Mouses's Journal - 2002
August 17, 2002
I really don't know much about my filly. She's a purebred, but unregistered Percheron. She'll be black, but I don't know if she'll have white markings or not. I don't get to pick her from a photo, but I at least know who her sire is. His name is Wold Johnnie Showtime, and he's a registered Percheron, about 17.3hh in height and black as night. I have a lot of hopes and dreams for her; I want to train her for dressage and jumping.
September 25, 2002
I found out today that I may be meeting my filly sooner than expected; rather than having her shipped in the second week of October, she may be coming within the next few days... Wow... My paddock for isolation isn't quite completed... I'm not sure I'm ready for this!!!
September 26, 2002
She'll be coming out on Sunday. I can't wait! The paddock issue has been resolved. No problems.
September 27, 2002
Another change in plans; my filly is being shipped out tonight, and will arrive on Vancouver Island tomorrow afternoon! Ohmigods, twenty-four hours or less, and I'll finally meet her for the first time! But what will she look like, and how big will she be? Will she be quiet and easy going, or quite spirited? And what the heck am I going to name her????
September 28, 2002
My mom and I drove down to the rodeo grounds just outside Victoria (BC) and waited with several other adopters for the trailer to come in. Everyone seemed to know who I was... after all, I was the girl adopting the full Percheron filly (the other foals expected were a couple of QH's, a Fjord and a fjord cross, a couple of draft/TB crosses and a very gorgeous Belgian/QH/Percheron/Paint filly). Finally, the trailer arrived, backed into where the foals would be unloaded into a pen, and the doors were opened.
For a few minutes, all was silent, and nothing moved.
Then, in a flurry of activity, all nine foals unloaded in one mass. Right in the middle, with her head low, the lone Percheron filly tried to hide. Unfortunately, her massive black butt was a good 4" higher than any of the other foals. :) Of course, it was quickly established that this was *my* filly. And she was adorable! She kept trying to hide, then would peak up to see if anyone could see her, and then hide her head again. This is why I gave her the name Mouse.
With the assistance of a few cowboys who just happened to be riding through the area, the foals were quickly separated into different chutes and sorted. They made it look so easy! Before long, foals were being loaded up into their proper trailers to begin their journey home. Mouse had a bit longer journey ahead of her, as I live in half-way up Vancouver Island (the other foals were staying more southerly). She was so calm in the trailer, though. Being a PMU foal, Mouse has had extremely limited contact with people, but she was still calm enough to allow me and my mom to stroke her face through the window. We were actually extremely lucky that our wonderful coordinator (Robin) was able to drive us home... the foals came early with very little notice, so I was almost caught in a tight spot! Mouse was very lucky to have a companion part of the way; Cassie was also in need of a trailer ride, so it all worked out just great! We unloaded Cassie a while down the road (she was the Belgian/QH/Percheron/Paint filly) then drove another 3 hours home. When we finally got there, it was 9:30pm (well after dark) and there was a slight issue in getting the trailer backed up to the paddock... we ended up digging out one of the fence posts to make the squeeze. Once in the paddock, there wasn't a whole lot more we could do, so we called it a night and Robin began her 3 hour journey home (yikes!).
What a long, yet exciting day!
September 29, 2002
This morning, I headed out to the barn to tend to Jo Lee, then over to where Mouse was being isolated (there's a good chance she has been exposed to strangles). To my surprise, my mom was already there, and had removed Mouse's rope halter (only there for ID purposes; she is not yet halter broke). Mouse was loving having her face scratched, and over the course of the day, we were able to progress from face scratching to neck scratching to a full body rub... as long as we stayed on our side of the fence! Mouse gets a little nervous when we get into the paddock with her. But by tonight, we were able to put her new halter on without her batting an eye, as well as a fly mask! I hope she continues to be this wonderful to work with. :)
September 30, 2002
Mouse take great steps today; she let us enter her paddock and rub her all over her body, without flinching or trying to evade us. She also let me pick up her feet, one by one! She loves the attention, and will actually call after me if I leave her paddock to empty the wheelbarrow. Her nose was a little runny today, but other than being tired, she seems in good spirits and is still eating just fine. We started working with leading her today; just small steps for a short while. Mouse seems very smart; I'm sure she'll have it down in no time! Now, if only I could figure out a way to get her to eat her pellets!
October 1, 2002
Today I got Mouse to lead! I practiced turning her in both directions, and even though her stopping needs a little work, she was AWESOME! I really wanted her to feel comfortable on the lead line, so that I could take her out into the field to graze (the fencing is not yet completed there). Boy, she loves that grass!
Ok, it's official; as of this afternoon, Mouse is halter broke! We went for a walk up to my parent's place (about 2km away), and she was just a perfect doll! She walks when asked, turns left and right, and the only thing we really have to work on is stopping and standing still. This horse is my dream come true!
October 3, 2002
Mouse is doing just fantastic. Yes, we do need to work on some things (picking up feet, not walking through people, etc), but overall, she just doing great, getting more and more socialized by the day. She is also starting to eat more, which is great; and she's drinking lots too. Still has a really snotty nose, but oh well, you can't win them all. :) I'm hoping the snots will clear up soon. No signs of strangles yet... I've got my fingers crossed on that one!
October 4, 2002
Today Mouse decided that apples are tasty! Well, still not as tasty as grass, but she seemed to have fun crunching them up. :) I also measured her to try to estimate her adult height; from the center of the coronary band to the middle of the knee... it said approximately 17.5-18 inches, which means she should be at least 17.2hh when she's finished growing. I tried this method on Jo Lee and Cole, and it was pretty accurate! So we'll just have to wait and see how big Mouse gets!
December 10, 2002
I just moved Mouse out of isolation a few days ago, and so far she's settling into life with a stall just fine. I think it's really helping her get rid of her cold, as she was always pretty wet before, spending all day and night outside. She sure is fuzzy right now, and getting BIG! The farrier will be coming in a few days to trim her feet for the first time, I just hope she doesn't fall over... we still have to master keeping her feet up!
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This page was last updated: Monday, September 25, 2006