Pony Play



4 yrs ago in Indiana



A little over 4 years ago we went to pick up Rosemary from Indiana. She was not interested in being caught for her vet check. When it came time to catch her to load on the trailer, Mom and I used cookies to gradually draw her to us and get the halter on. Rosemary had a very vanilla personality for the first few months we owned her. She definitely had her "company" face on. Thankfully her personality started to come out. Even our vet saw the change in her.
Rosemary is very much a "people" pony now. She loves to mingle and check out what is happening. So in between rain showers we took the dogs for a walk on trail and I took Rosemary too. She would change who she walked by depending on who was talking to her. Partway through Mom said to go ahead and put the lead line over her neck. I did and she followed right by us. At the top of a hill, she stopped to search for acorns.


Contemplating on the hill

She had to decide whether to come down to us or not. Eventually she did, following me over a little jump. We walked back up the hill and she was again looking for acorns. We called her, but kept walking. I looked back to see her trotting up the hill to catch up. After that she was a little quicker to stay with us knowing we would just keep walking. You could see how happy she was to be out with us. We loved the fact that we could give her that freedom. How many people can say they can walk their horse "off leash?"
Larry walked her today, but did not believe Mom and Peggy when they said she could walk without being held. I'm sure Rosemary was okay with it since she would do anything for Larry.

Still have a ways to go

Of course we did not try the same with Roscoe later that day. I was going to ride, but it decided to rain. So Mom and I started to pull his very, very long mane. He cooperated which is a miracle. We worked until his patience was worn out, then took him for a walk on trail. Okay, a walk is an understatement. I trotted him in hand and went over the jumps with him. That pony is so cool. I led him up to the hay bale oxer and at first he was like "Hey food." Then when he saw me climb over and wait for him, he literally climbed over after me. Then we jumped over the log jumps, even the big log. As we came up to the barrel jump, I figured we might as well try that one too. He went around it the first time and then nicely jumped it from the other direction. He tuck his knees so neatly and really does it easily. We ended with the hay bale oxer again. This time he actually jumped it. I even made him do it the other direction. He was so awesome during the whole process. Oh and I have to mention that his reward for all these jumps were peanut butter suet chicken treats. A treat that the chickens, dogs and Roscoe all love. I did not get to ride, but the pony got to play out on trail and we got some of that mane pulled. The only downside was that my hand said mane pulling is not an approved activity and gave me hell for the next day. I may have to do shorter sessions, but his mane is going to get shorter too.