Great Big Colt

Miracles Never Cease!

Behold this fantastic picture! Two things to note here – that’s a bareback pad all cinched up, meaning it fit all the way around Miss Natty! and this is her first time with a tightened girth (and there was no working up to full tightening either because it’s tight on the last hole). As you can see, she handled the whole thing in her usual manner: “I do not care what you are doing to me because there is grass available.” I didn’t even have a lead rope on her when I fastened the girth. I seriously think I will drag the mounting block out onto the grass when I’m finally ready to get on this horse!

And here’s Chance in his fancy new junior-size blanket. Isn’t he handsome? And note the shadow on the barn wall – my constant companion/helper. You wonder why I post more pictures of Chance than of Natty? Because she’s always too close to get a decent picture!

And here’s happy baby rolling in the sand:

Weekend Updates

Sorry, no pictures today

I didn’t go to the barn last Wednesday, and on Thursday Natty was super clingy. I think she missed me! Their dinner was in their paddock when I got there, but she just followed me around and let me cuddle her the whole time. She’s such a sweet girl!

Yesterday I stopped at the local saddlery on my way to the barn. I had ordered a bit in Natty’s size, but it turned out they couldn’t get it unless they special-ordered it for $200, so I didn’t get it. I had a credit because I had already paid for a regular-price bit that I needed to get back, so I stopped in and picked up the largest girth they had. I had thought I needed about a 60″ girth based on measuring Natty and estimating from the middle hole on each side of the saddle. The largest size girth the store had was a 56″ and I decided to try it since Natty has lost a tiny bit of weight. Natty’s philosophy on life is “where there’s grass, nothing else matters” so I turned her out in the pasture and hauled my saddle, pad, and new large girth out to her. I put the saddle on her and repositioned it a few times, and she never even raised her head from the grass. I went around to the other side and put the new girth on the last hole of the saddle, and then came back around and reached for the girth to fasten it the rest of the way. It didn’t come anywhere near meeting the hole on the other side! I pulled it pretty tight, and Natty just turned her head and gave me a look that said, “oh boy, what’s the crazy woman doing now???” and then went back to the grass. I now think I’ll need a girth in about a size 64″ which about maxs out even the draft tack stores. I look at this horse, and she seems like a perfectly average size horse. I guess I have a really warped perspective of size! The good thing is, I also know she won’t really mind when I finally get a girth in her size. I’m thinking seriously about starting to mount and dismount while she’s out on the grass, since she really doesn’t care what I do while she’s grazing. Anyway, I returned that girth on the way home and will try to order one from a draft tack website soon.

Today I decided to work on lunging and the bridle again. I hung the bridle on the fence in the arena, and Natty went right over and picked up the bit herself! Have I mentioned this horse is smart? The poor horse must have been out of her  mind with boredom on the pee lines. She sure seems to have figured out the bit thing already.  Or else she just rally likes to play with it – but either way works for me. I put the bridle on and walked around the arena some, just letting her get used to wearing the bridle. She seems to be fine with it, although she’s still playing with the bit a lot. I tried lunging her again, too, but it seems to go against her herd instinct. She’ll follow me around all day in nice neat circles, but if I try to get in the middle of the circle, she follows me there too. And the whip does not get her moving, either. She won’t walk unless I’m in front of her. Oh well, it’s the right way to do things when you’re in a herd. I practiced leaning across her back today again, and she’ll carry me for several steps without any issue. She doesn’t seem to mind the weight or the dangling human or anything. I think she’ll be perfectly calm when I finally get brave enough to sit on her. I’m just waiting until I have a saddle because I’ll be more comfortable mounting with a stirrup to assist me. I could throw my leg over her now, but it’s a long way across that wide back, and I don’t want to fall if she moves away from the mounting block. Plus, I think I can do it much more smoothly with stirrups.

And in Chance news, we had adventures with the 4-H meeting. Or, I guess we didn’t have adventures, we had more “non-events.” I took him over to the arena to watch the lesson for a few minutes – I wanted him to see lots of horses (strangers!) being ridden. He watched and whinnied to them, and that was about all. Later, I took him out to meet everybody from 4-H yesterday after the big lesson and after the stranger horses were loaded in their trailers. He behaved like a little gentleman, friendly and calm with all the new people (including a small child and a new dog). He’s such a wonderful little horse! He didn’t even spook when the trucks and trailers starting pulling out. I was trying to work with him the other day, and Natty got jealous I guess because she came over and pawed me! There’s one behavior I’ll have to nip in the bud immediately! I didn’t take any pictures today because Chance is filthy. I really need a vacuum cleaner to get the little guy cleaned up. His coat is so long and thick right now that it’s full of dust that I can’t brush out. I’ll have a mess on my hands come spring when all this sheds out! Natty’s getting fluffy too, but her coat isn’t so thick and doesn’t hold the dust like Chance’s. I sure don’t think they’ll be cold this winter, but I have been doing blanket training practice just in case they need them. Pictures soon to come of Chance in his new “junior size” blanket. I think that’s all the updates for this weekend.

