First Walk In The Redwoods

Today P and I took Kachina for her first walk of many through Redwood Park.

Fancy was reluctant to let her go; they'd become so close that Donna tells me they threw a fit earlier in the day when she went to take Fancy for her walk. Fancy, she said, even struck out and reared. I'd hoped they would become close, but I'm amazed at how quickly Fancy's adopted Kachina as her foal! I'm sure they'll both settle down as the walks become more of a routine.

As for Kachina, she was wide-eyed and antsy for a minute or two, but she lead without a problem and settled down pretty quickly. At one point we came across another horse on the trail and she became unsettled again, calling out and wanting to forge ahead to catch up to it. But it only took me stopping once or twice and letting her calm down before she was relaxed again.

Further up we came to her first stream (ok, it was actually more of a mud puddle)! She was reluctant to cross it, and it took me showing her twice before she'd follow me through it. After that we saw plenty of people, dogs and bicycles. Kachina did very well with every new encounter, although she did grunt at dog who seemed a little too interested. Once everything calmed down, and we'd reached a good spot, we rested and admired the view for a few minutes and I took the opportunity to rub her down and desensitize her to the leadrope (which she was terrific with).

Eventually we had to turn around and make our way back toward the park entrance. We'd gone up some pretty steep hills, so going down was a challenge for all of us. There were many places that looked like the drop of a cliff, and she hesitated to follow a few times, but she never really put up a big fight. After a while she just learned to trust me, and all three of us slowly and carefully made our way back down.

I was surprised to see that it had turned dark by the time we left the cover of the trees. The "short walk" I'd planned and ended up lasting almost an hour and a half!

Fancy was waiting for us when we got back to Donna's, but she'd visibly calmed down (Donna told us later that she'd been calling for Kachina and digging a hole to China). The first thing Kachina did was take a long drink from the waterers, and then she headed for the hay. P and I went inside to visit with Donna, and she presented me with a gorgeous leather-adorned journal she'd made for me to use to keep Kachina's papers (when I get them) and records of her growth! And yes, that's an actual lock of Kachina's mane, plus a piece of turquoise from Montana.

I've started researching Kachina's past, starting with information about her sire. All I know is that her sire is Ladys Lucky Mister, and her dam is Miss Patch Pilot -- both registered Paints. So far I've found nothing on her mother but her pedigree, but I did find a picture of her father and a few of his offspring (one in particular looks a lot like Kachina). I've noticed that all of his offspring that I've found are in rescues, or have been adopted from rescues -- many of them PMU rescues. I have this unsettling suspicion that the "breeding ranch" Kachina was supposedly born on may have actually been a PMU farm, but I can't confirm anything until I actually get ahold of some information. I've sent out some e-mails, so we'll see what comes back.

For now, I'm just as exhausted as Kachina. These walks are going to be good for both of us, but I really need to invest in some hiking shoes if I'm going to be climbing up such steep hills. Cowboy boots are not the best on slippery slopes.