Finally, A Nice Day!

This was the first nice day we've really had when Russ was off work and we could both spend some time at the farm. So we gave the girls a MUCH needed 'do (read: rubbed off some mud and attempted to find the white that's supposed to be under there - Storm was even dirtier than in the photo above). Storm reminded me of the cost of that long pretty Arab mane: she had three or four huge knots in it. Fortunately, I sort of enjoy untangling manes by hand. Plus, it gave us some much-needed bonding time. She brought back fond memories of my favorite horse as a kid by attempting repeatedly to rub her head on me (I used to let Specks; I don't let her. I've since learned better than to let horses knock me around with their heads).

The day after my last post Midnight turned up lame - I think she's starting to feel better now that she's on good feed and kind of rushed it too much running around with the herd, and hurt herself. She's getting a bit better now; Thursday she wouldn't even put weight on it, and though she's still hobbling some she's at least able to get around.

After the spa session (ha) Russ and I took Abbey and Storm for a walk in hand to where the farm overlooks the Calfkiller river. I'm sorry I didn't have my camera - actually I did, but I left it in the van! It was really a beautiful day, though. When we set off Abbey and Russ were behind us, and Abbey repeatedly put the brakes on and refused to go - Ms. Boss Mare was NOT going to bring up the rear! Once she was in front she was fine. Guess we know who will be leading the trail rides! We even did a little jogging up the valley - you heard right, I ran!

Even though the "point" of horses is usually thought to be riding, I really enjoy walking them. I hope I don't forget to do it now and then once we're riding them regularly.

Carrot, Stick, or Carrot Stick?

Miss Abbey likes to back up when she doesn't like something (RBI behavior or LBI). For a while I tied her while grooming, then I thought, I don't want to have to tie her, so I just held the lead rope while grooming, which she mostly enjoys. Sometimes I hit a sensitive spot. She backs. Today, I thought, the heck with that, I'm not moving around you for grooming, you're going to move around ME. So we practiced "back" "step up" and a send-away turn so I could get her exactly where I needed her to reach the spot I needed (I gave her some leeway for the back-end zone). This worked pretty well since she likes grooming and I'm learning her itchy spots, so I reward her with good curry on those when she moves where I want her.

Afterwards, since grooming seemed like the lesson today, I just took her and did some mirroring. I got a big sigh that seemed to say, "Oh, I like you so much better when you're not making me do stuff. By the way, got any horsey treats?"

Just got to know what motivates a horsey partner, as the above video demonstrates!