Rewards

Sometimes it really pays to be a Good Horse. Today my mom came out early. Most days she comes close to the time I get my dinner hay but sometimes she comes lots earlier than that. She calls that a Day Off. I like it when she has a Day Off because it means we get to spend more time together doing fun things.

I was napping in my shavings when she got there but I heard her car so I woke up and stood and shook the shavings off me. I was waiting by my stall door nickering when she got there but she knew I'd been lying down because I still had lots of shavings in my mane and tail. She petted me and told me I was cute.

I felt all nice and warm and drowsy the way you do when you've just had a good nap so I was pretty affectionate and cuddly. I know my mom likes it when I'm like that. She always loves me, but I know she enjoys being able to hug me or hold my head close to her and pet my face. Most of the time, I'm just not in the mood for that and she doesn't mind and she doesn't make me but I know it's special for her when she can. Today was one of those days and I could tell she was relaxed and happy being able to pet me like that.

She brought me out of my stall and gave me a nice hay snack. That helped me to wake up and start feeling ready to work. It's always nice to have something in your tummy when you have to work - not a lot of food. That can give you a tummy ache which is never a good thing. But having some hay in there makes you feel more comfortable and able to pay attention better. My mom understands that and usually lets me have at least a little snack. I like that.

After she cleaned my stall, she brought me to the Round Pen. She was really happy with the way I walked. After we did all that work on my walking, I've been trying really hard to behave. You never know when there might be a cookie in it for you and I knew she had some in her pocket because I could smell them. I even lipped a little bit at the pocket but she just tickled my nose and told me, "Not yet, Belly." I like it when she calls me Belly.

The gate on the Round Pen was closed but I backed up nicely when she told me to and stood quietly while she opened it up. She praised me a lot for that because I was pretty bad going to the Round Pen for a while. There's quite a bit of grass growing near the gate and I sometimes pulled really hard toward it. One time I even sort of dragged her as I rushed into it and she had a hard time getting my head up and getting me out of it. She was mad that time and I can't really blame her because I wasn't behaving at all. But today I didn't even hardly look at that grass and she didn't have to pull on my lead at all. She just kept it nice and loose and I followed her like a Good Girl. I am trying.

Once we were inside, she set up my Cones. I followed her around and nosed them as she did it. I like my Cones. They're mine and they're fun to play with. I like to play our games with them and I also like to pick them up and toss them around with my teeth. My mom lets me do it when we're all done with our work. We have to do work first. That's how it's done when you're six.

After that, she put my red halter on me. I haven't worn my red halter in a long time. It's a regular halter with flat straps instead of round ones like my rope halter. I wondered why she did that because I usually don't wear a halter at all when we work but then she clipped the lunge line onto it. I remembered how that works. It's just the same as when I go around by myself but I have a long thing like a lead rope attached and my mom stands in the middle and holds the other end of it.

When I was little and first came to live with my mom, I had never been on a lunge line. I was just a baby back then, only four. My mom spent a lot of time teaching me how to lunge and it was really confusing at first. I didn't know what she wanted me to do and I kept trying to get close to her because it was like a lead rope so I thought she'd want me to walk with her. She was patient with me and she started by keeping the line really, really short and encouraging me with her whip to go in tiny circles around her. At first she had to sort of pull me around while she moved in circles too but eventually I started to understand and she began having me move further out on the circle.

Now I'm a pro on a lunge line. I can walk, and trot, and canter on it, and I can turn around and change direction. I don't even think about it now. It had been quite a while since we used the lunge line but I remembered how and we had a fun time lunging for a while. Then she took it off and petted me and had me do my Cone game for just a little bit. I'm so good at my Cone game now that I don't have to think much about that either. The only thing I have to think about is waiting for her to tell me to whoa because sometimes she doesn't want me to stop at one Cone and makes me keep going to the next one. It's just so I remember to only stop when she tells me to. But it makes it more fun because I have to guess when she's going to want me to go and when she wants me to stop.

I was a Good Girl for the Cone game so then she put all my stuff away and put my rope halter back on. She opened the gate and made me stand quietly for a few seconds like she always does. I have to wait until she says it's time to go through the gate. That's Manners and horses have to do that with stall doors, and gates, and anything like that. I don't really know why but it's okay. I don't mind.

