It has been strange for my usually reasonable mare to spook at everything. Last week was a week a frustration for us both. Having her jump around while I was leading her that first day really shook my confidence. Luckily, the owners at the stable are so helpful and encouraging. Mike, one of the owners, has gone above and beyond and really helped build my confidence back. Today I lunged her on my own and then groomed her and had a great day. Hopefully there will be many more to come.
Putting my deposit down on goats has been a definite step in the farmish direction for me. Horses seem to be very suburbia- friendly, goats are not. I've been researching goat nutrition for days and it looks like I'll have to eat my words about Tractor Supply. Apparently they have the best free choice minerals in town. The suburban girl in me can't believe I'm going to be preparing my own feed mix one day, but if it is best for my goats, I'm willing to do it.
I hope your girl will settle in okay after a bit more time to de-sensitize to those strangers down the hall. :) Glad you like the barn at least, and maybe she will learn to love it too.
ReplyDeleteI hope so too! When she moved to the last barn, there was no issue. I guess that barn didn't have monsters though. =)
ReplyDeleteMany years ago my horse's barn haven was invaded by two pigs for the winter. They lived in a stall near him. He detested them. He did eventually become accustomed to their noise/smell/little piggy snouts pushing through the stall boards.
ReplyDeleteShe'll settle in - it will just take some time and patience.
I'm not sure if comforting her when she is alarmed would help or hinder. My hunch is to ignore that behavior and reward her for calm walking or work on the lunge.
She's almost back to normal. I can tell she's not super happy with me right now, but we are working through it =)
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