Forever Wild?

Can you believe that I have had Rio for a year now? I can't. The year went by so fast. And I would have to say it was the toughest, most challenging year with a horse... ever. And we still aren't there yet. 

Lovely girl.

Rio has had a really difficult time trusting completely, which has made this whole gentling process quite the challenge. I would have to say she is "gentled", to a certain extent. Oh sure, I can walk up to her and pet her. Heck, I can even brush her. But not without her getting scared by a quick movement and her fleeing from me. She doesn't do that all the time, but at least a couple times per session she will exit from the human presence. I have tried desensitizing her to ropes to get her ready for halter breaking and that did not go well. She swore that rope was going to eat her for dinner. I would take the halter and lead rope and rub it all over her body including her face. She eventually relaxed a little, just a little when I rubbed it on her face. I did get as far as putting her nose in the nose band of the halter, but there was no way I would be able to get the halter all the way on. She can't handle it. I took my handy stick/string and flung that string all over her body, legs, head. I had the best results by doing this then I did with a rope, halter or lead rope. But I still could not get her to accept that a rope, halter or lead rope was a good thing. I increased the pressure on her when round penning with very minimal results. Almost every training method that works with other horses, does not work with Rio. I know not all training methods work for all horses, so I have had to become quite creative with what I do, or don't do.

Shoulder scratch!

Of course I started to doubt my abilities as a horse trainer. I mean, how can one horse have such a difficult time accepting human companionship? I feed her, water her, love on her. What more does she want? Well, for one, she is a wild horse. I never expected it to be easy. Even though my first wild one was about as easy as it gets, but she was just a wee little thing. That certainly helps. For another, not ALL wild horses can be domesticated. They just can't. So it's not necessarily me and my abilities. I just ended up adopting a wild horse that can't "get there" and may never "get there". I don't want it to never "get there". But right now, Rio says she can't do it.... not yet. I really hope she changes her mind.

Forehead sniff.

She can't trust completely. She is very reactive. She can't let go of the wild. So where do I go from here? I contacted Tracey, from Mustang Diaries to see if she could come down and give me her opinion. Maybe she has more ideas that could help. Or maybe I am just stuck with a wild horse that will never become domesticated. Tracey has been busy and out of town a lot, so not sure when or if she will be able to come give me her advice before the really ugly weather hits.

Love.

So for now, I go back to square one. I just brought a wild horse home and want her to get used to my presence, what do I do? I sit. I take my chair, book and a pocket full of carrots and sit with her.... within seconds she approaches. She sniffs my leg. She sniffs my hand. I give her a carrot. She sniffs my head. She inches closer. She is so close her leg is touching the chair. I pet her nose. I give her a carrot. She nudges my arm. I pet higher up on her face, behind her ears. I kiss her nose. I give her a carrot. She moves behind me. I can't see what she is doing. I feel warm breath down the back of my neck. My hair moves. I feel her whiskers tickling my neck. She rubs her nose on my head. She moves back to the front of me. I give her a carrot. I kiss her halfway up her face... for the first time. 

Kisses.

She wants to be with me. She does trust me. Just not enough to give me her all. Yet. She has so much potential. I see it. I will not give up. I have fallen for this wild horse like no other, even though I can't halter her and do the things I do with my other horses. Just sitting in that chair and having complete trust in this wild horse approaching me and her trying so hard to give me what I want. But that wild heart of hers can't trust fully.

Rio is now legally mine.

So I continue this emotional roller coaster of a journey with my wild horse..... I love her, I really, really love her.

I'm Still Here!

I am still here! I promise! Life has just been super busy and I haven't had much computer time. I will try to do a better job of posting and visiting you all! I have been reading blogs, but just haven't been commenting. So here is a rundown of some of the things that have been going on in the last month and a half.

Flirt is doing well. I have just been doing ground work with her and I haven't really had time to do all the things I wanted to do with her before summer ends. I'd still like to get a saddle on her before that happens and that is coming soon, so I better get that goal accomplished!! Since she is only 2, I will not ride her until spring. She is growing and filling out nicely.

