Copy This Peppy

AKA Mustang Sally!

Mindy and I are not to be trusted when let loose on "vacation", you should know that now...we are prone to doing things that others wouldn't...saying things others wish we didn't...and dragging home things we don't need!  ( :   So it only stands to reason that we would attend a horse clinic and come home with an unhandled two year old filly.

Sally meeting Tari for the first time!

As with most things that happen with Mindy and I, it all started quite innocently.  We ended up with our trailer parked next to Sally's pen and when we would set outside after the day was done, she would stand next to us and listen to our endless blabber.  So on the third day we asked the host about the little red filly.

Sally in Agust right before she goes home with Mindy.

He said, "Oh, her...she doesn't have a name." 
"We said really?" 
He said, "Do you girls want her?" 
We of course started grinning like the cat that ate the cannery and nodded that we'd love to take her.  He said she hasn't been handled much and would need a lot of work...and we seemed pretty handy so he was sure we'd get along fine with her.  And she needed to be doing something here shortly...

Mindy offered to take her start her and bring her back to him the following spring going under saddle.  He said, that if we didn't want her once we got her going we could just find a teenage kid needing a good horse and pass her on.  She was just going to be too small for what he used his horses for.  Which is true...all of his horses were 15.1 or bigger.  They were also geldings....

Sally at Mindy's in Sept./Oct.

As we talked to him about his filly he told us that they had raised her momma and really wanted a colt out of her, but she had this filly instead.  He had pictures of the stallion, but not the mare....he shared everything he knew about both parents and then promised to catch her up that afternoon and get her in a halter.

He and his daughter went out and caught her using two saddle horses and he tied her in one of the pens that wasn't being used at the clinic.  That was after we horse whisperers, including a friend we conned into help us tried to catch her on our own.  It looked hopeful at first when Julie squatted down and stayed quiet and the filly approached and touched her...but when we tried to get a hand on her she bolted.  She ran straight over to a 4 strand wire fence and hopped it.  Not what we had anticipated at all...also odd about the whole occurrence was that she wasn't wild eyed when she went over the fence...she was in control of her emotions.  She just didn't want what we were selling.

Being unhandled she didn't eat grain or any treats we had with us...so we found a gate and opened it and lured her back into her pen using our horses.  We went directly to her current owner who had seen the whole thing and just laughed at us...said she jumps pretty good for a little horse, which was true enough.  She did drag a hind some, but didn't take down the fence or hurt herself!

She was loaded into the Mindy's trailer without much commotion and rode the 6 hours to my house without so much as a bad shift of her weight.  She was as quiet as a mouse!

Chad was good with us bringing home a new horse...Fred wasn't as OK with it, he wasn't mad, but he wasn't glad either if you know what I mean.  The land lord turned up his nose about it initially but was good with it when he found out she was going to Mindy's for the winter.  ( Some times he is weird about things...other times nothing bothers him....men...)

So in the first week, I had Sally leading pretty good.  She was stalled at night next to Fiona (who was still on stall rest after her wreck) and turned out during the day.  Not with the other horses as I wasn't sure  I could catch her in a large pasture, but she could see and touch everyone.  During this first week she also learned from Fi that the stuff poured into the bucket was good...and you should eat it before your hay.

Doesn't she have the cutest face?

In the following three weeks she learned to pick up her feet, stand tied with action going on around her, and eat grass hay.  She was from a place that grew their own alfalfa and she had never been asked to eat grass hay before...so it was a bit of a shock to her pallet at first, but she got over it quickly!  ( :  At the end of her first month with me she had a trim on those sad little feet that went really well.  I have one of the kindest and best shoers on the planet, he made certain that her first experience was a good one!  Jim rocks!!  ( :  She had also been wormer and had her yearly vaccinations.

Fronts...needing a good trim!!

Rears looking even worse than the fronts!

Chad and I named her Mustang Sally because when she is playing and runs, she holds her tail just right and looks like the horse on the Mustang Emblem.  Also, for some reason Sally just fits her.  Some animals just name themselves and she was one of them.  This filly knew her name in no time...I think she liked being "someone" to someone else.  Not just the sorrel filly.

Sally showing her mustang pose, racing Breeze Bomb.

When Fiona was ready to be turned out, Sally was turned out with her.  This gave Fi someone who didn't want to boss her around for company and also a play mate.  Fiona made sure that Sally knew that she should run to me when I arrived as there were probably a few treats waiting to be eaten.

Sally went to Mindy's house in September...and stole Fred's heart.  It took him a few days to remember her name...but he doesn't forget what is her favorite treat, and that's all that matters!!

Mindy's house is not all treats and being spoiled by Fred though.  She has been hauled all over with Mindy's barrel mare while they are working on conditioning.  Sally loads and unloads, ponies at three different gates, and will stand tied to the trailer for a long period of time.  She has been in the round pen in a saddle and took it like it was old news...  Starting her should be a snap!  ( :

Smart looking little pony!!

Even though I have every confidence she will take to riding like an old pro, and I am sure my sister or I could start her...we have decided to send her and Fiona to Mario in Southern Idaho to get a really good start on things.  As I mentioned before, he is the same guy who started Tari.  And although Tari is pretty special a good start makes it easier for everyone!

I will keep you posted on Sally and Fiona's big trip!!