Baby pony stories

So it turns out my new pony can jump.  Really jump.  And she chose to display this talent by jumping out of her paddock and into another.  OMG.  hahaha if it weren't for the minor heart attack she caused, I'd be thrilled.

Pony still needs a name.  hahaha she was Rumour first, then Aurora, then Milana -- which is the only one of the group that had a hope of sticking.  Now, for the moment, she's Serena.   But I'm not sure how long that'll last...  We shall see.  I've had tons of good suggestions, but none seem *quite* right.  Or they're perfect but I already know somebody (or another horse) with the same name and can't reuse it!  hahaha it's amazing how many get discarded that way.   Or it's just too common.   This is not a common mare, she can't have a common name *g*

As for under saddle -- we're doing real basics.  She doesn't cross-tie, or stand, or particularly want her bridle put on.  She also gets very concerned when you lead her from the right.  So there's a whole lot of ground work.  Walk/stop, walk/stop.  Stand in cross ties quietly.  Pick up feet (that's a bit of an adventure).  Start the basic concept of lunging.  A couple of the girls stopped in to watch the first day -- while I love how interested they are, I had to warn them that if things went as planned it'd be exceptionally boring *g*.   And thankfully, things went as planned.  hahaha   Our lunging circle certainly didn't resemble a circle in the traditional sense and our halts were a long way from straight.  But both got better as we went.  Also did a fair bit of stop next to mounting block, stand on block and flap around the pony.  Fun fun fun.  She was pretty kewl about the whole thing.

So that's day one. Nothing brilliant but nothing horrid.  Day two -- I now have access to three out of four feet.  Woohoo.  She bridled herself.  That was pretty sweet - took two tries and on the third she did it all on her own.  Lunging still wasn't perfect, but we had two gaits and transitions between them and our circle was a lot less interpretive :)    Leading from the right is going to take a bit -- she's pretty anxious about that one.  Ditto for standing quietly in cross-ties.  But - best part, she stood really well next to the box and let me mount.  The old-school, traditional, climb-on-box-insert-foot-in-stirrup method.  Sweet.  Wandered off a bit as I got on, but we'll fix that :)   Way better than the moving leap from trial day :) .

So despite the fact that we're doing the slowest and most boring of stuff, I'm still thrilled and I grin every time I see her.  Helps that she's the first calm baby I've ever worked with (and yes, I realize that'll go away as soon as she discovers she's a teenager, but still!).   AND she *likes* people.  hahaha what a concept.

Now, all I need is for her to decide to stay *in* her paddock, and we'll be set!