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.