March 2002: Maria enjoys team penning and since Buddy is the horse she uses for this, we took Sam along to watch twice. The first time he was excellent and Maria introduced him to the penning calves - he approached them and tried to touch noses with one. The second visit was another story however! It was the beginning of Spring - it warmed up very early this Spring; Sam got a taste of grass and couldn't get it out of his mind! For the rest of the time we were at team penning he tried to pull me over to the grass and was quite a handful - he even reared on me - his hoof touched my sweater at waste level and when he saw this he backed away in horror at his own actions, trying to protect me. Of course then I had to listen to a dinosaur-brained cowboy telling me to whip my horse or he would become a huge problem. I didn't even bother trying to tell him that in a year, this was the worst thing Sam had ever done, that he had just been spooked by a shopping cart filled with junk wheeled around the property, that his every mustang instinct was telling him he "needed" to get to that grass - now - before it went away (LOL).

  
Nothin' like some fresh Spring grass after a bath!    Kelly's daughter Lexi with Darby

By the time we were ready to load him up to go home he was wired! To make matters worse he spotted a steer - a BIG black steer that was laying down behind a fence. When that steer saw Sammy he picked himself up and sauntered over to get a better look at Sam and stared him down. Uh Oh...shades of the big bad Llama! It was just too much for him and he backed away so fast I thought he was going to break free of the lead rope. Quickly we loaded him on the trailer and away we went to the safety of his happy home. The weather had been unseasonably warm over the last few weeks but as we pulled in the driveway it started snowing. Once I thought about it I realized that a lot of Sammy's behavior at team penning was probably due to the fact that he instinctively sensed some sort of change in the weather and was a little jumpy outside his normal environment.

  
Two pics of Kelly's TB Winsome's Valour - AKA Valley Run
Val's Punk Phase on the Right!

April 2002: Well, still no new boarders and I can't keep Buddy forever so my friends Heather and Kelly (sisters) decided to move their horses (Draco, Darby, Valley & Kevin) over to my barn temporarily. She lives across the street from where I board Sam but is in the process of building a house about 8 miles away. Her horses are at the rescue since that is where we met and where she adopted one of her horses. she felt it would be easier to take care of them across the street from her existing house while the new one is being finished. Kelly, Heather's sister also adopted a horse at the rescue and moved her horse over with Sammy also. They already knew each other so everyone settled in fairly easily. Buddy stayed an extra 3 or 4 days and then Maria came to take him home. Heather and Kelly's horses stayed until July 1st when she moved them to her new home. April, May and June were wonderful, fun months because Heather, Kelly and I are good friends and gave each other tons of support. We fed the horses together, trained them together and started to feel as if this was our own private barn. The horses were all aged 2 to 5 years old, all geldings and they were like a wonderful, fun bachelor band. They played and frolicked together and it was so much fun to watch.

Sam and Draco(TB) - both 2 yrs. old - great buddies moving in unison!

July 2002: New boarders (Chris and Don)were found but they couldn't move in until July 20th so Maria generously brought Buddy over again so Sammy wouldn't be alone. Tom and I love Buddy so we were very happy to see him again and so was Sam. Buddy and Sam were back in the groove together in no time flat.

July 20th, 2002: Today Chris and Don moved their 7 year old Appaloosa gelding (Trooper) and their 11 year old Quarter horse mare (Peso)in with Sam and Bud today. Sam and Bud were in their stalls eating dinner and Trooper and Peso were shown around the paddock after they were unloaded from the trailer. The paddock gate is left open to a long runway that leads to the pasture. It didn't take long for Trooper and Peso to realize that there was more to the farm than the paddock. Off they went before we could even introduce them to Sam and Bud. Chris and I went up to the barn, for Bud and Sam and led them out to the pasture. I wish I could have taken a picture of Sammy's expression when he realized that strange horses were in his pasture. He's only a baby - just over 2 yrs old - and his first reaction was to run back down the runway towards the barn but Buddy went right over to greet them so he stopped, puffed himself up, arched his neck and floated over to meet Trooper and Peso! Float is the only word to describe his action - like he was trotting on air - I've never seen him so beautiful! All show of course because he was scared to death, at least until they sniffed nostrils...then it was instant friends and they all ran off together to play and graze.

