Time is flying!

Where has the time gone? Daya is getting pretty big and her belly has started to gravitate downward a little. April 9th will roughly be day 300 for her and I've been told anything after that is fair game in the world of foaling. In all, honestly, I'm starting to get a tad bit nervous over the whole thing. Ive worked with mares and foals but have never been present for foaling. So many people have given me tips on their personal experience. My game plan so far is to let Daya handle the birthing on her own and only help if I start seeing signs of her struggling or becoming too fatigued.



My farrier came out yesterday and Daya was awesome. This was the first time she has ever let Mike put all 4 feet on his hoof stand to be rasped (she usually gets freaked out and refuses to rest her hooves on it). He was happy with her overall hoof growth. She had a lot of heel that had to be taken off which is what we have been looking for. He also did some ground work with her. She was sticky when asked to yield her hindquarters but warmed up quickly when she realized what we were asking. She is still jumpy around people make sudden movements around her face so I really need to step it up and work on desensitizing her everyday.



I was talking to Mike about saddle breaking her when the time came for it and he said he didn't think she was going to be that bad if we did our homework. To prove me wrong about my doubts he asked me to run and get a saddle and pad out of the barn. So I did, I had already desensitized her to the saddle blanket so I knew that wasn't going to be a big deal, but a 40lb saddle may be a different story. It wasn't! He did a little in hand work with her, let her smell and investigate the saddle, did some pressure and release exercises with it and set it on her back. She handled it like a pro! She walked around with it, stood quietly with it on and never bulked. Even though we didn't cinch her up, he gave me the reassurance I needed that with all the work Ive done with her she wasn't going to be explosive if I just kept up the baby steps. So now I have my work cut out for me. He said he was going to come out April 13th and help me work with her again. By then he wants me to slowly start cinching her up. Ive done so much work with straps under her belly that once I get her used to having a saddle on her back I don't think she will do bad at all. I feel so much more confident after he comes out to the barn. He lets me know that I'm doing things right and critiques me on things that need to be improved. That man has become my idol. He is a true teacher of natural horsemanship.



So I've talked with my vet about the training schedule with Daya and getting her used to the saddle. She told me as long and she wasn't worked into a lather, stressed to the point of being explosive during training, that I should go ahead and start light saddle training. My plans so far are to get her to the point where she will take a saddle being thrown on her back without flinching or getting spooked and jumpy. From there I will do more desensitizing with things being put under and tightened around her belly, start cinching her up and getting her used to the girth. Ive been challenged a lot so far and I have made a few personal goals with training Daya. My number 1 goal: Start a once abused horse with trust issues under saddle that has had so much training before hand that she never bucks or explodes under the pressure! Will I accomplish this goal? I think with the help I have received from Mike I will.