Fat

My mom says I'm a fat Thoroughbred. She says it in a happy way so I guess that's a good thing. One time last week she was here with Sparky's mom and she was petting me and poking at my sides. Then she told Sparky's mom to poke my sides too and see if she could feel any ribs. Sparky's mom said she could kind of feel them but my mom said they weren't really ribs, they were rolls of fat. And she laughed.

After they left, I talked to Cocoa about it. I asked her if she thought I was fat and she said she didn't think I was fat in a bad way. Not like some horses. That horse Apollo who used to be out in the pasture was fat enough so he needed to lose weight. Cocoa said my mom was probably just happy because I'm not skinny like lots of TB's. She said some TB's can't keep weight on no matter what and they have to eat lots and lots just to keep from being a rack of bones. Well, it kind of made me wish I was like that just so I'd get more to eat but I suppose it's nice not to be skinny. I don't think I'd like that.

Sparky's fat too. I don't think he's fat like Apollo though. He's more like me. Nice and round and healthy. We're all fuzzy too because we're getting our winter fur. I know my mom likes that because she tells me so. She likes to pet me along the base of my neck because it's really, really soft there. Plus it's about the only place I don't get dirty. I kind of do get dirty a lot. I don't know why. I like dirt.

The weather has been nice now for a couple of days. It rained and rained for about three days in a row and I had to stay in my stall the whole time because my mom closed my paddock door. I could hang my head out the window but I couldn't go out there and I just about went crazy. I hate having to stay in a stall. It's stupid. I got mad and kicked the walls sometimes and then my mom yelled at me. I don't like it when she yells at me but I was just so mad. So I kicked them again just to show her.

But then it stopped raining. She came out to the barn that day and opened my door and started cleaning my stall. I was so happy! I kept running in and out of my stall and kicking up my heels and bouncing. Mom laughed at me and told me I was silly and that I'd hurt my leg worse than ever if I didn't cut it out but I couldn't help it. It felt so good to be able to go outside again.

I still remembered to be careful though. I didn't used to know how to be careful about watching out for my mom or the big bucket thing she puts my poops in - she calls it a wheelbarrow. I used to just walk right into her, or step on her, or knock the wheelbarrow thing over. That's why she started putting me outside with a hay snack when she cleaned because I kept getting in the way and knocking into her. Now I know I have to watch out and not buffalo into her or knock things down. It's all part of Manners. So even when I was excited and running and rearing and things, I was careful not to hit my mom. She knows I'm careful now too so she doesn't worry about it. She trusts me. I like that.

I still can't go out to go for walks or rides or anything though. Mom says my leg is getting better but we still have to be careful and not use it too much. It's hard to be cooped up for so long but I try to be good about it. Mom tries to help by playing with me in my stall too so that's good. And she gives me lots of treats. Every time she comes now, I poke my nose at her pocket because that's where she keeps my cookies. She almost always has some in there and she gives me lots. Usually I have to do something special for them. She might ask me to back up, or do a stretch, or be a Good Girl about getting some medicine on one of my scuffs. When she puts my bandages on my legs, she always gives me a cookie when she's done as long as I stood still nicely. That's really hard. I don't much like to stand still.

Today Sparky's mom was with her so that was nice. She gave me some carrot and petted me lots. Then she got Spark out and he had a hay snack and stuff. My mom took my wraps off and put some Nice Cubes on my leg. She puts them in a cloth thing and then wraps the whole thing around my leg and I have to leave it there for a long time while she cleans my stall. I don't mind. I didn't really like it much at first and I sort of kicked my leg and stuff but now I'm used to it. After it's been on long enough, she takes it off and dries my leg and puts some medicine on it. Then when it's all dry, she wraps it up again.

I'm used to all that stuff now so I'm pretty good about it. Sometimes I forget to stand still and she has to tie me up but mostly she just puts my wraps on while I'm eating my hay or my bucket dinner. I don't get so excited about my food now too. I used to think I had to eat it really, really fast and not let anyone near it. I guess I was afraid someone would take it away or another horse would eat it. But now I know that my mom would never let that happen and she wouldn't take it away from me. She's too nice for that. So I'm a lot calmer when I eat now and sometimes I even leave my food to follow her around and see what she's doing. She likes that.

So it was a nice day all around. I do kind of like these days of just playing with my mom and not having to work hard. I like having her ride me but it is hard work and I have to concentrate a lot. I'm not really good at that. I'm better at playing.