I'm sorry I haven't been blogging lately. There's been a lot going on and I haven't really had the energy to write about it. To be honest, I've been trying to kind of process it all. Horses like routine, you know, and my routine has changed quite a bit. It's got me a little off balance. I don't mean like I'm falling over or anything but it makes it hard for me to put things into words.
I wrote last time about how Mom seemed to be up to something. Well, she sure was. For one thing, I'm not getting any alfalfa anymore! None. Not even a little bite. I get grass hay in the morning like always but I get grass hay at night too. And when my mom does give me a hay snack, that's grass hay too!
I didn't much like it at all at first. I love alfalfa. I got really mad and acted out about it. I made a big fuss. Every time Mom got me out to do anything at all, I was really bad, pinning my ears and rearing and fussing. But finally I got used to it and now I don't really mind much. It's pretty good hay after all and I do get more of it than I used to. There's a sign on my stall that tells the guys to only give me grass hay but it also says to give me a double feed. That means twice as much as the other horses. So two times a day when they give us hay, they give me more than everyone else. I do like that, I have to admit.
I'm also getting a different sort of bucket dinner. My mom calls it Beet Pulp and it's a pretty weird food. It's all mushy and sort of watery and it doesn't really taste like much of anything. My mom puts carrots in it which is good, and there is a lot of it. I wasn't too sure about that stuff at first either but now I've gotten used to it and I like it well enough. I don't eat it as fast as I used to eat my regular bucket dinner - sometimes I even leave it while I eat my hay - but I eat it all and it's not bad. It does fill me up better and I don't feel so anxious and bouncy.
As for my being bouncy, Mom has been on a real campaign to improve my Manners. I have to admit that I haven't been too cooperative. I kind of got lazy and used to being in my stall this last Stall Rest. Then I hurt my mom. I didn't mean to, and I felt bad when it happened, but later on I started thinking that if I could just scare her a little bit, she wouldn't make me do things and I could go back to my stall to eat. I got kind of bad really, acting up whenever she took me out, and rearing and striking a lot. I even got sassy in the Round Pen when she was free lunging me. Once I got sick of working, I'd turn toward her and rear and paw the air like I was going to come after her. I did that to Sparky's Mom one day too. I think I mentioned it in an earlier blog.
I wasn't going to actually hurt either one of them but I wanted to make them stop bugging me. It didn't work very well. Both of them just made me work harder. In fact, my mom got really, really strict about a lot of things. She started carrying her riding stick with her when she walked me and whenever I was bad, she'd smack me in the chest with it and make me back up a lot. It gets boring having to back up. At first, I wouldn't do it. I'd just rear up again and try to make her stop but she just kept tapping me and eventually I'd take a step back by mistake and she'd make me keep going. It made me mad but it also made me think that maybe I'd better behave a little better because she was getting mad too.
It's funny. When you learn to have Manners, they become a Habit but when you lose them, that becomes a Habit too. It's hard for me to remember to walk nicely on a lead, and to not pull or get sassy. It's hard for me not to rear and strike when I get impatient even though I know I'm not supposed to do it. But now instead of just saying "no" to me, or waiting for me to stop fussing, my mom immediately smacks me and makes me back up again. It's a pain but it is a good reminder and I know that's what she's trying to do - remind me to be good.
I think she knows it's hard too because she also makes sure to reward me when I am good. Like today. We took a walk around the Flat Arena for a while. I was trying to behave because I'm starting to remember better. Mom asked me to do some of my tricks and when I did them well, she gave me a cookie. But then when I got kind of pushy about wanting a cookie and I nipped at her coat, she made me back up fast and told me "no." So even if I do get a nice reward for being good, I still get disciplined when I'm bad. It's hard but I know in my heart that I do have to behave myself. It's just sometimes tough to remember.
But I am rearing a lot less. I did once today and she got after me and made me back up a lot, telling me angrily that she won't put up with it. I think she means it and I am trying to stop. It's sort of a Habit. And I am walking better. By the time we were done today, she was holding the lead pretty loosely and I was pretty relaxed. It was nice. That's another thing. Sometimes I remember how nice it can be to just walk with my mom but then my Bad Habits creep in and ruin it.
Mom says she's going to get the Carrot Doctor out to make sure I'm not messed up from my fall when I reared and went over backwards. Then she's going to have a Trainer work with us so that we can get back to riding. I guess that will be good. It does seem like we had fun sometimes riding together.
Today when she came to my stall, she said "Happy New Year, Bella." I don't know what a New Year is - it seems a lot like yesterday to me - but maybe that's what all these changes are about. Maybe we're starting a New Year. So Happy New Year everybody!
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