A very spoiled Siren!

Baby Siren was very spoiled yesterday! Here she can be seen with her new mint flavored treat, and standing in front of her fan. She loves mint! Shortly after this photo was taken, she was escorted to the pasture which she enjoyed overnight with all of her friends. She is too cute not to spoil! 

A Party!

There was quite a party in Siren's stall the other night while she was trying to nap. I went in to cuddle with her because she was just too cute! Then, the barn kitty, Ginger, crawled in and wanted some attention as well! Then the barn dog, Pants, came in to make it a complete barn animal party! I am not sure how Siren felt about her sleep being disrupted, but she sure did like all of her friends' company.

A very traumatic show!

Yesterday Siren partook in her 3rd show, and 4th ever halter class. It was her first show at this particular location. Siren was perfectly calm at the show! I was so impressed! She stood in a stall all day, never calling out or acting nervously. She went into the halter class and walked and trotted off with me and stood very quietly in her line up. At this particular show, there was no 2 and under age division class. That means that we had to compete with the adult horses! She ended up getting 4th out of 8 horses. The judge talked to me and said that she was very impressed with Siren and had to put her in the placings. She said that she could not place her higher because it was hard to compare a young horse who is not leveled out and filled out yet, to a full grown, and filled out adult horse. I am pretty happy with this! Siren is competing pretty well with the big horses!

Well, here is where the "traumatic" part fits in... First off, the night prior to the show, I had to get Siren ready, this included bathing her. Siren had been so good all summer at getting hosed off. For some extremely odd reason, Siren freaked out (There were a few people there and no one can figure out the reason for this) and she ended up breaking a cross-tie and falling down! I was so scared! She was shaking because she was so nervous after what she did. Luckily, she was OK! She only had one tiny cut on her upper leg, about the size of a dime. Unfortunately, the bad luck did not stop there! On the morning of the show, I backed up my truck to the trailer, only to find out that the balls for the hitch were left at home! We had to scramble to retrieve them and barely made it to the show on time. Unfortunately this started the day impacting our moods to that of worried and stressed. Then, somehow, even though the hay bag Siren had in the trailer was up high, she got her front hoof stuck in it! She luckily, once again, came out of this unscathed. Poor baby! She deserves some rest and relaxation after those rough couple of days!

Swimming!

This is Siren SWIMMING!

She was too cute!

On the property where we board there is a large pond which the owner has allowed us to swim in with our horses! I decided to take Siren to the pond to see how she would react to the large body of water, which intimidates many horses. I did not expect her to enjoy the water as much as she did. She loved it! While she was a little timid to enter the water at first, once she saw a few of the other horses walk in, she quickly joined. She decided to experience being in a body of water by first splashing in the water! She pawed at the water and wiggled her nose around in it. It was very funny when she decided to lie down and roll in the shallow water multiple times! When the water got deeper, and she was no longer able to roll, she would just sit like a dog. She was too funny! The best part of this experience, for me at least, was when I coaxed her into the deeper water and she swam. I wrapped my arms around her, and held her mane as she pulled me across the pond. She loved this experience! She enjoyed swimming a few more times. She is too adorable! 

This is Siren laying down in the water! 

She loved it!

Baby see, Baby do!

While this happened a little while ago, I still think that this is a very interesting and hilarious story! As summer approached, so did the flies. That means that the fly spray (Fly repellent) needed to come out to protect the horses from those biting little monsters! Siren was not a fan of me spraying her with the repellent. She would fidget and try to move away from it. One day while Siren and my other horse, Twister, were out in a pasture, I headed out with a bottle of fly spray for them. Siren, as usual ran up to greet me. Since she was there, I tried to fly spray her. She was not happy and fidgeted all around. Then I walked over to Twister, who is an old pro at this, and sprayed him with the fly repellent. He stood as still as a statue until I was finished. In the meanwhile, Siren had followed me over there and was trying to get my attention while I was spraying Twister. So, I decided to try to put a little more fly spray on Siren. This time, after seeing her friend Twister having this done, she stood perfectly still! Ever since she has had no problem with this. Actually, the same thing happened with bathing. I had both horses tied near each other in order to hose them off. Twister stood still while I rinsed him off and Siren stood still watching as I did so. Then, she stood still and accepted the chilly water like a seasoned pro! I was so happy! I guess the old saying "monkey see, monkey do" Is very true! Siren is so intelligent! I can not believe that she picks things up like this just from seeing! I am so excited to continue working with this little genius to see what else she learns! 

Trail in Hand

I have been looking for some new activities to do with my little girl when, I came across a class that I was unfamiliar with. Our local fair will be holding a class known as "trail in hand". This class has a pattern of multiple obstacles such as walking over a bridge, opening a gate, stepping over logs, and more. I thought that Siren would enjoy the challenge of trying something new. So, I decided to set up a coarse in the arena to practice with yesterday. She loved it! She hopped over all of the poles I set up, backed through the tunnel I made and stepped over the bridge. She seemed to have a great time! I am so excited to practice a little more with her and compete! I have no idea how she will do, showing in the class, but I am just excited that she has a new mental challenge to keep her sharp and happy!

I can not believe how smart, calm, and willing Siren is. It amazes me! I love her so much!

Rain, Rain, Go away!

If any of you live near where I do, you would know that the weather lately has only been favored by the local ducks! It has rained for quite a while. So, I had all of my fun rain gear up at the barn when, Siren just needed to be protected from the rain. The result... adorable!