Dixie is a 5yo Brown (Bay) Dun Mare. She was born at the Ridgecrest Corrals.

Day 11 – 01/26/2013

Dixie has met all program requirements and has found an adopter. Once her adopter has been apprived by the BLM she will be ready to go to her new home!

Day 8 – 01/22/2013

OFF – no work for Dixie today.

Day 7 – 01/21/2013

Dixie loading into the trailer for the first time. We continued to practice after we were done shooting and she can step in and out more gracefully now!

Day 6 – 01/20/2013

No pictures or video from Dixie on this day. Just worked with her in her pen to keep her soft and responsive to the lead rope and reinforce that she needs to focus on me and not other horses or objects. She did very well and was very light.

Day 5 – 01/19/2013

Dixie got the spa treatment today. Video to come soon but for now here is one of her photos from todays video shoot!

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Day 4 – 01/18/2013

Worked with Dixie today on staying soft on the lead rope, tipping her nose in when circling around me (lunging prep) and yielding her hindquarters. Also worked on making sure all turns are to the inside, no turning into the fence at my ranch! She is not afraid of water so we will probably be giving her a bath / taking some more pictures later today!

Day 3 – 01/17/2013

Finally got a light so I could do some work at night. Worked on the friendly game with the carrot stick. Backing up in response to the leadrope. Picked up all four feet and introduced her to the saddle pad. She did really good.

Day 2 – 01/16/2013

IMG_0396-001Dark again when I got home. Worked Dixie on the yo-yo game. Got her to do several good back steps which is progress from her ignoring me! I measured her with the height stick. She could care less that I had it. Didn’t even take a second look. Just based on guesses this is one of those horses that’s gonna be pretty bomb proof. Time will tell for sure but I sure get that feeling from her! I was looking at her pictures today and realized how rotund she is. This girl is definitely getting a reduced calorie diet till she loses some weight. She isn’t at the buffet any more! She is 14.1 hands tall.

Day 1 – 01/15/2013

IMG_0395Amazing, out of probably 400 – 500 horses I wind up picking another horse that has been adopted previously. The facility agreed to let me take her after we found out (had no idea when she was selected) because she has been back for more than a year. Dixie’s adoption file says she was returned due to the economy. That they adopted her as a 2 year old and returned her 2 years later. Her file said that she stands for brushing, grooming and is good for the farrier but has not been saddle started. I played with her a bit when we got home. She is halter broke but a bit disrespectful. Not pushy at all, she just ignores you. She’ll need to be sharpened up and learn to pay attention. We don’t allow horses to ignore their handlers at this ranch. She seems like a good girl though. Absolutely no signs of abuse or mistreatment which is the first thing I worry about on a horse that has been returned.