All back to normal

Today was just a regular day and I'm glad of that. I don't think I like it when things get all different and unpredictable.

My mom came out by herself today. I think that means that she feels better and doesn't need help anymore. She still looks kind of strange and people keep asking her what happened. I feel bad every time because she has to explain that I did it. She's such a nice mom though - she always makes sure to tell people it was an accident and that I didn't do it on purpose. Even so, it makes me feel like a Bad Horse.

Today Misty came by carrying her mom. I like both of them and so does my mom. Misty's mom stopped to talk and she noticed my mom's face of course so my mom had to tell her the story. Misty meanwhile nosed around looking for treats. My mom likes Misty a lot and always gives her a treat when she's not wearing a bit but she had one in her mouth today so she couldn't have one. Mom petted her a lot though. I don't mind if she pets Misty because Misty is my friend.

Misty's mom was really nice about it all though. She said she had a horse on Stall Rest one time that got really frisky and reared and scared her once or twice. She said it's hard when you have to keep your horse cooped up and it really is. So it's nice that people understand. I would never hurt my mom on purpose.

Mom got me out and gave me my hay snack like always and cleaned my stall. It was nice. I felt really good today after having a nice long turnout yesterday. I really needed it and I was so happy to be out with Spark even though he really didn't want to play as much as I did. I missed him though so even just being able to hang around with him loose was nice. And I was able to bounce a little bit and run just a little so that made me feel better. My mom felt my leg first thing and said that it felt fine. It wasn't swollen or hot or anything so she was really happy about that. I'm happy too. It means it's getting better so maybe we can even start riding again soon.

She cleaned out my stall really good and then put the big wheeled bucket thing out in my paddock and put my chain lead on. Then she took me for a little walk in the Flat Arena. That was nice. I was on my best behavior, walking nicely and not bouncing at all. Mom was happy with me and praised me for being a Good Girl and remembering my Manners. She led me around a couple of times and then started asking me to do my tricks. Even though she didn't have any cookies, I did them all and did them really well. She was proud of me and petted me lots. It felt good to have her pet me and tell me I'm a Good Girl. I was kind of surprised because that was almost as good as getting cookies though you wouldn't think it would be. But when your mom is happy with you, it really does feel special.

I did my Backing Up trick, and all my Pivot tricks and I remembered them without any hesitation, even though I haven't done them for a little while. I even did my Sidepassing trick perfectly and that's a hard one. I didn't just do a few steps of them either - I did Pivots all the way around, and I Sidepassed for lots of steps. Mom didn't have to touch me at all for any of them - she just put her hand up in the spot that told me which trick she wanted and I did them. I wanted to show her how Good I could be and she was so happy with me. Chip was watching too, from his paddock and I think he was impressed as well.

Mom brought me back to my stall after a while and she tied me up and went to get some cookies for me. That was nice. She had me do the Touch trick for my cookies and I did that one too. I like that game. It's fun and I know how to do it really well. Then she brought me in my stall and kissed my nose and gave me some more hay snack while she cleaned out my paddock. And just when she was done with my paddock, Pedro and Rafael came with my alfalfa dinner. Pedro asked my mom if she was okay and she said she was. I was afraid he might be mad at me for hurting her but he was his usual self, talking nice to me and telling me to move my head so he could give me my dinner. And he gave me a nice big dinner so I know he still likes me.

Then Mom got my bucket dinner like always and gave me my carrots and said good night to me. I'm glad things are all back to normal. Mom says we're going to concentrate really hard on Manners and I'm ready to do that. I'm going to be a Good Pony from here on out. I'm going to try anyway.

Thanksgiving

My mom came out to the barn yesterday. I was so happy to see her! I didn't hear her car because she came with my dad but all of a sudden I heard her calling my name. I whinnied happily and she came to my stall and was just the way she always is. Her face is all bruised and swollen, and she has two black eyes. She can't talk as well as she normally can and I could tell she was in pain but she's still my mom and she loves me so that's what matters.

She got me out and gave me a hay snack and my dad cleaned my stall while she checked my leg and the rest of me carefully to see if I was hurt at all. Well, I'm fine - I just feel so ashamed of hurting my poor mom. Still, it was good to see my daddy. I haven't seen him in a long time and I got to show him some of my tricks, like the one where I touch my nose to his hand and then he gives me a carrot. My daddy thinks I'm cute and he doesn't seem to hate me for hurting my mom.

One thing my mom told me yesterday is that today is Thanksgiving. That's a special day when people get together with the ones they love and think about all the things they're thankful for. Me and Spark decided that's a good idea so today we're going to post about all the things we're thankful for. We're going to take turns and we'll use our names so you can tell who's thankful for what. Spark says I should go first because I'm a girl and because it's my blog so here goes.

