Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Best Day - Then Another Setback

On Sunday I had my best day with Onyx. (so far!) I went into her stall and was able to groom her from head to tail without so much as a halter on her. Then, for the first time, I picked out all 4 of her feet, again with no halter or rope on her. She was SUCH a good girl! For somewhat of a reward I turned her loose in the arena and she ran and ran and played and looked to be having a lot of fun. Then we saddled up! She was SO much better for that ride. She didn't fight me and I actually forgot I was on a mustang with only a few rides on her. We strolled around the arena, going in and out of the narrow chute into the round pen and walking around by the barrels and cones in the corner. It was then that I realized a side benefit of her having a traffic cone for a toy in her stall. When she first saw the cones in the corner they had concerned her, but now she could care less! One cone was off the stack and she walked right over it. I had expected a reaction out of her before I realized - "duh, she has one in her stall!" So big orange cones certainly won't be a concern with her in the future.

Then we worked on trotting. She was unsure at first and I was a bit unsure too, because I'm not used to a horse with so much "forward". Bo is slow and lazy and most of the time I have to really get after him to get him to move out at all. Not Onyx! After we both worked it out (she knew she could trot with me on her and I knew when she launched into it she wasn't trying to bolt off with me - haha) all I had to do was say "trot" and she powered off into these huge strides. It was impressive! This girl can really cover some ground. Even her walk is done with a purpose, she wants to get somewhere. She's going to be a heck of a horse for whoever buys her.

So we ended the weekend on a high note. And then came another setback. This weekend our weather was gorgeous and on Sunday it was 75 degrees! That night it all went downhill and we awoke Monday to high winds and tons of rain/sleet. We had been under a blizzard warning for Monday and Tuesday. By early Monday afternoon the blizzard was in full force and everything was shutting down. The interstate from Wyoming to halfway across South Dakota was closed and they were advising no travel anywhere else. We couldn't even see across the street for most of the storm. It lasted until yesterday (Tuesday) and then finally quit around noon or so. We went out driving to view the aftermath and found several roads blocked by drifts that ranged from 2-12 feet high. Yet in some places, you could see bare road or bare grass. The wind howled for two days, they recorded a gust of 80mph, and blew the snow everywhere. It always amazes me to see bare ground right next to a 10 foot drift after one of these storms. So I've now lost another couple of days. The 10 day forecast looks pretty bleak, rain and snow and no temps over 40, or so they say. I don't have much choice but to bundle up and get back to work. Three weeks from today I'll be hitting the road for Wisconsin!! I really hope we have at least a few more nice days between now and then...

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