Girls day out

No, not a shopping trip to the city.....

or a spa day.....

it was a horse girls day out.

Shayla is visiting, so we hauled Rosalee and Coulee to the arena. This was Shayla's first chance to ride Rosalee, and assess her for showing next year.

It went fairly well. A little bit of resistance with a leap and a hop when she didn't want to lope, and some dropping her head into the bridle and pulling on Shayla's hands, but she is out of shape and hasn't been asked to hold herself in frame for over 2 years, so I'm ok with that; she will improve.

Then it was Coulee's turn. Until Shayla worked with her, she probably didn't understand just how crabby she is. Before Coulee was worked, she had a lovely soft expression; I had her saddled up and was leading her around a bit as Shayla worked Rosalee. When she put Coulee on the longe line it was like a switch was flipped- she went from sweet and quiet to instant bitch. She resisted forward movement and backed up and glared and switched her tail- just like she does with me. Shayla worked her through it and got her going around, but as you can see by the next photo- she had a serious hump in her back.

To her credit, Shayla did get on and ride; I rode alongside with Rosalee as Coulee didn't want to go forward, but she still had that hump in her back, so Shayla stepped off and ponied her for a while to see if it would help.

Bitch face and tail swishing

Hey Rosalee, tell us what you really think!

After some discussion about Coulee's future, it comes down to how she does as a brood mare. I am not willing to get on her, especially after riding a good horse like Rosalee, and I don't want to sell her as a riding horse. We think this is learned behaviour with her, as apparently her full siblings are nice minded horses. I have had her teeth done and body work done so there is no physical excuse; I think she learned that she could boss other horses around and learned somehow that she could intimidate people too. She is very self-protective. In the right hands, she would probably make a good using horse, but it would take a lot of miles and wet saddle blankets and I don't know anyone who would want her as a project. Once she foals out and it's weaning time, she will be sold one way or another. I do have an idea of where she could go as a brood mare, as her conformation is so good. We will wait and see how her Beamer baby turns out. 

Speaking of Beamer babies, here is a recent photo of the paint colt who is a long yearling now. Check out the cool smudge marks he is sporting!