Bella is thankful for her nice cozy stall.

Sparky is thankful for his mom who always takes good care of him, keeps him safe and always loves him.

Oh, yeah! That's a good one! Bella is thankful for her mom too! Her mom does all those things plus she gives me hay snacks which I'm also thankful for!

Sparky is thankful for his wonderful sister Bella who welcomed him so nicely to California and who plays with him and is so pretty and nice.

Awww! Bella is thankful for her nice brother Sparky who says such nice things about her and stuff.

Sparky is thankful for his other family members, like his Grammy who takes care of him when his mom is working, and his Grampy who brings him carrots and gives him scritches.

Bella is thankful for those people too! For her Daddy who likes to bring her treats and for Sparky's mom who takes care of her sometimes.

Sparky is thankful for all the guys at the barn who make sure the pasture is well fenced, and who bring us our hay, and keep things running right.

Yes, Bella is thankful for all the guys too! They bring me my grass hay in the morning and my alfalfa in the afternoon and Pedro always talks to me and calls me Baya.

Sparky is thankful for his herd who are all Good Ponies and good friends. They don't fight or cause trouble and every one of them is a productive member of the herd.

Ooh, Bella is thankful for all her friends like Chip, and Indian, and Cocoa, and Mickey. They're all nice and they don't try to eat my food too much.

Sparky is thankful for having a nice home, with good food to eat, and a big pasture. I feel safe and comfortable all the time and even when it's cold and rainy, I know I'm okay because my mom or my Grammy will put a nice cozy blankie on me.

Bella is thankful for a nice home too, and my ball toy and my water bucket and my duds closet and things.

Sparky is thankful for all his wonderful horse friends, like Favre and Poco and Misty and Spencer. It's important to have friends.

Ooh, I already thanked for my friends. Um... Bella is thankful for her bucket dinner which is so yummy and good, and which I don't have to share with anyone else. My mom makes it special for me every day. I like that.

Sparky is thankful for all the dedicated professionals who keep him healthy and happy, like the vet who made him feel better when he had colic and who makes sure he gets his shots, even though he doesn't like shots. And the chiropractor who made all his aches and pains go away like magic. And the farrier who keeps his feet trimmed so nicely and who is gentle and understands that I get a little nervous.

Bella is thankful for all those people too. I especially like the Carrot Doctor because he gave me lots of carrots but the Horse Doctor gives me cookies and I like that too. The Shoe Man doesn't give me any treats but that's okay because he pets me and makes my feet look pretty.

Sparky is thankful for being strong and healthy and well trained which enables him to take his mom for good rides, even on the trail. Some ponies can't do that sort of thing. Poor Vern has problems with his feet which keep him from being sound and rideable and Jet has never learned to be a riding horse so they don't have the fun of going out with their moms and their friends for rides.

Yes, that's a good one! Bella is thankful for being... um.... well... sort of sound some of the time. And I kind of know how to be a riding horse except I'm not really good on the trail yet but I'll learn. I am still young, even though I'm five now. But anyway, I'm thankful that my mom takes care of me when I hurt myself and I WILL be a good riding horse someday!

Sparky is thankful for sunshine and grass, and wind in his mane. He's thankful for the birds and the deer and for dogs and kitties. He's thankful for all the interesting sights and smells that every day brings. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Bella is thankful for all that too. And for all her loyal readers of her blog. Happy Thanksgiving!

Horrible, awful day!

I've barely been able to think since it all happened and I don't even want to write about it but I have to. I hurt my mom, really badly. I feel so awful and I don't know if she's going to be okay or not.

She and Sparky's mom came to the barn together. I was so happy to see her. I'd just gotten my dinner alfalfa but she put my halter and chain lead on so I knew we were going for a walk. I was excited. I love going for walks. We went over to the tack boxes where Sparky was and his mom untied him so I knew we were going to walk together and that made it even nicer.

We started down the road. It was just a regular walk. I was sniffing poop, sniffing mud, looking around. It was fun. I started dancing a little bit and my mom calmed me down and led me on. Everything was okay.

Then we got to the place where people park their cars. I could tell we were headed for the Pony Arena and I was so excited! I thought I might get turned out and be able to run and I couldn't wait. I started dancing and twirling and Mom talked to me and tried to keep me calm but I kept getting sillier and sillier. I couldn't help it. It's been so long! But there's no excuse for what happened next.

Sparky was already down in the grass near the Pony Arena. Mom tried to lead me there but I kept twirling and backing up. Then I reared. I reared up really high and all of a sudden I lost my balance! I don't know how - I was kind of on a hill and I started falling over backwards. It was scary! Mom tried to help me with the lead - she was pulling a little bit to try to balance me but I kept on going and finally crashed down to the ground.

