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 :)