Growing Up Filly Part II

The filly as a young horse was a bit...opinionated. 

Things she liked:

-Treats

-Scratches

-Running

And that's about it.

Things she didn't like

-Everything else

-Things that made weird noises

For a bit, while she was young, I thought I'd own the only horse that when I went to halter her, would flip over and lay down on the ground and not move. 

Seriously.  Imagine this irritated, angry filly just laying down on the ground.  Once, she decided to throw herself backwards through the gaps in the fencing to prove her point.

She was not a fan of fly spray.  Or blankets.  Or fly masks.  Or being caught.  On the plus side, she was pretty inquisitive with new things as long as it didn't make too much noise.

Funny how much they can grow up and change in just a short period of time...

Stay tuned for more Growing Up Filly ;)

The Beginning

As requested from a reader, let's go back.

Way back.  OK, she's only three years old, so there isn't that much to tell. ;) 

Since I bred the SFF, let's share a little bit more about her past & beginnings.

This is the SFF's sire.  He is a national champion in native costume and has other titles in english pleasure, sport horse in hand, and halter.  His national championship was won with a junior rider.

Dang crazy Arab stallions being ridden by kids.  

I chose him because he was athletic, strongly built, and kind, among other things of course.  His pedigree is filled with strong athletes top and bottom.

Pregnant SFM

The SFM has been a broodmare in the past.  She has had five other foals, other than the SFF, including one gelding that has (I believe!) 10 national titles right now.  He is a pretty cool show horse.  I didn't breed him, of course, but I knew the potential was there.  :)

After a long period of waiting (ok, not so long), the SFF made her appearance after 329 days on Mother's Day at a reasonable hour in the morning with most of the farm there present at her birth.  Apparently she wasn't a shy mare that day.

Stay tuned for more "growing up filly" ;) 

Our Secret

Don't tell.

There may be something horse related in the dishwasher...

It's a washer right? 

And it cleans things, right?

:)

In other news, the SFM failed her first attempt in the grazing muzzle.  She stood around all dejected, rubbing and whacking the muzzle on the other Arabian gelding in her pasture (who is muzzled).  What happened to monkey see, monkey do?

Blog Hop: Interested Parties

From Viva Carlos

What made you interested in your current horse that lead you to buying them in the first place?

How I acquired the SFM is a bit of a story.

I first saw a photo of the SFM after my friend's half Arabian mare died.  I was on a regional equestrian forum, along with my friend and of course, other people.  A sweet person on there offered the friend the SFM if she would be interested in replacing her Arabian.

Friend said no, but decided to forward the picture to me because I am a big fan of Arabians, especially cute grey ones. 

Fast forward a year and I found out I couldn't lease the horse that I wanted to lease, so I had to look for a horse locally for my senior year of undergrad.  I thought of that cute grey mare and dropped a line and voila...

November 2008

But remember, I was only leasing her.  I didn't know where I was going to end up at that point and time, but when I decided to stay in state, things came together and the SFM was gifted to me.

August 2013

So I suppose what really drew me in besides the fact she was a grey Arabian was that I thought her pedigree was interesting, she was available for lease, and it was a horse close enough. ;) 

Sometimes I was not all that discriminating and sound + four legs + not completely suicidal was enough to make me happy.   ;)

As for the SFF....I didn't buy her, I bred her and it probably would have been a whole lot cheaper (but not as satisfying I imagine!) to have purchased a been there, done that broke horse from how much money it cost to put her on the ground.

Ah well.  That's life with horses.

SFF Goes Out to the Jump Field

Another day, another ride for the SFF.

A couple of friends were riding in the outdoor jump field today, so I decided to take her down to hang out and wander around outside in that arena. 

Before they made it down there, I went ahead and lunged her and she willingly walked over the jump poles and between the standards.  Always a plus.  ;)

Went ahead and got on her.  Not too many issues, despite a lot of distractions.