And as I went, I pulled her forward. She tripped on one of my hind legs and fell and my front foot which was waving around trying to get some balance smacked her right in the face!

Oh, it was awful! She was curled up on the ground and there was blood everywhere! I was so scared! I jumped to my feet and ran but I didn't know where I was running to. Sparky's mom ran to my mom and I could hear her saying, "Oh god mom, get to the office now!" and my mom saying, "I have to catch Bella. Poor Bella!" Even though I hurt her, she was worried about me.

Sparky's mom just yelled at her. "GET TO THE OFFICE NOW!" and then another lady ran down the hill and helped my mom walk away. I was still rushing around but Sparky had stopped running as soon as he heard his mom whistle so I got closer to him and his mom caught me. I was happy to be caught! I was so scared and worried. Spark's mom led me back to my stall and I tried to be really good. A nice man came with us in case she needed help but I wasn't going to be bad anymore.

And now I don't know anything. Sparky's mom came out to take care of me yesterday and I tried to be really good for her. She told me that my mom would be okay but that she's pretty badly hurt. I guess she has some broken bones in her face.

What if she hates me? I would hate me if I were her. I'm just a Bad Pony is what I am. I don't deserve to have such a good mom. What kind of horse hurts her mom like that? I couldn't blame her if she sold me or sent me away. But I hope she doesn't.

I've really screwed up this time. :(

New shoes

I got to see my Shoe Man the other day. That was nice. I like my Shoe Man. He pets me and plays with my feet and he smells interesting and has fun toys. He has this big metal thing that he puts my shoes on and then he pounds on them with a big pounder thing. It's kind of exciting. And the metal thing smells kind of like my bit. Sometimes I lick it.

My mom got there and instead of getting me out she just gave me a hay snack and petted me real quick. Then she got Sparky out. I was a little confused about that but I had a hay snack so I didn't mind too much. Later I realized that she must have taken Spark to see the Shoe Man first. Spark is a little afraid of having his feet played with. He told me one time that he's not even sure why. He just gets tense and is afraid something bad will happen. He thinks maybe something bad did happen one time when he was small or something and he just can't seem to relax about it, even though our Shoe Man is nice and pets him and stuff. Poor Spark. It's not fun to feel nervous and not be able to do anything about it.

It must have gone all right though because it wasn't long before they went back past me. Spark's feet were all nice and trimmed and he looked pretty happy because he was going back out to the pasture. Mom came to get me then and I was excited to go out. She put my halter on and my chain lead, and then she put my regular lead on too. That seemed kind of funny but I realized what was all about later.

We started walking over to where the Shoe Man likes to work and I saw Spencer ahead of us walking with his mom. Spencer is weird. He can be nice enough and then all of a sudden he can be nasty. He's always kicking at his neighbor - not Cocoa but his neighbor on the other side. Razuli. Razuli is weird too and he kicks back and the two of them make an awful racket kicking at each other because they have big boards on the fence between them, probably to keep them from hurting each other while they're kicking. It's really dumb. I sometimes kick at my neighbors but only when I'm mad, or waiting for my dinner or something. They do it all the time.

Anyway, they were walking along and were kind of in our way so my mom led me sort of behind them. We weren't close to them at all - I've been lots closer to other horses that I didn't even know. Sometimes when you ride in an arena with other horses, you pass them or catch up to them and you get really close. Most horses just keep doing what they're supposed to because that's all part of Manners. You have to behave when your mom is leading or riding you, even if you don't like having other horses close to you which most of us don't unless they're friends who we're used to. It's not comfortable having strange horses right near you. But Manners are more important than anything, that's what I've learned.

Spencer doesn't have any Manners at all though. As soon as we got behind him, he started swishing his tail and putting his ears back and then he kicked out with both heels really hard! Luckily we weren't close and I just jumped aside so I didn't get kicked but I was pretty mad! I don't care if I get kicked - I can give as good as I get if I have to - but he could have hurt my mom! His mom got all fussy and kind of yelled at my mom for getting too close and my mom said she was sorry but I don't see what SHE had to be sorry about. Spencer was the bad one and his mom didn't even yell at him. My mom would have made me sorry if I ever kicked at anyone while she was leading me! I know better than that and I even admit that I sometimes forget my Manners.

My mom petted me though and told me I was a Good Girl for just getting out of the way so that made me feel nice. She notices when I behave myself and always lets me know it. So I didn't care about old Spencer anymore. You can bet though that if I get close to him, I'll bite him good. As long as my mom isn't leading me, that is.

