Busy, busy day

I had such a busy day today! All kinds of things happened. Lots of them were good things but some of them were no fun at all. And they made me late for dinner and that got me kind of mad. But that came later.

My mom came to the barn and cleaned my stall like she always does. Of course she gave me a hay snack. I always get a hay snack every day. Mom says it's important to keep my tummy healthy. That makes lots of sense to me. I know my tummy is always happier when I have hay in it. One thing that's nice about my hay snack is that there's always a little bit of my dinner from my bucket in it. That's because when I eat my bucket food, I stick my head out of my window while I chew and some of it falls down on the floor. That's okay though because the next day when Mom lets me out and ties me outside my stall for my hay snack, I eat it up. So it's like getting an extra small bucket dinner.

After that, she brushed me a little bit and then took me to the Round Pen. She let me free lunge in there. That was fun. I haven't free lunged in a while and it was kind of like a turnout. I didn't have a lunge line or side reins or anything on and I could toss my head and kick up my heels if I wanted. She let me canter a lot and I trotted really fast and I even galloped a little. I got pretty hot and sweaty and she had me walk around for a little bit. Then a whole bunch of horses came down the hill with kids on them. Mom said they were camp kids and we went over to the fence to watch them go by. I like to watch things that are going on and Mom lets me do it a lot. She knows how much fun it is.

I thought we'd go back to my stall after that but we didn't. Mom took me to the wash rack and I thought she was just going to hose me off but instead she got out a bucket and sponge and gave me a bath. I didn't mind. I like the water and a bath is just like being hosed off except you get scrubbed more. Getting scrubbed doesn't hurt. Sometimes it feels good, like when you have itchy parts or lots of fly bites. Sparky doesn't like baths at all. He's scared of the water. I tried to tell him that it doesn't hurt at all but he doesn't believe me. He says he's a desert horse and desert horses don't like water. I don't know what a desert horse is. Maybe it's a chestnut.

I had a fun bath. Mom got a little mad at me because I kept sticking my nose in the manure pile while she was trying to wash me but it was okay. The manure pile is right there and there's always something interesting in it. Sometimes there's little bits of hay, or there's poop that smells like a strange horse. One time I even found a little piece of carrot. I don't know why she things it's so bad to sniff around in the manure pile. People don't make much sense sometimes.

We went for a walk after my bath. I wanted to roll but we were on the road so there wasn't any good place to do it. So I tried to trot a little bit and toss my head and rear because it felt so good to be all clean and wet and stuff. Mom understands that stuff. She's funny. Sometimes she makes me mad and doesn't seem to know anything and other times she seems almost like a horse herself the way she knows what I want. So she let me dance around a little and act silly and then she told me it was time to calm down and walk nicely so I did.

Something really fun happened then. We walked down the road past the Little Rolling Arena (I was hoping we'd go in there and roll but we didn't) and through the little road that goes behind a couple of barns on one side and past the Rolling Arena on the other. I like going that way. One time when Mom was riding me we went that way and I saw a Kitty. That's what Mom said it was. I'd never seen a Kitty before. It was pretty small, like the Bunnies I see sometimes in the arena. It wasn't brown like the Bunnies though - it was white and had dark stripes on it. It looked soft and I wanted to sniff it so bad! I tried to walk up to it and it jumped up on a fence. So I poked my nose at it and it started walking along the fence away from me.

Mom let me follow it and I followed that Kitty all along the fence. I never did get a good sniff at it. Just as I'd get close, it would move a little further along. Finally it jumped off the fence and went into some bushes. I wanted to go after it but Mom said we couldn't.

There weren't any Kitties around today but there were lots of horses and kids by the little building near the Rolling Arena. Mom tied me up outside and went in for a minute. That's okay. I used to get kind of scared when she left me tied somewhere. I wondered if she was going to come back or if I was just going to have to stand there all day. And what if it was time for my hay and no one brought me back to my stall? I'd miss my hay and maybe someone else would eat it. And I'd have no shavings to lie down in when I got tired. But now I know Mom always comes back and gets me so I stand and wait. I get a little bouncy sometimes but that's just because it's boring to stand still.

She wasn't gone long enough for me to get bored today. And when she came back, she had some food. I knew it was food because she was eating it. She called it a fudgecicle and told me I couldn't have any but I really wanted some. It was kind of like a carrot but it was brown. I tried to be good but I kept looking at it. She wasn't biting it - she'd put it in her mouth and then take it out again. It didn't make any sense to me. But finally she told me I was really cute and held it out. I opened my mouth and reached to take a bite but it was so cold! It was lots colder than anything. Even colder than the water Mom gives me in her bottles.

So I didn't bite it either but I could taste it in my mouth. It felt funny on my tongue and lips but it was kind of good too. So Mom shared it with me. She shares food with me lots of times. I'd share my food with her but she doesn't seem interested in it. Except she does take bites of my carrots sometimes. I don't mind because she's my mom.

I was having a really nice day and if she'd just taken me back to my stall then I would have been happy. But instead she brought me back to the barn and tied me up outside again only with no hay snack this time. She went and got Sparky but instead of letting us out to play, she tied him up too. Sparky didn't seem to mind but I was mad! I'd been out all day and I'd had a bath and it was time for the hay truck and I was sick of it! Mom didn't seem to notice how mad I was though. She just kept talking to Favre's mom like I wasn't even there.

Then I heard a truck and I knew why we were tied up. It was the Shoe Man. He's the person who plays with my feet and puts shoes on them. I like the Shoe Man. He's nice to me and he smells good. And he wears a piece of leather around his waist that's fun to play with. But he makes me stand still for a long time and I didn't feel like standing still today. He started picking up my feet and I got mad and impatient and started stamping around and nipping at my mom. She got mad too and hit me with my lead rope. Sparky just stood there nicely. That made me mad too. He should have been bad with me.

Well, things just got worse and worse. I had to stand there forever! And Mom kept getting mad at me when I pawed the ground or tried to pull my feet away from the Shoe Man. Sparky came over and nosed me and I got mad and bit him because I was so sick of standing still. He just nuzzled me again so I bumped him with my nose. Sparky is so nice. He knows I get mad sometimes but he never gets mad at me.

Finally the Shoe Man was done! But then I had to stand there while he played with Sparky's feet! Oh, I was mad, I tell you! I stomped and pawed and tossed my head and finally Mom got a stick and smacked me in the chest and told me she was going to send me to Military School. I don't know what that is but I was just about ready to go. I bet they don't make you stand around doing nothing all day at Military School.

I was late for my hay but no one had eaten it all yet. I didn't get very much though. And Kia was gone - her mom put her in a trailer and left while I was tied up so I couldn't say goodbye to her. She'll come back. She always does but I miss her when she's gone.

But I have nice new shoes! My feet feel really good. And I got a carrot even though Mom said I didn't deserve one and that I was a horrible monster. But she kissed my nose when she said it so I don't think she really means it.