How to be a Normal Pony

One of the horses in the barn is a former pack horse/ranch horse from Wyoming.  His owner, TN, is the contractor who built the barn and is friends with the BOs. TN and some friends owned a hunting guide outfit in Wyoming to take people into the wilderness and had 25-30 trail/pack horses and mules.  When they sold the outfit, TN kept Sundance, his favorite horse and brought him home to Oregon.

We also figured out how to take selfies.  Obviously very important

We don't know much about Sundance's history.  He's in his teens, probably a QH or QH cross.  I call him the Wyoming Warmblood. He's big, probably 16.3 and heavy boned and muscled.  He's obviously had a hard life and is very wary of people. One hind leg has a scar that looks like he was roped. He's also got some arthritis issues.  When he first came, he wouldn't step on the mats in the barn aisle, was nervous going into a stall, wouldn't eat treats, and it took him a while to figure out grain. You had to move slow and quietly around him or else he'd pull away from you.  We think he'd always been turned out in a herd in Wyoming and maybe had never been in a barn or indoor arena.  It was almost impossible to catch him once we turned him out for the summer.

We can also stand to get our foot soaked when we have an abscess. After snorting at the water once, he stood stock still the whole time. So proud!

TN had knee surgery at the beginning of the year so Sundance has sat for the most part. He has ridden him a handful of times, and every time Sundance has been super wigged out.  But BO and I have started working with him to teach him how to be a normal pony. He's really come out of his shell and wants to be a good boy.  He's started nickering at me, but that's probably because I come armed with cookies and carrots for him which he's figured out are amazing.  But he can now crosstie, wear a blanket, pick up all four feet, and we've started learning how to lunge on a lunge line. He's decided getting his head brushed is the best thing ever. Seriously, he's so much better about it than Peebs, its sad. You still have to move slow and not spook him, but he comes back to you much quicker than he did before.  He's also figured out he can canter in the indoor arena, and cantered four times when I lunged him on Monday.  It used to be almost impossible to get him to canter at all, let alone that much.  Hopefully BO and I will get on him sometime in the next couple weeks to see what he's like under saddle.

Blankets are scary