My Horse Journey: First Separation

For the very first time, Raven and Phoenix were separated. These two mares have been attached at the hip and we today we put a fence between them. Phoenix was on the grooming schedule for today so I went into the pasture with a grooming kit. I had her on a lead line and I started grooming her when I realized that it was really muddy in the pasture. Raven and Phoenix are kept in the pasture that's right beside our arena and the arena had no mud in it. I remembered that Cynthia had said that at some point I should try separating them. I thought, "Why not now?" and I went inside to ask Nora for help. She opened the gate while I coaxed Phoenix into the arena. She was hesitant to go through the gate, but it only took a few minutes.

Raven and Phoenix didn't even seem to care that there was a fence between them. At one point, I walked a little further with Phoenix. Raven looked up and snorted once and that was the only reaction to the separation. I groomed Phoenix and she did wonderful. Her back legs were splattered with mud, but I didn't groom her legs. I'm still not ready to try that. I don't think she'll get kicky, but you can never be too careful. I did, however, run my hand down one of her front legs just to see what would happen. Her only reaction was to slowly walk away. When I put her back in the pasture with Raven, I took the lead rope off her. Even though I took it off, she followed me when I stepped forward and stopped when I stopped. It was pretty cute.

Later, I went into the pasture with my camera. I wanted to get a full body shot so I could make a comparison photo. That full body shot was a little hard to get because she walked right up to me and wanted some love. She's become so sociable.