2010 is going to be a GREAT year

2010 is already looking great and my plan worked! I've kept Maverick in a pen by himself for months now. He was rude and bossy to Brego before he went to the trainers. When he returned I wanted to keep him close so that I could work him (and I was still intimidated by him).

Maverick has been exposed to all of the horses but has never interacted in a herd setting until today. All of the horses can play with him over the fence and have been for a year now. But the time has come where I need to introduce another horse into the herd. I've introduced other horses along the way (Sam and Zeke), but Jimmy is going to be a different story.

Jimmy is alloof and I'm going to have problems catching him. My plan is to put him in Maverick's pen and keep him there for a few months until we can establish a bond. He'll have more room to roam so it may be harder to catch but I want to get him more space. I also want him to be introduced to the rest of the herd.

With all of this cold weather, he'll have to be caught, haltered, and let into a waiting stall. If I can get him to associate haltering with no work, than maybe he won't be so standoffish. I do believe he was beat at one point. Evey time I raise my arms (to throw hay, give him grain, climb the gate) he spooks. Nothing too serious but he is uncomfortable with people being higher than him. So it'll be another thing to work on.

But back to Maverick. I decided that with all of the horses "starving" away, that I would transition Maverick over into the big herd. I figured everyone would be too involved in eating to pay attention to a "new" horse. And my plan worked. I fed Chaos, Dude, and Brego (those three that are left outside but stay in the leanto), and then I let Zeke, Sam, and Rain out of the barn to munch on more hay. I then led King back into the main herd. Boy has he gotten naughty lately. He's really spooky. I guess I need to start working with him more.

And then came the moment I was worried about, introducing Maverick into the herd. I was worried he'd be naughty leading after being cooped up in a stall. Nope. He led like a champ. He was ready to go and explore but listened fairly well (better than King).

I unclipped the lead rope (leaving the halter on in case of an emergency...for today only), and Maverick touched noses with King and then started investigating. He touched a few noses with the rest of the herd and just wandered around. Maverick is food oriented so I figured he'd settle down to business fairly fast and get to eating.

There was absolutely no drama whatsoever. I'm absolutely excited. I'm sure there will be some adjusting to the pecking order but for the most part, I think it'll be quiet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm planning on going back out in a little while to get the stalls ready for tonight. The weatherman is saying 25 degrees below zero so everyone HAS to go in tonight. I'm glad that I have enough time to prep the stalls and not have to rush around.

2010 is going to be a FANTASTIC year!