The empty hay wagons rattling in off the fields were slightly unnerving to her, but they were as well to the adult horses, so with time and exposure I think she will be a pro.

We had a kindly older gelding that helped us walk past some of the scarier cross country jumps like the sunken, painted barrels, and the tire jump.  She didn't mind all the cross rails and typical blue barrels.

Worked a bit weaving around the jumps and walking in some of the tighter spaces.  Watched a friend jump her horse, so it was good patience for her to get used to another very large horse cantering around and jumping (and occasionally knocking things down).

Good job SFF.  I'd say the exercise in the jump field was a success.

Do the easy things often enough until the horse builds up confidence and while it was a simple and bit "boring" type of day, it's the perfect day to hang out with a sweet, willing young horse.  :)

More Horsin' Around

Not sure if the video will work.  Sorry if it's choppy or doesn't.  Let me know. 

Look!  It's a holiday and I'm not working.  I'm so incredibly shocked.  I missed out on the holiday pay for sure (which is approximately triple time).  Lots of things aren't the top of the list about my job, but holiday pay isn't a negative.

Moving on...

I went ahead and went out with the hopes of riding both the Semi Feral Mare and the Semi Feral Filly.

The filly was a little more distracted than yesterday, so I'll admit I chickened out and had someone hold her while I got on.  She was head tossing and being a little too fidgety so I would rather have someone be there for the first five seconds of a ride and make sure I didn't promptly get launched.

The filly has never done anything wrong, but ya never know...

Went ahead and rode her a bit.  She was overall quite good.  Worked a bit on moving off of my leg.  She is slowly working through her brain that leg doesn't always mean go forward (or canter!  I can canter!  Wee!) and that picking up the reins and sponging them doesn't mean stop dead so rapidly that I could get ejected. 

I think the horse really wants to be a reiner.  Look, she just likes loping and stopping.  Works, right?

Anyway, she was quite good to the left, but on the right, she seemed a bit fussy in her face.  When I dismounted and was prodded at her, she fought a bit and flew backwards, so I time to examine and see if she has a loose cap or something dental going on.  Or knowing her and how she isn't incredibly bright, she probably tried to eat the thistle growing in her dry lot.

Gave her a bit of bute for the evening and we will see how she is tomorrow.

I went ahead and grabbed the SFM.  I had intended on riding her in the dressage saddle today, but a couple of other folks at the barn invited me to go out on a trail ride around the property, so who am I to turn down that invitation?

The SFM was really quite good.  A little chompy and forward and was a little unsettled when they were dragging a hay wagon off the field, but overall, good behavior from the mare.

So, I'd consider that a win in my book.  It was nice to enjoy and relax a bit on a holiday.  Doesn't happen often!

Flying High

After a hiatus from riding due to the bad weather (read: tornadoes on an almost daily basis for a while), I went out to ride today.

I decided to go ahead and ride the SFF.  A friend has been riding her since I'll be honest: I guard my back and am worried that if she does something stupid, I will be very crippled more than the partially crippled I am now.

But sometimes you pull up your trousers and go.

So went ahead and saddled her up and got on.  There were several other horses in the arena including one person ground driving her horse with one of those flags.  I wasn't sure how the SFF was going to react to the flagging since it is something I've never exposed her too.

I also didn't know what she would think of carrying my heavier weight rather than her peanut sized regular jockey.  ;)

But she was a trooper.  I went ahead and rode walk, trot, and canter.  She is so unbelievably soft in the bridle that it's a little confusing to me.  She has to learn obviously more about being an adult horse, but she is coming along so nicely.

Wow, so nice to have a horse that is a clean slate.  I've always had projects or other types of horses, so to find one that (so far!) is kind and sweet and willing just seems so surprising.

PS Also rode the SFM after a month off.  She was all things considered, well behaved too given the massive chaos in the arena.  She isn't a fan of change, but she handled everything quite well overall.

A+ to both ponies and a good feeling to end the night on.