My mom's been sick. I can tell by the way she smells. Horses can tell things like that, you know, but people can't. Sometimes I wonder why people are in charge of everything because they really aren't that smart about a lot of stuff. They can't smell if their horse is sick. They have to poke you in the butt with that little stick thing, and put funny metal things up against you that are attached to their ears, and look at your mouth, and poke you, and all kinds of things. They can't tell what horse pooped in the road while I can tell you in a minute who it was once I smell it. They don't seem to know how to eat good things like grass or hay or leaves or dirt. I do sometimes wonder about it.
But anyway, that's not what this is about except to say that I probably knew she was sick before she did. Her and Sparky's mom came out a few days ago and I could smell it then. But she acted okay and cleaned my stall and stuff. Then she took me into the Round Pen. I was happy about that because I figured I'd get to run and play but then she told, "Oh, I forgot to put your wraps on." She want and got them and then we did a really, really hard trick.
She told me to whoa and then reached down to put a wrap on me. Well, I poked my nose down to see what she was doing and backed up a step so I could see better. She told me whoa again and tried once more but the same thing happened. So she put my halter and lead on but instead of holding the lead, she just dropped it on the ground. Then she said whoa again and got down next to my front foot.
Now I knew what she wanted. She wanted me to stand still. That's what whoa means but I kind of forgot because I wasn't wearing anything. Standing still is really hard. It's hard enough when I'm tied or when I'm in my stall, but when I'm kind of frisky and I'm in the Round Pen, it's even harder. But I did it! She put the wrap on my front leg and then she got up and called me a Good Girl lots of times and gave me a cookie!
Well, that was nice. So when she said whoa again, I figured I'd do it. And I did, while she put the other front wrap on. And I got another cookie. That was the easy part, believe it or not. My front wraps just fit onto my leg and attach with these little straps that stick to the wrap itself. They go one really quickly so I don't have to stand still very long. But I wear polos or stable wraps on my back legs and Mom has to wrap them around and around up and down my leg until they finally attach at the end. It takes a lot longer.
But she told me to whoa again and headed for a back leg. It was so hard not to turn around in a circle to see what she was doing! But I knew she wanted me to stand still while she put that wrap on. The whole time she was wrapping it around my leg, she was saying, "Good girl, Bella, you're doing great!" That helped a lot. I know when my mom talks in a nice low voice like that I'm doing the right thing. It was still really hard though.
She knew it. When she finished, she praised me even more than before and told me how proud of me she was. She gave me my cookie but having her so happy with me was just as good (well, almost). Then she said whoa one more time and put on the other back wrap. I stood still for all of them! It was so hard but I did it and my mom was really happy with me.
She let me run a bunch after that and it was lots of fun. Then we left the Round Pen and I figured we were done but she tied me back up outside my stall and started brushing me. That was kind of funny. Then she put my saddle on. I haven't had my saddle on in a long time and it felt kind of funny. I wasn't really sure about the whole thing and Mom seemed to be in kind of a hurry. I didn't like that either. She put my bridle on and started leading me toward the Flat Arena but then she led me back to my stall so she could get her head bucket thing. I was confused. First we left, then we went back, then left again and went back again. I just wanted to go in my stall and have my bucket dinner.
So I was kind of cranky when she got on me. It wasn't a good ride. I was sort of stressed and I felt awkward, like I didn't know what I was doing. Mom was patient at first but then she got after me to keep walking and to stay on the rail and all this other stuff. So I got mad and started to fuss.
When I get mad, it's strange. It's like I can't even think right. I just want everything to stop and for everyone to leave me alone. That's how I was. I wouldn't turn, and I wouldn't do anything - I just fussed and tossed my head and acted up. Mom finally got off me and took me into the Round Pen where she tried to lunge me. I think she was trying to get me to pay attention but I just couldn't at that point. I kept trying to run, and to buck, and to get away. It was awful. She was frustrated and I was frustrated and it just wasn't nice.
Finally she stopped me and walked up to my head. She took off the lunge line and talked to me and then she just got on me in the Round Pen and rode me in there, just walking around a little bit. I was still kind of fussy but she rode with a loose rein and didn't get pushy so I calmed down some and finished up by just walking a few circuits. Then she got off and took me home. It wasn't one of our better days.
I'll tell you about the next couple of days next time. I'm ready for a nap right now.
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