      
Sam shares his new pasture with a Red Tail Hawk baby

July 25th, 2002: We had a fun evening in the pasture. Ryan came over for a lesson and we had it in the pasture at 8 pm. My three kids were with me; they are 23, 25 and 27 yrs. old. We have been teaching Sam to lay down and tonight he laid down three times for Ryan and stayed down - Ryan laid down next to him and used his neck as a pillow. When Sam sat up (dorsal) Ryan sat on him and Sam stood up the rest of the way with Ryan on his back. We saddled him up and I used the long reins on him. I was wondering if he would be as good in the pasture as outside the barn and he was. I used voice commands - walk, trot, whoa and he was excellent. I use only a rope halter, I am not using a bit and he responds to my voice commands. I had visions of him taking off with me dragging behind when I asked him to trot but he stayed at a trot and stopped when I said Whoa. Ryan then sat on him for a minute and tested his steering with a rider on him - again, he was excellent and yielding to rein pressure very easily. I rode him bareback for about a minute as did my daughter Alyssa. My daughter Margeaux rode him with the saddle on for about a minute. I very rarely even sit on Sam, I would say about once every six weeks either Ryan or Heather or I sit on him for a few minutes at most to very slowly acclimate him to a rider on his back - at a walk only. I do not plan on any serious training or trail riding until he is at least 3 and I will not even trot him while he is mounted until he is at least four. The fun part was that all this was done while Buddy, Trooper and Peso were munching away nearby. When we were finished I took his rope halter off and fully expected Sam to run off in relief to greet his buddies, instead, he followed me to the end of the pasture, leisurely tugging his saddle blanket as if to say "Are we done already? Why are you leaving so soon?" I really think Sam enjoyed the lesson as much as we did.

Peso, 11 Yr. old Quarterhorse mare, Sam's new Honey

August 2002: After a few days 2 separate herds developed, the Bud and Sam herd and Trooper and Peso herd. I was a little concerned about how Samson would fit in when Buddy left but my worried were for nothing. After Maria came for Buddy Sam and Trooper started cozying up to each other. Peso was a little more aloof towards Samson and also a tad bossy. Then about three days ago Peso came into heat. Don was concerned that Trooper would become very protective of Peso and bully Sam. We maybe had one day of that and Sammy managed to get nipped in the nostril by Trooper but now Peso and Sam are very lovey-dovey and Trooper is just fine with it. Both geldings are very mannerly and treat Peso with the utmost respect - no mounting or stud like behavior (as some geldings are known to do), so I am thrilled that they are becoming a tight knit group.

Drat, Another B-52...I can't wait till Fall, then I can get rid of this sissy Fly Mask!
Mom, come on now, I'm not a whimp, I'm a Mustang after all!

August 3rd, 2002: Hmm, Sammy, my "perfect little angel" is developing some bad habits. I hope it's the terrible two's and a phase we can work through. I think he's testing everyone and everything. He is very kind, sweet and polite with people but he has gotten very pushy at the paddock gate when we take the horses into the barn to eat. For the last year he has been number one with me and he knows it. Even when Heather and Kelly's horses were with Sam, he was allowed to come out first for feeding. All the other horses just tolerated it and knew that I was there for Sam and not them so they made way at the gate. Well, now it's not always Sammy first and he has tried to figure out every way under the sun to worm his way out of the gate. He lays low and lets Chris or Don think he's going to stay and as soon as the gate is shut he makes his move before the chain can be latched. He did it with me also a few days ago. The silly thing is he never goes anywhere and we never need to worry that he will run off. As soon as he gets past the gate, he stops and eats grass. I have had to get strict with him so now I stand at the gate with a carrot (not the food, the Pat Parelli type training stick) and hold him back while Trooper and Peso come out first. Then I close the gate, put his halter on and open the gate. He then must stand back from the gate with it wide open and wait till I tell him he can take a step, then I ask him to stop, take another step and so forth. He is very good and listens so hopefully after a few weeks with "the new order of things" he will settle in and not rush the gate. He is so good after he is out of the paddock - the walk to the stall is about 30 yards - he will walk with me to the stall sans lead rope. It's not that he is unmanageable, it's just a weird "me first out the gate" issue.

Having a little discussion about manners

August 4th, 2002: Sam seems to be improving with his gate manners - he "allowed" Chris to take Trooper and Peso out without trying to trick himself through the gate but apparently he is not through with the shenanigans. It was very hot and humid today so Chris and Don brought all three horses in their stalls today around noon so they could get a little relief from the heat and flies. The barn is old, stone, very thick walls and cool. We always meet at 6 pm to feed the guys dinner and I was running a little late. I didn't think it would be a big deal because they were already in their stalls. Chris fed her guys and was just turning the second one back out to the paddock when she heard banging. I pulled up a few minutes later and found Chris standing in front of a stall with Sam behind it - not Sam's stall though. It seems that Sammy was not thrilled with his two buddies going out without him! He busted down his stall door! Took it right off the hinges. This is so unlike him - he is usually so calm and happy to munch hay in his stall. This barn has 4 stalls that face outside and 2 stalls inside the barn. I always leave the upper door of Sam's stall open and have never had a problem. I am now going to have to change his stall to an inside stall with a heavier door to deter this recent obnoxious behavior. I'm a little perplexed because this is my horse that was never herd bound. I have always been able to take him out of the pasture, work with him, trailer him, etc. and he never reacts like so many herd bound horses that I have seen. I am wondering if he is afraid that Trooper and Peso will be leaving him like the App mares, Buddy, and Heather and Kelly's boys. Possibly too many changes this year and he is over reacting. Time to call Ryan for some advice, I think.

Ahh, I've Been Dreaming of This all Winter!