River (aka Kip) is home

Got River (aka Kip) home on Monday afternoon and he is settling in.  He goes into his new shed to eat just fine and he poops in the same little pile in one area.  How nice is that!  I went out late Monday nite to feed the horses as usual and he was a little freaky at the headlamp :-)  On Tuesday night he was fine with it.  

Was such a pretty day today, Got River out and we did some round pen work :-) Interestingly when I free lunged him he went like a banshee running and then would prance, then run again and then stop; turn in to me and try to walk into me. All without me doing any more then point my finger. Someone, somewhere really worked this poor guy :-( When he would stop and turn into me, he would be very nervously looking at me. On the lunge line, he was great and did most of what I asked. We then went out of the round pen and walked around and greeting the other 2 horses over the fence before I put him back in his paddock.  

In his paddock, he will follow me around, but if I go to just touch him, he will move away, not fast, just move away.  If I bring in a halter, he stands quietly and puts his nose out to take it nicely.  He loves to be rubbed when haltered, but doesn't want to be touched much when he is free, Except between the eyes.   I can see that he wants to trust me, but is just not sure yet :-)  

Oh, I also groomed him and brushed out his mane.  His mane splits about half way down and some goes on each side.  I am going to try and get his mane to all go on the same side.  He has a nice mane, a shorty tail and a really nice forelock.  He does like to be groomed on :-)

Colleen put a really nice start on him and he sure is a sweetie!

Getting a new horse so I needed more fencing

This River (aka Kip) he is going to be my new horse.  He has been at the Nebraska Humane Society for awhile now and a wonderful lady and trainer named Colleen has been working with him to make him a good trail horse.  He is about 6 years old and is a Spotted Saddle Horse (we think).  He has a wonderful running walk like Jordan does and is about 14.2-14.3hh and is shorter then both Jordan and Dancer.  I went to see him after Colleen and Tammy and Terri and other friends told me about him and suggested he might be just what I wanted...a nice short gaited horse.  He is everything they said and more.  I am so excited to get him.

I hadn't planned on getting another horse until I sold Dancer, but things happen and that was River.  So now I am going to have 3 horses and 2 run-ins.  Not good, so I needed to put up another paddock and a run-in shed.  I quickly bought a Wright Bros. shed and really like it.  I think it will work out fine for him.  Now I just needed fencing......

So...called the fencing guy.....never called back......called another fencing guy and he didn't call back, so I went and bought the fencing stuff and did it myself!  Not bad if I do say so myself :-)  

Now that the shed is in, the fence is up and River is trail ready, I am picking him up this coming Monday and bringing him home.  I am so excited and happy!  He is so sweet and really wants to please, I am hoping he is my forever horse!

Dancer now

Dancer is such a nice horse, here is what he looked like in 2010.  He is quite the character and loves people.  Unfortunately he is also 15.3hh tall and way to big for my small 5'2" frame on a good day.  I know small people ride tall horses, but the kind of riding I do....trail riding, CTR's it is not very handy for me.  I can't mount him from the ground even it there is a small rock or log, it has to be a BIG rock or log.  And dismounting is daunting also, when I throw my leg over to drop down, it seems like a 4 foot drop to me and at 61 y/o that is a long way down.

My hubby took lessons a few years ago on Dancer thinking he might ride, but he really doesn't want to even if he does encourage me to ride all I want.  We thought Dancer would be a good horse for him but if he isn't going to ride him and I won't ride him, it is time for him to find a new home.  So he is for sale on most of the decent sale sights like Dreamhorse, equine and horseclicks.  Hopefully we can find him a new forever home that will love him as much as we do and really give him a job that he will be good at.  He is too nice of a horse to be a pasture pet at 10 years old.  Here is a link to a video of him gaiting in the trees :-)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQVB99U3NAE