Bridled

She was really playing with the bit – getting her tongue over it and mouthing a ton and stuff. But the whole time she just stood with me – didn’t walk away or anything, even though I put it on her. Poor silly girl trusts me!

Just Pictures Today

I’m 5′10″ so you can see these are pretty big horses.

These next two are Chancey kisses. He has the sweetest baby horse breath.

My sweet girl

And a few of the other residents:

Clippers and a Rastafarian Mare

I brought out my clippers today to try to trim Natty and Chance’s bridle paths neatly. I’ve only done them with scissors before, so this was the first clipper experience for both. Some horses have major issues with clippers, especially around their ears. I started with Natty. She said, “Clippers? Who cares! I see an open bag of berry treats on the floor!” Didn’t bat an ear, didn’t even look twice at the clippers. Have I mentioned this is a fantastic horse? I’ve come to assume that she’ll just go along with anything I throw at her. Unfortunately, I just have dog clippers, and they weren’t strong enough to get through Natty’s mane, so she still doesn’t have a neat bridle path. But at least now I know she’ll be fine with I get horse clippers. Chance was a little more reluctant and unsure about the clippers, so he squirmed around and fussed some, but I was still able to get his whole bridle path trimmed. His mane is fine enough that the clippers got through it. He really wasn’t bad at all, and I bet he won’t bat an eye next time at all. After the trimming, I tackled Natty’s tangled mane. She was getting dredlocks again, except where Chance had trimmed her mane too short to dred. I started coming at the withers and moved toward the head since she was grazing, and I braided the sections to keep them from falling down and getting in the way as I went along. Turns out she looks even more rastafarian with braids than she does with dreds. Who woulda guessed? I really felt like we needed some Bob Marley playing out there today. Poor Natty! After all the combing and braiding, I took Chance for a walk out to the apple tree at the far end of the pasture. We do this every day because it works on his leading and also gets the two of them separated and helps foster independence. So we walk out with Chance on the lead rope, gather a few apples, and then I turn Chance loose and let him gallop back up the length of the pasture. He really seems to enjoy stretching his legs like that! I stopped in to meet the rabbits on the way to the pasture and just left Chance loose on the grass. He didn’t go anywhere. Even when he stepped on his leadrope, he couldn’t have cared less. He grazed around as far as he could, then lifted his foot to free himself. Smart boy! They tell me when he plops down for a nap in the sun, Natty stands right over him like a good mother. Then, when she tries to nap in the sun, he climbs all over her and bites her ears and tail and generally annoys her until she gets up. Poor Natty! They also told me Chance does play with the jolly ball in the paddock, so I was glad to hear that. I know the barrel is never where I leave it, so I’m sure they play with that, too. Anyway, here are the pictures of the rasta mare and the video of her running boy.

More pictures and videos

Look at the dark mask on his face! What color will he be next?

Look at that mane! Just imagine the things I’ll be able to do when I finally teach these horses to stand tied!

Little boy learned the importance of hoof care early.

This is the sorriest looking little cat I ever saw. He was a stray, and the barn owners took him in a week or so ago. I only caught glimpses of him until Friday, and then he got very vocal and friendly. He’s the skinniest thing I ever saw, is missing his tail, and is all out of proportion, but he’s a real love. I was pretty worried about him because he wouldn’t eat cat food, so I’ve been force-feeding him since Saturday by basically pilling him but with kibbles of cat food. He’s such a sweetie he sat in my lap the whole time. Today he finally ate food on his own when I got out the bag! And he ate lots of it, so I think he’s finally figured it out (which is good, because as far as we could tell, he was living on eggs stolen from the chickens, complete with shells, and mice he was getting out of the traps at night). I think this is the first cat Chance has seen up-close-and-personal, and he’s mildly curious, but not skittish or aggressive. The poor dumb cat went into the paddock today right before I left, and I just hope Natty doesn’t hurt him. He came right out again before she did anything, but still – can’t help but worry.

Following close on the heels of the alpha mare (me)

A few days ago there was a discussion about horses who get too pushy with treats, and I mentioned that one of the first things I taught Natty was to back until I told her she’d gone far enough. This is video of backing (sorry it’s not great video, but I’m doing the training and the filming). Natty’s video also shows her lifting a front foot – isn’t she good?

New videos

Friday update: I was at the barn late, so I was still there just before dark when the other mares came inside and the goats and llamas were fed. I was cleaning Chance’s back foot when he all the sudden bolted away (unlike him), so I started looking around for the source of the fear. There is one empty turnout between the one where Natty and Chance go out and the one where the goats and llamas live, and there is a clear view of the goat/llama shelter where the feeders are. The whole herd had coming running into the shelter at once, following their owner and his armload of hay. There was much milling around in the shelter while he put hay in each of the feeders, and Chance was watching cautiously over my shoulder. I took a few steps closer to the goats and llamas, and Chance trotted up behind me and looked over my shoulder again – so I moved closer again, and he trotted up again. Silly boy is curious and thinks I’ll protect him from the potential danger. I tried walking him over to the goat/llama fence yesterday, but they didn’t come over to say hello like they have before. I’ll keep trying! Chance does seem to be totally over his fear of the chickens, so I think he just needs plenty of time and exposure and he’ll get over it.

