I got my fences done and the barn started here and was able to bring Matt and Dude home at the end of September. In the meantime, I had met some people who had horses also and started hanging out with them. they had trailers and trucks and all that good stuff and I didn't.
The day we picked up Matt and Dude we took Matt to team penning. The next morning, before I got to do anything with Dude, I broke my foot (tripped over the dog). I spent Saturday morning at the ER.
When I got back from the ER my new horse friends arrived unanounced with trailers full of horses and kids for a big welcome the new horses party.
Here's where things went South for awhile: By the time I was ready to bring Dude home from Big Tree, I had him standing pretty still for me to saddle. But on this day, with my broken foot, I was inside getting my clothes changed and didn't watch my friends saddle Dude in a western saddle. They told me later that Dude reared when they were trying to saddle him and also set back and moved the horse trailer he was tied to. Poor Dude, set upon by strangers trying to put a western saddle on him. He must have thought he was back at where he was abused. When I got on him he backed up and backed up. Naturally, Pedro and Lexie tried to catch him. This made it worse. I made them get back and put my hand on his neck and said, "Dude, its Mama, its okay." And then he was fine. I rode him up and down the street with my foot in a cast. He knew I was hurt. He trotted ever so gently with me. After I rode him, a teenage girl rode him, too and he was fine. I went in the house and took a pain pill because my foot hurt! A couple of days later when I went out to try and saddle him, Dude was right back to where he had been when I first started working with him. Very nervous and untrusting. And I couldn't hop around fast enought to lunge him or keep up with him for saddling while he circled. So, I rode him bareback and he was fine. I only walked and trotted because I'm not very good at riding bareback. I felt really precarious and really fearful because I was already injured and being injured is so damn inconvenient for all the things I need to get done in life (single mom, full time job, long commute, full care of 2 horses).
The day we picked up Matt and Dude we took Matt to team penning. The next morning, before I got to do anything with Dude, I broke my foot (tripped over the dog). I spent Saturday morning at the ER.
When I got back from the ER my new horse friends arrived unanounced with trailers full of horses and kids for a big welcome the new horses party.
Here's where things went South for awhile: By the time I was ready to bring Dude home from Big Tree, I had him standing pretty still for me to saddle. But on this day, with my broken foot, I was inside getting my clothes changed and didn't watch my friends saddle Dude in a western saddle. They told me later that Dude reared when they were trying to saddle him and also set back and moved the horse trailer he was tied to. Poor Dude, set upon by strangers trying to put a western saddle on him. He must have thought he was back at where he was abused. When I got on him he backed up and backed up. Naturally, Pedro and Lexie tried to catch him. This made it worse. I made them get back and put my hand on his neck and said, "Dude, its Mama, its okay." And then he was fine. I rode him up and down the street with my foot in a cast. He knew I was hurt. He trotted ever so gently with me. After I rode him, a teenage girl rode him, too and he was fine. I went in the house and took a pain pill because my foot hurt! A couple of days later when I went out to try and saddle him, Dude was right back to where he had been when I first started working with him. Very nervous and untrusting. And I couldn't hop around fast enought to lunge him or keep up with him for saddling while he circled. So, I rode him bareback and he was fine. I only walked and trotted because I'm not very good at riding bareback. I felt really precarious and really fearful because I was already injured and being injured is so damn inconvenient for all the things I need to get done in life (single mom, full time job, long commute, full care of 2 horses).
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