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Tuesday, 24 January 2006
There's A New Horse In The Family!
In the meantime, she's spending a few days in Blackie's old corral while she meets the rest of the guys/gal and gets to know us too. She'll probably be let out this Saturday.
Well! Dakota's officially part of the family now. Dale let her out of the corral on Sunday, 8 June 2003 (there wasn't much point in keeping her there any longer as it was obvious that she'd been accepted by the others) and after a bit of celebrations (running all over the place with Blue, Banjo & Cherokee) everything settled down quite nicely and it's been that way ever since. Cool!
22 June 2003 - WOW! What a weekend! This was the first time this year that we've taken the horses out on a trip and they were magnificent! Dakota & Max spent the entire weekend with us out in one of the local parks in the mountains, and we rode them both most of Saturday & Sunday. Max was his usual self - steady as a rock and totally relaxed - which made it very easy to keep Dakota cool & calm. Actually, everywhere they went Max was watching over his shoulder to make sure Dakota was keeping up with him - and when she occasionally fell behind (remember, Max is close to 16 hands vs Dakota's 14) he's actually stop and wait for her, usually without being told to. He was definitely her security blanket for the weekend.
Dakota's really a wonderful little lady. It's easy to see that as she grows up and gets more strangth she's going to be a wonderful trail horse. Dale rode her all weekend - and he's no 'little guy', weighs in at about 220 or so. She never faltered with that load, not even once, and she was always ready for another round. We'd ride for a half-hour or so and let them rest for another half-hour, munching on the great grass & clover.
Saturday night, when we got them back home, the rest of the guys/gal were waiting for them - right at the front gate. When we parked the truck, Arizona let out a hollar and Max answered from the trailer. That did it! Everybody was calling them and they were answering each call. Tonight (Sunday), it was a bit calmer but not much. Of course, on both nights they got extra grain & hay for their hard work.
Shoot, I'm so proud of them both I could bust!
14 July 2003 - The last several weeks have been absolutely wonderful! We've taken Max & Dakota out several times now and they've done really well, no problems at all. Each return home is met with a family re-union, lots of calling and running around. Arizona's made it quite plain to everyone that Max is hers, Dakota's claimed both Blue & Banjo, and everyone's quite happy.
19 October 2003 - Something's changed and we don't know what. Dakota, who was totally docile and easy-going when we got her, has become a rather defensive young lady. She bites and kicks out at anyone who comes near her.
4 July 2004 - Very little progress with Dakota. She'll at least let you rub her head now, and she takes a halter like a pro. She'll lead just fine, take a saddle just fine, but try to ride her and you've got problems. Still a lot of biting and agressiveness.
20 December 2005 - Nothing much more than the note above. Definitely worried about her future. Have had vets look at her - nothing physical. It's all apparently psychological.
24 January 2006 - Well, it's done. Dakota is no longer part of our family of horses. Dale gave her to some good friends that train horses professionally. They live just a couple miles from our horses and we can visit her anytime we want - but it was, at least for us, an impossible task turning this little lady around. When they came to visit us, she took to them right off - haven't seen her this happy/perky in quite awhile. It's as if she KNEW they were going to take good care of her. I'm hoping this all works out for the best - they say she'll be just fine and I have to take them at their word. I know they've been very successful with a lot of other "problem" horses, all my hopes go with her.
| DAKOTA'S GALLERIES |
| Gallery #1 June 2003 |
Gallery #2 26 August 2005 |