National Wild Horse Adoption Day!

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Trailer Loading

Well today we started working on trailer loading with Odakota. At first I thought maybe I would just work circles and he would get tired and just climb on in. NOPE...so I threw all his food in as far as I could and left it there and while we were in eating dinner we noticed not 2 but 4 hoofs leave the ground and enter into the trailer. He will peek his nose through the opening on the side as if to see if we are looking lol and then go back to eating. We tried to walk out there to peek in and he jumped out before we could make it over to the trailer. He is doing great. I hope to be able to load with him tomorrow but if he would rather just do it by himself that that is okay with me also.

We have less then 2 weeks left with Odakota and I hope that some of you are able to join us up in Arlington on the 25th of this month to watch the kids with their yearlings. I hope that Odakota gets adopted out as he would make a wonderful horse for someone and he is so willing to learn. He still has his moments and anything new he seems to think will eat him but he takes it all in and is willing to give anything a try even if it takes him a few days to get use to it first.

I hope to have some pictures uploaded by the end of the week if blogger will allow me to do so. I've been trying for the past 2 weeks to upload video and pictures with no luck. I hope to have another update for you as well.

Oh Yeah!

Today was a great day. I tried to introduce the saddle pad to Odakota 2 days ago and he wanted nothing to do with it so I decided to just leave it in the pen with him and see what we were able to do today :) I was so excited. I was able to swing it from both sides and rub it up his neck and down his back side once it was on him.

He also loves to be brushed. I can brush him all over his body under his belly and even on his legs now. I've been swinging the rope around his legs and behind him and over his head and he is fine with it. We still have issues though....like today Brindin came running out of the house with some bells on his pants and Odakota tried to take off but I had hold of his lead rope. He is very unsure of new things. I have been trying to make as much noise around him as possible to get him use to it all. Once he knows it's okay though he is just fine.

I hope to get him use to the hose this next week. I've been spraying him with it and he runs but does come back to me and I even put the sprinkler in with him the other day. I was way more wet by the time we were done though then he was but thats okay cause he at least tried to tolerate it.

I hope to have pictures of Makenzie and Odakota moving around the round pen by the end of the weekend so stop back by!

Memorial Day Photos

Yesterday I opened up the panels for Odakota to have access to the whole round pen. He loves the space and all the grass growing under the rails.

We got lots of pictures and wanted to share them all with you.

Enjoy!

Withers & Ears

Today was a good day for Odakota.

I have not been able to spend time with him the past 2 days due to an injury from one of my other horses but made my way out there today and he seemed glad to see me. He came right up to me and let me pet his face. I held out on giving him his grain right away to see what he would allow me to do. He let me walk up to his left side and pet his neck. I then tried the right and he was a bit iffy about it as we haven't worked as much on that side so that's when I decided to give him his grain.

Boy how a horse changes when he's got some yummy stuff to munch on. He let me pet his right side down his neck to his withers. I then crossed over to the left and scratched all along his neck and over his withers. So I decided why not try the ears. Well he's not to fond of that one. He bounced back and away from me a few times until he decided the grain was just too good. I was able to rub on both ears. This is a huge step for us. After he was done with his grain I grabbed his lead rope. He did really well with this. I led him around the pen both to the right then to the left. He was amazing. It's still a bit spooky for him and he has not relaxed but hey, he's following. I was even able to pull him to me and rub his neck WITHOUT TREATS :) Yeah Odakota.

We are getting there. It's taking some time but he is really learning to trust us and I am really learning patience.

Progress!

Today was a good day with Odakota. Makenzie was able to scratch his neck while he ate from the grain bucket and she was also able to place both hands on his face at once. This is a huge deal. She also grabbed hold of the lead rope a few times. Didn't hold on but let it slide through her hands. That was her first attempt at it and they both did great.

I took lots of pictures today and wanted to share them with you all. I think he is finally starting to trust us. He's getting very interested in us when we go back to see him or even to just play in the back yard. He comes over to the fence now instead of running around his pen to try and get away. I hope to be able to grab the lead line by the end of the week but we shall see!

Makenzie & Odakota

Here are some pictures I got the other day of the 2 of them. Sorry the song is longer the the pictures but I'm just learning the movie maker thing lol.

