• Gender: Filly
  
• Gathered: January 13, 2009
  
• Color:  Bay

• Weight as of 4/5/10: 390kg
  
• Height as of 4/5/10:

• Students: Kristin Meligari and Lexey Booth
  
• Sponsor: Dr. and Mrs. Bauer

    Despite the recent influx of inclement weather, we have been hard at work at the barn.  In the past month, Rosie has been tested with clippers, a Dustbuster, needles, and rakes.  She was initially wary of the clippers but with a lot of time and patience she has come around beautifully and now tolerates them all over her body.  The Dustbuster test went much more smoothly and she seemed to almost enjoy the vacuum by the conclusion.  When we drew blood for the insulin baseline, the needles barely fazed Rosie and she has been walking and jogging over rakes arranged in the aisle like a trooper.  She seems to enjoy the fact that she can “carry” the rakes, if she so wishes, with her mouth and move them with her feet.  She does love to have things “her way”.  The dentist also came to remove Rosie’s wolf teeth and the farrier will be visiting this week to trim her hooves.  She is also quickly perfecting jogging in-hand in the aisle.  Turning the lights out later at the barn has induced Rosie to shed her winter coat like crazy.  She is sure to be sleek and shiny in plenty of time for Spring!  At last measurement, she weighed in at 366 kg (805 lbs.) and measured 54.5 inches at the withers and 56 inches at the rump.  Her latest conquest is to make the barn cat “Charlie” her friend.  She is immensely intrigued by the little tabby; unfortunately, Charlie does not share her enthusiasm. 

All of the horses were on 24-hour turnout during the winter break.  We did bring the weanlings in for an hour each day to give them additional pellets because they are growing so fast they needed the extra nutrients.  Also, we brought everyone in twice a week to be measured and groomed, and so they didn’t forget about coming into the barn to be worked with.  Rosie enjoyed her time outside, despite the bitter cold.  She was very well-behaved about coming inside twice a week, and is now happy to be in at night and groomed more regularly since the semester started. 
            We are doing more behavior tests this semester, and will get these horses really shaped up for Ag Field Day in April.  Rosie is progressing nicely, which really makes her a wonderful horse to work with. 

        Since I last wrote, Rosie has been a busy filly.  With the shorter days and plummeting temperatures, has come quite the winter coat.  November brought her second farrier visit and first experience with an equine dentist.  She was very well behaved for the dentist; the appointment was short and sweet and Rose actually seemed to enjoy the procedure, which primarily involved the rasping of any rough edges.  She has also participated in two behavior tests this month.  The first introduced the horses to a jolly ball and a towel.  Rose passed the test exhibiting the intelligence and grace that we have come to expect.  She has since adopted the jolly ball as “her” toy and can be seen carrying it around her pasture during turnout.  The second test introduced the herd to clippers.  This proved to be a challenge for Rosie who was initially convinced the clippers were out to eat her.  She did, however, complete the test; eventually attempting to reach out and touch the clippers with her nose, and we have been working slowly but surely to build her confidence with them in the weeks since.  Rose has also become quite adept working in the round pen.  Her intense food motivation has converted to a drive for attention.  She has taken to banging on her stall door, not to demand dinner, but to call her students over for grooming or to simply socialize!  Her fantastic personality and love of people regularly brightens my day.  I am proud to say that Rose has become quite the “lead mare”.  She regularly puts the boys in their places and recently led her pasturemates on a jailbreak when she finagled a gate (leading to the lush, organic garden next door) open.  Next on Rosie’s agenda, we will acclimate her to wearing a surcingle and desensitize her to clapping. 

It has been a great month so far for RU Rambling Rose!  She is improving everyday and loves to learn.  As we enter the cooler months, her coat is starting to grow out and she is adapting to the colder weather nicely.  This month we did behavior tests on all of the horses to determine if the mustangs were any more or less difficult to handle than the weanling and yearling draft crosses. I am pleased to report that Rosie got one of the highest scores on her preliminary test in which she was led by Dr. Ralston into the Round pen and asked to do a variety of things like halt and stand for one minute, lift her legs on cue, back up, etc.  For the next test the following week, walking down our “scary aisle” in the old barn where the horses had never been before, I was expecting Rosie to get one of the highest scores again, which she did.  She behaved beautifully and proceeded down the aisle cautiously but still willing to walk forward.  Dr. Ralston was the handler for this test again, and will be for the other behavioral tests throughout the year.  She impresses all of us every day!
        She seems to rapidly adapt to changes in her environment.  This month she was switched to a free choice cube diet.  The introduction to the cube bucket into her stall was no problem for Rosie-she quickly realized it contained food, and happily started munching away.  She is very food driven!  Also her bedding was changed to a pelleted bedding.  When she first noticed the bedding change she sniffed it, pawed at it (which she regularly does to test the footing), then walked right in. 
        Rosie also got her feet trimmed for the first time this month.  Despite the farrier’s reservations towards trimming Mustangs, all of them were very well behaved.  Rosie was exceptional, as usual, and stood quietly while he trimmed her hooves, which she desperately needed.  Now her feet look a lot better, and everyone was impressed on how polite she was during the whole thing.

We are fast approaching the one-month anniversary of the mustangs’ arrival and they have much to show for their time here!  Rosie is quickly developing exceptional leading skills; she can already walk, halt, and back on vocal command.  She is also comfortable having her body touched and groomed and is becoming accustomed to having her hooves handled and picked out with the same speed she did with her other “firsts.”  She stands politely on the scale platform to be weighed and enjoys being turned out with her friend, Ella in the grassy pasture.  Rosie is a big fan of food—hay, hay cubes, grain, applesauce, vitamin C, she devours it all with equal fervor and is always overjoyed to see a snack coming.  Rosie is a very brave, very intelligent, pretty little filly who loves to play games with her students.  She takes everything in stride and one would be hard-pressed to guess she was a wild mustang on the plains of Nevada not too long ago!