Riding in the Round Pen

My mom rode me today. It's been kind of a long time since she's done that so it seemed pretty special. Mom says we're starting from scratch. I'm not sure what she means by that but I do like a good scratch. I had one just today after she took my bridle off. It gets very itchy behind my ears.

Anyway, first she gave me a nice hay snack and cleaned my stall and then she groomed me. When she was done with that, she started putting my duds on. She didn't put my new Dressage saddle on - she put on my regular saddle that we've always used. That was good. I've only worn the new one once so I probably wouldn't have been as comfortable. Then she put her duds on. She wears special clothes when she rides me. I helped, poking her with my nose while she took off her regular pants and put on her riding duds. She kept grabbing at my lips while I did it. It was fun.

When we were all ready, she led me to the Round Pen. She lunged me first, all dressed up in my duds. She had tied the stirrups up with my pretty rope reins so they wouldn't bounce against my sides which was nice. I hate that. But I didn't really feel like doing much and she had to work to get me to trot. Finally she just decided to ride me.

So she put my rope reins on my bit and took the lunge line off. Then she got her stick and the bucket she uses to get on me. I'm pretty tall so my mom always uses a mounting block to get on me but there isn't one in the Round Pen. So what she does is she brings a bucket in with her. She puts it on the ground upside down and stands on it and that way she can reach the stirrup. But she ties a piece of hay string to the bucket handle and holds onto it while she's getting on. That way, she can pick up the bucket by the string and then ride me over to the fence so she can drop it outside the Round Pen. It's pretty clever.

I don't mind having my mom get on me but I've kind of forgotten what I'm supposed to do once she's there. I was never really sure about it and since we haven't ridden much for a long time, I'm even less sure. So at first it was kind of strange. My mom is pretty patient though and she just kept poking me in the sides with her heels and saying, "Walk on." That's what she says when I'm lunging and she wants me to walk but it took me a while to figure out that she wanted me to do it when she was on top of me.

Finally, I got sick of her poking me so I started walking forward and she immediately stopped kicking and said, "Good!" That was nice and I walked for a little bit and than stopped. So she started poking again and saying, "Walk on" and I eventually started walking again. Every once in a while she'd add a little tap with her stick too along with poking me with her feet and I'd eventually start to walk and she'd stop all her commotion.

I finally figured out that if I just kept walking, she'd quit poking at me so I did and that was pretty nice. I'd started out not really walking very straight or staying on the rail but she had my Cones set up and she sort of pushed me with her butt to make me go between them and the outside of the Round Pen and I figured out she wanted me to go in a circle just like she makes me when I lunge. So I started doing that and she seemed happy about it.

After I got better about walking nicely, she asked me to stop and then had me turn and go the other way. I knew how to do that. I do it all the time when we free lunge. Really, it was a lot like that only she was on my back. I was a lot better going the other way because by then I'd figured out what she wanted me to do. Now she started asking me to stop every now and then and I did. Then one time she asked me to back up. Well, I know how to do that. We back up a lot and I like to do it. It's a fun trick and I'm good at it. So as soon as she gave me a little pressure on my mouth and squeezed her legs and said, "Back up," I tucked my head right down and backed up a bunch of steps. She was very happy with me and petted me a lot when I stopped. I really liked that part.

It ended up being pretty fun. We just walked; we didn't do any trotting or cantering or anything. But it helped me to remember how I'm supposed to behave with my mom on my back and it was nice and relaxed and not stressful or anything. When we were all done, she asked me to stop again and petted me and then she got off and led me back to the barn. I was a really Good Girl about walking back. I felt pretty grown up, all dressed in my duds and stuff. Once I got back and she'd taken my bridle off, I had a good scratch on my face and then she gave me a couple of cookies. So that was good, too.

I think it might be nice to do more of that. After all, I am six now.

Kind of a strange day

My mom came out yesterday and took me out to play first thing. I was happy about that because I hadn't gone out the day before. She surprised me when she got there - I was in my paddock and all of a sudden I heard her call me from right outside my stall! I rushed in whinnying and poked my head out my window - she was in her car and told me she'd be right there.

Coco's mom and some other people were standing around and they all laughed when I came in like that. They thought it was cute. Well, I'm always glad to see my mom. Really, all the horses here do the same thing when their person comes to see them. Horses are like that. We're friendly.

She put my halter on and we started walking but there was a horse already in the Round Pen so she told me we'd go find another place to play. I was perfectly happy to do that so we went for a walk. That was nice. We haven't been for one in a little bit and it was fun to get out and see what was going on. I was being a Good Girl and walking nicely and we went along by the Little Rolling Arena where the big horses were going around with their little girls jumping on and off them. I could see the Pony Arena from there and there was a horse turned out in there, too, so we couldn't use that one.

We went up the hill past the Rolling Arena and stopped to say hello to Indian. He was glad to see me and sniffed me all over thoroughly. We sucked on each other's lips a little bit and wrapped our necks around each other in greeting. It was so nice. Indian is one of my very best friends.

Finally my mom told me it was time to go. I didn't really want to but she said. So we started up the hill again and came to the Gremlin Arena. The gate was open and nobody was in it so my mom said we'd go there. She started leading me toward the open gate and I got a little excited and rushed toward it but I hit the end of the lead which made me turn in front of my mom and suddenly I was rushing toward the fence.

That didn't work well, so I quick turned away from it and there was a hill going down right in front of me. My mom was tugging on my lead but I thought I'd just better get down that hill for some reason and so I did and somehow my mom ended up on the ground and I ran across the road to the nearby barn where I found some grass growing near Lily's stall. Then Merlin's dad came and picked up my lead and handed it to my mom who came to get me.

It all happened kind of fast and I'm not really sure how. Sometimes things are like that. Mom says I don't think and I guess she might be right. She walked me back to the arena and led me into it and than let me go to turn out. I started kind of walking around sniffing poop and she told me I was silly because if I was in that much of a hurry to get in she would have thought I wanted to run. Well, I didn't really - I just wanted a turnout.

But she went and got a whip and made me run a little bit which was fun. It always is. But I mostly wanted to walk around and eat stuff so she finally let me do that. I had a nice time, and found a big sort of bushy thing to eat but then Sparky's mom who was near the gate with another lady took it away from me. That was pretty dumb and it made me mad. I don't know why Sparky's mom should be taking my food away.

After a while I walked up to my mom to visit her and noticed she had bloody scrapes and scuffs all over her hand. I sniffed it carefully because I was concerned about her and hadn't noticed any cuts before. She said I did it but I don't know how. I didn't bite her or anything. Maybe she did it when she lied down in the road when I went to eat grass by Lily's - I don't know why she did that. People do funny things sometimes.

We had a nice walk back to our stall. I kind of forgot my Manners one time when we first started down the hill but she reminded me and after that I was Good. She was happy with me even if I did get a little silly up by the Gremlin Arena. I didn't mean to and I think she knew that. She cleaned my stall while I ate my hay outside and she gave me a nice new bed and my beet pulp.

Later, I was eating my beet pulp when Sparky's mom startled me just like my mom had earlier! She had walked down the hill from Sparky's stall, I guess, and suddenly she called my name just outside my stall! My head popped right up because I know my name! She laughed and said hello to me but she didn't have any cookies or anything so I just said hello to her and went back to eating. But it was kind of fun.

I hope my mom's scuffs are okay. I really want to play again today.

New Cone Game

Yesterday my mom came out and took me to the Round Pen for some exercise like she usually does. I was feeling kind of lazy and didn't want to move at first but she kind of chased me with her Bag Stick and made it seem like fun so I started trotting and once I got going, it felt good. It's funny how that works.

I ended up having a really good workout, with lots of nice trotting and cantering, and changing direction and stuff. After a while, my mom asked me to walk and we started playing the Cone Game. I'm really good at that game now. We've been playing it for a while so I know exactly what she wants. In fact, sometimes when we go for walks around the farm, I'll see a Cone along the way and I'll stop at it. My mom thinks that's cute.

We played the game for a little bit, with me stopping nicely at each Cone (but only when my mom told me to. That's part of the game. You don't just stop on your own - you have to wait for her to say Whoa) and then she asked me to trot again. That was a little unusual but sometimes she does have me trot and canter again after we're done with the Cones. I popped into a nice medium trot and after the first circuit of the Round Pen, as I was approaching one of the Cones, she started saying, "Aaaaannnd, whoa..."

I knew what that meant, so I dropped right out of my trot and stopped at the Cone. Well, she was so happy with me! She dropped her stick and came up to me and gave me a cookie and petted me and told me what a Good Girl I was. It was pretty nice. We've played the Cone Game at a trot before but I really didn't get it and more slowed down than stopped. But I'm lots better at it now and so we played it several more times, with me stopping really nicely from a trot each time and Mom praising me to the skies. I like it when she praises me.

I really love playing games. They're so much fun. First you have to learn what it is your mom wants. That can be hard but my mom is pretty good about helping me understand. Then you have to remember to do it at the right time. There's usually a Signal of some sort. Sometimes it's something she says, like "whoa" or "trot" or "back up." Sometimes it's something she does. Like when she tells me to back up, she says the words but she also steps toward me from in front so I just move backwards away from her. Or when she wants me to step sideways in a circle, she holds her hand out near my shoulder or my butt (depending on whether she wants me to move my front feet or my back feet) and I know I need to move away from it.

It's really fun to get it right because then she pets me and praises me and sometimes I get a cookie. And it makes me feel good, like I've done something special. And smart. I like to feel smart and my mom tells me that I'm the smartest horse she knows. That's pretty good because she knows lots of horses and I know a lot of them are smart. Like Sparky. He's really smart and has been a herd boss and everything.

After we were all done, she brought me back to my stall. On the way, we stopped to say hello to Chip. He reached out and gently started nibbling on my lip so I grabbed his lip with mine and we played like that for a little bit. Then I reached up and sniffed his ears, and he nipped my neck, and we just had a nice time. I wish I could go out in a turnout with Chip. I bet we'd have lots of fun.

It was just about time for the hay to come so my mom asked them to put it outside of my stall so I could eat some of it while she cleaned. She took a picture of me eating it with that little box thing she carries. Mom calls my hay a hay mountain because I get a double feed. I'm a big girl, after all, and I need a lot of food. I actually get more than my double feed because my mom usually gives me a hay snack as well. I like getting lots of hay. My mom says it's good for my tummy and it makes me less cranky because I'm not hungry all the time. Anyway, that's what today's picture is - me with my hay mountain.

Windy today!

Today was one of those funny days where it's nice and warm and sunny for most of the day but then it gets windy and exciting in the afternoon. By the time my mom got to the barn, the wind was blowing a lot and it was making me feel pretty frisky. Horses are like that. Part of it is because the wind brings so many exciting scents on it, but part of it is just because it's cool and kind of wild and makes you want to run. I love to run.

My mom brought me a hay snack today which was really nice. I munched on that while she cleaned my stall. I've been a really Good Girl about my stall now that I'm six. Back when I was little, I made an awful mess in my stall. I'd poop all over it and then walk through it all and it was pretty gross. And I'd pee in it, too. My mom used to complain that she had to spend hours just trying to clean it up and that my paddock was always nice and clean.

I finally realized that I could do all that stuff out in my paddock and it made my stall a lot nicer to be in. I guess that's another way I've grown up. I used to not mind getting dirty. In fact, sometimes I really liked it. But now I kind of like staying clean and pretty. It feels nicer. So now my mom is happy because there's hardly anything to clean out of my shavings and the paddock is easy to clean because it's just dirt out there, and I'm happy because I can lie down in clean shavings.

After she was done, she brought me to the Round Pen. She didn't put my wraps on, or bring the Cones, or anything. She just brought me in and let me loose and asked me to go. I was happy to do it. At first I just trotted around, warming up, but pretty soon she asked me to canter and I popped right into a nice one. I used to just gallop. I didn't really know how to canter properly. Now I've Learned though and my mom says I have a really pretty canter. I was doing that when, after a few laps around, she shook her Bag Stick at me and told me to giddyup.

Well, that means go fast. I was kind of surprised but also happy. I dug right in and started galloping and had a really nice run. Then she brought me down to a trot again and had me turn and go the other way. I trotted and cantered that way for a little bit, then she asked me to run again.

It was so much fun! The wind and cool air made me want to just fly, and I felt like I was! I even kicked up my heels a little bit, I was so happy. My mom gave me a good workout like that but not so hard that I was all sweaty and worn out. We just worked the kinks out.

I had gone back down to a trot and was cooling down when I suddenly noticed a gelding in the pasture on the hillside next to the Round Pen. I'd seen this guy before but I'd never really taken any notice of him. It's funny but over the last couple of days, I've really been noticing the geldings. For some reason, I want to get close to them and sniff them and stuff. It makes me feel sort of funny. My mom says it's because I'm in heat but I don't know what that means.

Anyway, I sort of screeched to a stop and stared at him. My mom let me look for a minute or two, then asked me to go on. I did, but every time I got to that part of the fence, I slowed down and stared. Mom finally laughed and put her whip down and let me stop working. Instead of going to her like I always do, I just gazed at that horse. He was a red roan, nothing really to look at, but he just fascinated me. He seemed to feel the same way too, because he just stood near the fence and looked right back at me. My mom finally went to her car and got that box thing that she points at me all the time, and kept pointing and clicking on it at me but I didn't pay any attention to her. I just wanted to go sniff noses and play with that gelding.

Finally mom told me it was time to go. The hay truck was coming and the gelding heard it and walked away toward his hay place. I reluctantly went to my mom then and she petted me, and gave me a cookie, and told me I'm silly. That's just her way of saying she loves me.

It was a fun day though, and yesterday was fun too. Yesterday, my mom put my new saddle on me, and my bridle with no reins, and lunged me on a line in the Round Pen. I haven't lunged on a line for a while but I remembered how to do it just fine and my mom was happy with me. It felt kind of funny to be wearing a saddle because I haven't for a while, and I almost felt like I was back at the racetrack. I don't know why. It's just that when she led me from my stall, it felt so much like being led toward the track for a workout. I was kind of excited about that, so I did have a pretty good gallop once we started lunging. My mom let me - she told me I needed it - and it felt good. Once I got it out of my system, we had a good time doing the usual stuff only with my duds on.

One thing that was kind of funny though - my mom had a hard time getting my girth to go around me. She says I've grown since last summer - "filled out" was the way she said it. She says I'm not fat, I'm just a big girl now and she's going to have to buy me a new girth. I like being a big girl - it makes me feel so grown up. And I love getting new things so everything is pretty good in this horse's life!

Me and my mom

I had the nicest day with my mom today. It made me want to blog about her and about how much we love each other.

She came to the barn earlier than usual today. I was having my morning nap when I heard her voice calling my name as she walked toward my stall. I whinnied loudly in greeting like I always do, only today I did it from my cozy napping position. When she got to the stall, she laughed and told me how cute I looked, and she opened the door to come in and see me. She told me not to get up but I was happy and excited to see her so I did. She gave me a big hug and petted me all over and told me what a Good Girl I am. It was a nice way to wake up from my nap.

When I first came to live with my mom, I was always happy to see her but it wasn't really because it was her - it was just because it was someone coming to see me and maybe feed me. When you spend all day in your stall, it's good to have some company and the chance to get out and do something. I would have been happy to see anyone. But gradually, I realized that every day the same person was coming and that she seemed to think I was really special. It made me feel nice and I started feeling like she might be special too. That's when I started nickering when I saw her, and after a while, I learned what her car sounded like and I began nickering as soon as I heard it. Finally, I don't remember when, I started whinnying instead, because I wasn't just happy someone was coming to see me, I was happy that my mom was coming.

She got me out of my stall and got to work cleaning it but she spent a lot of time first petting my face. I have a bad habit of tossing my head around a lot, especially when people are trying to pet it. It's because I'm always hoping they have something to eat in their hands so when they reach for me, I poke my nose at their hand instead of holding still to be petted. Mom has been working with me on that. She holds my halter loosely to remind me to keep my head down and then she quietly reaches up to pet me. She pets my cheeks first - it's easier for me to remember not to be nosy when she's touching my cheeks - and then gradually starts petting my face. She reminds me to keep still by saying "face" which is what she says when she puts on my halter or bridle. It's a good reminder and I'm getting better about it. Today after a couple of bad starts, I relaxed and ended up enjoying the petting. She even poked her finger in my ear and rubbed it really well just the way I like it. Ears get itchy sometimes and you can't always reach the right parts when you rub them on something. Sparky doesn't much like his ears touched but I love it.

Even when she started cleaning, she kept paying attention to me. She does that a lot. I like to be involved in things and she knows that so she often parks the rolling bucket thing near my door so I can check it out, and she stands close enough to me so that I can whuffle her and gently mouth her clothes. When I first came here, I used my teeth a lot to do those things but she taught me that's not Manners and so now I just use my lips. She doesn't mind that. I lip her hair and her clothes, and I lip at the rake and shovel and pretend I'm helping to clean. It's fun. Every now and then I get a little carried away and just touch her with my teeth but she tells me "No" sternly and then I remember. I haven't actually bitten my mom in a long time.

She finished my stall and then she groomed me. She did a really good job. My mom always brushes me thoroughly but sometimes she really takes her time and does an extra good job and that's what she did today. It felt good. I used to be really fussy about being groomed. I didn't like the way the brushes felt and I flinched a lot and swished my tail and moved around trying to avoid it. It wasn't that I was trying to be bad - I was just afraid it was going to hurt. I have sensitive skin, you know, and any kind of roughness is very uncomfortable. My mom wasn't rough at all, of course, but I didn't know she wouldn't be.

She understood though and was always careful and gentle brushing me. At the same time, she was firm about the fact that I had to behave and let her brush me. I wasn't allowed to bite or kick or move around too much but it was okay if I swished my tail or put my ears back. Gradually I learned that I could trust her. She only uses my curry comb if I have a really dirty spot, for instance, and she only uses a soft rubber curry that doesn't hurt. For a long time, she didn't use a stiff brush at all on me except to get mud off my legs because I was so uncomfortable about it. She just used a nice soft-bristled brush and spent extra time getting me clean instead. Now I don't mind if she uses a stiff brush because I know she's careful and she knows all the spots that are extra sensitive. When she brushes me now, I like it. I stand still (well, mostly still. I don't really like to stand still for too long) and sometimes I get drowsy because it feels nice.

Today she put Fly Spray on me. I was glad. There was one fly buzzing around me and landing on my legs and belly and it was driving me nuts! I hate flies. Just one fly will make me so upset and irritated! They tickle me and make me itch and I get so mad and have to stamp and bite at them and swish my tail a lot. My mom understands that too. Some horses can put up with the flies but I just can't. So my mom always makes sure that I have Fly Spray on, and she keeps my stall clean so they don't get too bad in there. She also hung up a special box that sprays out Fly Spray in my stall every so often. That really helps. I'm so glad she takes care of those things because they make all the difference.

Finally I was all beautifully groomed and shining. My hooves were picked out and my mane and tail and forelock combed. She had brushed my face with my favorite little red soft brush and she'd put Fly Spray on my face with a soft towel just the way I like it. She finished by brushing me all over with a special brush that's really, really soft and polishes my coat until it gleams in the sun. I felt beautiful and she said I looked beautiful too. Then she put my wraps on and we walked to the Round Pen.

I've blogged about how I used to misbehave when my mom was walking me. Well, now I walk really nicely almost all the time. That's because my mom has been patient with me and taught me how to behave right. And it's actually a lot more fun. We walk along together with my lead nice and loose between us, and we look at things and my mom talks to me and it's nice. I don't know why I was so rotten before. Today after we worked in the Round Pen, we walked around the farm and had a nice time. We saw a Deer eating grass, and one of the big horses that the kids jump on and off of, and we saw lots of people out riding or walking their horses and we were one of them. It was kind of relaxing to be one of the horses just meandering along with its mom instead of jumping around and twirling and being silly. I guess now that I'm six, I like to behave better.

But that happened after our workout and that was a fun time too. My mom brought me into the Round Pen then went to get my Cones and stuff but instead of making me get right to work, we just hung out together for a while. For one thing, I was nosing around looking for a place to roll and my mom wanted to give me a chance to do that before we got going. That's one of the things I love about my mom. Here she'd spent a good hour grooming me extra special nice but she was just fine with watching me roll in the dirt and spoil her whole effort. She's always like that too. She knows how important it is to horses to have a good roll and she'd never stop me from doing it.

I never did find a good spot but I kept walking over to her just to check in every couple of minutes and she'd pet me and talk to me and play with my lips. I love that game too. It's fun. I lipped back at her hand, and her pant legs, and then I reached down and started playing with her shoes. That's one of our special games - I grab at her shoes and she moves them away and I try to catch them. It's really fun, and today we did that for a little bit and then she said, "Now I'm going to get your feet!" and she moved toward me and gently stepped on my hoof! I backed up and she came after me and did it again and I backed up all the way across the Round Pen. Then she petted me and told me I was a Good Girl because I was moving away from pressure - that's what she calls it when she pushes herself into my space. She gave me a cookie too.

We had a really nice time in that Round Pen. Eventually we did do some free lunging, and some Cone work, and then we played some more games. She walked along around the Round Pen dragging her whip behind her and I followed, trying to grab the end of it in my mouth. That was really fun. And we played with the Cones - she picked one up and held it for me and then I grabbed it with my mouth and flopped it around. We played the game where she walks and I walk with her and when she stops, I stop. That's a fun one.