My Shoe Man was glad to see me and he petted me and started playing with my feet. Mom tied me using my cotton lead but she kept my chain lead on too and I realized that was just in case I forgot to behave. She also had a riding crop with her. She does that sometimes because I get tired of standing still and sometimes I get cranky and bitey so she smacks me with the crop so I remember to behave. But she also had a lot of cookies in her pocket. I could smell them and I tried really hard to be good so I could have some. Mom gave me lots of pets and stuff while the Shoe Man worked and every once in a while she'd give me a cookie. So it made the time go by faster. She also asked me to do my trick where I touch her hand with my nose and that took my mind off the fact that I was standing still.

I just don't like standing still. It's dumb. I like to be moving around. You can see lots more that way and it feels good. My muscles get bored when I'm just standing. If I HAVE to stand, I need to be doing something with my mouth. Like playing with the riding crop. Mom lets me do that and it helps. I bite it and mouth it and wave it around. It's fun. I used to try to play with the Shoe Man's clothes. He wears this thing made of leather around his waist and it has a hanging strap that I used to try to grab. But Mom won't let me so I don't do that anymore. I guess it's not Manners.

I felt lots better when he was all done and I had new shoes on. I love getting new shoes. My feet feel really good and it makes my legs and everything feel nice. Even my sore leg feels better. Horses feet grow, you know. And when they grow, it changes the way you stand and move and everything. Once they're trimmed up and level and even and stuff, your whole body feels better. I always want to run after I get new shoes but Mom wouldn't let me this time. I still have to be careful of my leg, after all. Instead she brought me back to my stall and gave me a nice bucket dinner and cleaned my stall. She got Spark out again too and gave him his bucket dinner. Spark is so nice. Even though he had just had his feet done, which he doesn't like, he came right to the gate nickering when she went to get him. He's always happy to come out no matter what. He's got really nice Manners.

It's raining now. I like the rain. It smells nice and it's kind of cozy to just nap in my stall door and watch it come down. I hope we can go for a walk today. Mom came out kind of late last night and just fed me without really doing much of anything. She did feel my leg though and said that there was no heat or swelling at all so that's good. Hopefully that means we can start doing a little more.

Bad day then a good day

Sometimes you have a day you think is going to be just awful but then it turns out to be really good. That's how today was.

I was in kind of a crabby mood because my mom never came to see me yesterday and I didn't get my stall cleaned, and I didn't get my bucket dinner, and I didn't get my carrot or cookies or anything. You can understand why that would make me upset. But then Sparky's mom came this morning. I was happy to see her and I whinnied at her. She stopped to say hello to me but then she went to the pasture and got Sparky out!

Well, I got mad. It's not fair. Sparky gets all the attention and I was waiting so patiently in my dirty stall with nothing to eat. Oh, she did give me a hay snack but it was small and besides she didn't do it right. I'm supposed to come out of my stall and get tied up in the aisle while I eat my hay snack. And then she's supposed to clean my stall and talk nice to me and call me Belly and give me cookies and things. Instead she had to go get stupid old Sparky.

She came in my stall and started rummaging around in my duds closet and I poked my nose at her and tried to be cute so she'd give me cookies and be nice to me but she was just mean and told me to go away. So I bit her. I know Mom will be mad at me when she finds out but I couldn't help it. She said, "BELLA!" and I tossed my head. She's not my mom. I don't have to be good for her. And besides, what was she doing in my duds closet if she wasn't getting something for me?

She took some funny box thing out of there and left me and I could hear her and Favre's mom talking and laughing. And then they just left! She saddled Spark up and I saw them riding in the Flat Arena with Favre and his mom and then they left and went up the hill and were gone for the longest time. Spark said later that they'd gone on a trail ride. How do you like that? I'm left in a messy stall while they're out having fun on the trail!

Spark got groomed. Spark got fed. What did I get? Nothing. Well, I got that hay snack. And a carrot. But still!

So the day wasn't shaping up too well for me. But then it got better. Later in the afternoon, I heard my mom's car! I let out the biggest whinny you ever heard and by the time she got to my stall I was nickering and pacing and being cute. She opened the door and petted me and called me a Good Girl and gave me nose kisses and stuff. All the right stuff that she's supposed to do. Then she put my halter on and tied me outside just the way I like it and gave me a nice big hay snack and cleaned my stall right up. She even scrubbed out my water bucket.

I felt lots better. My mom knows how to take care of me. She went to say hi to Spark but I don't mind that, as long as she takes care of me properly. Spark's my best friend, after all.

