I've been playing with the idea of taking Cobre' down to the river trail and today seemed like a great day to take the boy for a walk. It's in the 60's out, minus the 20mph winds we have. I figured he'd be a bit jumpy/spooky... nope, nothing. He just walked behind me taking it all in. It's much easier to control a horse from the ground than it is to do on their back. I tacked him up and off on our walk we went.
We walked on the sidewalks alongside the soccer fields (they used to be horse trails, stupid City owns them now) until we hit the paved trail.
It was a boring walk.
We got to where the bridge crosses the river and a guy on a bicycle came flying over it, which startled Cobre'. He jumped behind me and snorted.
Goofball!
So after that he wasn't sure of the bridge because "weird moving things come from it!", so we walked over to it. My plan was to just hangout by it and let him eat some grass. Little did I know that there was a crackhead passed out on the bridge.
At first I thought "Oh God... dead body!" but he moved. Cobre' wanted no parts of that guy laying there, nor did I... so we turned around and started back to the barn.
All was well until about 10 minutes away from the barn, walking near the road (on sidewalk by soccer field fence) a loud ass motorcycle came blowing past us. Didn't even try to slow down, Cobre jumped sideways and put it in reverse and took me about 12 feet back with him. I got his brain back and we continued on back to the barn. I was so mad because the road it a dead end and there are horse signs up and down it. A few minutes later, the same asshole comes flying towards us again! This time I was well off and away from the road and had both the reins and lead in my hands. The asshole blew past us again, Cobre' tried to bolt, but he could only run in a tight circle around me. After I got his brain back again, he was a nervous wreck and was covered in sweat. It pissed me off so bad, I wish I could have a spike strip with me for when people do that sort of stuff. It's also most like they enjoy watching you or your horse get hurt.
We made it back to the barn, where he calmed down and was praised for being such a good boy.
He got some cookies too.
I untacked him, and let him roll in the arena and we just hung out.
He dried off and we called it a day.
He tries so hard to be brave and I love this boy to pieces! He is wonderful!
Bonus pictures of a few of the barn cats, who I just love as well!
Oh and we can't forgot the silly barn rabbit either! :)
Friday, March 3, 2017
Cobre' has been doing wonderful! He is so willing and he tries to hard to understand and please. Someone really did him wrong at some point in his life though.
The other day I put a bridle on him, he had no reaction.
Yesterday I put a saddle on him, he didn't care.
Today I let him run around the arena with two other pasos, and a fox trotter. At first I wasn't sure if I'd be able to catch him again... but I had to do it just to see how hard it would be to catch him. After everyone got their horse, he came right up to me like "Okay, here I am, let's exit". I was so proud of him! I refuse to use treats or food in order to catch a horse. That drives me nuts when a horse will only allow it's self to be caught if it gets food.
Today's weather was the high of 30, windy, and snow. I'm so over it!
I got off of work and headed to the barn. Cleaned his stall, haltered him, took him out, groomed him. messed with all four of his feet and off to go explore we went. We only walked across the road, which is a huge field. While walking down the road for get to a crossing (wooden fence lines the field) a Comcast truck drove by. I wasn't sure how Cobre' would react but told him to stop, watch it as it passed (he startled in place) and I told him to "get it!", meaning... "make it go away". Not really chase it, but we followed it while I praised him of being a good and brave boy. He snorted as it drove on and we continued out into the field. A short walk out and I was sinking in mud again, so we turned around and headed back to the barn.
I was half frozen so into the indoor arena we went. A group lesson was underway and I thought "Hey, let's stand around, hang out, and watch it together". Cobre' was abused by a trainer, he doesn't like loud noises and doesn't like people yelling. A controlled group lesson with one loud lady on the ground giving tips, and directions... he was curious about. After a few minutes he didn't care that she was yelling across a big arena, so we practiced how he ties. No real issue with that while I was standing there with him... but I do worry due to how he was trained that he has pull back issues.
(I might touch on that at some point, sadly the trainer is well loved in the horse world and any negative stuff that comes up on him, he threatens people and goes after them~What a winner he is! *GAG*)
Cobre' seemed to be getting bored, so I figured I'd see how he would take a bit/bridal. No issue and it gave him something to play with while we just hung out. I took it off after a few minutes and he just stood there and nuzzled me and licked my jacket. He's so sweet!
