Maisie Moves

Maisie's journey to the new barn went well. She has a nice stall - all the stalls are 14'x14' - on a corner where two barn aisles meet, so there will be things to watch. The drive was less than 15 minutes, and she loaded beautifully - I don't think she's been on a trailer in over 2 years. She did her usual pawing whenever we were stopped, but otherwise travelled well. The trip was uneventful, except for my turning down the wrong street and having to back up and turn around - my truck and trailer are 55' long so that's a trick. We took a bale of the old barn's hay to help her transition, and they've also put a water bucket in her stall in case she takes a while to learn how to use the automatic waterer.

After we unloaded Maisie and her stuff, she'd settled in a bit and I'd completed the barn's paperwork, I was able to turn her out in the indoor arena - it had just been dragged and the footing was excellent (they drag it every day). She did a little bit of exploring and some running and trotting, but settled down pretty quickly. She was even willing to follow me around, and also backed up whenever I moved towards her - I haven't taught her to do either thing explicitly and it was nice to see her so interested and engaged. She was also pretty interested in the other horses - doing some calling and looking out of the doors.

I met one of the other boarders, who seemed very nice. I can't wait to get on and ride, although that may be a few days yet - my back's slowly getting better. My daughter may ride her tomorrow.