All The Kings' Horses

 I got a little behind with Gia’s blog last week so this week will cover two weeks! Monday, May 11- I ended the last blog with a head’s up that there was a new delivery at the farm. A lot of the week will be dedicated to helping her adjust. Heather is in the process of giving the arena a major upgrade: TruTex footing! Currently, she still has a bit of work to do to prepare the arena, so we have 4 very large packages (mattress size) of fiber footing next to the arena. This also means that all the horses have to walk past the packages to go into the barn. Many of the horses were a bit bothered by the giant white bags, but they moved on past it quickly. Gia, however, as expected, needed some more time. I expected Gia would have a hard time with the change, so I had Ashley bring her in and head towards the barn by exiting through the further gate. I was prepared to step in and help out if needed. As expected, Gia stopped in her tracks and planted her feet while snorting once she saw th...

 Monday May 4-“May the fourth be with you”….Gia was channeling a charming Bantha on Monday. She was very well behaved for her grooming, stretches, and saddling. I debated on just hopping on without lunging, but I decided that I would stick with my routine. I am glad I did because while Gia started lumbering along like a steady Rontos on the lunge line, all of a sudden she started running and bucking on the line as if she was being chased by a herd of Nexu. However, this only lasted a minute and she calmed down right away. I hopped on in hopes she wasn’t going to toss me into a Sarlacc’s den. She was a bit tense at first and needed a few taps with my lightsaber to keep moving but by the end of the ride she was calm and sweet as a Porg. Kudos to anyone who followed along! Tuesday May 5th - It’s Cinco de Mayo and I needed a margarita! I guess Gia just isn’t a fan. I started off the morning with a feeder check-in note that Gia (who has been much improved in her feeding behavior of late...

This week proved to be another week of excitement and Gia keeping me OFF my toes! Monday 4/27/26- For whatever reason, Gia was having a bit of an “off” day. Ashley was grooming her while I was working with another horse and shortly after she brought her in, she came to report that Gia was not acting as well behaved as she had been in the prior weeks and months. Ashley stated that Gia was very well mannered for her fly sheet and did not even pick up her foot, but when she went to curry comb her, she acted a bit irritated. Ashley worked with her until she relaxed but then came to check in with me. As I’ve stated many times, this process with Gia is a journey to help both Gia and others learn to work together. As we all know, not every day is a good day. I’m so glad Ashley stopped and acknowledged things were amiss before it escalated too far. After I was finished working the other horse, I went into the barn and observed Ashley grooming Gia. I did notice that she was acting agitated and ...