Then we did some walking. Like we have been lately, we just walked around the immediate area of our stall. I think it's because Mom wants to make sure I'm going to behave around the grass and in the aisle thing. I was really good going up and down the road, and when we went under the roof thing, I remembered not to pull toward Chip's stall even though that's really hard. I just love Chip so much and he's always waiting there with his head out his window wanting to sniff noses. My mom almost always lets me say hello eventually but it's hard to remember that I have to wait until she says it's okay.

Today I did though and she was very happy with me. I didn't try to pull her toward the grass at all and only got a little pushy one time when we were near my stall. She reminded me that I'm not allowed to do that though and then I was good. The next time through, she let me say hi to Chip.

Then she led me past my stall again and back out onto the road. She led me back toward the Round Pen but this time she led me up onto the grass! I was happy but I remembered to be good and not fuss or pull and when she asked me to whoa, I did it without just shoving my nose down and just stood quietly. She petted me then and immediately let me put my head down and graze.

That was nice but the grass wasn't really that good. They just cut it recently and what's left is kind of coarse and tasteless. I ate some and found some nice tender new shoots but there weren't a lot of them and I had to really search to find the good stuff. Mom understood. I could tell, and finally she took me off that part of the grass and led me past the Round Pen. I was a little disappointed but came off it nicely and walked well for her and when we got to the area where the road gets narrow and there's a hill on one side, she stopped and directed me to the hill where there was some nice grass that hadn't been cut.

I was really happy then and understood that she was just trying to find some better grazing for me. As I ate, I thought about how when I'm bad, I don't get to graze but today when I tried really hard to be good, I did. I thought maybe it was sort of a reward for behaving. It's something to think about.

She let me eat for quite a while and then she took me to my stall and groomed me really well, and petted me lots, and put fly spray on me. I like fly spray. Flies drive me crazy! They're starting to come around now and I don't like them at all. My mom knows that and she keeps a special box in my stall that sprays nice smelling stuff every now and then that helps keep the flies away. And she always makes sure I have fly spray on when she comes.

My mom's pretty nice to me. She expects me to behave and have Manners but she does nice things for me so it's okay.

Outsmarted

Yesterday was Easter. That's what my mom said, anyway. She told me that's the day the Easter Bunny comes and gives treats to small people and hides pretty colored eggs for them to find. I don't really understand any of that but it sounds kind of nice. I love treats, and I love Bunnies. They're small and they look soft. I see Bunnies around here sometimes. They're little brown animals with fuzzy white tails and they kind of hop around in the grass and eat, and then they sort of sit up and look around and sometimes they run off again. They're cute. One time I saw a Bunny outside my paddock in the grass near the Flat Arena and I was wishing it would come closer so I could sniff noses with it but it didn't. My mom says that some racehorses have their own pets to keep them company and that some of them have dogs, and some of them have goats, or cats, or other horses but if I was a racehorse, I'd want a Bunny.

Anyway, yesterday when my mom came I had just gotten my dinner hay so she let me eat for a while before we did anything. I like it when she does that. I'm so hungry by the time I get my hay that I get pretty upset if I have to leave it right off. She always lets me eat at least a little bit so I have something in my tummy. It helps me pay attention to her instead of thinking about my hay.

When she did take me out, all we did was go for a walk. I like walks and I've been a pretty Good Girl on our walks but after I got loose the other day, I kind of got the idea in my head that I could do that whenever I wanted to. The other day after our work in the Round Pen, my mom was bringing me back to the barn and we were just getting close to the grass when she led me under the roof thing along the front of the stalls. I knew then that she wasn't going to let me eat grass and that made me mad! Even though the guys cut all the grass the other day, there's still some short grass left and I thought I ought to be able to eat some. I'd been a Good Girl in our workout and I'd behaved on our walk and it didn't seem fair that I couldn't have some grass.

So all of a sudden, I rushed forward and across the front of my mom toward the grass. I timed it so she was right next to one of those pole things that hold up the roof. I thought it would work just like the tree worked down by the Pony Arena and she'd have to let go of me and I could go have grass. I wasn't really trying to be bad. At the time, it didn't seem that bad. It just seemed fair.

But she was too quick for me and she grabbed my halter next to my face, dug her elbow into my neck and made me turn my head. Once that happened, my body kind of had to follow and instead of going into the grass, I just got dragged around in a circle. She was mad! She told me, "NO, Bella!" and then made me walk forward again. Well, I was mad too! So I just lunged in front of her again!

