Silke and her new herd.

Hi,
Today I called Silke in the pasture and she ran over to me and let me halter her with no hesitation. when we got to the Big arena she hesitated a little because she realized she was leaving her new herd, but she listened and did what I asked. She is a little bit more assertive today on the ground work, so I will have to really pay close attention to details to see if she is ready to do any riding. She is a little frisky, but she is very focused, she seems to be very much "with" me. She goes where I go and is not easily distracted by other horses or people etc. The Farrier is here and making lots of noise around the corner with another horse who's getting shoes. Silke doesn't notice, some of the other horses are reacting. I am taking her into the oval pen and I will at least see if I can get on her back. she is still responding nicely so I will take off the halter and lead and do some play at liberty with her and see if she wants to run or stay with me.
 I don't know how many times I have said this, but Silke is amazing! (to me) she is just staying with me and following me around, I love this horse! I am able to slap the ground with the stick and string and she is staying with me. she will also let it touch her gently all over! I send her out and she does a nice circle around me and asks to come to me! The Farrier is really close to us and she is ignoring him and I am able to line her up to the mounting bench and she just drops her head and I get on and crawl all over her, she is very accepting and is standing quietly and contently. We end the day with lots of love and rubbing her all over with me sliding off of both sides and getting on from both sides. If the weather would cooperate the (slow and progressive) riding program will begin for Silke, I can't wait. She is very much ready.
Thanks for listening,
Cheryl and Silke

Silke and the herd

Well,
Yesterday was awesome, I rode Feather and Bear and then I got Silke and she was so good she seems to like everything we do. I worked on all the ground work and we did everything in the big arena with 2-3 other people and their horses in the arena with us and we ended the day with her standing quietly at the mounting bench while I climbed all over her while other people rode their horses walk trot and canter passing us. Silke doesn't seem to even notice the other horses and riders and my dog runs past every once in a while. She is so level headed and sensible, I am very fortunate to have such wonderfully calm horses. Did I tell you that she loaded into the trailer last Monday as if she had done it her whole life.
Today I gave my Daughter and Granddaughter lessons on Bear and Feather, it was wonderful! they both did so well, now I know why I own 3 Iceys, I need to get Silke ready for trail riding and horse camping this summer.
Thanks for listening,
Cheryl and Silke

Silke's new herd

So, the newest member of Silke's herd is a 2 legged member.
While I was gone (At the Icelandic play day) yesterday, my husband, Mike decided to "bond" with Silke by turning her out with the herd, it was shaky at first, but she was happy to be out. he also figured out how to turn her back in again. she is not quite ready to let him touch her too much, just enough to get the job done. He also volunteered to let her out again today. I got to watch from the kitchen window,  this is also progress for my husband, he is enjoying the challenge. Thank you Mike.
Thanks for listening,
Cheryl & Silke

Silke's Progress March 2011

Hi,
Today (after several days of me being sick) I went to Silke's stall and she came to me immediately and put her head down as if to say "let's go" so I took her into the oval pen and turned her loose and she followed me all around the pen. keep in mind Silke's Stall and run in area is right next to Bear, Shorty and Feather's pasture and they are all nose to nose across the fence inside the barn and outside in the run. So she chose to leave and go with me without hesitation, that was such a great feeling. By the way the sun is shining! it is a beautiful day.

I am so tempted to get greedy here and spend the whole time today with her doing things for me, she is so willing...But something inside is telling me that today is the day to put her out with her new friends. So I walk her over to the field and open the fence and she is pulling back just a bit before, as she goes into the field. I walk her around and the other horses come over to see her and greet her so I release her and she stays with me! The others are curious, but they keep their distance. She follows me to the front of the pasture and she keeps coming up to me and touching me as if to say thank you and she wanders a little away to eat grass. then she comes back over and over again to express her appreciation, so I give her a treat and leave the pasture.

She is with her herd and she decides to let them all know one by one that she is their new, young herd leader, they come to her over and over just to be sure and one by one she says to stay away. I keep checking in with her so I can be sure to catch her later, each time she comes to me willingly and I reward her with a scratch on the forehead or behind the ears etc. and sometimes a treat. but then I leave.  I teach a small group of my boarders on Mondays starting at noon, we call it horse school and today we got to scratch off some groundwork tasks, so I had to leave Silke with the herd for a couple of hours and trust them to get along without me. and I had to trust my belief that I would be able to catch her when I got done with my students.

Well I went to the pasture and called out to her and by the time I came through the gate, she was running to me and she put her head down to be caught! what a great feeling! I know that today is just one day and that tomorrow may be different, but I am going to enjoy it while I can. Thank you, Silke.
Thank you all for listening,
Cheryl & Silke

Riding day!

Hi,
Today we woke up to lots of snow everywhere, but I decided to play anyway. Silke is so easy to catch now that I love getting her out to play. today was no exception, we did our groundwork and she followed me everywhere so I put my bareback pad on and climbed all over her I got on from the left and then again from the right side I want her to be balanced. I jumped up and down a lot from each side. I videotaped with my flip video camera on a tripod. I am still trying to figure out how to show it on my TV. I did a lot of bending and turning on the ground and on her. she was just taking it all in. I had my friend ride her first so I could watch her reactions, then I got back on and rode her around at a walk we did lots of turns and bending laterally. she was moving off my legs nicely with just a soft squeeze and cluck. If she got stuck and wouldn't move I would turn her and then squeeze and cluck if needed. we ended on a very good note. I can't wait for tomorrow, we are expecting a bad storm so it may be a day or two before I can play again, thanks for listening,
Cheryl & Silke

Catch me!

Hi,
The catch me game. Silke has really turned the corner, she is now catching me and I can't believe the change in her, she finally gets it! I am so tickled, I have been waiting for this day for a while now and thought it wouldn't be here till late summer. She is consistently coming to me and she genuinely wants to be with me. she followed me all over her stall and run and then we went to the oval pen and she did the same, totally off line.
then the really exciting part was when I put her back in her stall, she allowed me to scratch her head neck and ears while she ate her grain and supplements, normally she would move away or turn and posture to kick because of the food issue. she seems to have accepted me in all areas of her new life with me. She stood while I groomed her with out a halter and lead rope on she is also shedding a lot. What a great day I finally feel that I can put her out with the herd instead of just beside them. she is very much a lead mare so I am going to put my mares together and put my geldings separately until we have more grass growing and they are ready to all be together. I will have to wait until the weather is more consistently warmer. I hope that happens soon, thanks for listening,
Cheryl & Silke

Silkes Winter progress

Hi,
I haven't posted in quite a while, Today it is snowing chunks! If the weather would change, we would be testing Silke in a larger area with Feather. I will wait until this weather gets a little more consistently warmer with less mud! I certainly can't wait until summer, I think we should just skip spring if it is going to just rain.

 talk to you soon
Cheryl & Silke