Thursday, June 28, 2012

2 New horses at the farm - Fiona and Kylee

Fiona and Kylee Arrive - Bringing New Horses Home

Monday was a very exciting day for me - I got to bring my two new horses home, Fiona and Kylee. Fiona and Kylee are two lovely mares that I am hoping to introduce to the LFEquestrian lesson program. They are very sweet and well tempered horses that are athletic, so I hope they are a good fit.

Whenever you bring a new horse home, it is very helpful to do a few things to help make it a safe and easier transition:
- Help make the trailering experience positive by allowing enough time to load with a natural horsemanship approach
- Introduce the horse to their new home in an environment that won't be too overwhelming for the horse (start with a smaller paddock and fewer horses, or even a stall or private turnout to allow the horse to take in the new environment)
- Show the horse where the water and hay is in the paddock
- Make sure the new paddock is safe and free of debris (or that the stall is clean and free of clutter)

After the horses have a day or two to settle in, then you can introduce them into larger herds or paddocks if that is your plan. Sometimes horses can be very dominant. It can help to introduce a new horse with the dominant herd leader in a small paddock first. That way the dominant horse can learn to accept the new horse without the stress of having to protect their herd. This can really help to minimize fighting and chasing.

I was happy that bringing Fiona and Kylee home went really smoothly. They were introduced into a paddock with 3 other horses that are very submissive and quiet, so I wasn't worried about any horse getting bullied.

All the horses were eating side by side at the hay hut within a day, so it was nice to see they are making friends so quickly.

You can view pictures of Fiona at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157630332257558/

You can view pictures of Kylee at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfequestrian/sets/72157630332247820/

I will have updates about their first training sessions at the farm soon!

Key learning this week:
Introducing a new horse is an exciting experience, but make sure it is a safe experience by doing a few simple things to help make it an easier transition for your horse.

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