Melody (Cocoa Lena)

The new filly is settling in nicely.  She had a runny nose and gunky eyes when she arrived but her eyes have cleared up and her runny nose is almost gone.  She is quarantined in a large pen in the barn since she arrived.  She won't be going out with the other horses until that clears up and we can lead her consistently.  Middle daughter has been making a lot of progress with her.  Within the first day of Melody's arrival (that is what her barn name), hubby and middle daughter haltered her.  They cut an old lead rope into a catch rope but we realized that she didn't need it.  This filly is so gentle!  I keep waiting for her to get wild and crazy or not want to be caught but as soon as you walk in the pen, she walks right up to you!  She stands quietly while we clip the lead rope on and leads around her pen really well.  Middle daughter has also picked up her front feet and can brush her entire body!  I cannot believe the progress that she's made with Melody in such a short time!

We took Melody out a couple times this weekend and let her run in the round pen.  She wasn't so sure about leaving the barn at first.  When she finally decided to go through the door she bolted through!  Hubby had a good grip on the lead rope so he was able to stop her right away without anyone getting hurt or run over.  He's so strong!  ;-)  She took some coaxing to go where hubby wanted her to go but in the end, she was doing really well.  She got to see Star and Tyson from across the driveway.  She was very excited to see them and they her!  It got really windy and started to rain so her run outside ended sooner than we had planned.  Going back through the barn door was just like going through the first time.  She stood her ground for 30 seconds and then bolted through only to be stopped by hubby on the other end of the lead.  First outing was a success!

We took her out again the next day.  It was sunny and in the 50's so she was pretty excited about going out.  She called to Star and Tyson as soon as hubby led her out of her pen.  Going through the barn door was another adventure.  It had rained HARD the night before so there was two large puddles in front of the barn door.  She wasn't so sure about them.  She stood her ground for a few seconds and decided to go for it.  As soon as the water splashed up on her she freaked and bolted again.  Hubby had a good hold of her and she was stopped.  She led out to the round pen very nicely.  She's really smart!  Once hubby let her go, she took off!  Leaping, bucking, rearing and running like a crazy horse!  I'm glad she was able to stretch her legs for a bit - must have felt good!  Star and Tyson stood by the fence watching.  Melody saw them and called to them occasionally but found the grass on the other side of the fence and got to munching.  We let her stay out while we did some winter preparations in the barn.  The kids ran out to the trampoline and started to jump.  That threw her for a loop!  She just didn't know what to think about that!  She snorted and trotted around and kept a watchful eye on them.  Before long, she was back to eating again.  I guess the jumping kids weren't so scarey.

On the way back into the barn, she did the same thing she's done the last three times...stood for a quick second and then bolted through.  We will have to work on that with her.  I really think she did it this time because of the puddles.  But we will find out once we have dried out!  Supposed to rain again today...

I'm not sure if ya'll want to hear about Melody and the adventures with her.  I'm going to assume that it's ok since this is a horse blog and she is a horse.  I don't have many readers so I guess if it's not something anyone wants to read I will be able to tell!!

More updates on Zoe coming soon!  I have some possible big news to share!

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend is is really a friend."

-Plautus