For the next little while, we had a pretty good argument about it. She kept walking me up and down that aisle, asking me to walk straight and to stop when she told me to and I kept trying to rush toward that grass and drag my lead out of her hand. Every time, she pulled me around and made me go forward again and every time, I'd try my trick with a few changes to try to catch her off guard. It got pretty wild.

Finally, we were walking along with me pulling left and her forcing me straight and she asked me to stop again. I fought her but I ended up doing it, not because I was being good or wanted to do what I was told but because I was trying to buy some time and maybe fake her out. I thought if I stopped, she might relax her hold and then I could take off again. But before I could do it, and as soon as I stopped, she said, "Good Girl!" in that happy voice she uses when I'm really, really good - and she gave me a cookie.

Well, that was a surprise and it messed me all up. I mean, I was obviously not going to get to the grass without a major battle and even if I did, she'd probably just pull me off it before I got more than a couple of bites. On the other hand, if I behaved myself and did what she wanted me to do, there was a chance I might get another cookie. I really like cookies.

The hard part was that I hated to give up now. I really like to get my way and it felt like I was backing down to behave after all the effort I'd put into being bad. By this time, she'd asked me to walk on again and I hadn't fully made up my mind what I was going to do. She asked me to stop again near my stall and I sort of lurched to a stop, pulling a bit but not so bad as I had before and, sure enough! Another cookie.

Well, that sort of took the wind out of my sails. I started behaving after that. I didn't get a cookie every time but the thing about that is, you know you might get one so you try really hard to be good enough for it to happen. By the time my mom put me to bed, I was walking pretty well up and down that stupid aisle and I'd stopped rushing for the grass entirely.

Yesterday, we worked on that whole thing again. First my mom walked me down the road, then she walked me some in the Flat Arena (and let me roll - that was nice) and then she walked me up and down that aisle a few times. At first I sort of half-heartedly tried my trick but she was ready for it so I gave up and walked pretty well and stopped when she told me, and I got some cookies for it which was really nice.

It just goes to show, my mom's pretty smart. And I'll do about anything for a cookie.

In trouble again

I made my mom mad today. It was kind of awful. I didn't really mean to. Sometimes things just happen and I don't really know why.

We were walking again. She came to the barn and put on my new halter and took me out for a walk. I was being really good and we were just walking along when all of a sudden I heard Sparky's Mom say, "Hi Belly!" I looked around for her and there she was in a car next to us. I guess she was just coming to the barn.

We turned around and went back and my mom put me in the Round Pen for a little bit while she talked to Sparky's Mom. I nosed around and thought about rolling and I went over to the side by the grass to see if I might be able to reach some of the really tall grass that grows there. That's when I discovered that the guy who had been driving around on the hill on a funny sort of car had cut all the grass down! It was pretty awful. The worst part was I could smell it, all that sweet juicy grass all going to waste. People do dumb things sometimes.

After a while my mom came and got me and we continued on our walk only Sparky's Mom came with us too. I was doing pretty good, remembering my Manners and to get back away from Mom when she swung the lead rope and all that stuff. Then we walked up near Indian's stall and his mom was there. She started talking to my mom and I heard her say the word "turnout."

I started getting a little excited because I thought maybe I was going to get to go out with Indian. I love Indian and I haven't been able to go out with him in a long time. Sure enough, his mom got him out. For some reason, she handed his lead to Sparky's Mom and she began leading him down the hill. My mom and I followed.

Everything was going well until we reached the hill near the Pony Arena. I don't know why it is but I always get anxious and bouncy there. It's the spot where I hurt my mom that time and I got loose and stuff and I always expect things to happen there So I get nerved up and excited and I start to bounce and the next thing you know, I do Bad Things. It just seems to happen.

I bounced, and my mom sternly told me to cut it out, and then I shoved in front of her and pulled toward the little spot of grass that grows near a little building there. She tried to stop me and I yanked hard and pulled the other way toward the arena and she fell down, probably because there's a tree right there and she couldn't really stay with me without running right into it. I did the same thing last week. I don't really mean to do it but it just keeps happening.

Anyway, she fell down and let go of my lead rope so I began running and then I got really excited because I was loose and running and didn't really know what to do. I kind of heard Indian call to me but I didn't know where he'd gone and I was scared and excited all at once. I ran around the dirt part by the arena, then I ran right through the hay barn. Pedro and Rafael were in there and they tried to catch me but I was running too fast. I ran past a horse whose mom was riding and he got all excited but his mom managed to keep him under control. And I ran up the hill.

