Phoenix Went Inside a Stall

For the first time, Phoenix went inside! She has spent her entire life outside. I let her into the outside arena and caught her on a lead line. It was a little more difficult than usual to catch her because a storm was coming and it was making her a bit jumpy. But I caught her and lead her into another pasture. Through that pasture I tried to walk her into the barn. She hesitated at the doorway. She then pulled away and I had to let go of the rope. Sam, Cynthia, and I followed her into the pasture and caught her again. This time, Cynthia walked her. I'm not very big and a full sized adult can certainly handle a struggling horse better than I can. She told Sam to place Phoenix's food bucket directly in the back of the stall, where Phoenix can see it. Cynthia walked Phoe in and let her get a few bites of food. She then told me to grab the bucket and pour it into the feed bucket on the wall. I'm not very tall, so Sam had to help me. It scared Phoe when we first started pouring the food in, but then she realized what it was and she was happy. She happily ate her food in the stall, away from the rain, flies, and Raven. She loves her sister, but I'm sure she appreciated the fact that she didn't have to worry about Raven stealing her food. She could also paw the ground as much as she wanted, without spilling her food in the dirt. She did very well and seemed quite content with being in a stall. I'm very proud of well she handled the new environment.

When she was finished eating, Cynthia walked her back outside. When Phoenix was only about ten feet away from the doorway, she pooped. Cynthia said, "Aw, Phoenix's first indoor poop!" She then turned to me and said, "Your horse. Grab the shovel." At Trinity we have an unwritten rule. If a horse is yours and/or you were working with a horse when they pooped inside, you are the one that cleans it up. Lucky me.

Yesterday and the previous day, I did some more grooming and groundwork. I'm still getting her used to the friendly game. I've been playing it with the exercise balls and the carrot stick. She hardly reacts to the these things, which is good. I can't wait until I can do more with her!

Phoenix inside a stall