It’s Christmas Eve! Finally, the big day is nearly here! So did you make yesterday the best day of your life? What was the best part of your day?

I have a confession to make, with Christmas, and our Pet Pictures with Santa events, we have had very little time to do any training with the horses. So yesterday we decided it was way past time to spend some time with them, especially the little Mustang filly’s Chilli and Natalia. First we worked with Chilli, just practicing putting on a halter and lead rope, walking around, and getting her hooves picked. She was kind of a lot, with big energy and not being terribly gentle with us. After a little while, we put her back and then worked with Natalia.

She came into the working area readily, and easily, on her own, when asked. I groomed her, put her halter on, and then, decided to go for a walk down to the front gate of the property, which seemed like a big ask for not having been on a halter and lead for a few weeks. For comparison, we never took Chilli out of the round pen because she wasn’t relaxed enough. So we took Natlia down to the gate for a walk, and the whole time I told her how pretty she was, and what a great job she was doing. And she was! When we got to the gate, we turned around to head back.

To be on the safe side, I decided to unclip her lead rope in case she got strong in hand heading back to the barn. I didn’t want to give her the chance to practice pulling or bolting, since all the other horses were put up and she was the only one around. The chances she might react like that were pretty high. But I need not have worried, she walked right beside us, calmly, all the way back to the barn, calmly and easily, and without even being led by a lead rope. And in fact, when I went to take her halter off, she got frustrated with me because she knew it meant the end of the training session and she did not want that to be the end! It was pretty cool. She is amazing. And yesterday, that was definitely the best part of my day.

Today I am grateful for Natalia, for the Bureau of Land Management that brought her to the Horse Expo so she could get a chance at a great home, for running water, for cute little kitties, and that today is Christmas Eve!

​I hope you have plans for a wonderful day, and that you are looking forward to whatever the day brings. I hope your presents are all wrapped, and that you feel good about your holiday plans and that you are excited for Christmas. Today is a great day to do something nice for yourself. It can be as simple as looking in the mirror, pointing at yourself, looking into your own eyes, and saying, hey you, you got this! Because you do! And if part of your holiday tradition includes charitable giving, won’t you please consider supporting Natalia and the rest of the herd here at the ResqRanch https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/Resqranch Your gifts mean so much in helping relieve the stress and pressure of paying for the upkeep for our animals. Thanks in advance you Animal Loving Angel, have a wonderful day!

​​​Check out my YouTube channel for a daily "Good Morning!" from the rescues and lots of free tips and training resources. https://www.youtube.com/@the1drq