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Day 2 with Queen Kai

Yes, Queen Kai is most definitely a self proclaimed and possibly pre mature nick name. Anyway, so I have officially had Kai here for a little over 24 hours and I feel like I've already learned so much about her.  This horse is going to be such a phenomenal teacher of so many things.  I have a history of becoming over-invested and emotional with Kidd and I think in many ways my temper has flourished under his kindness.  Don't get me wrong, I don't beat my horse by any means but I think like most, I get frustrated when the going gets tough.  One of the things I have learned is she will not let me get away with that. 

Isn't she the cutest?!
I took my lunch break today to play with her and get to know her through everyone's favorite past time, grooming!  She and I trudged our way through the barn yard (It's so ridiculously muddy you don't even know) and walked into the barn.  I brought her into a stall and tied her up - first test, does she actually tie?  She was pretty chill with walking into barn (in fact, she's pretty chill with just about anything) and immediately looked for food, slurped up some water and licked the oat bucket clean of any traces.  I began brushing her without any problems - in fact she seemed to really enjoy it. I made my way through her body making a mental note of any marks or differences that make her an individual.  I brushed as much mud off her legs as I could and upon not being able to locate my hoof pick I moved onto her mane.  I had a feeling she wasn't much for touching her made based on her reaction to it yesterday and she confirmed that today.  With patients and reassurance I made my way through her mane and gave it a little trim as well.




I moved onto her face and forelock and ran into the same issue as her mane.  She got a little pushy and I gave her a smack on the chest and told her to smarten up.  It continued so I gave her another smack and pushed her back a step as she was stepping into me.  She immediately snuggled herself up to the wall and stuck her face in the corner to avoid me.  Wow.  I had a flood of emotions - from 'are you serious?' to 'oh my gosh, I feel so terrible.'. I apologized, reassured her and continued plugging away until I was able to get a few strokes through her forelock before moving away from it.  Its something that is going to take some time, but I have no doubt we will get past it. 

She seems to really appreciate being blanketed, which is nice since I am a blanket advocate for horses in work.  She doesn't have much coat coming from a far warmer climate, but doesn't have much experience with being blanketed. Today I blanketed her in her mud hole of a paddock without a halter and she stood fantastic.

So Muddy - Yuck!!

More things I have learned about Kai:
  • She's just as reactive about her Forelock as her Mane
  • She's fine with her tail being brushed and ears being touched
  • She ties, even when you try and brush her mane
  • She loves food - Carrots too, which I love because Kidd is a treat snob!
  • Her coat seems shinier after just 1 mash (praise camalina oil!)
  • I had my doubts about her height, but after seeing her in a stall I do believe she's close to 16HH
  • Her ears look big from the front and small from behind
  • she has about 1" of mane just behind her bridle path that is determined to go the opposite direction of the rest of her mane

For those curious, Kidd is also doing great.  He's loving life out on grass (yay no mud) with King.  He's fat, fluffy and loving every minute of it - and I love that he loves it! 





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