Dash is home!

After many weeks of waiting and worrying Dash has finally made it home safely. She arrived this afternoon at about 3:30. Even with the snow we got over the weekend, the ground was solid enough that Bob was able to back the trailer right down to the corral, close enough that there was only a space of about 3 feet from the trailer doors to the fence so I stood in one gap and my son stood in the other. Bob walked into the trailer with her and was scratching on her, he was even able to peel her shipping stickers off (although some glue remains). After a few minutes she backed out of the trailer and walked into the corral, not really acting scared at all. She sniffed around the corral for a minute and settled down to her hay.

There were 5 of us there to greet her. My mom, my aunt, my 2 sons, and I. After half an hour or so my oldest son and aunt went off hunting for deer antlers (my son found 3!) but mom, Cameron, and I hung around with Dash. We didn’t really push her, just kind of let her know we were there. If there is hay she will get to within about 2 feet of us as long as we don’t try to reach out and pet her. She seemed more unsure of the water trough than anything. She kept going over and sniffing it but was hesitant to take a drink which struck me as odd since it’s the exact same thing as her hay is in and she had no problem with that.

Bob, the hauler, was very impressed with her, both in looks and temperament. Both times I talked to him on the phone and when he was at our place he kept exclaiming over various things he liked about her and couldn’t believe she was a rescue. For those of you who need transport in the future, he hauls cross country. He’s leaving tomorrow to pick up a load in OR and will be taking them clear to NJ. His rates are very reasonable, his rig is very nice, and he is excellent with the horses so if you need somebody please contact me and I will get you in touch with him!

I was rather surprised at how small Dash is. Everyone who saw her told me she wasn’t overly tall but it still surprised me. I would guess her to be about 13h, maybe just slightly more. She is built fairly stocky and you can see that she will fill out a lot. Her color is currently what Deb B calls the “moldy stage”, a mix of all sorts of different colors. There is a hint of some dappling, I have to wonder if she’ll keep it as she sheds out.

Her hooves are a little long but not too bad so I won’t have to worry about having the farrier out until after I am able to work with her some. I had planned on getting a breakaway halter onto her right away just so I had a way to catch her if necessary but after seeing how calm she is I’m not going to worry about it. I really think that within a few weeks she’ll be gentle enough to let me put one on her without the stress of cornering her to do it.

I took a ton of photos, here are some of my favorites. If you’re really bored and want to see the rest you can see them at http://www.pbase.com/sunsetmeadowlark/dash My mom also got a video or two and I will post them once she sends them to me.

What a pretty lady!

Huh?

Who the heck are you?

Love the circles!

Hmm… smells minty!

Getting aquainted with Nanna