Saturday was moving day but I had to wait until 4:00 p.m. to do anything. I got everything ready for the 100th time (nothing is ever completely ready). Ran an errand, mowed the lawn, fiddled and finally started fretting about 3:00 p.m. Then Meghan arrived and we left.
My plan was to load Odin first because he is the most difficult but will stand quietly even if he's nervous. If Beege went in first, he'd get worked up while Odin took his time loading and if he started pawing, it might make Odin even more reluctant to get in. We wanted to avoid that vicious cycle. Meghan allowed Odin to take his time getting in the trailer, getting out, getting in and staying in. I had the hay bags with the flags and he did target just like our practice sessions.
I loaded Beege and he went right in. I let him get out once then asked him to come back in. He did and we shut the door. Beege whinnied several times after that so we said goodbye to Cheryl and Jay who boarded Beege since November 2017 and Odin since about January of this year.
The drive home took about 20 minutes and neither horse moved around very much during the short journey. I unloaded Beege first. His head was high and veins popped out but he wasn't sweaty. Odin on the other hand was a sweaty, foamy mess. Poor guy. He doesn't react but internalizes his stress. As much as Beege paid attention to me during our training sessions, he ignored me for the most part. I did ask him to move his hindquarters and a few simple things. Mostly he giraffe-necked over toward the neighbors. Both he and Odin started grazing immediately, which was very encouraging. We took off their halters and went to the house to eat dinner.
I checked on them both several times. Besides being bothered by flies that magically appeared they seemed content to graze. I gave them a little hay, which to my surprise they ate even though there's plenty of grass and clover in the pasture. I put on their fly masks so they'd have a little peace to get used to their surroundings.
Neighbors to the east lit a few fireworks, including some big ones but they seemed far enough away to not bother the horses. They were mostly concerned with the neighbor's big dog that has run of its own yard but is in view. Just after sunset I took off the fly masks so they'd have better night vision. This morning I was pleased to see them still where I had put them yesterday.
With Odin I worked asking him to accept fly spray and his fly mask a little better. He's still very suspicious of fly spray but putting on the fly mask is getting better. Both horses got a remedial grooming, which is much more than they've received in the last few months. Beege got to practice targeting again and I was pleased that the target is still positive for him even though it was in horse trailer with him yesterday. It's so good to have this time with them.