November 7 – 26, 2022
– Day 29 to 48: Advancing, Healing and Improving!
We have been traveling quite a bit these last few weeks so
Kenna has gotten more time to just be a horse. Good nutrition, good health care
and lots of TLC combined with her training seems to be working some “magic”
with Kenna’s confidence and curiosity. She has had some “sassy” moments but
nothing unusual or difficult. More comical than anything. She is learning that
self-expression is really okay on her new reality and she is learning that we
listen and guide her to proper behavior and accepted boundaries, which she
seems more than happy to exist within. She is becoming pretty attached to her
humans too!
KENNA HAS FANS! We met many of them at Equine Affaire in
Springfield, MA this past week! What a treat that was! We even had offers to
purchase here, which we politely declined at this point. We are VERY thankful
for all the positive support and wishes we received during the event!
When we were considering her case, we heard that she was difficult
to saddle, would not stand still when grooming and was horrible for the
farrier. Well, in our reality these are non-acceptable behaviors. Over the span
of her retraining with us here at Lucky Star Horsemanship have focused on these
supposed “issues.” She now loves being groomed and pampered (as a lady should)
stands quietly to be saddled (note: we go slow and steady on the girthing,
snugging it up in three stages) and stands fairly well at the mounting block.
On 11/25/2022 Kenna and our amazing Farrier Gina Volpe, of G.V. Farrier
Services got to share some time and trim up Kenna’s hooves! A couple of weeks
ago Gina was at the stables and took some time to simply look a Kenna’s feet
and introduce herself. They got along well. Gina had some initial impressions
and offered some advice. We worked with Kenna on picking up her feet, being
calm when her legs were worked with, including stretches and generally
preparing her for Gina’s visit. Now when we got Kenna, she had front shoes but
the job of was very poorly done on many levels. Gina discussed going barefoot
with Kenna for a while to help her grow and shape her hooved properly (we
agreed) and then proceeded to trim, shape and level her hooves, allowing Kenna
to be more comfortable and to assist in positive growth. Kenna was curious
about all the neat tools in Gina’s truck and was really easy to work with
during the session. Now we are on the right path to good hoof care!
We also are continuing with the ultrasound and electro therapy to help Kenna feel better in her hind end. She was in some pain when we took her in due to the incredibly rough "training" she was subjected to. This discomfort made it difficult for her to transition comfortably into the higher gaits. With the therapy sessions, good hoof care, good nutrition and positive training we have seen real improvement in Kenna's overall well-being and willingness to try.
We will be moving Kenna and Ronan to the winter barn later
this season. The “winter program” for both horses is to work on refinement of
the skills already introduced as well as conditioning. There may be some
introduction of new experiences within the skill set. We have a goal to bring
Kenna with us to some upcoming Horse Expos and Events in the next few months.
We will also be filming more “Essential Groundwork with Kenna” and “Essential
Riding with Kenna” videos too!
NEW VIDEOS:
The Farrier: https://fb.watch/h1OxJlc-KZ/
The Stop: https://fb.watch/h1OEMt6kkR/
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