Friendly Moment with Mouse & Stephanie

A relaxing time with Mouse! This may not look like much but this little one, as cute as he is, loves to swing that head around for a pinch, rake, nip, …. never yet made it to a bite! Thank goodness! So this is a definite feel good moment!

Revisiting the Horse Trailer

Still a little sticky with the horse trailer but Molly’s making a lot of progress. Our goal is that with consistency and fair leadership, Molly will build confidence and the trailer will become an ok place to be for her. Unfortunately a few fire evacuations created a lot of anxiety around the trailer so we have make that right again, and that will take time. But she’s doing great!

Hanging out with the Horse Trailer

Let’s just check this out …

Success and then some! My hope was Molly would be confident enough to step up into the trailer! This is a first for Molly and she did a really great job and showed us how far she has come in trusting us to do the right thing and not get her into trouble. She had a few starts and stops so when those hind legs went in, it was a thing of beauty! Well done Molly! Also a big thank you to Mouse. He’s the little guy standing next to me in the trailer. He’s been Molly’s constant companion for many years and I think his soft nickers helped her in. I also think Mouse secretly wishes that he could have the horse trailer as his own personal space - he hops in/out without even being asked but he was a good example of a confident little horse in the trailer today!

Fostering Curiosity and Having a Little Fun

Today was all about Molly allowing herself to be ‘caught’ and haltered and having a little fun. With Loeta’s leadership Molly did a great job of curiously checking out the strange set up of buckets and the blue tarp where they had never been seen before. She walked on the tarp with no fuss but curiosity got the best of her with each bucket having to be checked out and turned over. She soon found a small reward/incentive under the buckets and was very eager to return to them when led away. This was huge since Molly doesn’t feel confident or trusting enough to walk anywhere with any enthusiasm. It was great to see Molly engaged, confident and enjoying the moment!

DAY #1 : Sharing Space

Day #1 : Sharing Space

Today we’re introducing shared paddock and shelter space.

Thought you might like to see how it goes - fingers crossed!

Day #2:

and so far, all is going well with our venture into sharing space.

Just wanted to add that Molly, Mouse and Magic have been sharing pasture space for about a year and their herd habits and hierarchy are well established. We know from observation and consistency that they share their hay nose to nose with only an occasional head nod for another to move off and give space. But we’ll be watching on the paddock cam in case we need to pull anyone out. I’m hoping this will be a success but I’m sure we’ll be making adjustments along the way.

Basing Horses Ideal LIving Situations on Equine Behavior

Mouse Goes Exploring !

Or more appropriately, Curious George Goes Camping!

All joking aside, Mouse did a really good job going for a walk this afternoon - he walked next to me without shouldering in like he tends to, he wasn’t dragging behind or breezing forward and he felt connected. He was curious so we stopped and checked out a lot of stuff along the way. Tarps? No problem! Just bite it and walk on it! Wooden blocks? Sniff it and step up on it! All the other stuff that D’Arcy had was also super interesting! Mouse even hung out at the Air Stream for a while. And the very best thing : Mouse is starting to understand the Friendly Game with the Carrot Stick! He doesn't feel the need to fly around at high speed quite so much. (It can be challenging to ‘unlearn’ the lunge routine and whip.) But, our little guy is learning! It was a good day and I’m very proud of him :)

Next will be Molly!

Colic Scare!

Molly gave us all a scare this weekend with an episode of colic. Luckily we caught it very early and she gradually recovered. Nothing worse than colic! We are very thankful that she’s doing well. Stay strong, Molly!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Having Fun with the Ponies

I love the smiling faces and the curious little horses!

A Quiet Moment Between the Storms

A hour or so of relief from the rain and the ponies get to come out of their stalls and have lunch together! While they’re busy munching and socializing, stalls will be getting cleaned again for the storm barreling down on California later this afternoon and throughout the night. So far we only have a few big puddles and are as ready as we can be for the atmospheric river that should be making itself known in a couple hours. Fingers crossed and be safe!

Two Friends Enjoying a Beautiful November Day

It just warms our hearts to see Magic all buddied up with Mouse. Just enjoying the day, no fear, no worries - just spending time mutually grooming - they really enjoyed the moment!

