Getting back to work

I haven't posted in a couple of days because there really hasn't been much going on. I think that's because my mom has been busy with her Shoe Man or whoever people see when they have problems with their feet. The reason I think that is because when she came out two days ago, she had a different bandage on. The big hard one was gone and she just had a soft one that covered only her foot. She still had a funny black shoe on but it was a different shoe, too - smaller and not so floppy.

I could tell she wasn't feeling very good though. She was quieter than she usually is and she smelled like she was in pain. We didn't do much that day. She'd come near dinner time so she did a quick stall cleaning and fed me my bucket dinner and that was about it. We didn't do anything fun yesterday either but today she came early and seemed to feel a lot better. We ended up having a fun day.

She surprised me when she got here. I was dozing in my stall like I always do in the late morning. It's a good time for a nap. Sometimes I lie down in my shavings but sometimes I just stand up and that's what I was doing today. All of a sudden, I heard my mom's voice saying hello to me! I woke right up and poked my head out of my stall and whinnied. I was glad to see her. She pulled me right out of my stall and took me up to the Gremlin Arena for a turnout.

That was pretty nice. We haven't gone to a big arena to turnout for a long time. Mostly it's been the Round Pen or lungeing in the Flat Arena. I was a Good Girl walking up because my mom is still limping a little bit but she's doing better. She only had to stop and rest two times and I just stood nicely and sniffed around on the ground just in case there was something to eat. There wasn't but you never know.

When we got to the Gremlin Arena, I saw my old neighbor Merlin in there with his dad on his back! That was nice. It was good to see Merlin. We used to sniff noses sometimes when I lived near him. Him and his dad were just leaving the arena so we went right in and my mom slipped my halter off and told me to get some exercise. So I did some running and trotting in there. It felt good. It's nice to run when you can go straight and get some good speed up before you have to turn instead of just running in circles like in the Round Pen. Mom was pretty happy with me because I ran around the whole arena instead of just going back and forth by the gate like I sometimes do. And I kept going around when I came to the gate instead of stopping there - she was really happy with that. Gates are hard to resist for horses. We always think there's something more interesting on the other side of them, even when we know better.

When I was done running, Mom let me whuffle around some then she took me back to my stall. She gave me a hay snack then and got to work cleaning. My stall was kind of messy today so that took a long time. Then she cleaned out my water bucket and swept up outside my stall. Everything looked nice and clean but I didn't have much shavings left.

Then Mom went out to my paddock and put her riding duds on. That's what she calls our stuff we wear when we ride - our duds. I like to peek in the room where we keep all that stuff because it's right inside my stall so it's interesting. When she opens up the door while I'm in there, I poke my head in and nose around and she pets me and tells me, "Here's where we keep all your duds, Bella." That's how I know what they're called. My saddle is in there and all my pretty saddle pads. I have some white ones that are nice but we mostly use the red ones because I look really pretty in red. I have a green halter with a green and while lead and I use that sometimes. It looks nice enough. But mostly I wear my red halter with the red and white lead. Mom says I look smashing in red.

My blankets are in there too. I have a pretty plaid blanket for when it's just cold but not wet and I have a pretty red and black blanket for when it's raining. I don't really like wearing the rain one. It's not as soft and comfy as the other one and isn't as cozy when I lie down in it. And it's a little big for me while the other one fits me just right. That's it in the picture up above. But it's okay. Sometimes I have to wear it so I do. I also let Sparky borrow it sometimes when it's raining hard and he's out in the pasture.

There's lots of stuff in my room. My bridle hangs on the inside part of the door along with my lunge line and my leather halter and the leather wraps Mom puts on over her boots. My brush box is on the floor, along with another box full of stuff like medicine for scuffs and extra fly spray and the warm blankets Mom puts on her hands in the winter time. There are towels for Mom to wipe my face, and a bunch of sticks - the lunge whip and another long stick and the one Mom carries when she rides me. Her head bucket hangs on a hook and my pretty red boots are in a bag. There are some other things here and there - I just like to look at them all and sniff them because they're all mine except the stuff that's Mom's. Most of it's mine though. I have lots of duds.

After she put her duds on, she put mine on. I already had my boots on from my turnout so now she put on my saddle and bridle and I knew we were going for a ride. I wondered if it would be like last time when she couldn't put her foot in the stirrup and she felt all awkward on my back but when she brought me to the mounting block, she stuck her foot right in the stirrup and swung on just like she always did. It felt so good! I walked a few steps then stopped so she could finish tightening up my girth and I could tell that she was all balanced in the saddle again. I was happy about that. It's hard to go right when it feels like your mom isn't really secure.

She headed me out on the road and up the hill by the pasture so I knew we were probably going to do poop loops and sure enough, that's what we did. I was a little distracted at first, trying to look around and stop every now and then but she got right after me and I remembered how I was supposed to behave. It took me about half the first loop before I settled down and just walked nicely but once I did, it was a fun ride. When you're a Good Girl, your mom doesn't keep poking you or pulling you and you can just go along and enjoy it. It's just hard to remember sometimes.

We ended up doing three poop loops and that was a good workout because she made me hustle right along up and down those hills. I had to stay on the path she wanted to follow and not drift all over the place and I wasn't allowed to stop or whuffle or look around at all. She asked me to stop one time and let me just rest for a few minutes but it was at a spot I don't usually try to stop and we stopped when she said to and started back up when she said. That's hard work. You really have to focus on what your rider wants and pay attention to where you're going. It's not like going for a nice walk on a lead rope. I don't mind though. I'm a Big Girl now and that's my job.

On the last time around, she asked me to take a different way near the Little Rolling Arena. There's a short road there that cuts off from the main road, goes down a little hill and past a small barn, and then joins the road again. I got a little distracted when she first turned me onto it because it was different but she reminded me to pay attention and I remembered again. Then she asked me to trot up the little hill at the end of it and that was fun. I broke right into a nice trot and went down to a walk again when she asked and I could tell she was happy with me. I'm learning to wait until she asks me to change gait.

She got off me at the barn and petted me a lot and called me a Very Good Girl. Then she took off my duds and hosed me off and gave me my cookie and put me in my stall. She gave me the rest of my hay snack which wasn't much but it was almost all blossoms so I was happy because I love blossoms. Then she went away for a pretty long time but came back with a new bag of shavings for me. So I didn't get left without a good bed and that was nice.

She fed me my bucket dinner after she got me all tucked in with my shavings and got Sparky out to give him his dinner. My mom is nice like that. Sparky's mom can't come out as often as my mom can so she always makes sure Spark gets his dinner. She loves Sparky almost as much as she loves me, I think. I can't blame her. He's a very nice horse.

So it was a good day all around and the best thing about it is that it seems like we're getting back to normal. Mom can ride me properly again and she's not so lame as she was. I'm looking forward to lots more rides and more work on becoming a good Riding Horse. Maybe someday I can be as good as Kia. Then my mom would be really proud.