Taking It Slow

Today was another good day for Odakota. I took a bucket of oats and treats out with me again this morning and he came right over to my lap and started eating from it. I was able to stroke the side of his face again and I even touched the top of his nose a couple of times. He is still very scared and any sudden movement he jumps back. He was very interested in my boots and jeans today. So much so that he even tried nibbling on my jeans. I however didn't like that too much and told him no. I don't want an accidental bite to happen.

After he was done with his bucket of goodies he decided to eat some hay. I put my hand out and he came over and sniffed it. I was even able to rub between his eyes for a sec before he really realized what he was letting me do and backed away again.

This evening I sent Makenzie out there with a bucket of goodies for him and he went right to her. Boy does he like his oats and cookies. She was so excited that she was able to touch his face. She touched his cheeks on both sides at once and that made her smile. He was interested in her boots as well. Looks like maybe, just maybe he might be coming around but we are gonna take it slow. I am gonna let him get use to our smells and us touching his face while he is in our laps eating. He let Makenzie reach out to him while he was eating his hay and she touched his face again.

I hope this will be a good week for us. I am not gonna go for the lead rope just yet. Hopefully he will start to trust us a bit more. We will just take it slow and be patient with him. I think he's gonna surprise us though once he allows us into his space.

Finished on a Good Note!

WOW!!!!

I ended up not going riding today. Instead I went out back with Odakota for an hour and a half. Started out great. I filled a small bucket with oats and treats and sat there for quite some time. He finally showed some interest and ended up eating off my lap. I stroked the side of his face with my hand and I even scratched under his chin a couple times. He really didn't care too much for me touching his face but really wanted those treats so came back for me.

I decided after a few to reach out for his lead rope while his head was in my lap. I grabbed hold and he backed away so I let the lead rope slide through my hands. We did this a couple of times. Well after he was a bit more comfortable I decided to hold onto the lead rope and stand up from the chair I was sitting on. He did not like this one bit. He backed away and I held tight and walked with him. This is when he decided to try to turn and run but had no where to go and so he threw himself backwards and ended up on the ground on his back. He whacked his head on the bottom rail of the round pen and ended up with another battle wound on his face.

After that happened I didn't want to just quit. So I sat back down and waited some more to see if he would come back for some more oats and treats. NO WAY!!! He stayed as far away from me as he could.

So tonight I went back out there with my bucket of oats and treats. I decided I wasn't gonna let today end without him trusting me enough again to eat off my lap so there I sat, and sat and sat. I sat for a good half hour before he started getting interested again. He came over to me and yep...ate out of the bucket again. This was a good thing because again I stroked his cheek and let his lips hit my hand on the way into the bucket. That was enough for me.

We finished the day on a good note!

No More Flies

Well yesterday was not what I had hoped it would be with Odakota. I spent over 2 hours with him before picking the kids up from school and he wanted nothing to do with me. Sooooo I decided to get the fly spray out.

He has that gash on his head above his left eye and the flies will not leave it alone. Looks like they have made themselves quite at home there so I turned the pray nozzle to stream and away I went lol. He didn't even know what hit him. Didn't like it one bit either but hey, the flies left for a bit anyways. I decided to spray his body as best I could from my sitting position as well and again, he didn't care too much for that either.

When Makenzie got home I sent her out there with a good book and her helmet. She spent about 30 minutes out there before finishing her book and getting hungry and Odakota left her alone the whole time. He didn't show any interest in us yesterday.

I hope to get out for a good ride today and when I come home I plan on planting myself in Odakota's food dish until he lets me touch his nose. I will letcha all know how that turns out :)

He Showed Interest

Well today was a good day with Odakota.

Started out with me and him out in the pen for over an hour. I decided to just take my chair out there and read some Ride Smart by Craig Cameron to him. He seemed to have enjoyed that.

He decided that I must have smelled good because he came up behind me and started nibbling on my hair. Made me start laughing I kinda scared him away. I was excited though as he showed interest today. I was able to take a couple video clips with my phone.

So when Makenzie got home from school we had planned on going out back with Odakota for her to sit with him but we had a hail storm that slowed us down. We ended up going out at about 5:00 and just got back in. She loved being out there with him. She even though "Hey maybe if I put the hay in my lap I can touch him" So thats what she did.