It has taken Magic quite a while to accept this contact, even with other horses. He has participated in pasture life but always watching and always on the edge. This is a huge step in his feeling comfortable with his life in the herd and in the sanctuary environment.

Everyone needs a best friend and it looks like Magic has found one!

Big Vet Day for Magic!

Our newest arrival Magic was introduced to out amazing vets from VIP Equine today, and he did just great! We have been checking off on his to-do list and so far … his dental is complete (one troublesome incisor but otherwise all was good), his vaccines are almost completed, and he has been trimmed! Oh, and a fecal egg count and worming. We’re weighing hay and grains and our vet is very happy with his weight! Magic was up and about and back to his normal self with no problems within a couple hours. Chewing good, no vaccine reactions and cute little hoofs. He is settling a little more every day and is enjoying life with his herd. We all just love him! (But Magic loves LuLu the best!)

Waiting for the sedation to kick in.

A huge thank you to our amazing vets at VIP Equine - thank you so much for working with such compassion on our little guy Magic. As always, you’re awesome!

If you’re in our area and looking for an incredible veterinary team please check them out!

https://www.vip-equine.com/ourteam

Hiding in the Trees

Sunny's Nibble Net Technique

Sunny came back to Blue Horse Rescue in March 2022. She completed two months of a training restart with Wild Heart Restart Ranch and has done an amazing job. Sunny is up to date on all vaccines, fecal egg counts and worming, and her dental. Hoofs have been done on a regular schedule (a challenge for our girl) and Sunny is now ready for a home to call her own. She’s a very special pony needing a very special person. If you’re that person, you can learn more about Sunny on her adoption page - bluehorserescue.org/sunny

This was truly an amazing visit with Sunny! Our first visit involved no touching, no recognition/rememberance of our early two years together, … no nothing! Just total drama. Today, I was allowed therapeutic touch all over, including her hind legs from hip to hoof, was allowed to lift front hoofs - this is huge! Did not purse the hind only because I didn’t want to start something I couldn’t see thru. Sunny’s progress has been amazing! Where’s that perfect person for her? Sunny has so much she wants to share with the right person! Where are you?

Fun in Our New Pasture!

Yay! We’re out In the new turnout and it’s great! We’ve been watching the new pasture being built since March and are all so happy to be out and enjoying it.

Many thanks to D’Arcy, Ken, Todd and Ina for their hard work to give us more space to explore!

We love it!

So what Little Critter is this Walking across our Pasture in the Middle of the Night?

I’m hoping raccoon …. please!

Of course the cameras decided to save their battery power and not record it! Even though it was right smack in front of them !!! These little tracks were heading straight for the water trough. If raccoon, do I need to vaccinate for Lepto? Thoughts?

Update: Two nights later we caught the little trespasser on camera and under cover of darkness he crept under the gate and headed straight for the water trough.

He left the water very muddy but I bet his food was really clean!

Round Pen Day!

Very exciting day for Blue Horse Rescue - our round pen is going up again and pony training will begin! This is a day we have been looking forward to for a long time; we’ve really missed playing with the ponies. Now we can begin building a pedestal, teeter-totter, bridge and all the other fun stuff to play on! A huge thank you goes out to D’Arcy’s amazing family who gave up a day of their vacation to come up to the rescue and help out - thank you from our hearts - both human and horse!

Things to Do on a Very Hot Night

Mouse’s ‘How-To Get Thru a Very Hot Summer Night’ Video …

• empty your water bucket at the far end of the run

• slowly roll your bucket up the run to your stall making sure to bang it into the panels as many times as possible - this will buy you points

• carefully inspect the bucket for future game potential

• ignore the bucket and have a quick snack

• once re-energized commence to rolling the bucket around the stall, being sure to bang it into the stall walls as many times as possible for additional points

• repeat this technique at regular intervals

• you have won the game when the human shows up and removes the bucket from your stall

Don’t worry about me going thirsty. There’s another bucket inside my stall and it’s full of fresh, clean water!