Foxy is a 5 yo BLM mustang mare. She was captured from the Fox Hog HMA in October 2011. We picked her up from the Ridgecrest Holding Facility on February 6, 2013. Foxy is being gentled as part of Mustang Heritage Foundations Trainer Incentive Program. Foxy meets all program requirements and is ready to go to her new adoptive home. Foxy is not broke to ride although with training she should make a very nice riding horse.
11/19/2013 – Update!!
Foxy went on her first endurance ride this past Saturday. While she came in dead last and outside of the time frame for finishing, she did complete the 25- to 30-mile trail! We are so proud of her and she surprised my husband, Yair Baror
, with her easily walking right through water and getting up some very tough, miles long hills! She is the best horse and we love her so much!
10/24/2013 – Update!!
Just an update on your previous TIP horse, Foxy: Foxy is greenbroke now and is doing well learning how to rein and continuing walk/trot ground work. She is friendly and greets us at the fence every time we come to the stable. She even lets me kiss her nose!
03/23/2013 – Day 46
Foxy went to the BLM Adoption at the California Back Country Horseman’s Rendezvous today. She did exceptionally well and looked as beautiful as ever. She showed her trailer loading skills, haltering skills, feet skills, etc at different times through the day. She had absolutely no problem at the show grounds, never got animated or excited and was very good around all the hustle and bustle. Foxy did find an adopter and moved to Tujunga, CA!
03/16/2013 – Day 39
Foxy’s had a great trail ride. She has always stood for mounting. As this is her second time under saddle she was ponied out. No buck or bolt. She didn’t spook and did exceptionally well. Keep in mind we don’t currently have an arena or round pen so she is trail broke, literally. We are very pleased with how well she did today.
03/09/2013 – Day 32
Today’s session with Foxy started off with saddling and ground driving at home. She was NO problem to bridle. Took the bit for the first time very easy. I worked her on the ground for about 30 min ground driving her. Teaching her to go left, right and stop all at a walk. We did some figure eights and she did well. Not as soft as she could be but that will come with time.
I was chatting with Joe and he figured lets trailer her to a friends house and have him pony her off his good gelding through the trails. She did very well going up and down the streets, around dogs, a little traffic (we kept her on the back dirt roads since its her first time). But she was easily walking, trotting and loping alongside the pony horse. After her trip out she had done so well we thought hey, lets see how she does with some pre-saddle training. Joe stepped up and down in the stirrups both side and it didn’t bother her at all! Did some desensitization above her head and decided to just get on and sit. Once again no problem! Joe felt comfortable enough with her to take it one step further and have the pony horse lead him around at a walk. She jumped one time but otherwise did very well. Keep in mind she’s nowhere near broke nor would I consider her safe to ride but for her first time she did very well.
03/06/2013 – Day 29
Practiced leading in and out of pen, crossing the threshold of different stalls that are not hers. She started lightening up and just following me in instead of stopping at the gate each time.
03/03/2013 – Day 26 – Part Two
Foxy went over the mini-obstacle course for the first time today. She did very well. She figured out the bridge was NOT edible but OK to walk over. Also started to figure out the metal sheet of doom will NOT actually hurt her, its just really loud.
03/03/2013 – Day 26
Today Foxy got her first bath EVER. She was very good and stood relatively well. We were able to soap up her whole body, mane and head. I didn’t want to push her to do her tail today but that will come with time.
03/02/2013 – Day 25
Since our last session Foxy has had minimal handling due to my busy schedule. She saw some visitors one day and was groomed with the metal curry during the week as well. Today I got started late as I was waiting for my videographer to get home. Unfortunately he’s been working on my car at a friends house all day and I wanted to make sure she got some work. I set the video camera up on a tripod and tried to keep the horse in view as much as possible. Foxy was introduced to the tarp for the first time. I am very pleased with how she responded. She’s cautious but I’d rather have cautious than flighty. She got worried a few times and pulled on me but never ran off and always turned and faced like she’s supposed to. Overall I feel it was a very good session for her and I hope to get more done tomorrow!
02/23/2013 – Day 18
This video shows our session today start to finish. Foxy was very good. This was her first saddling and the first time she had ever been cinched. She did way better than I expected. Our session was short today due to 40+ mph winds at times.
02/22/2013 – Day 17
More work on catching tonight. Even though she hasn’t been worked in a few days she was very good and remembered everything we had learned last session. Worked on getting her used to the saddle pad. That was no problem at all. She prefers her left side to her right but only snorted on the right. Introduced the saddle as well. Found an old youth saddle laying around. Its leather and not tiny but not 50 lbs either. I was able to saddle her about 20 times from each side and she never had a problem with it. No cinch tonight, I didn’t have the saddle rigged but she’ll definitely be wearing it tomorrow! Also worked on picking up feet. She wants to move her hindquarters away when I go to pick up the back feet so we’re working on standing still when that happens. She’s still a little worried when I pick up the front feet. She wants to kinda bow down. I just hold her till she relaxes and then let go. She licks and chews every time so I’m sure she’s thinking about it.