By that time, the barn manager was feeding so I wanted to take him back to see if he would eat his grass hay. I put him back in his run, and into his stall he went and started eating. I was so happy! At that moment I thought of a good idea and used the weather to my advantage. Cobre' doesn't like people around him when he eats, he gets kind of food aggressive. We suspect that the trainer would either take his food away from him if he was "bad" or "not perfect", or hit him while he ate or tried to eat. So off into the barn I went and hung out at his stall.
At first he wasn't sure and walked back outside... into the wind and snow.
He didn't seemed to thrilled and he must have been hungry because after a few he came back inside and started to eat while I was standing right next to him. No aggression or ears back or anything. He munched and I grabbed a handful of the alfalfa that I have for him and handed it to him. He happily took it from me without thinking he was going to get hit or punished.
I was frozen again and decided to call it a night and head home. I can't wait until spring!
With Cobre's known and unknown past, he needs a lot of baby steps. He is very unsure and lacks confidence in himself. The first evening (2-25-17) he was at the new barn, he was terrified and pretty shocked.
Everything that he knew was safe, was no longer in sight or smell. Thankfully Karen told him about me and I spent that first evening just talking to him.
He did allow me to pet him and did start to doze off standing next to me. It was amazing!
I told him to rest up and I would be back in the morning (Sunday) to hang out with him some more.
Sunday 2-26-17
Around noon I arrived and walking down to his barn I turned the corner and yelled HI COBRE'! and he spun around and threw his head up and looked at me. He knows his name! :) I ended up just eating my lunch and talking to him (mainly telling him that he needed to eat his grass hay). A bit later I went into his run and petted him for a bit then decided it was halter time. I was sure he was going to try to get away and at first he did move away but once I put the leadline around his neck, he was fine getting the rope halter on.
While standing there I did brush him a bit and he seemed a bit startled and scared of it. He flinched a few times but I let him know that I wasn't going to hurt him and he would look a lot better after a good grooming. He allowed me to pick all four feet up as well.
After that I took him for a walk around the entire property. He has the funniest nicker/whinny I have ever heard. I'll have to try and get it on video at some point. He did great and at one point I was sinking in the mud and he had to help me out a bit and he knew how to do that without being afraid. I let him eat grass and every time something would make him unsure, he would walk and stand behind me and when he felt it was safe again, he would away back and graze.
We ended on a good note. I am not expecting much from him due to his past. One day at a time. Baby steps.
Monday 2-27-17
I wanted to take him for another walk, but Mother Nature had other plans in the form of wind, snow, rain, and the high in the 20's. ICK! I decided that I'd clean his stall, see if he ate his grass hay (he eats the alfalfa just fine), groom him and probably call it a day. I walked down to his barn and he was inside but came out when I called him and he saw me.
I cleaned his stall and was happy to see that he had a solid normal poop right in the middle of his grass hay. LOL Sure tells me what he thinks of that. He ate all of the alfalfa though. I told him he wasn't getting anymore alfalfa until he ate the grass hay. We'll see tomorrow if he ate it or not.
He followed me around and wanted my attention, so I haltered him and took him out. Groomed him a bit, picked all four feet, and he seemed to not want to go back... so off to the indoor arena we went.
I wasn't sure how he was going to react but he was calm and took it all in. While there we met another boarder who made friends with him by giving him cookies only in return if she got to pet him. He liked her and liked the attention and thought the treats were great.
I walked him around the arena a few times so he could check it out. He seemed fine with it. I tied him up to see what he would do and he stood there just fine. A horse in the row of stall in the indoor called out to him, he answered back and made it a point to prove to me that he HAD TO go over and say hi to this other Paso. They sniffed and rubbed each other like they knew one another. It was pretty neat! Also this other Paso looks a lot like him too.
It's been quite a few years since I've logged into this blog. A LOT has changed.
The good, the bad, and the ugly has happened, but I'm back and in a great spot in life. I can't complain.
I got out of the horse world back in late 2013 and ended up moving in 2014 to Cali. In spring of 2015, I ended up moving to Utah, and I'm still out here. Some days I think I'm crazy for staying... but over all I've kind of fell in love with this place, except for the inversions.... I don't love them at all. I won't bore you with my past, as it's over and done with and I've moved on. So with that said....
