A bit overdue, but... I was home all weekend and not wasting time on my computer that I could spend with friends and family!

Friday, Dennis and I decided to let her out of her little paddock, since she was doing so well, and explore the big arena. We roped all the boys into the other side paddock and let her go with her new cob-size royal blue halter and... were greatly disappointed at the antics that went on. None. She sedately walked about, sniffing everything, looking over the fences, checking out the trees in the rear portion, the manure pile, the water buckets, and the other stuff that can be found. She hasn't kicked the fences in a while and she's still sound, so... yay!

http://youtu.be/UGverTh2BwQ

After about an hour or so of watching her and marvelling at her sanity- "I really was not expecting you to bring home such a nice horse, Abs." "Me neither, Dennis." - we decided to try to get her to perform some antics, like.... trotting. I learned a very valuable lesson- she definitely did NOT want to be a racehorse anymore.

Then we snapped a leadline on her and while Dennis held her head by the fence, I took the soft curry, some showsheen, and some vet cream, and groomed her. She didn't seem to mind the curry, although she didn't lean into it at any time, but I did her hind end and she stood like a rock even while I did her lower legs- she has some skin issues going on so I think maybe we'll try a medicated wash on one of the warmer days coming up. Then I ointmented all the scrapes she'd accumulated in the last several days and again, she stood like a rock while I fiddled with her legs, girth area, belly, all those sensitive spots horses generally will act up about. As we were getting onto about 20 minutes of standing, I decided to try one last thing- Showsheen. She was very calm about it, allowing me to spray her forelegs and shoulder, but getting past the girthline she showed some uneasiness, so we called it a day. I gave her some good patting and let her roam for another 20 minutes before we put her back in her paddock.

All in all, a good session. I hope for a lot more like it in the future. Oh, and... my hip is fine, too. A giant horseshoe shaped bruise, but I think she pulled her punch bc it really wasn't as bad as it looked.