Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A Tale of Two Fillies, part 3 - Dixie

Dixie
Dixie I spotted on the website of Westwood Farms. I really like their stallions, and I tend to wander over and see what pretty babies they have. There was Dixie, 3 years old, a gray roan and while someone had been on her back basically not started yet. I had a cute black and white tobiano for sale, and after a few chats, we scheduled a trade.

We met at Bull Run Park, because if I was going to trailer horses somewhere, we were going to ride! After our ride, we met up, looked each others horses over, and decided it was a done deal. I really liked Dixie's conformation, but my first hint to her personality came when we tied her to our trailer so we could chat. While she was getting attention, she was fine, but when we ignored her, she pulled back. But, she was a good girl loading, and riding home.

Back at our barn she made it plain she wasn't going to take an nonsense off the younger Roheryn, but was nicely respectful of the older mares. She constantly wanted attention though. If she was being ignored, she would bang her stall door, paw, and we saw a few temper tantrums. She would stand forever for brushing, wasn't fazed about a blanket being tossed on her, but didn't like the scary new objects I brought in the barn.

We let her settle in for the winter, and learn our routine. She quickly learned which stall was hers, but often didn't want to go in, even though that was where dinner is. A bit difficult for the farrier, but got better. Good for the vet though. She would sometimes refuse, sometimes crowd when being led, so we switched to a rope halter and ignored her temper tantrums.

No comments: