Whew, long day, and I have already broken some ground rules I set for myself in bringing home our first OTTB.  She is turned out and with a friend, not alone.  I had planned to follow advice and do a gradual introduction to turnout and then add a friend after a week.

Um, well that didn't happen!

She loaded like a champ, even though she'd already ridden all the way from Miami to Ocala.  She rode home great -- eating her yummy hay we picked up to make sure we had something similar to what she had been eating.  I was really worried about unloading, as if a horse hasn't done a step up much, it can be tough to teach them to back off the trailer.  I've had a couple take real nosedives when allowed to turn around and go off forward, so I didn't want to go there.

But, she was great!  When she unloaded, she looked around as if she had landed on an alien planet.  Horses trotting around pastures, dogs barking and OH! All the green grass!

She ate in the yard for a while, and we decided to give her a tour of the pasture.  She was doing so well that we took off the lead rope and let her wander.

Then we discovered that the electric fence wasn't working.  Oops.  So, fortunately, Sara could hear it snapping and found where it was grounded out and helped us fix the problem.

Uh-Oh.  Miss Priss was NOT happy to discover the electric fence was now working and if she wanted to try to talk to the friends on the other side of the fence, it would bite.

I watched this for a minute, and got really concerned when I realized she was so desperate for friends, that she was going to continue to try to play over the fence, which was resulting in lots of kicking out and bucking -- far too near the fenceline to suit me.

So, I asked Sara to get Shiraz, who is such a sweet, easygoing mare, and we put them out together.

Now, there is much happiness -- they are BFFs.  I have been stunned that there wasn't more running and playing and showing off, but pretty much, everyone has been quiet.

Annie is furious still that Harvey has left, but she will hopefully get over it.  Surely Sara can change her mind!

BFFs!

She is a pretty girl and hopefully this will be a fun adventure!