Day 9 Moving Day!!

Today I was like a mom taking her child to their first day of school. I was a nervous but also excited. I am so happy that Lilly will have room to run around. She will be able to touch noses with horses on BOTH sides of the pasture. And when the herd calms down she will hopefully have at least one friend inside the herd she is with. She will learn horse manners even more. She will learn boundaries. She will have lots of benefits of being with a herd. Horses and herd animals and this is what I want for her.

When I arrived at the barn I did my normal routine of feeding her her supplements.

Next, I gave her her medicine.

Then I nervously walked around. I knew that my energy was not in a good place to try to teach her back up today. I also knew that moving and meeting new horses was already going to be stressful and I did not want to add to that. So I let Lilly have a day of rest.

Then I put on her halter - she is doing a great job putting her nose down for me. I watched the other horses finish up eating and I wanted Lilly to be able to get enough hay. But I also needed to get back to town to deal with getting a vehicle before the big storm this weekend. I also wanted to be able to watch her adjust to being with the other horses. So I knew it was time.

I walked out to the farthest barn where Jerry was working and let him know I was ready to move Lilly.

We went back to her paddock and I put the lead rope on her. As we were walking she kept stopping, lifting her head, and looking behind her towards the paddock. It was like she knew something new was happening and she was a little unsure.

When we got to the pasture the other 6 horses were still eating a little hay that was left and were busy with that.

Jerry grabbed a halter and lead rope to use to chase any aggressive horses away. He opened the gate and I lead Lilly in. We both walked in and he told me to take her lead rope off. So I took off her lead rope and we left the pasture and stood outside to watch.

9:16 am First Meetings

9:23 am

9:20 with Iphone

9:30 am

9:38 am

9:45 am

9:52 am

Introductions went okay. They were not bad. But no friends were instantly made. This is very normal. Jerry said it went very well. All of the horses tried letting her know that her place was at the bottom. She was not in the mood to be submissive. Lots of butt turning on all ends. Lots of ears back. Lilly did not put her ears back. When she was left alone she had some chewing. So that made me happy. She was very wary and stayed away from everyone.

Her new herd:

Pepper - Herd Boss - Brown Dun Gelding - Teen

Gracie - Paint with cribbing collar on - 16 years old

Beryl - Paint without cribbing collar on - 16 years old

Pluto - Herd Boss - when Pepper is in for the night - and bossy mare all other times - Palomino 6/7

Della - Red Roan - late teens

Nora - last newest kid on the block - she arrived 3 weeks before Lilly - Blue Roan - Late Teens

After I stayed around and watched about 20-30 min. I went to move her stuff from the old paddock next to the new pasture. Then it was time to say goodbye. So I went into the pasture and Lilly came right to me. I took off her halter and put on her fly mask. It was a little challenging - so next time I will put on her fly mask first and than take off the halter.

Then I went home. When I got home it was almost time to look at the SUV that I was potentially going to buy.

He arrived and we were masked (covid) and he let me take the SUV and drive it around myself. I did and everything seemed to be okay. I could hear the CV joint that he told me about that would be needed to be replaced. He had to call to see if he could get a ride back home. So he left and came back.

His mom would be able to take him home. This is when the drama ensued. He initially told me that electronic payments would work just fine. Then when he was there he wanted us to go to my bank and get cash. I reminded him that it was impossible for me to do that but I could help him set up electronic payments on his phone. Finally after an hour and a half and writing a letter stating if the electronic payments did not go through he would give me back my money and I would give him back the Jeep. OMG!!!! I finally had a vehicle.

Since it did not have licence plates I called Wyoming Department of Transportation to find out what I needed to do. I needed to bring the title and bill of sale to the Clerk of the Court and than take that across the hall to the treasurer to pay for licence and registration and than back across the hall to pick up my new title. Everyone wore masks, I did not touch anything, but I felt very uncomfortable and tried to stay as far away from everyone as possible. It was a success after some inital drama. Got everything worked out. Then I went home. By this time it was after 2 and we needed to eat quickly and then go out to see Lilly.

By the time we finished eating - it was too late to ride out to see Lilly so I took the Jeep out. I let Sonnet and Serenity come with me to start getting use to the sights and sounds (they already know the smells - lol) of being on the farm.

When I arrived at the farm Pepper was outside the fence with his owner and he was eating supplements.

I had to go around them to get to the gate. I grabbed Lilly's stuff and set it up a good distance away from Pepper. I went into the pasture and took off Lilly's fly mask and put on her halter. Then led her out of the pasture for her supplements. It went well. She was clearly not relaxed and very aware of her surroundings. As she was eating I checked her out for bites or wounds. She had one small bite on her left side and one larger bite on her left shoulder. Both were not bad. I should put some medicine on them today.

After she was done I took her back to the pasture and walked around with her. I used the helicopter rope to keep the other horses away. I lead her to the water so she could drink undisturbed. Most horses kept their distance though one tried to get close. Then on the way out Lilly was chased into the fence but a quick shout from me got the horses to back off and she was able to get away from them.

Serenity and Sonnet did very well with no barking until the gate incident happened and then Serenity started barking. Serenity was doing a lot of whining before and after that. But overall they did very well for the first time out.

We went home and I made out supplement shakes.

Long day - but lots of good things. I hope everything works out with the herd. I need a better place to feed Lilly. I am thinking of taking her to the round pen and having her eat there. This way I can take the lead rope off and we can relax together.