02/18/2013 – Day 13
Storm rolling in tonight. It was very blustery and cold. What better time to work on approach and retreat / catching! Worked with Foxy just on walking up to her without her snorting at me. She did very well. She still much prefers her left side but I was able to approach from both by the end of our session. She is also no longer wearing her halter as I can now 100% reliably catch and halter her within 1 minute.
02/17/2013 – Day 12
Today was the first time Foxy actually ventured outside her pen. We walked all around the property. She was very well behaved and didn’t spook. I introduced her to the obstacle course. So far she is not a fan. Doesn’t spook or try to leave, just really wants to avoid the obstacles. I played a lot with her on squeezing between two railroad ties, stepping on plywood and stepping over railroad ties. We finally made some progress but she definitely needs some more work. We also did trailer loading. This video shows her third time loading. She did very well and doesn’t seem to mind the loud trailer noises at all.
02/16/2013 – Day 11
Worked with Foxy for about 20 minutes on crossing over thresholds. Mainly her fear over squeezing through her stall gate. When leading the mustangs out of their pens for the first time I have found almost all of them will not want to step through their gate. To some it may appear that the horse doesn’t want to leave the safety of its pen. I have found that to not be the case at all. Often, once I get them out, they have the same reaction to going back in. It isn’t the inside or outside the pen that bothers them, its the part where they cross through the narrow (4′) gate opening. It took a lot of approach and retreat and give and take but we finally got her to where she was comfortable coming in and out and quit.
02/14/2013 – Day 9
20 min session tonight with Foxy. We worked on leading, grooming and picking up feet. Foxy is getting lighter every day on the lead line but still has a little ways to go. I think taking her outside her pen this weekend will do her good, we can go around bushes and such. I can’t do it during the week due to no light when I get home. She stood very quietly for brushing. They are all shedding right now so I imagine getting all that loose hair off feels good! Foxy was a little hesitant about picking up her back feet but did not try to kick out even once and by the end of our session was comfortable with having them lifted. Very good girl, she is proving to be very easy. Unfortunately no pictures.
02/12/2013 – Day 7
Worked with Foxy for 30 minutes tonight. She was absolutely stellar. We worked on desensitizing her hind legs to the stick and rope. That went well she only kicked out once. Then I simulated a cinch by wrapping my rope around her belly and asking her to move out while I applied pressure. No reaction…so I applied the rope to her flank. Again, no reaction, not even an attempt to buck! Introduced her to the slicker. She never bolted. She was a little worried about it at first but I used approach and retreat and it only took her a few minutes to get over her fear. I’m super proud of how she is turning out. The first couple sessions I thought she’d be a little difficult but she’s turning out to be very easy. Next session we are going to try brushing her all over and putting the bareback pad on / cinching it up.
02/10/2013 – Day 5
AM – Got Foxy’s mane detangled. It took me about an hour but she did very well and only got scared and had to leave twice. It was just a LOT of hair to detangle. She was easy enough to catch though. Big difference catching her today vs. catching her for the first time yesterday. I was also able to get a brush on her all over her neck, shoulder, back and top of her rump. She needs more confidence before I’ll try her legs and bottom of her but. Overall really great session. I’ll be working with her again after lunch and should have a bit of video as well. Overall very happy with her progress!
PM – Introduced Foxy to the saddle pad and bareback pad. She was great! You can see how much more tense she is on the right side with the saddlepad whereas she could care less on the left. I tried a couple times but she just isn’t ready to be cinched yet. It could have put me in a bad position to press her and I felt I was better of quitting on a good note and preparing her more before I cinch her. Also, we practiced some more on brushing. I have a softer brush I usually use to start them on the legs, she was sensitive to the stiffer bristled brush I was using so I didn’t press her. We also measured her today. She is approximately 14 and 1/2 hands tall.
02/09/2013 – Day 4
HUGE difference in Foxy today. Once I was able to grasp her lead rope I could start using pressure and release to teach her the basics of leading. She really quieted down, lots of licking and chewing. Only had a few times where she got worried and pulled away. Did a lot of approach and retreat with her and got her comfortable with me scratching her left shoulder. Did some desensitization to the stick and string. She came along a lot further today than I was expecting that is for sure! Video coming soon. 
02/07/2013 – Day 2
Worked with Foxy for about 20 minutes today on changing directions and proximity. Got to within about 6 feet of her and was able to quit on a good note. It may take a few days for me to get close enough to touch her but she’s not out of control, not trying to climb the fence panels or anything silly like that. They can’t all be as easy as Cargo and I’m happy enough to give her the time she needs to figure out I’m not going to hurt her.! I’ve attached another picture from yesterday for you guys!
02/06/2013 – Day 1
Picked up Foxy and her herd mate Echo from the BLM facility today. Released preview newsletter to those on the email list. Can’t wait to get started with the girls tonight. Video coming soon of them at the holding facility.
I only worked with Foxy for a few minutes tonight. Long enough to establish flight distance. She is nervous when I am in the pen with her but doesn’t run. Her flight distance is about 8 feet. At 8 feet she is nervous of your proximity but doesn’t leave. Any closer and she leaves till she gets to the other side of the pen then stops and watches. She was not comfortable enough to eat the entire time I was outside but by morning had cleaned up her dinner. I think Foxy will do well with some “quiet” time spent just hanging out in her pen without anything being asked of her. We’ll see how she does tomorrow night.
