Sunday Funday

Which is not today. Today is Friday, which means it's almost Saturday. I suck at blogging sometimes.

Ahem.

I, last minute, decided to make the trek to the barn last Sunday afternoon. I wasn't really planning on going, because having a day to just hang out, catch up on TV, and do some chores was on my agenda. Then I realized it was Mother's Day, and decided I needed to be with my horse instead of inside my own head.

So, up to the barn I went. I had no real plans as to what I was going to do, outside of groom him (again. HOW he still has winter fur left, I honestly don't know...). I just wanted to be with him.

I got more happy pony faces as I curried him yesterday. He especially loves his chest, withers, and butt (sigh) scratched as hard as possible. He tends to be on the more reserved side when he's not actively reacting to something scary, so seeing him respond to something pleasurable like grooming does my heart good. He's always loved his forehead rubbed, though, so I always make sure to curry there for an extra long time.

I had brought a bag of baby carrots with me to munch on and share with the herd. Image, probably because he was a show horse at one point or another, has always turned his nose up at fruits and veggies. I hadn't even really bothered with him after B told me that he'd had no interest in apples or carrots since she had them. He hadn't ever shown interest in any apple I was eating at the barn, either, so I figured it'd just be more annoying to him than anything else to be offered a snack and have to spit it out!

Well, as I was crunching carrots and chattering at him, he kept looking at me like I had something tasty. Out of curiosity, I offered him one.

I don't think he even chewed the damn thing before begging for another one.

Well, all righty then.

I gave him another and put the bag down. He persistently (but politely) asked for more for a solid minute, tilting his head and reaching towards me in that adorable way of his. I may or may not have caved. Ahem.

"MORE PLZ KTHX"

I decided that instead of hand walking him like I planned, it would be good to mix it up with a bit of ground driving. I tacked him up and off he went. I'm very happy to report that he was a calm, steady gentleman as we headed down to the trails. He navigated the terrain like a pro and calmly stopped and backed when I asked. The only (kind of funny, to be honest) issue he had was mostly my fault, but something we worked on: I had to stop over a log on the ground and being...well, me, I kind of tripped. He did NOT like the sudden movement behind him and scooted forward. Luckily, I got my feet back underneath myself and a solid "whoa" stopped him dead in his tracks. I experimented later by purposely jumping up and down behind him a bit and he was NOT pleased with this. Thankfully, he is extremely respectful of the very mild bit in his mouth and mostly danced in place. It took just a few repetitions before he was standing, albeit tensely, and not trying to skitter away from the crazy person doing jumping jacks behind him. Good pony :)

I called it a day there and let him graze. I always work with him with a halter underneath his bridle, so I unbridled him and he munched happily on the grass. We were there for about five minutes when I got a call from my sister, who asked if she could bring my one year old nephew by to meet his first horse.

Needless to say, we hustled home and made sure Image was soft and shiny for little N's first experience with horses. My little nephew is a hurricane of a kid, even at a year old, and he had no fear of Image reaching his nose out to beg him for treats (mooch!). He bounced happily on my sister's hip and patted Image's shoulder with little prompting. It was painfully adorable!

Tomorrow brings another massage session and our first meeting with Dr. Anna Crane, a local equine chiropractor. Monday, Dr. Lennon and Dr. Barton are out for vet work and dentist work for the entire barn...so, basically, if I don't have his hind end issues at least kind of figured out by the end of next week, I'm probably not going to get them figured out!