Dannii & Indie 2010 :)

Dannii5691

Dannii5691

Owned by Ponies!
Nov 16, 2009
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Okay so after a little bit of persuasion from a couple of members on here I am finally starting my diary :) I apologise if its a bit boring but i want somewhere that records all of mine and Indies battles and achievements, the good, the bad and the down right blonde moments on the way!!
 
End Of October 2009

Right Here we go!! Starting a little bit before 2010 but never the less!!


Okay! So, Its a saturday night and even before the horse came into my life I have a non existant social life! OH is on a "lads night out" with work, so, sat with a can of woodpecker and the reliable old Facebook I stumble across an old (for lack of a better word) "friend" i know from collage! (truth be told she did my head in and was one of those people who knew an awful lot of nothing about everything!) who was advertising one of her ponys she was loaning off a gypsy for loan! 12hh coloured mare, 6 years old, childs first pony, goes on and off the lead rein, very nicely marked, novice could do and so on and so forth!!

In my equine starved mind (i gave up riding a year before after a very poorly pony went to live at a retirement home as i could no longer care for her due to work and money issues and illness and did not want her being passed from pillar to post as she was very dear to me!) I volounteered my younger cousin who is currently having rideing lessons as it was something easy i could "ease" myself back into the horsey world with, i could supervise her with the pony and get back into the ground work (im 5"2 and weighing 13 stone ... 12hh pony i would squash ...!)

All went well with the initial viewing and Sophie (cousin!) loved Flash! fantastic! all is well! Due to unforseen circumstances a week later she couldnt continue with the loan and i end up with this bloody pony which i cant do anything with! hmmmph!

So one day Im mooching down the field trying to catch pony, who was happier eating and did not want to come in and be long reined, and looking at all the other horses (pony was one in a "herd" of 6 all owned by above mentioned gypsy). So theres a mare with a foal at foot, not very practical, an unhandled yearling who made a point of being at the opposite end of the field from you so didnt have to be caught, and standing at about 11 hands, again not practical, a 13.2 cobby pony! practical but claimed by said "freind" and the black cob, about 15 hands, pretty but had a right face on it and a set of back legs! unbroken, in foal and needed a lot of work with trust issues! HMMM :)

So after a quick phone call to gypsy to assess what, it had done and the answer .... drive to appelby once a year and pop foals once a year ...

I had a word with the friend and gave flash back ... well I couldnt afford them both and she had a que of people who wanted a naughty little pony to play with, I brought the fat black cob in, and after a bag (or 6) of carrots, a good groom and discovery of her itchy spots a beautiful friendship is born!
 
November 2009

Right so in my wisdom taking on this ponio I realised i have absoloutly nothing for it! not a curry comb in sight! Off to the tack shop i go (excitedly i might add!!) and come out with a basic grooming kit, a nice blue head collar and leadrope, and a bag of treats and 45 quid less in the bank account!!!

First Job ... finding it a name!!

I wanted to call it Chance, as we had given it a second one, OH said no!

He wanted to call it Hemmi as in a car engine, I told him when he buys his own he can call it whatever part of a car he wants!!

So we decided on India, or Indie for short ... dont know where it came from, but it suits her!

Second Job ... assessing exactley how "broken in" it actually is (bearing in mind it had been used to drive)

Dosent lunge
Dosent Long Rein
Dosent like having a bridle on
dosent like having anything on or over its back
wont pick its feet up
very bargey​


Oh dear what the hell have i let my self in for!!
Checklist for november -
get ponyo to accept bridle
Stop ponyo being bargey
Get ponyo to pick its dinner plates up!
 
Early December 09

What a month!!

Checklist for november -
get ponyo to accept bridle check
Stop ponyo being bargey check
Get ponyo to pick its dinner plates up! check

abit the last one in a fashion!! Im not into parelli or any natural horsemanship however at a yard i used to be on it was very popular so i made my own kind of pirelli type games - backing up and coming to me "at liberty" (i think thats the correct term :eek: ), moveing her back end away from me (ive seen those back legs go and i do not want to be one the end of them!!) and just playing with her more than anyining but my god she has come on leaps and bounds in the short time ive had her, she is very quick to learn and genrally willing to please although she can be a bit stroppy! quick to let you know if she is tired of doing something but she gives every bit of love back in effort two fold!

she has had a bridle on a couple of times and ive walked her out in it but is quick to move away for any contact on the bit although im thinking this could be her teeth as im guessing she has never had any dentistry work done!

She is very sweet and is actually quite people orientated, she comes to call in the field and when turned back out she stands and has a cuddle over the fence for 10 mins before mooching away to re join her friends!


