Sahara the Goddess

I'm blown away by young minds. I prefer the steady old horses who have been there and done that. They are the stable ones that have seen everything and are warriors.

I'm not typically around young horses so it always surprises me at how supple their minds are and how willing they are to try new things.

I'm trying to get everyone adjusted to grass to cut down on the hay bill and to make my summer chores easy. The ponies have been tormenting Sahara and I want her to be in with the other mares. I've found the old warriors can teach a lot to these young kids. Mayhem is totally mellow because she's round the old girls.

We put a round bale in for Thor, Babe, Mayhem, and Queen (who will go out with Dick and Rabbit once I fix the fence. She knows where there's a broken strand and made her great escape Sat night into our front lawn). I want Sahara to have more room to run and be more social instead of being next to the naughty ponies all the time.

I figured I'd at least try my luck at getting a halter on Sahara and we would go from there. I side tracked her with a handful of grass and I slipped the halter on. No problems what so ever. She stood perfectly still. She didn't care that I had a halter on her. She didn't care that I had a lead rope over her back. I clipped the lead rope on the halter and asked her to move. She moved. I was amazed. I asked for her to take a couple more steps and she followed.

I figured I might as well get her out of her pen and see what she does. She followed. She pushed on me and I pushed back but that was it. We walked all the way around the hayshed to the drylot. She only hesitated once. She was using me for support but she walked on beautifully.

I figured we'd have some issues, stopping, backing, rearing, bucking, something. I got nothing. I was amazed.

I led her over to the drylot and let her in. Mayhem had to stop and say hello. There's an advantage to having blind horses. They dont' see you coming with a new horse. I let Sahara go into the drylot and she walked around. Mayhem came to investigate and they touched noses but that was about it. Sahara introduced herself to the rest of the herd. I figured Queen would take to her because she's young. I think Queen was in a bad mood because she wasn't out on grass. Sahara then took of loping through the drylot. Yep, that's right. Even with her crocked front leg, she loped. Her front end is all gangly but hopefully some of that she'll grow out of. She really is the most beautiful black/brown color. Almost identical to her mother.

I was very pleased with how she handled herself in the new surroundings amongst other horses. She didn't freak out; she didn't call out to the ponies or her mother; she didn't try to climb a any fences; she didn't try to boss anyone around. She took everything in with dignity like a true goddess.

Because I don't typcially feed round bales because of the herd dynamics, I wasn't sure how things would work having Sahara in the drylot with Thor, Queen, Babe, and Mayhem all at one round bale. But this morning when I ran out to do chores in between the downpours, all five of them were at the round bale munching away. I'm sure Sahara will adjust quickly. And now she and Mayhem can play. I can also start working both yearling fillies on leading, tying, and other ground work. I'm excited.