Well, when she was done with my stall, she groomed me and cleaned my feet and put fly spray on me and then she began putting on my boots. I was excited. Boots usually mean a turnout! I haven't had a turnout since I hurt my leg and I sure could use one. She put my front boots on and then she put the back ones on too. I hate those stupid old back boots! They feel funny on my legs. They have special padding on them - Mom says it's to keep me from getting all scuffed - and it's all stiff and strange. It makes me want to kick my legs out.

Mom made me stand still for them though so I had to. Then she put on my chain lead and took me out for a walk. I was kind of disappointed that she wasn't turning me out but I was happy to walk down the road instead of just around and around in the Flat Arena. Mom let me walk along with my head down so I could sniff all the poop on the road. Horses like to sniff poop. It tells us who else has been that way. I sniffed all sorts of horses' poop. I even found some that was Spark's! It was really interesting and fun and Mom took pictures of me as I poked along.

We got to the Little Rolling Arena and suddenly something made me jump. It was a little windy and the leaves just there are dry and rattly so when they blow, it sounds funny. I don't know, maybe it was that, maybe it was the horse being led down in the arena but I got really jumpy all of a sudden. It was as if I all of a sudden remembered that I was frisky. I started snorting and staring and sniffing the air and that made me even more excited. All of a sudden I'd bolt and try to race around Mom and run back toward my barn!

Mom was as calm as she always is. She just holds my lead and talks to me. She seems to understand just how I feel. I kept suddenly bursting into these fits, rearing and striking, or bolting, or kicking and she'd just stand still and talk quietly. Then I'd settle down a little bit and we'd go on walking until suddenly I couldn't take it and I'd start bouncing around again. It was lots of fun and very exciting and the more excited I got, the more bouncy I became.

Mom finally got me turned toward home and we started walking but I kept exploding every few feet. I just have so much energy inside me! When we finally got back to the Flat Arena, she led me in there and started walking me around in it. That settled me down a little - I'm used to walking in there now. Then she began asking me to do all my tricks and pretty soon I forgot all about being silly and started focusing on what she was going to ask me next. I did all my tricks and I did them really well too. Mom said so and she gave me lots of cookies for doing them. So that was really nice. Then we went back to my stall but we stopped so I could sniff noses with Chip on the way.

I had a nice new clean bed to pee and roll in, and a tasty bucket dinner too. Mom checked my leg and said it was just a little warm but not swollen and she put some medicine on it but no bandage. So it must be almost better. I'm glad about that. I hope I can really run soon. I miss it a lot.

Thinking about the future

Lately I've been thinking about what kind of stuff I want to do with my mom when I'm all better again. Horses have Jobs, you know. It's not just carrying your person around - there are different types of riding that people like to do with horses. I've heard my mom talk about it. Sometimes her friends will ask her what she wants to do with me and she usually says that she wants a nice trail horse and that beyond that she'll see what I like to do. So I've been thinking about that.

I've learned a lot about that sort of thing since last year when I was just four. I was kind of a baby then and didn't really understand much. I learned a lot from Kia, and from Sparky, and from Mickey. All of them are a lot more experienced than me. I still don't know everything of course, but I'm learning.

Micky is a Western horse mostly. That means he wears a different kind of saddle than I do, one that's bigger and heavier. When I lived with the girl who took me from the track and then sold me to my mom, she rode me with a Western saddle. It was okay. It was big and heavy but it didn't feel bad or hurt or anything. It was pretty comfortable. Spark told me he's worn one before and he felt the same way. It's just another kind of riding.

I've seen Mickey and his mom riding in the Flat Arena. Mickey does a lot of Western Pleasure. That's when you go really slow all the time. When he canters, you can hardly tell he's cantering. I could beat him back to the barn at a walk when he's cantering like that. He says that's what the Judges want. Well, I don't know what Judges are but I like to go fast and that just looks stupid to me. I didn't say that to Mickey though. It's hard enough to get him to talk to me without getting all grumpy.

He said that Western horses do lots of different things. Some of them chase cows. That sounds a little more fun but both Kia and Sparky told me cows are scary. I mentioned to Mickey that Kia was afraid of cows and he just snorted. "Kia!" he said kind of nastily. "She was an English horse." The way he said English made it sound like an insult and I was kind of irritated but Kia's gone now so it doesn't really matter what Mickey thinks.

"Spark said so too though," I pointed out and he just muttered, "Oh, Sparky!" like it was a bad word. I got mad then and bit him and then kicked at the fence and went to talk to Cocoa. Stupid Mickey!

I think there are other things Western horse do besides chase cows and do Western Pleasure. I've seen lots of horses on the farm in Western saddles and they weren't going slow and they looked pretty happy. So maybe it would be all right but I don't know much about it.

