[Squeak]

She's gorgeous and love her name, it's perfect for her. Very lucky pony to have ended up with you, can't wait to hear how she progresses.

 

[Bradsmum]

Look forward to following her story as she progresses. She looks a sweetie but a mixture of Sec A character and Shetland stubbornness - good luck.

 

[Annagain]

Well she's a little bit lovely isn't she.
Getting rid of all that floof will be so satisfying when she's happy for you to touch her.
Wishing you many years of happiness and fun with her.

 

[scats]

Progress today. She is coming over to sniff and touch me, and she took hay from my hand. I sat in the stable on a stool and had a coffee and she stood a couple of feet away munching (see pic) and occasionally sniffing my feet and legs.

She is even starting to poke her nose over the stable door, so is clearly getting more curious about her surroundings.

I have tomorrow afternoon off so I’m going to spend some time with her then.

The girls are fascinated by her, but also slightly alarmed

 

[shanti]

Aww what an absolute sweetie I love seeing animals land on their feet, she will have a lovely life with you.

 

[scats]

Today’s progress- She’s still absolutely terrified of being touched. She’s weirdly ok once you have your hand on her, and then you can scratch her all over, but that initial touch brings out real fear where she runs and and then bum swings on you, so I decided I needed to get her to accept touch safely first. I wonder if someone has literally just leapt on her to grab hold of her because she is very careful about how close she lets a human get and very, very quick when she moves!

So I filled a glove with hay and tied it to a sturdy schooling whip and now I have ‘limp hand’, who she really accepted.
She let limp hand touch her face, back, back and bum and stood relaxed resting a leg. So I left her on that good note for a few hours and will do a bit more later.

 

[Rumtytum]

Today’s progress- She’s still absolutely terrified of being touched. She’s weirdly ok once you have your hand on her, and then you can scratch her all over, but that initial touch brings out real fear where she runs and and then bum swings on you, so I decided I needed to get her to accept touch safely first. I wonder if someone has literally just leapt on her to grab hold of her because she is very careful about how close she lets a human get and very, very quick when she moves!

So I filled a glove with hay and tied it to a sturdy schooling whip and now I have ‘limp hand’, who she really accepted.
She let limp hand touch her face, back, back and bum and stood relaxed resting a leg. So I left her on that good note for a few hours and will do a bit more later.

View attachment 138399

Love your feline supervisor

 

[scats]

Love your feline supervisor

She is horrified that I’m spending so much time with pony. She sits outside the pony’s stable shrieking at me

Lily cat arrived at our farm about 3 years ago now and she’s basically my shadow. She comes everywhere with me- to turn the ponies out, do haynets, to the muck heap, to poo pick the field… she even sits in the manège and watches me ride!

 

[Rumtytum]

She is horrified that I’m spending so much time with pony. She sits outside the pony’s stable shrieking at me

Lily cat arrived at our farm about 3 years ago now and she’s basically my shadow. She comes everywhere with me- to turn the ponies out, do haynets, to the muck heap, to poo pick the field… she even sits in the manège and watches me ride!

Bless Lily, got to admire her micromanaging !

 

[scats]

Progress update from day 3. I can now, with the initial help of ‘limp hand’, touch and scratch Meg’s withers and neck. We had a nice scratchy session and then I left it there.
Just as I was leaving yesterday evening, she came to the door and poked her nose over and sniffed my arm and stayed there for a while. I didn’t attempt to touch her, just allowed her to be near me with no pressure. Baby steps and all. 3 days ago she would run and hide in the corner when I went in, but now she’s starting to realise that I provide hay and a bucket of picked grass and weeds so maybe I’m not all that bad!

She is quite a character! I’m realising she has a limit where attention is concerned and I don’t think she’s going to be a pony who likes a lot of fussing. I’m careful to read her body language and recognise when she’s getting fed up of me, and I’m making sure that I don’t overstep the boundaries at this stage. If she’s going to trust me, I have to give her reason to. There’s plenty of time in the future for her realising that sometimes she has to abide by my wishes, not her own, but for now she is setting the pace.

I’m going to document our journey on here because it might be useful for someone else in the future. Feel free to ignore my ramblings!

 

[babymare]

Hey I’m going to enjoy your ramblings so carry on rambling

 

[splashgirl45]

Ramblings are good and pictures would be nice as well

 

[ycbm]

Feel free to ignore my ramblings!

Uh?
.

 

[scats]

I’m hoping it won’t be long before we get some outdoor photos, but for now we just have stable ones.

I got a little Whicker this evening on arrival! Probably because she sees me as a walking buffet, but still!
She allowed me to stroke her mane for a while today, standing right next to her.
I wanted to put some more shavings down but her eyes nearly popped out of her head when I appeared in the doorway with a bag, so I decanted some into a tub trug and did it that way. She lets me move all around the stable now without keeping her distance from me, which I feel is a sign she is trusting me more. She happily carried on munching her hay while I mucked out right behind her.

I reckon I could have gently got hold of her headcollar tonight but I decided not to. I’m still using ‘limp hand’ to rub her face and the headcollar straps, so she is used to having something around that area. The idea being that when it becomes my hand instead, it will be absolutely no big deal to her and that taking hold of her headcollar won’t startle her.

It feels a bit sad having had lovely weather today and she is stuck in, but I’m trying to think long term. This is a short term ‘pain’ to enable her to live a happy and hopefully long life with lots of turnout and time with her new friends. I just need to make sure we have the basics installed in her first.

She is going to be such a sassy one, but my god do I adore her already!

 

[toppedoff]

She's got such a kind face to her

 

[babymare]

@scats you are giving the wee one the best.chance to learn to trust. Having bought a battered worthless case time and patience is a wonderful healer. She really is a sweetie with a beautiful eye. I love her

 

[Emilieu]

She is gorgeous and I felt a bit teary at her whickering hello. The wee soul. Really looking forward to following her progress.

 

[Jeni the dragon]

She's very cute! I'm loving following her progress!

 

[splashgirl45]

Sounds like progress and very quick as well, hope you keep on updating as its nice to follow your progress and ramble as much as you like

 

[scats]

Sundays update- I can now stand next to Megs shoulder and stroke and scratch her mane, neck, wither and starting to be able to stroke her face. I can do this with minimal to no initial ‘limp hand on a stick’ touching. She’s also letting me touch the headcollar straps now, but I want this to be completely cemented with no anxieties before I clip her on to a rope.
I am starting to introduce the rope to her. Touching her, lying it across her back and neck. I want her comfortable with the concept of the rope and realising it’s just another part of our everyday life.
Coming to the door is a regular thing now.

 

[splashgirl45]

You are going to have a lovely pony soon, she has come round very quickly and you must be going at the right speed for her..piccies are great

 

[scats]

Meg had her first walk out this morning. Just a walk up the yard and back. She is very babyish to lead, eyes on stalks and pooed (probably a bit of a shock from being in her stable bubble since she arrived) but was very good over gentle pressure/release of the rope. Popped her back in to have a think about it and she was very keen to come out again, whickering at the door.
She gives kisses now too, and no longer tries to take my face off

So we will build up these walks over the next couple of days and do some hand grazing.

 

[splashgirl45]

That’s very positive , shouldn’t be long before you will be able to turn her out.. she looks really sweet