I didn't know where I was going and it got more and more exciting and more and more scary. So I stopped for a minute and a person caught my lead and called me by my name and that kind of calmed me down. I know her sort of. I see her sometimes and she talks to my mom so I knew she was an okay person. She led me back down the hill and I was pretty bouncy but she didn't let me get out of hand so I walked. We got down to my barn and I kept expecting to see my mom somewhere but she wasn't anywhere and I was kind of worried by then. The girl who was leading me put me in my stall and left but pretty soon I saw my mom coming down the hill by the pasture.

I was happy to see her but she was so mad! She marched right up to my stall and yelled at me! Then she took me out and off we went, walking again. She walked me right down to the Pony Arena and as soon as I started getting a little excited, she grabbed on to my halter and told me "NO!" Then she made me walk down the little hill and past the arena, and she made me walk all around the dirt part where I'd been galloping before. She made me stop and stand nicely, and then walk around again, and then she walked me back up the little hill and into the area where all the cars park and then down the little hill again.

I knew she meant business and I was really paying attention instead of getting all distracted and jumpy like I was before so I behaved myself pretty well. Finally she seemed satisfied and she led me away from there and up the hill toward Indian's stall again. I hoped maybe we were going to go have a turnout with him but we didn't, and we didn't go visit Cozzie either. I did try to pull a little by Cozzie's stall but as soon as I did, she got all mad at me again and made me back up and behave.

I minded my Manners all the way back to the barn, even going down the hill by the pasture which is another place it's hard to remember. When we got to my stall, I saw the guys had left my hay outside for me and I couldn't wait to start eating but Mom led me under the roof thing and then made me stand still.

I didn't want to. I fidgeted, and tried to bite her, and swished my tail, and tried to get in the garbage can, and tried to pull toward my hay, and the grass, and Coco's stall. I started pawing, and I kicked out with my hind foot a couple of times. But every time I did any of those things, Mom would make the Bad Girl noise and then just stand there. Finally I gave up and just stood there too and as soon as I did, she twitched the lead like she does when she wants me to follow and let me go to my hay! It almost seemed like that's what she was waiting for.

I was pretty tired and ready for my dinner by then. She let me eat while she cleaned my stall and then she came out and began petting me. That was nice because it meant she wasn't mad at me anymore. She felt all up and down my legs and checked me all over to make sure I wasn't hurt. She held my face the way I like and scritched my chin. And she even let me have a bit of the food she was eating.

By then, I felt bad about making her fall down and I sniffed her hands which had some blood on them. I don't mean to hurt her. I don't really know how that keeps happening and I hope she doesn't get so mad at me that she sells me or something. Sometimes I get scared about that. It's just so hard to be good all the time.

I don't have any pictures of me running away from my mom so I'll put one up of me eating hay.

New stuff

My mom brought me a new halter and lead today. I love getting new stuff, especially when it's pretty like this is. The halter is red and black and the lead is black and they're nice and soft. I like soft thing. I have some really cute polo wraps which are red with black hearts on them and they're so soft! Whenever my mom puts them on me, she rolls them up first because she's too lazy to roll them up when she takes them off and while she's rolling them, I like to nuzzle them because they feel nice on my nose. Sometimes she drapes them over my ears so I can hold them while she rolls and I like that too.

Anyway, I was pretty interested when she came to my stall with this new halter. I have lots of halters now. I have my green nylon halter, and my red nylon one, and the red one with the pretty shiny stones on it, and I have my green rope halter and now I have a red and black rope halter. I think my mom must really love me to get me all those things. She let me sniff it all over and she rubbed it on my face so I could feel how soft it was. Then she said, "Face," which means I have to hold my face still while she puts my halter or bridle on. Sometimes when she says, "Face," she cradles my face in her hands and scratches under my chin and talks quietly in my ear. I love that. This time though she put on the halter.

It felt nice. I like my green rope halter too but it always felt like it was kind of bouncing around on my face. Mom said it was a little bit big because I have a delicate, feminine head. I liked it when she said that. It made my head sound pretty. This halter didn't feel like that though. I think it fits me a little better and my mom thought so too.

She brought me out of my stall and walked me along the road. She had my lead held loosely in her hand the way she does and I was walking behind her a little ways. Then I started walking faster and got up next to her and then I started getting a little bit ahead of her and she twirled the lead rope right in front of her and I ran right into it! It sort of slapped me in the face and took me by surprise so I backed off and she said, "Good girl, Bella," so I knew that's what she wanted me to do. Well, I know she wants me to walk a little behind her but sometimes I forget.