Kia did Eventing. I'm not really sure what that means but she said she does Dressage and Jumping. Jumping is when you go over fences instead of through gates or around them. I found out from Spark that all the little fences in the Little Fence Arena are actually jumps for horses to jump over. Well, that makes a little more sense I guess than just having fences all over the place. I don't really know why you'd bother to jump over something when you could just go around it but Spark says it's fun. He says he's jumped a few times over smallish jumps and he likes it a lot. He says it's exciting and makes him feel all wild and stuff. Plus you get to go kind of fast so you can get some momentum going. I do like to go fast and I like things that are exciting so maybe I'd like Jumping. I don't know. I did jump one of those fences once by accident when I was turned out. I was running and there it was right in front of me so I just jumped without really thinking about it. And I have to say, it was pretty exciting and kind of fun. I don't know if I could do it with my mom on my back though.

Dressage is different. Kia used to try to explain it to me but it didn't make a lot of sense then. Now that I'm a little older and learning more things though I think I understand it better. Dressage is when you have to do exactly what your mom tells you to when you're riding in the Flat Arena. Like if she tells you to trot, you have to trot right away. And if she tells you to turn, or go in a circle, or walk or something, you have to do that. But it's not like regular everyday riding work. You have to be perfect at everything, and extra good, and you have to be all balanced and pretty looking. I used to watch Kia - she always looked so fancy out there, all collected up and stuff.

I used to think all that work in the arena was dumb. I didn't really like doing it. But once I learned the boring stuff like staying on the rail and not slowing down and speeding up all the time, it got more interesting. I kind of like it now because we do a lot of different stuff and every time I think I know what my mom is going to ask for, she changes it and takes me by surprise. I like surprises. They're fun.

So of all those things, I think I might like to do Dressage. I like to look pretty, after all, and it's sort of like learning my tricks. Kia used to do some of the tricks I do with my mom when her mom rode her. I saw her do pivots and things, and sidepasses. I've never done those things with my mom on my back but I bet I could. They're easy and they're fun. So maybe my mom will let me be a Dressage horse. That would be nice.

Bella's weekly update

That's what it's beginning to be. It's just that I don't do all that much so I save it all up to make a good post.

I'm still mostly hanging out in my stall but my mom has been taking me out for walks about every 3 or 4 days. That's nice. I really like it. For one thing, I get to roll in the dirt. I love to roll in my shavings but there's nothing like rolling in some nice, soft dirt. It feels so good! A couple of days ago, Mom came out with Sparky's mom and I got to walk with him in the Flat Arena. That was really nice because I haven't been able to do anything with Spark for a long, long time. We sniffed noses lots and visited and then I started sniffing him all over and he started sniffing around my tail and then I had to squeal at him. I don't think it's very nice when boys sniff around my tail.

Then we walked around and Mom had me do all my tricks for Spark and his mom. I showed them how I back up, and do pivots on my forehand (that's when I move my butt around in a circle but keep my front feet in one spot) and pivots on my hindquarters (that's when I move my front end around and keep my hind feet in one spot) and sidepasses (that's when I move my whole body sideways). And I showed them how I know how to touch anything Mom asks me to with my nose, and how I back up and all kinds of things. It's fun. I love to do my tricks.

I also got to visit with Chip for the first time in a long time. We were so happy to see each other. We sniffed noses and nibbled each other's necks and stuff. I love Chip. He's such a nice boy. He's always really gentle with me. I can't wait until I'm all better and we can get turned out together. My mom and his mom were talking about doing that when I had to go and get hurt.

That day me and Spark went out together, our moms were visiting and laughing and walking us and all of a sudden they started talking about what time it was. I don't really know what people are talking about when they say that. I mean, I know that my breakfast hay comes at a certain time, and my alfalfa comes at a certain time, but people talk about it all day long and I can't figure out what they mean. It wasn't any special time when they got excited about it. It wasn't even my morning nap time - I'd already had that. But suddenly they got all rushed and took Spark back to the pasture and me to my stall. Mom put a quick bandage on my leg and then off they went.

Well, I waited patiently for my mom to come back with my bucket dinner but all of a sudden, I heard her car start up and drive away! And there I was, stuck in my stall with NO bucket dinner! I thought, "Maybe she'll come back" and went out to my paddock to wait and look but time passed and no Mom. The guys came with my alfalfa and I ate it and still no bucket. I was mad! How could she go off and leave me without my bucket dinner? I need that dinner.