Check list for December -

Get her lungeing!!
work on the feet issue
get her used to wearing a rug
 
Mid December 09

Check list for December -

Get her lungeing!! check ..... almost!
work on the feet issue
get her used to wearing a rug check


Firstly the rug! Nice baby blue LW masta turnout ... 18 quid! bargin haha! So we decided the best way to get her used to the rug was not to faff about as we have discovered faffing leads to a stroppy impatient pony! so we took it down, got it out the bag, let her sniff it and OH bribed her with a carrot as i put it oh her back! she was fine until i unfolded it on her back ... shot forward and squished OH who managed to keep hold of her. She let out a snort and then stood waiting for another carrot, 30 seconds later rug is all fastened up on her back, we let her have a mooch about the car park on her own with it on before taking it off again and turning her back out, then the next day we put it on and turned her out, she was fine, hasnt battered an eyelid since, dosent mind the straps dangeling about her legs and it being pulled about either, clever pony XD


and the lungeing!!

well i clipped a lungeline on her head collar and stood in a field ... that was the end of it, thank god for "playing those games" with her! she moved away from me when i asked her to and walked and trotted on command (one good thing about her driveing that was done properly, she DOES actually listen to what im saying to her!) ... on one rein!!
when i asked her to move on the other rein i was met with a fat horse rearing above my head! wouldnt even move! more games im thinking, i perserveared with her for another couple of mins and once she had circled round me once i stopped, wanted to finish on a good note!!!
 
End Of December

Check list for December -

Get her lungeing!! Check ... finally!!!
work on the feet issue getting there!
get her used to wearing a rug check

Finally, the horse lunges!! She wont canter ... but thats irrelivant IMO! shes gone from not lungeing at all to lungeing on both reins walk trot and halting and if you had seen the smile on my face at the end of my session with her you would think i was a loon! Its so nice to see her developing and understanding what is asked of her! She is the kind of horse who needs boundrys to be set as i have found out that once she gets away with something once she thinks its acceptible to get away with it everythime!!

She had me in stitches the other day like i must say ... the OH came down with the works van ... lovely mucky white transit thing, im sure you can imagine, to put up a tack shed for me, while he and his brother were busy india was stood at the gate wanting to see her mummy and daddy! I brought her in and after initially mooching over to investigate the killer power drill and the big cream and green thing that was being erected she went to investigate the big white thing on wheels! after sticking her head in every hole she made her way to the side of it where she started licking the salty muck off the side of it! In my childish mind letting her do this and then writing "INDIA CLEANED HERE ..... AND HERE ...... AND HERE " in big letters all accross the side of the van seemed really amusing to me .... needless to say the OH didnt share my enthusiasm.

I know why i loved having horses - i need the satisfaction of seeing my OH £9000 car being dragged up and down the farm track, my car and house fast becoming an extention of my tack room and being made smile by a half ton animal that only has to do the simpleist thing to make my day!!
 
Early January

Check List For January!

NONE AS I GO AWAY ON THE 10TH FOR 3 WEEKS!!

but apart from that continue as we are getting better at lungeing, better at pony games and get to know india better!!


well this month so far has been going good apart from yesterday i want down the farm, found India with no rug on, no rug rub bib on which is still missing, her rug had been taken off, fastened back up (i know this because her chest straps were both on the tightest ones and hers are on two and three! it pays to know these things!!) and had some nice foot prints all over it! went into the tack room ... my nice tack box was broken into .... thankfully there was nothing more valuble than a 10 quid bridle! however its fair to say i was very very very VERY annoyed! now theres only one "suspect" who was seen entering and leaving the yard ... and after the OH getting involved ... as he is suitably more calm than me all but a bit more intimadating!! I was screaming blue murder ready to kill someone, he just gives "looks" out and she finally claimed she had broke the box ... but is playing ignorance to the rug, she is the only one with access to the field and there was about 10 mins between her leaving and me arriveing ... I dont know what she thinks she is playing at but had b******d off to another yard now thank god ... (btw this suspect is the previoustly reffered to "friend")

Oh well ... horse is okay, rug is back on, Bib is still missing but she has got a nice new one on so ... all is good!!!
 
I haven't updated the diary for a little while but the big news really is - she's broken ... In a fashion!! I put a bridle on her, jumped on bare back and asked her to walk ... And she did!! We have been working on building her up from walking round on her and now she hacks out alone round our small village and is getting better standing for longer periods of time, walking on and trotting!! So proud of little podge :) however we still do have a mounting issue which we are working on. She won't stand next to a mounting block, however Is getting better at it!! Still taking it easy with her as every day the foaly inside her us getting bigger, or maybe india is just getting fatter in general :rolleyes: going back to basics and starting from scratch a second time was defo worth it!! Thanks for the advice :) x
 
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