We walked around in the Flat Arena for a while and she let me roll in there which was nice. The guys come by in the morning with a big tractor thing and they drive it around in the arena to make everything smooth and nice. When it's like that, it's the best time to roll in it because the dirt is all loose and crumbly. It felt good to roll and I thought maybe Mom let me because I was being a Good Girl.

After a while, we went back out onto the road. I got a little pushy as we got near the grass. I just can't help it. It's so green and lush and tasty right now and it's right there next to the road. I always want to just buffalo into it and bury my head and eat. But as soon as I got a little pushy, Mom tugged my lead sharply and made the Bad Girl noise and she began twirling her lead again. When she tugged, it hurt my nose - this new halter pinches where the knot thingies are more than my other one. I guess it's because it fits me right but it took me by surprise. And then that twirling lead rope kept me from getting in front of her. That's how I've been getting away with being Bad lately - I push in front of her and then I can yank the lead out of her hands before she can stop me or turn me. But today she was ahead of me on that and I had to behave.

I didn't like it much. I was fussy and cranky walking up the hill by the pasture and I kept trying to trot ahead, tossing my head and laying my ears back. Mom just kept giving me tugs and twirling that lead and if I got too close to her, she'd bark at me to "get back and quit crowding me NOW" and I had to do it.

By the time we got up by Sparky's stall, I had figured out that she meant business and that I couldn't mess around with that new halter. And actually it wasn't so bad. We stopped to say hi to Spark who whinnied nicely to us, and we stopped to visit Indian who is always glad to see me. I started pulling a little bit again when we were going past the Little Rolling Arena but then I saw a horse with his person there and he was staring at me like he'd never seen another horse before. I thought he might be thinking I'm pretty so I started walking nicely again. Also my mom was twirling that darn lead rope and I didn't want to run into it.

Down by the Round Pen, I saw my friend Pedro on the little hill above the road. There's a pasture up there and he was making a new fence around it. It was very interesting and I watched carefully as we went by. Pedro smiled and said, "Hola" to my mom and then he said, "Hola, Bella" to me. He's so nice. He always talks to me. Pedro and Rafael bring me my hay every day and they do lots of other things around the farm. We walked on a little further and there was Rafael working too and he stopped and said "Hola" too.

I was lots better walking by the grass this time around. I knew my mom was expecting me to be good so there was no sense in fussing. By now she was only twirling her lead now and then and as soon as she did, I knew I was walking too close and I backed off. As soon as I did, she stopped. So it was nice. I was Learning something and she was happy with me. We went around the farm three times and then she stopped next to the grass and petted me and told me I was a Very Good Girl. Then she let me drop my head and eat some.

I was ready for it after all that walking and I had a nice little graze. Then my mom asked me to leave the grass and I remembered to be good about it. She tied me outside my stall so she could clean but she gave me a nice hay snack to eat while she did it. I haven't had a hay snack in a while so that was nice too. Usually I just eat the scraps that are hanging around and then I have to stand nicely.

When she was done with my stall, she took me for one more walk around the farm. She said she wanted to make sure I remembered what I Learned. I was really good and she let me have more grass when we got back. And when she put me in my stall, she gave me a special cookie. These cookies are really good. Glamour's mom gave them to my mom for me. I like Glamour's mom. Glamour lives in the pasture and his mom always gives treats to all of us horses. Usually it's a carrot but she got these cookies and they are so good! They're crunchy, and they taste like oats and molasses and other stuff. They're the best cookies I ever ate. I think I must have been a pretty Good Girl to get a special cookie.

So it was a nice day and Mom said we're going to do lots more walking so I can always remember my Manners.

Busy days

My mom and I have been doing a lot of fun stuff lately. The weather has been nice for one thing, and that makes it easier to work. It's not fun at all to work in the rain or cold, after all.

A couple of days ago, she gave me a bath. I mostly like baths. My mom heats up water to scrub me with so it's not so chilly and she lets me nose around the wash rack and explore things while she's washing me. She scrubs me all over, even my mane and tail and even my face. She works especially hard to get my white socks clean - they get awfully dirty in the mud. This time she washed what she calls my "lady parts," the parts between my legs and under my tail. I used to get pretty tickly when she got near them and sort of threatened to kick but she's been patiently working on touching me there and now I'm pretty good. I've actually discovered that it can feel pretty good when she scritches my under parts - they get a little dirty and itchy sometimes.