I was hungry all night. I searched around my stall for any little scrap of food I could find but there wasn't much. It was hard to sleep. What if she never came back? What if I never got another bucket dinner? I started thinking that maybe I should try to save a little bit of my hay every feeding just so I'd have something to live off of but when my grass hay came in the morning, I was so hungry that I ate it all. I just couldn't help it. I tried to take my nap but I couldn't stop thinking about my bucket dinner and whether or not I'd get one again. It was pretty awful.

Finally I heard my mom's car! I was so happy! I whinnied loudly so she'd know I was in my stall and she came and saw me and acted like nothing had ever happened. She gave me a nice hay snack which I eagerly devoured and put some nice cubes on my leg. My leg was a little swollen again - I'd been pacing and kicking in frustration. Well, I couldn't really help that now, could I?

Then she got to work cleaning my stall. I finished my hay snack and asked to come in and she let me but she soon got aggravated with me because I kept trying to play while she was cleaning my paddock. I couldn't help it. I wanted to know she still loved me so I kept following her around and nipping at her gently trying to get her to play the bite-face game. She did a little bit but then told me she had to clean but I just couldn't stop, so I tromped right up in front of her and stood on the pile of poop she was trying to pick up and reached over her shoulder and nipped.

She got mad then and told me to back up, so I nipped again thinking that maybe I'd get her to start playing but she just took my halter and put me inside my stall and shut the door to the paddock so she could finish up. That wasn't much fun at all. I was kind of mad and hurt and when she finally opened the door, I wouldn't even look at her. But then she petted me and asked me to do some of my tricks so I cheered up and we had a nice session of play with cookies. I felt a lot better then.

Spark's mom had been working him in the Round Pen all this time and then they put him back and got Jet out of the pasture. I was interested. Jet's not part of our family, after all. He's actually Cocoa's foal (well, he's not a foal anymore but she's his mom and she calls him her foal). Cocoa is a very nice mom horse. She's had lots of babies and she talks about them a lot. She loves having babies. Sometimes I wonder what that would be like. I can't imagine having a baby horse following you around all the time and having to take care of it. I wouldn't know how. And what if it ate my food? I wouldn't like that at all.

Anyway, my mom and Sparky's mom took Jet over to the tack boxes and groomed him and then I saw them in the Round Pen with him. It looked like they were teaching him how to free lunge. He just walked around a little bit with my mom walking with him and Spark's mom in the middle with the whip. I guess he's kind of dumb. I know how to free lunge. It's easy. You just go around and do what your mom says.

Well, they finally finished with him and brought him back to the pasture. I wasn't really anxious about my bucket dinner at that point because I knew my mom was still here. And sure enough, she came to my stall with a nice big bucket dinner, with lots of carrots in it. She'd given me an apple earlier and that was a nice treat. I don't get apples as often as I do carrots so they're kind of special. I sort of grabbed the whole thing and chomped it up and it was nice and juicy and tasty and I got juice all over the place. It was fun.

So I had a nice bucket dinner and Mom put a good wrap on my leg with medicine and I felt a lot better. So it was a good day.

Learning new tricks

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging so much lately but there hasn't been a lot to write about because of being on Stall Rest. But I have been learning some new tricks and I thought I'd tell you about it.

My mom has been bringing me out for walks every few days which has been nice. It gets tiresome being in a stall all the time and she says my leg is a lot better so it's okay for me to do a little light walking. I have to be very good though and not get silly and rambunctious because that might bother my leg again. Well, I don't want that to happen. It's been a long process of getting this silly leg better, after all.

At first, my mom was putting Nice Cubes on it every day for a long time. Then she'd dry it off carefully, then put some special medicine on it, and then wrap it really well. Then she'd wrap my other back leg too. She said that she had to do that because I'd use that leg more since the other one was hurt so we had to protect it too. That made sense but it was no fun having wraps on all the time. Especially when it rained. When it rained, she'd have to close me into my stall and not let me go out in the paddock because my wraps would get wet. That was awful. I hate being cooped up inside even if I can look out the window.

About a week or so ago, she decided my leg was doing well enough so that we could change things a little bit. Now she puts the Nice Cubes on every other day. Then she puts the medicine on and after that she wraps just the swollen part with some stuff called VetWrap. It's a kind of bandage that stretches. Mom lets me play with it sometimes. She'll start unrolling it and she'll hold it up and I put my nose on it. Then she pretends to wrap it around my nose, or my eyes, or my ears. It's fun. I like that game. She played it once with Sparky but he got scared. He doesn't like to play silly games like I do.

The VetWrap bandage is nicer than the other wraps. It's not so bulky. At first she was putting those wraps on my front legs so I wouldn't overuse them but now my leg is so much better that she's just putting the bandage on the bad one and leaving it at that. The swelling is mostly gone she says, and if I'd just quit kicking the walls of my stall it will get all better. I don't mean to kick. I just get excited sometimes.

