Making the Switch

The big weekend has come and gone....where I drive my older mare, Spuds, up to Nebraska to be with my mom for a few months, and I take two of their mares to bring down and train to sell at the end of the summer.

My nerves were getting the best of me on the way up there, it has been a while since I've trailered a horse that far! Always nerve wracking....is the truck okay, did I hook everything up on the trailer, are the tires good, does she have enough hay, is there enough airflow....etc etc.

But, we made it safe and sound!

It seems that Spuds recognized where she was when she got off the trailer; she had lived there for 7 years, it's where Cricket was born.

She walked around nervously for a few minutes and then started releasing her adrenaline by blowing out, shaking and starting to graze.

Introduction to the herd went well. Of course she had plenty of room to run, and run she did! Up and down the pasture, with Emma stuck to her side. After about 10-15 minutes of that, everyone settled down and just went back to grazing. Spuds and Emma by themselves....wondering if Emma was 'protecting' Spuds from the herd? Either way, they are stuck together!

I decided to try and back the trailer up against the roundpen to just unload the girls there so I wouldn't have to worry about putting halters on...who would I take out first, what would the other one do etc. So, I opened Sierra's door first and let her take her time getting her footing and feeling her way out of the trailer (she had to back out).

Spirit turned around and walked out since I could move the divider and give her room to do that. They ran around for a minute, singing and wondering where they were.

After about 10-15mins they calmed down and started grazing on the bits of grass in there. A bit later, I took Spirit over to her new home; she led well and ran the fence with Cricket while I went to get Sierra. Sierra was running around/pacing at this point, but she still let me walk up and catch her just fine. She also led well over to the pen and ran around for a minute exploring her new area. Shocked herself on the fence a few times, but they calmed down soon afterwards.

All in all it was a successful switch. Now I will give them a few days to hang out and get adjusted to their new home :)