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Gia - sessions 1206-1209 Changes and progress!

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This has been an eventful week here in Knightdale! We are currently in the middle of an ugly winter storm that has brought little snow and lots of ice. This week the farm was a buzz with storm preparations. Some of those even involved Gia… Monday January 19th - On Monday, I worked with Gia at a “new” location. Primarily, Gia has been working in our main crosstie area. However, I would love for her to be able to be groomed in multiple locations. Due to her very large size, we are limited to only a few grooming spots, though. We have a tree with a tie that can be used for large horses to be groomed. I have groomed Gia here many times in the past, but of late, it does seem to be a bit triggering. I opted to try and work with her at the tree and take it very slowly. As it turned out, this was a good plan. For whatever reason, Gia was very anxious standing at the tree. As an added challenge, I cannot easily use the carrot ball at the tree. As soon as I started working with Gia, she was obvi...
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Gia - sessions 1198 - 1205 Gia and Danielle make some BIG progress and have some fun too!

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 This blog is a long one as it spans two weeks. Gia has been working hard at her 2026 resolutions (with a little help from me: Danielle)! Monday 1/5/2026- I worked with Gia on her grooming in the cross ties. Gia had, unfortunately, started the year with a bit of a virus [veterinarian tested, and NEGATIVE for EHV]. It was nothing major, most likely just a cold, but Gia is a bit of a baby when she isn’t feeling well. She tends to be a bit short-tempered, so I really took it easy on her when she wasn’t quite 100 percent. Just like many of us, when we don’t feel well, we are not able to process new information. Because Gia is quick to take steps backwards, I opted to keep it simple and slowly reintegrate the work I’ve been doing. I was pleased that Gia was accepting grooming and ready to move forward. Tuesday 1/6/2026-While Gia is currently on a hiatus from regular grooming/work, there are some employees that still must work with her daily: our feeders. This will probably not come as a...
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Gia sessions 1195-1197 More of the same

Monday Dec 29, Tuesday Dec 30, Friday Jan 2: Happy New Year! With the holiday this week, Gia and I had a slightly shorter week. I continued to do more of the same work. We worked on blanketing and grooming with mixed success. The past two weeks have been a bit crazy around the farm between holidays, field movements, schedules being off (farrier, hay, feed, in addition to ours!), etc. All of that can lead to some tension in both the horses and the people. Gia had mixed reactions this week and we definitely have some 2026 resolutions! I just need to get Gia onboard….stay tuned for those adventures.  - Danielle
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Gia sessions 1192-1194 - More with Danielle!

Merry Christmas! With the holiday this week, Heather and I actually took 2 days off to relax! With cool nights and warm days, the horses have also been enjoying a little break. We’ve seen just about every horse sleeping in the fields! However, Gia and I did get some exciting work done this week! Monday, December 22nd - I basically reviewed the grooming with Gia and the carrot ball. For some reason, Gia came in a bit agitated on Monday. She was impatient with her carrot ball and was tossing it around. Interestingly, she was quite patient with me. One thing I have been focused on with Gia lately is picking her hind feet. She has been very good at picking them up and letting me clean them. But, when I put them back down, she sometimes picks them up like she is going to kick. It is not directed at me, but it does seem somewhat like a threat. Basically, she’s acting like a teenager slamming a door. I have been speaking to Heather about it. In and of itself, this is not unusual behavior for ...
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Gia - sessions 1188-1191 - more with Danielle

 Monday 12/15/25 – On Monday this week, I (Danielle) had planned to work with Gia on the grooming and the saddle pad. However, during grooming, I actually found a small lump on her belly near her umbilicus which we will be monitoring and following up with the vet at our next appointment if it is still present. It is highly unlikely that the lump is anything other than a small reaction to a bug bite or allergen, but, with Gia, nothing is small! This is also a great example of the reasons why we thoroughly groom our horses regularly. Many times, while teaching, students are rushing through the grooming to get to riding. We try to instill in them that the grooming is just as, if not more, important than the riding portion. Additionally, I found Gia getting quite anxious towards her back legs. I know from experience that this can be a sign that Gia’s teats need to be cleaned. This isn’t a glamorous job, by any means. Gia has rather large (shocking, I know) teats. As a result, they tend...
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Gia - sessions 1184-1187 - Progress and Discovering New Work

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Monday December 8th thru Saturday December 13th, with Danielle: The past few weeks and months, you’ve heard a lot about Gia’s grooming. However, there are a lot of things Heather would like to see Gia do better with on the ground. We strongly believe in the idea that a good ride starts with a good experience on the ground. Boundaries, expectations, and moods don’t begin when you sit in the saddle. This applies to all horses, but some more than others. Gia is definitely a horse where every relationship and interaction has a significant impact. On Monday, I began by working with Gia on her grooming. She was pretty well behaved for all of this and has settled into a routine. However, I don’t think she’s quite ready to turn over to everyone for grooming yet. There are still a few little nuances, particularly with her hind feet, that I want to work through first. So, as I do this, I am also moving forward with the next step of her grooming: saddling. Saddling has not been a major issue of h...
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Gia - sessions 1180-1183 - more musings from Danielle and Gia

Monday 12/1/25 thru Friday 12/5/25: This week was a little of the same and a few new things. We started out Monday and Tuesday with the carrot ball and grooming like normal. As this has been going well, it is almost time for me to see how she does with others. Before that, I wanted to make sure that I was clear on how she felt with me doing the grooming. Going into this, I have been fully aware that no matter what method I find for Gia to be groomed will involve 3 steps. First, I will find a method that works. Secondly, I will teach Heather what that looks like and see if she can groom Gia with similar results. Finally, I will teach the grooms and see if they are able to get similar results. Remember the idea of this challenge is to make it possible for more people to work with Gia safely and effectively. At any point, I may have to go back to the drawing board to make modifications. So, to be sure I was fully aware of where we were, I mostly spent the time watching Gia the first two d...
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