Yesterday when she came out, she put my halter on and took me right out for a walk. That was nice. We saw Sparky and his mom near the tack boxes. I was happy to see them both and thought maybe they'd come walk with us but Sparky's mom was grooming him so they didn't. It was too bad. I miss going out with Spark. He is my best friend after all.

Anyway, we went into the Flat Arena and started walking around it. I really wanted to run and buck but I tried to be good because I know my mom wants me to. She talked quietly to me as we went and that does help calm me down. Pretty soon I started putting my nose down to find a good place to roll. I'm pretty picky about my rolling places - most horses are. We all have to search around for just the right spot. Every horse has different things they look for. I like a spot that has lots of loose dirt so that I can sink right into it and make it rub every spot. If it's really deep, I can sometimes roll all the way over. That's really fun. Sparky can roll over most of the time because he's round but I have high withers and it's harder for me. I can only do it sometimes.

When I look for a good rolling place, I drag my nose along right through the dirt. That helps me to see how deep it is. Mom thinks it's funny and says I leave little Bella Nose-trails all over the arena. I guess I do but that's just the way I do it. I finally found the right spot and flung myself down.

Mom is really nice the way she lets me roll when I'm on a lead. She makes sure it's very loose so I can fling my head around and rub it into the dirt. And she encourages me to roll a lot and try to get all the way over. Sometimes it's almost like she's rolling with me and it makes it that much more fun. I had a good roll this time. I'd push right into the dirt and almost get over then I'd come up onto my chest for a second and then go right back to rolling. I did that three times. The last time I just rested on my chest for a couple of minutes looking at Mom and she reached out and petted my face and told me I was a Good Girl. I liked that. It was comfy being on the ground getting petted.

But then I climbed to my feet and I felt so good I couldn't help jumping up and kicking out and doing a little bit of a bolt. I didn't pull on the lead or anything and I stopped pretty fast. Mom wasn't mad at me at all. She petted me and told me she understood but that I had to be careful and I knew she was right. I walked nicely after that and then Mom began our little games that we do. She asked me to step over with my back legs and then my front legs, and to back up and she gave me my cookies when I did it good. Then she asked me to do something and when I did, she made a funny clicking noise with this little square thing she held in her hand. It sounded almost like a cricket.

I perked right up when I heard that. It was an interesting noise and I almost forgot to take my cookie because I was so busy sniffing that little clicking thing. Mom petted me a lot and told me how good I am and that was nice but what I really wanted was for her to make that sound again. It was a really nice sound. But then the hay truck came and I got distracted and our walk was over anyway so Mom took me back to my stall and I got to eat my dinner.

Today though, she had the clicker thing again and she told me we were going to learn some tricks with it. I like to learn tricks. It's fun. It's like playing games. I could tell that Mom had a bunch of cookies in her pocket so I was hoping I'd get some. I paid close attention to what she was doing.

She started by putting her hand up and saying, "touch." Well, I didn't know what she wanted, or even if she really wanted anything. But her hand was right there in front of me so eventually in my sniffing around, I just touched it with my nose. As soon as I did, she made that clicking sound. Then she gave me a cookie.

I was happy to get the cookie, and the sound was interesting, but I didn't really understand that there was any connection between any of it. Then she put her hand up again, and said, "touch" again. I was poking around at her pocket hoping for more cookies but she moved back a little bit and moved her hand nearer to my head and kept saying, "touch." Pretty soon, I swung my head that way, my nose touched her hand, and once again she clicked and gave me a cookie.

I started thinking that there was a pattern going on here. It took me a couple more cookies to realize that every time I touched her hand with my nose, she made a clicking noise. And every time she made a clicking noise, I got a cookie. After that, I poked my nose right out and bonked it on her hand as soon as she held it up and said, "touch."

She was very happy with how quickly I caught on and so she started changing things just a little bit. First she used her other hand. That was easy. I just touched that hand and bingo! I got a click and a cookie. Then she walked out into my paddock and held up her hand and said, "touch" and I clomped out after her and poked my nose onto it. Another click and cookie. She reached her hand way out to one side, and put it down low, and every time I reached right for it. It was a fun game. I liked it. Finally, she just put her hand up without saying anything. I waited for a second but her hand was right there and I thought I may as well poke it so I did and she clicked and gave me another cookie. Then she hugged me and told me how smart I am.

By now my alfalfa had come. I had hardly noticed because we were having so much fun but Mom told me to go eat so she could clean my stall. So I did. I hope we do some more games with that clicking thing though. Maybe she'll come up with something really hard and I can show her just how smart I am. I'm pretty smart, you know. Just ask my mom.