High expectations! First full session with Cece!

She LOVED today's grooming session!

Cece- shortly after she stepped off the trailer.

 

Cece has settled in quite a bit already. Early this morning (6am!), I ran out and pulled her blanket off and threw some hay before heading down the road to clean stalls. She is still a little leery of me approaching her right side, so of course I made a point to do it frequently throughout the morning!!
This afternoon we had our first lunge lesson- she picked up on this faster than most youngsters that I have worked with. I like short lunge lessons (I prefer a round pen), so after we had forward motion both directions and "whoa" down, we took a walk around all our paddocks and front pastures. We walked over ditches, in and out of run in sheds, over ground poles and played a little with the tarp and baggy whip. She was very willing to try and after succeeding once at something new she acts like she has done it her whole life! A thinking horse... what a relief!
I cleaned her up and took the first photo above. She is a very modern in type, refined and a lighter boned Haflinger. In comparison to her half sister, she has a longer shoulder and just a little more knee action. Lower in the pecking order, she is more confident when she can see our other horses. Spending some time in an individual paddock (within sight of the others) is already proving to be beneficial and she is seeking me out for companionship and realizing that she can stand on her own 4 feet! 
  I have high expectations for this little horse. My mom has already stated that if she didn't already own the "horse of her dreams," this mare would be what she was looking for. Pretty impressive considering she has only been here 1 1/2 days! Jumper, eventer, endurance anyone? Tomorrow I am going to measure her height and continue to build on today's lesson.