I adopted a horse and he arrived yesterday.
Please meet Cobre' <3
I adore him and have since December 2016. I only saw him from a distance while visiting my friend and my old mare Legacy. I'm not sure what clicked but something did and I when I drove back to Utah after my December vacation, I pretty much told my friend "If and when he is put up for adoption, please let me know as I can't get him out of my head." So it began.
The newest member to our family, Blast. She is a five month old Nubian goat. She will be used for breeding stock, and milking come next year when shes over a year old.
I had off on Friday and the weather couldn't have been nicer. So I tacked up the pony and off we went. I wanted to go ride out to the paint ball place, so we got near it but I didn't want to get to close since I wasn't sure of the set up of the place and the hours it was open.
Along the way we found a little grass patch, so of course I had to stop and Leg munch for a few. :)
It seemed to perk her up and we continued on our ride.
The area we rode around.
And a small dog update:
Howie and Mitchell are getting along great. Mitchell is showing/teaching Howie how to play and just be a pup, since he seems very standoffish towards any kind of toy or "game".
I was glad to see them playing together yesterday evening.
And this is what it's all about! The tri-color Basset is my 1yr old
boy, Mitchell. He and Howie (Chachito) hit it off great this afternoon (Tuesday).
I'd like to think the looks Howie was giving me as I was taking
pictures of them, were all saying "THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME! THIS IS
EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED."
The following three pictures are from when I picked him up from the shelter.
I wrote this all on Sunday. I forgot to post about it, so please just back date.
I truly think this little dog was meant to be mine. Short story...
Friday at work, one of my favorite customers came in, her and I got to chatting about good coffee houses and she was telling me of one she loves in Vegas and out of no where I blurted out "I'll be in Vegas on Sunday, maybe I'll check it out". I paused, looked at her in shock and said "I have no idea where that came from, I have no reason to be in Vegas on Sunday... but maybe I'll now make a day trip of it???" We both just laughed it off.
So yesterday a friend of mine whom I ride with, Debi, had posted on facebook going on and on about a little pit bull she had just adopted from a shelter out in Vegas. I had commented on the picture of the dog that she adopted. A few minutes later she sends me a PM saying how she saw a young lemon and white basset hound there, and he seemed like a real sweetie. At first I was like "yeah, whatever, just another dog in a shelter..." till she sent me his adoption page then my heart broke as I couldn't understand why someone would surrender a 6 month old basset hound pup and to a high rate kill shelter. I looked at his intake day and then yesterdays date and just prayed that he'd still be there come morning. It was to late to make the 60mile drive Vegas since the shelter would be closed by the time I got there. So I got up early this morning and made the drive. The workers were pretty shocked that I knew his info off the top of my head and that I wasn't interested in looking at any other dogs but only him. Got to his kennel and I was welcomed with lots of tail whacks and licks. I took him out for a bit in to one of the "play areas" and he was just so happy to be out, to stretch his little legs, play, cuddle, and oh and get many belly rubs. A few others commented how cute he was. I went on to tell them that I had a 1 year old basset at home and just love the breed.
So after spending an hour with him, I filled out adoption papers on him and will be picking him up tomorrow evening after he gets fixed.
I sadly didn't get any photos of him there as I was nothing but smiles and giggling at his silly antics.
Here is his shelter photo for now. I'll take some of him tomorrow for sure.
And the point of the story is... I guess I some how "knew" that I was going to be in Vegas today on Friday.
And as to those who leave their old mates in the paddock to fend for themselves
Did this reliable partner really deserve this ending?
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Did I mention I had a bit of spare time this week
a loud ass motorcycle came blowing past us. Didn't even try to slow down, Cobre jumped sideways and put it in reverse and took me about 12 feet back with him. I got his brain back and we continued on back to the barn. I was so mad because the road it a dead end and there are horse signs up and down it. A few minutes later, the same asshole comes flying towards us again! This time I was well off and away from the road and had both the reins and lead in my hands. The asshole blew past us again, Cobre' tried to bolt, but he could only run in a tight circle around me. After I got his brain back again, he was a nervous wreck and was covered in sweat. It pissed me off so bad, I wish I could have a spike strip with me for when people do that sort of stuff. It's also most like they enjoy watching you or your horse get hurt.