After my bath, she let me graze for a long time while I dried off in the sun. She washed all my brushes too so everything was nice and clean and when she groomed me, I wouldn't get dirty all over again from having dusty brushes. It felt really nice to be so clean and now my fur is all soft and shiny. It's pretty and I like it when I feel and look especially pretty. Mom used special stuff on my mane and tail to get all the tangles out and she combed through it all so now they're all silky. And every day since, she's made sure she's groomed me thoroughly so I don't get all tangled up again. It feels good.

Today we had a good workout in the Round Pen and then she took me for a walk. I like our walks. This one was special because she took me without a Bag Stick. I guess she decided I didn't really need one anymore. That was nice. I really am trying my best to be a Good Girl and not pull or act up and I guess she's noticed. She walks along with the lead nice and loose and the game is that I have to follow her and not get pushy, or rush ahead, or walk on the wrong side of her, or dive into the grass. It used to be really hard but it's getting to be a Habit now. Sometimes I forget and try to grab some grass but she's always paying attention and usually just gives the lead a twitch to remind me not to and I don't. Every now and then I can't resist and I dive into the grass but she pulls me away and tells me "No" and that reminds me. Mostly I don't do any of that bad stuff.

We took a good walk around the farm and then the second time around, when we were by the Gremlin Arena, we went through the gate and up the hill for a little ways. That way is the Trail. I've been up on the Trail before but not for a long time. It's pretty exciting up there. My mom has ridden me out that way and sometimes I've been really good and other times I've been so excited that I acted up pretty badly. I barely remembered what it was like it was so long ago so when we started up that way, I was pretty interested.

My mom let me drop my head and sniff lots of poop that was littering the way and that helped settle me down. Knowing that other horses have been there, and smelling that they weren't scared when they pooped really makes a horse feel safer. We walked to the top of a little hill and there was a field of grass. My mom let me put my head down and start grazing and that was nice. As I moved around I started noticing other things - there was a big water thing there with birds in it. Mom called it a Pond - it was like a really big water trough. The birds were big too, not like the pigeons that land in my stall and drink out of my bucket. I was a little nervous about them but Mom told me they were just Ducks and Geese and that they were birds so I was okay and went back to grazing.

It was all pretty exciting though and when we turned around to go back down the hill, I got a little silly and tried to rush down, and I kept twirling around so I could see behind us. I was sort of afraid that something was behind me - maybe those Geese. They were awfully big. But nothing followed us and my mom was pretty patient with me though she did yell at me once when I pulled too hard. I settled down a bit then and remembered my Manners and we finished our walk around the farm. We did it all with no Bag Stick so that was good and I think Mom was pretty happy with me.

When we got back to my stall, she put my new shavings in. She'd cleaned out all the old shavings and cleaned up my paddock which is all dry so my stall was really nice. She'd also put up this thing that hangs way up high in my stall and sprays out nice smelling stuff that she says keeps the flies away. It does seem to do the trick and I'm glad of it because I hate flies. Just one fly landing on me makes me so mad! They're horrible, and they tickle me and bite and stuff. I don't know why we even have flies, they're just a bother and a nuisance. When my mom groomed me today, she put Fly Spray on me for the first time this year and I was glad. I like it when she Fly Sprays me. She sprays me all over and then she brushes me with a really soft brush to spread it around. I love that brush! It's so soft, like my polo wraps almost. I like to put my nose on it.

She also puts Fly Spray on my face but she doesn't spray it on. She sprays it on a towel instead and then rubs the towel gently on my face. She makes sure she wipes my ears and my cheeks and my nose and around my eyes and while she does it she talks to me and tells me how pretty I am. I know it's kind of vain but I really like it when she tells me that. It makes me feel special.

When we were all done with our day, she put me in my stall and fed me my Beet Pulp. I like my Beet Pulp now. I think it's a different kind because it tastes lots better and doesn't have so many branchy pieces in it. I still dump it on the floor though because I like to eat it off the floor. I don't know why. I guess it's just a Habit.

I had a little nap after my Beet Pulp but I just did it standing up. Horses can do that, you know. We don't have to lie down to nap. I like to lie down myself but I don't always do it and today I was just standing there dozing when I saw my mom ride by on Sparky. Now that it's nice weather she rides him sometimes. I don't mind. I get to do a lot of fun things with her and I think it's nice that Spark gets to also. So we both had a fun day and that was nice.