Since it was late and the other horses were inside, I took Natty and Chance out to the front pasture where the other mares go out during the day. It’s big, flat, with good footing so they can really run out there.  Natty was totally fired up. She was doing the most amazing bucking, kicking, spinning in the air, rearing! It was wonderful to watch her felling so good and playing so hard. I wish I could get video of that, but it’s always almost dark when we go out. I jog out to the far end of the pasture with the horses following, and then we get there, I turn around and run as fast as I can for a few steps, and that’s enough to start an all-out race back up to the front of the pasture, complete with lots of bucking. They will humor me and do that several times. This time, Natty was also trotting the fence line on her own. She has the most amazing trot – the girl really covers some ground when she moves out!

Saturday update: The 4-H people came for their meeting? lesson? whatever you call it. I got there just as they were loading up and leaving, but there were at least 4-5 trailers full of new horses. Natty and Chance were in their paddock (turns out Natty didn’t want to go out in the morning and wouldn’t let anybody halter her – silly girl!). They didn’t seem bothered at all by all the activity. They weren’t even standing together. They both came to me, and I was doing some grooming and stuff in the paddock (didn’t want to get them out until everybody else left). Natty was very mouthy – she was mouthing me all over – hands, legs, clothes – not sure what was up with that. I tried to clean Chance’s front feet, and he wasn’t behaving and somehow ended up down on his front knees. It took him longer than I thought it should have to get up again – I’m not sure if he was having trouble with his joints or just trying to figure out HOW to get up. I hope the little guy is ok. I must be more careful not to let him fall down!

After everyone left, I took them to the arena to kick up their heels for a few minutes and got some new videos (will post at the bottom). Then I took them out back to their turnout and worked on getting the sand out of Chance’s coat. He has the most amazing coat – it’s long, fluffy, and soft – he feels just like a bunny rabbit right now. Unfortunately, sand gets in that long thick hair, and it’s impossible to get out. Every time I touch him, clouds of dust come up and hand-prints of dust show on his coat. He’s filthy, but so cute. He’s changing colors again, and I do love watching the new colors emerge. What will he be next??? While they were out back. I finished making my cardboard cut-out of the shape of Natty’s back. I’ll take this to the local saddlery and ask them if they have something that might be wide enough for her. I suspect they’ll laugh at me! But at least I’ll be able to get an idea of what size I might need. I can’t get anything right now, but maybe if I get a good bonus this year. Oh, and I tried an old blanket on Chance for size – it’s a size 70 adult horse type blanket. The length was actually pretty close to fitting him (yikes!) but he isn’t nearly wide enough to fill it out. I think I’ll have to get him a junior size and hope he doesn’t outgrow it right away. The juniors only go up to size 64, so I hope it will work. Although with his bunny coat and love of the deep shavings in the stall, I doubt I need to blanket him unless we get some really nasty weather.

Here are the new pictures and videos:

Chance took my hat while I was kneeling down working on my cardboard cut-out, so I let him wear it for awhile. I need to get one of those TIBBP hats!

This is Natty’s very broad back from the top of the mounting block.

And now for videos:

this last one is very unsteady camera work

Pictures and Videos

I love this shot – too bad it’s blurry!

I keep trying to get a picture showing how dark Natty is getting in her winter coat, but the photos seem to bleach her out a little bit – she’s really darker than this looks.

And here’s the pipsqueak getting into stuff:

And a couple of short videos:

New toys!

Natty and Chance weren’t too interested in lunging today, so instead I got out some new stuff for them to look over: (sorry the pictures are all blurry today – not really sure what happened there)

Natty just kept knocking over the mailbox – this one isn’t a great toy (or is it???).

I put a Jolly Ball in their paddock tonight – we’ll see if they play with it. I hope they will – they are sooo mouthy lately. They both chewed the lunge line tonight, and Chance also chewed the leadrope and the whip.

We moved some panels around today so Natty and Chance will be able to go out on the nice green grass below the arena during the day now. I know they’ll really enjoy that. They have been really mouthy the last few days, and I think it has something to do with not grazing. The only sticking point with the new turnout is that the gate is right near the chickens, and Chance is pretty sure they are out to get him. He dashed through the gate and spun to face them like a true quarter horse! Every now and then while they were out there, he’d realize he was near the chickens and far from mama, and then he’d bolt back to her. Silly baby is a little skittish right now.

Nothing bothers Natty. They tell me a big old buck came through for some apples last night, and Natty just walked up to the fence to get a better luck. That horse has a good head on her shoulders! She also showed up for breakfast with shavings in her tail, so she must have started sleeping in the nice dry bed with Chance! I’m so glad she’s comfortable enough to go inside and lie down now. I had the mounting block out again today and was walking her up to it and draping myself over her back. She kept walking off (carrying me) and then I would slide off down her side. She didn’t mind a bit! She’s so relaxed about everything lately.