A lot of little things

Today I did a lot of little things with Onyx. I worked on swinging the lead rope around more and then tied her up for a bit while I worked on the "mudball crusade". I snipped a lot more mud off, but there is a LOT more to go and I think she's going to have to get wet to get it all off. A lot that's left is right up against her skin. This stuff is some crazy mud, it's rock hard. I used a metal curry and got all of the little bits off of her neck and a lot of it off of her sides and rump. Tomorrow is supposed to be our last nice day so I'm hoping I'll be able to get her belly wet and get the crud off once and for all! I've seen pictures of some of the other "muddy" musangs, but I really haven't seen one as bad as Onyx! Her sides and belly were solid mudballs, layers upon layers of them when I started.

After chipping away at more of the mud, I introduced her to a saddle pad. Not a big deal except she seemed hesitant to walk around with it on. "What is this thing on my back?"

Then it was time for the surcingle. Again, no big deal. She looks almost bored in this pic, haha.

I didn't tighten it because of all the mud still in the way. I left it on her for a little while and worked on brushing out her mane. She has a long pretty mane right behind her ears... aaand right in front of her withers. Everything in between is short, thick, and sticking up everywhere. I'm not sure how much of her mane will grow out by April, but at least a few inches would be cool.

In continuing with my desire to expose her to general "weirdness", I also introduced her to me jumping up and down. I think anyone who might have walked by the stall would have thought I was a little nuts. I stood in the middle of the stall, holding the leadrope and started jumping up and down in place. At first Onyx freaked out and ran around and around in the stall... I just kept jumping. Then she stopped, I kept jumping. Finally she looked at me (with an expression kinda like "what the hell??") and I stopped. A few minutes later I started jumping up and down again, she didn't try to get away, instead within a few seconds she turned and looked right at me ("you are so weird"). She really is a smart girl. I've noticed more and more that she seems to pick things up (and repeat them) very quickly.

Now I just need to finish getting the friggin mud off her so I can get the saddle on!

Onyx is a Celebrity

Wow! This morning I got a call from a gal at one of the local news stations. She wanted to know if she could do a story on me leading up to the competition in April. She wanted to meet today and again at times over the next few months to track Onyx's progress. I said yeah, that'd be cool!

Jeff and I hurried out to embark on the "mudball crusade" and over the course of an hour we had Onyx ok with me snip-snipping away at her belly hairs with my sharp little scissors. I took off a good 3-4 big handfuls of mudballs by the time we were done. Then I had to rush back to the house and to try make myself presentable for our big TV debut!

At the barn the news gal filmed me getting Onyx out of her stall and walking her to the arena. She asked a lot of questions about my background with horses, the competition and of course, Onyx. She filmed a quick interview with me (I think I rambled on, I was SO nervous!) and then she did some more filiming of Onyx and I walking around together in the arena. She gave me her cell phone number and asked that I give her a call whenever we reach a big milestone so she can come back out to film an update. I told her there are little milestones everytime I work with Onyx, but I'll probably wait to call until there is a saddle involved! *wink*

Speaking of small milestones, a small crowd had gathered just outside the arena to watch Onyx's TV debut... The couple who owns the barn and a couple of other boarders were there. There were also some dogs hanging out in the crowd. To take her back to her stall we had to walk right through the crowd and Onyx wasn't phased one bit. As we walked by, one of the boarders asked if she was a Friesian! (I have to admit that I've thought she kinda looks like one at times) I said no, she's a mustang. Both of the ladies went on about how lovely she was and what good conformation she has. I have to admit, I was thrilled! They asked if she was from an adoption or a sale and I told them about the Mustang Makeover. The owners of the barn have heard of the Mustang Makeover events and when they found out that's where she's headed they were really excited.

Tomorrow - more mudball snipping and always more groundwork!

A Rant

I hate wind. No, wait, let me repeat that.. I HATE wind!! The last couple of days the wind has been absolutely horrible. What makes it even worse is that the temperatures have been in the low 50s the last few days and the sun has been shining. They would be perfect days to get out and enjoy the sunshine... if not for the 50mph winds!! Today they said the wind was a steady 40mph with gusts up to 60. While taking care of my horses tonight, I had several flakes of hay ripped out of my hands by the wind and they blew away, no trace left. After watering and haying the herd out on the property, I came back to town to go see Onyx. (yes I think that's her name now) I had planned to work with her a bit, but I couldn't get the barn door shut behind me which meant the *~#&#%^# wind was HOWING through the barn aisle. Sooo instead I worked in her stall a bit.

When I picked her up the majority of her body was covered in mud. Most of it was dry, clumped on her. A lot of it has fallen off and I've picked some off while petting her, but her belly is completely covered in dried mud. There are a ton of little dingleberry mud balls hanging off her belly hairs. It's gotta be uncomfortable and of course before I can saddle her I've gotta get all that stuff off of her. She's been touchy about her belly and I can see why. The hair down there is being pulled by all the dried up mud balls. The good news is that most of them are not right up against her skin so I should be able to snip them off with some small scissors. She'll have some chunky cut belly hairs, but she'll be a lot more comfortable I'd think! She was letting me feel around down there tonight which is the most she's let me do to her belly without fussing. I also worked on touching her legs and was able to run my hand down both of her front legs. I worked on desensitizing her to the lead rope, tossing it over her neck, back and rump and letting it coil around her front legs. The only thing that bothered her a bit at first was feeling it around her legs but she didn't try to run away and she accepted it pretty quickly. The last accomplishment for the night was putting the lead rope around her like a cinch and playing with that. I jiggled it around and tightened it off and on. She didn't seem to mind that at all. Not too bad for a few minutes in the stall with the friggin' wind howling by in the barn aisle.

I've heard it's supposed to be windy again tomorrow (*grumble grumble*) but hopefully I can get started on the "belly mudball crusade".