He tried to take a cookie from her hand but it rolled off. She started laughing lol...it was cute. Here are a couple videos of Makenzie and Odakota from today.

This is Makenzie's "I come in peace video",

and here she is trying to reach out to him to touch is nose but he wanted none of that. Maybe tomorrow he will be a bit more willing and allow us into his space instead of him into ours. We shall see.

Day 2

Today seems to have been a bit better then yesterday although we have still yet to make contact with Odakota. I spent most of today in his pen with him bribing him with cookies. I even went and bought a different kind and boy does he like these ones. He seemed more interested in me today. He kept turning his head towards me instead of away like he was doing yesterday and when I was outside his pen sitting next to his food dish he came up and ate. Here is a cell phone video of him getting close.



I tried like mad to get close enough to reach down and grab his lead line but boy is it just about 2 feet too short. I've got a call into a lady to see if she might be interested in coming by to help a bit as this is our first experience with the Mustang and I don't want it to end up being a bad one.

I will let you all know what tomorrow brings!

Just Another Day

Well today was not what I had hoped it would be as far as accomplishments. Odakota has not come around at all. He is a very shy boy and showed that from the day we first seen him in the pen with 5 other geldings. He was the one always tucked back into the corner and when the others moved he would move himself right back behind everyone so no one could see him.

I've spent a few hours out there with him today. Not inside his pen but outside so he felt a little more comfortable. I even brought the big boys out today and brushed them up and walked them around his pen so they could see him. He likes that when I bring them by. He has even touched muzzles with Gunner and then they both whinny. I've been trying to show him that I'm not such a bad thing after all. If the big boys can stand me then why not him? I know this could take some time I just wish I would have seen a little more try from him today.

I even tried bribing him with treats :) Ummmm yeah they are good on the ground or in the hay but in my hand, NO WAY! He stretched out as far as his little neck would go to smell what was in my hand and that was it. Nothing more. I even sat by his hay bin in hopes that he would touch me, just once but nothing again. He don't seem to mind us though if we are there next to his hay when he eats so maybe that is something? I don't know I just hope that tomorrow brings a little more hope.

►THANK YOU◄

I would like to say THANK YOU to the following people for donating to Makenzie for the YAY program.

First I would like to thank Tabatha Bell for the awesome tack she sent over for Odakota. This all is very much appreciated so thank you again.

2nd I would like to thank Christina Flory with (Homestreet Bank) for donating $100 towards hay. Thank you Chrissy for you generous donation is going to help us out so much!

Christina Flory
Loan Officer
Office: (253) 627 2500 ext 1264
Cell Phone: (253) 380 7100

and finally I would like to thank Daryl Lantz of Fox Run Feed for donating $100 worth of hay as well as free delivery for the hay I had ordered. Thank you so very much!

So for all your hay needs with GREAT prices please contact Daryl at 253-208-2363. He has 2 hay barns. One in Spanaway and another in Yelm.

Meet Odakota

Today was the day we drove north to Arlington...Makenzie, Bobbie and myself to meet for the first time Odakota. This is Makenzie's mustang for the next 3 months while she tames and trains him with the help of myself and others.

We arrived around 10:15 to find 6 pens with horses in them. One side the mares and the other the geldings. We came upon pen #6 with this sign on it and this is where we found our boy. Wearing a green string around his neck with the number 5542 (not 8542) like written :)

Makenzie was so happy to finally meet him.

Here is Odakota

Getting ready to load into the trailer

We finally made it home after a very long ride. Got home around 5:00 this evening and let me tell you I was just as happy to be here as he was. Odakota ended up with a cut above his left eye during our ride home. Not too sure how it happened but it did and now he won't let me get close to look at it. I think he will be okay but we will just have to keep an eye on him.

Here he is after he gets settle into his new home.

Gunner and Cody meeting Odakota for the first time. He seemed very glad to see the boys come down the driveway to greet him. He whinnied and everything at them and they the same back.

And one more for the night. Gotta love my black and whites!

We will keep you updated on his progress here. I will try to post video's as I am able so please come back and see us often.