Miss Flirt looking pretty as always!

Chance has had her ups and downs. She is still a baby, so she has her baby moments. I took her to my sister's ranch for a Mustang event and she had a mental breakdown. She just needs to grow up and needs many more wet saddle blankets. I had to put her back in trailer loading school because she decided she didn't want to load in the horse trailer anymore. It still takes me about 10 minutes to get her in, but she is doing better. I think what happened is she doesn't like being up on the wall in the trailer. I had to start putting her in that stall because I needed to pick up a friends horse as well. After a few rides in that stall is when she started not wanting to get in the trailer. So I am now putting her in the middle stall until she figures out how to balance herself in the trailer.

Chance learning to accept scary umbrellas.

I have been having my best friend, who is the assistant trainer at the Arab farm I used to work for, come out and put a couple rides on Chance. I wanted her to help me with some things that are more her level of expertise. I wanted to make sure I didn't mess anything up too bad. She told me I did an excellent job so far with her. That was great to hear!!

Chance and I at the Mustang Rendezvous.

Rio is still a tough nut to crack. She has come a long way, but she just can't let go of the wild. She is having a hard time trusting completely. I have been spending a lot of time round penning and desensitizing her to ropes. Getting her over her rope fears has been quite challenging. She is still not halter broke and won't be until she can accept ropes. I have been able to rub a lead rope all over her neck, shoulder and even her face. I have even gotten the nose band of the halter over her nose, but that is as far as I can get. She panics and flees if I go to fast or if she starts to get uncomfortable. I can pet and brush her pretty much anywhere, but she still gets nervous about human touch. Once I start petting her, she usually relaxes, but one wrong or quick movement and she's says "No way, I'm outta here!" So I continue plugging away. She has so much potential and is probably the sweetest horse I have ever had. Sometimes wild ones can never tamed. I am hoping that is not the case with her.

My OH getting his Rio time in.

Cooper is still a trouble maker. I sometimes wonder if he will live to see his one year birthday.

Pooper Cooper.

He gets himself in so much trouble. He gets the buzzies and races up and down the house, running head first into tables and chairs.

Cooper trying to get on the ceiling.

He thinks he runs the household now. He is definitely the boss around here.

Looks like a good place to take a nap, I suppose.

One morning while my OH was in the shower, Cooper was in the bathroom window sill and he slipped and fell and got caught up in the double towel bar. He injured his leg and we had to rush him to the vet. Thank goodness nothing was broken. He just had soft tissue damage and had to be put on "stall" rest for a few days. That was not easy. Who would have thought that a cat in a large dog kennel could still get himself in trouble? Only Cooper. But he healed up quickly and was back to his crazy and clumsy ways.

Cooper on "stall" rest.

My chickens are pretty much all grown up now. Those cute baby chicks have become cute adult chickens.

Such big combs.

We are now getting about 9-10 eggs a day. We have already given cartons of eggs to our neighbor, friends and family. I am finding myself using a lot more eggs now then I ever did before. I love eggs, so that is not a problem. And believe it or not, farm fresh eggs are a million times better then store bought eggs!! I did the taste test challenge last week. Huge difference!

Eggs!! Lots of different sizes and shades!

I love taking goofy chicken pictures, although they are very difficult to photograph. They don't hold still!!

Well, HELLO there Rosie!!

It is now that time of year where we spend weekend mornings and most evenings at the river fishing.

My view yesterday morning while fishing. Beautiful sunrise!

We have had a lot of success fishing and have already completed one batch of smoked salmon. Love that stuff!!!

My fish and I.

I got my limit of 4 salmon by 8:00 a.m. yesterday, so I sat on the beach and waited for the guys to catch up. They never did. Yes, I still out fish the guys!

My view yesterday morning while I was waiting for the guys to limit out.

That is only a brief run down of the last month and a half. I will get into more details about certain events in future posts!