Day 1: I met Bailey for the first time, in Kerrville, on the afternoon of February 1, 2008, after only being handled once by humans and 2 hours before our brave Dr. Patterson was scheduled to draw blood and give her her first vaccinations. About 30 minutes before the doc arrived I managed to get a halter on her. Although I must say she was quite reluctant! That is when I knew she was bound for fame. She is so laid back, but has just enough of the spunk needed to be competitive at a level higher than I have ever been. Things didn't go quite as planned, but I trust Dr. P completely and he managed to draw the blood, give her the rabies shot and deworm her orally without too much of a ruckus. Whew!
Day 2: I didn't do much with her the following day...day 1 was a little traumatic and I knew day 3 would be as well (the nearly 3 hour journey to her new home). I did, however, manage to get her a little more friendly and she realized how great the curry comb was. She just loved being scratched with that big metal thing in the human's hand. I am sure it felt good scratching all those old tick bites! Before the end of the day she was backing up to me so I could scratch her backside....now that's progress!
Day 3: Today was the day for the big trailer ride to Del Rio from Kerrville. Jennifer helped me back my trailer up the pen where Bailey was hanging out. We opened the gates and let Bailey walk up to the trailer. She started smelling around and ploop!...went right in! I couldn't believe it and I thought to myself, now THAT is worth EVERY PENNY! That was, afterall, only her 2nd time in a trailer EVER! She did great on the way home and unloaded like a perfect lady right into her nice big, shady pen next to the house. She settled right in, with the help of a couple of yummy flakes of coastal. I was already in love! I couldn't have picked a more perfect filly if I tried!
After arriving in Del Rio, Bailey remained pretty friendly. I would go out to her pen and spend time currying her, scratching all her best itchy spots, and so on. She still wasn't crazy about me touching her on the neck or face, but everywhere else was ok in her book. I brought Scout over to be her buddy as I didn't want her getting too stressed out. She had quite a week behind her and my gut told me that was the best thing for her. Then one night while feeding, she walked past me like always and just decided to kick me! Luckily for me, she hit me square on my jean pocket...I thought to myself, did that just happen?!? After that Bailey thought she was IT! She wouldn't even let me get close to her without acting like she was going to turn her butt. So, I decided it was time for my 45'rope. I made a loop and managed to get it over her ears pretty easily. It took about 30 seconds for Bailey to realize she was not having her way this time and that turning her butt to me was not such a great idea. In another 30 seconds she was leading and light as a feather, I might add. She let me rub her up to her ears and I thought that was a pretty good place to stop for the day. This rope trick went on for another week or so...long enough to ensure she was friendly with me ( I could then touch her face, ears, legs, and belly). Then came the halter. All the other prep I had done with the rope, made the halter a piece of cake! She stood completely still and at ease while I haltered her and led her around. We played some more friendly and even sprayed a little with the fly spray. She was totally cool with it all! I was impressed!
Now we are playing the first 3 Parelli games with ease and she always comes to greet me when I go out to see her. She even nickers when I arrive and whinnies whenever I leave! Can't wait to see where we are a year from now!
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