The Beauty Trip

Every day I worked on expanding Celis White's world outside her corral. She was becoming more accustomed to being haltered and actually seemed to enjoy seeing more of her new surroundings. At first I limited her trip to just around the grounds, but eventually I started taking her off property.

The first time off the property, Celis had to get used to some dogs barking from behind the neighbor's fence. The dogs would bark at anyone passing by, and there was no way around them. So I led her to the end of the drive way and waited a few moments. I wanted her to see them for the first time from the front so I whistled and as usual, the dogs came bounding the the edge of their property barking up a storm.

Celis raised her head very high and started snorting. She started to back up, but once she felt the pressure of the halter, she stopped. I didn't ask her to step forward either, I just wanted to let her see that the dogs were contained and couldn't get to her. We stood there for several minutes. The little white mare just stood there with her nostrils flaring and her head up. Finally the dogs got tired of us and went back toward the house.

I led Celis toward the corral, but turned around to repeat the experience. So again I took her to the edge of the property and called the dogs. They came running up and started their ruckus. This time Celis didn't try to back up. I let her stand and drink the situation in. She bobbed her head up and down a few times. I pressured her halter to walk and she took one step forward. I petted her and told her she was good. I asked her to move again, and she took another step. Seeing the movements, the dogs intensified the barking.

I let Celis stand and get used to this new level of barking. She kept her eye fixed on the dogs. I stood there for a few more minutes talking soothingly to her and petting her. After a bit, I asked her to move forward again. She didn't move, so I took the end of the rope and tapped her side to urge her to move forward. Celis walked forward strongly into the dirt road. I kept her moving, walking quickly to keep up with the mustang.

The dogs bounded along the fence line barking and Celis White swung her hind end back and forth as if to see if they were going to try to ambush her. Finally we reached the other end of our driveway where the dogs' fence stopped. I halted the white mare and turned her toward the dogs so she could see that they were still on the other side of the fence. The mare looked at the dogs, but her nostrils were not flaring as much. Finally I led her back up the driveway. For several days I continued this training with Celis. She slowly became accustomed to the dogs and regarded them as a part of the scenery.

Celis White's feet were now growing quite long and trimming was long over due. I placed the call to the farrier and he said he would be out in a week to trim her. In the meantime, I decided it was time for her to learn about baths.

The weather was quite warm and sunny on the day I chose for Celis' first bath. I got all the equipment out and ready for use--the hose, sponge, bucket, and some shampoo. I made a very dilute mixture of water and shampoo in the bucket. I didn't want to accidentlly leave suds in her coat if I couldn't rinse them out.

With all the materials in place, I went to get the mare. I brought her out to the washing area, a place that has gravel to drain away the water. I started the hose and brought the running water to Celis' nose for her to sniff and see what it was. To my surprise, Celis didn't seem to mind it much. She just moved her lips in the water. I started to rinse the mare off, beginning with her legs. The mare didn't move! She just stood there while let the water run down her legs. I rinsed the other side. The mustang was perfectly still.

Slowly I began rinsing higher and higher on the mare's body. She didn't seem to object. With the lead rope draped over my shoulder, I began to scrub the water into the coat. When I got the mustang completely wet, I took the bucket of soapy water and started to sponge it on to her. The mare again did not try to get away. She allowed me to sponge her all over. I cleaned her mane, scrubbed her legs and washed her tail. After soaping the mare I rinsed her carefully, making sure I got all of the suds out of her coat, mane and tail.

When I was finished I took Celis White back to the grooming area to scrap the excess water off. I then led the mustang around to dry her off in the warm sun. She dried quickly and I took her back to do a final polishing. I combed her mane and tail, then brushed her body. When she was dry I let her back into her corral where she promptly rolled. So much for the beauty trip!