Stella the Horse

Stella was born April 7, 2008 at the barn where my sister, Karina, keeps her Bashkir Curly pony Sunbeam. Her dam is a liver chestnut QH from cutting lines named Poco (registered name: Docin Dee Dixie) and her sire is a chestnut reining bred stallion called Nugget (Watch Havanana's Gold). I've owned Stella since June 29, 2008, when, after seeing me train a Shetland Pony gelding, the owner of the barn suggested I train some of her horses and she would give her to me. Since I'm just starting this now, I'll try and summarize what's happened up to this point.

Stella with Poco, 3 months old

Stella's Sire Nugget

Stella was imprinted at birth, and although I saw her a couple of times before I owned her, the first time I worked with her was on June 29. Other than her imprinting, which simply made her a lot more accepting of people, she had no training. I got her haltered that day with no difficulty at all, and also worked on her halter training a bit. Within a couple of visits, I had her halter trained and leading around the yard, as well as tying, and lifting her feet slightly off the ground. Dewormer was never a problem and she actually likes the taste, although she doesn't like apples or carrots yet...

She's also got a half sister named Cappucino (Cappy) who she is pastured with. Sunbeam (AKA Mommy Sunbeam) is a good babysitter and Stella feels comfortable being turned out with him as well, and loves following him around the riding arena when someone's on him. She's even jumped a 2' jump following him when they were turned out!

Stella and Cappy playing in the pasture

She's now completely halter trained, will yeild her hindquarters and her front end from slight pressure, walks through puddles, over poles, on top of plywood, she stands quietly to be brushed and can be touched all over (ears, tail, udder included), lifts her feet to be picked, is fine with fly spray, has had a rope thrown all over her, lets me play with her mouth and stick my fingers over her bars, has had a flysheet and a flymask on, has had saddle pads placed on her back and rubbed all over her, will do carrot stretches (with grass :P) to both sides and is learning between her knees, has worn standing wraps and stood pretty well for getting them on, has been bathed without too much fuss, and we've just started trying to load her into the trailer. She got her front feet in last time following a pail of grain in on a loose lead, but wasn't sure *how* to life her back feet. She's also de-spooked to a tarp that was tyed over her pen, and doesn't even notice a whip cracking.

I think this is it for now.. although I'm probably forgetting something, so I'll add things later on!