Thanks to my barn buddy and fellow filly-owner / trainer Salvador for these fabulous pics of Virginia, Coco, Starbuck and I. Since the arena was all puddly from the rain we took the horses out trail-walking to an orange grove and field right in front of the stable. The horses were pleased as pie to be able to graze on all the yummy grass they wanted and as an added bonus I was able to introduce Starbuck to fast moving cars with the benefit of a chain link fence separating us from the highway. She freaked out the first couple of times they passed close to us but after lots of petting and reassurance got used to them and settled right down!
The only problem was that at one point we lagged behind a little and she got separated from her friend Coco, she got a little worried and basically dragged me back to her buddy. In the end I had to let her lead go since she trots a little faster than me, especially on uneven ground (I got her back in a jiffy). So this is something we need to work on, both her being comfortable with hanging back from "the herd" on trails and also on her ALWAYS respecting both my space and my wishes-- no bargeing and no dragging, even when she's scared. In the end I think it was a really positive experience and now I have the confidence to venture out more often and enjoy ever longer walks with Starbuck.
The other big news is that we got a visit from the tooth fairy! That's right, my friend Virginia pointed out that Starbuck was missing a tooth and after washing out her mouth to have a better look, probing the area about 20 times with my fingers and worriedly asking the barn owner what could have happened she calmly told me that it's normal for a 3 to 4 year old horse to lose their baby teeth XD. So I decided that I'll get the equine dentist who looks at some other horses in the stable to at least give my girl a yearly checkup when she comes over from Barcelona next month and in the meanwhile I think I need to know a little more about horse teeth. Here's some reading material I've found:
- Horse Teeth article from Wikipedia
- The Development and Care of Horse Teeth
- Equine Tooth Problems and Dental Care
- Understanding Your Horse's Teeth
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