I never used to play games like that with my mom much. I sometimes played the Shoe Game but I was a lot rougher about it and I'd sometimes get pushy. Mostly I didn't pay a lot of attention to her when I was turned out, or even when she was lunging me. I was too busy looking around at other stuff and trying to find something to eat. I didn't want anyone telling me what to do and I didn't realize how much fun it could be to play games with your mom. It really wasn't until we started playing games with the Bag Stick that I figured it out. At first I was afraid of it but it made me pay close attention and once I did that, I learned lots of fun stuff. Now I'm always paying attention to my mom because I never know what we might be doing next but I always know it will be nice.

It was a really good day. Thinking about it makes me realize what a lucky horse I am. I have a mom who loves and understands me and we have more fun together than any other horse and person I know. If tomorrow is half as nice as today was, it will be a really good day.

New saddle

Yesterday when my mom came to the barn, she was carrying a saddle. I had my head poked out my hay hole as I always do when she's coming and she held it up so I could smell it all over. I could see right off that it wasn't my usual saddle and sure enough, it smelled totally different. I was really interested and checked it out carefully. My mom said it was for me and that it was a Dressage Saddle.

Well, I know what that is because Kia used one of them all the time. She did Dressage; that was when she did all that pretty stuff in the Flat Arena when it looked like she was dancing or something. I was kind of excited that my mom would get me a saddle like Kia's. She must think I'm a really nice horse if she thinks I can do that stuff.

She got me out of my stall and put the saddle on my back. I turned my head right around so I could watch and smell it while It was up there. It felt fine. I know my mom gets concerned about how well my saddle fits. Every time she puts my other saddle on, she checks it carefully, running her hands under it and making sure there's enough space for my shoulders and withers. She did that with this saddle too, then she put a girth on it and checked it again. She spent so much time on it that I got bored and started looking for hay scraps on the floor.

After she took it off, she turned me out and cleaned my stall and all that stuff, then she put me in it and took the saddle away. But after a long time, she came back with it and brought it into my stall. It smelled different now, kind of like how I do after I've had a bath, only it still smelled like leather and barns and metal and stuff too and I don't really smell like that. But it smelled kind of bubbly, if you know what I mean, so I knew she must have been cleaning it.

I smelled it all over again and she let me. My mom always lets me check things out. It's one of the things I like about her. She knows I'm very curious and she seems to like that. Finally she told me she had to put it away so we went over to my Duds Closet and she opened the door.

I love it when she opens my Duds Closet. There are so many things in there and they're all mine. She lets me poke my nose in and smell all of them, and nose them, and it's so much fun. I eagerly stood next to her and smelled my other saddle, and my brush box, and all my halters, and saddle pads. I tried to pull one of my saddle pads off the shelf it was on to look at it more closely but she told me no and put it back. She didn't make me go away though, so I sniffed my bridle and my wraps, and all the straps and girths and lead ropes and other stuff that hangs in there or sits on shelves. It's just so interesting in there. Mom put the saddle on the rack with my other saddle and I sniffed it there and agreed that was a good spot and then she had to close the door and go get my food. It was a fun day.

The day before that, after my Scary Day, I had a really Good Day. I wasn't sure if it was going to be one because it was kind of odd at first.

My mom came to the barn with Sparky's mom. I was happy to see my mom, of course, but Sparky's mom started right in being mean to me. For instance, when I just swung my butt around innocently in her direction, she yelled at me and hit me! Even my mom told me to move over. I got mad and started making faces at Sparky's mom, laying my ears back and sort of poking my nose at her. When I did that, my mouth was sort of open and I guess you could sort of see my teeth so she yelled at me again for "trying to bite" her. It was really dumb.

After a while, my mom brushed me and put my wraps on so I figured we were going to go do some work in the Round Pen. Imagine how surprised I was when Sparky's mom took my lead and began walking me away from my stall! I walked along nicely of course, because I know my Manners, but it was all pretty strange and instead of going straight to the Round Pen, we stopped at the box things and Sparky's mom got my whip. That isn't how my mom does it and I got kind of fussy then because I don't like it when my routine is changed. I started pulling some and Sparky's mom pulled back and I began twirling and finally when we were pretty close to the Round Pen gate, she let go of my lead.

I thought about going into the Round Pen but instead I went to see if there was any grass left on the hill next to it. Sparky's mom followed me and picked up my lead again - I never really run away when people let go of me; I just find something to eat - and made me walk down a big scary hill and than into the Round Pen. It was shaping up to be an Awful Day.

But then she let me loose and asked me nicely to go around her in a circle. I was still a little mad and fussy but found myself doing it anyway. The thing is, I do it all the time with my mom so even so it was Sparky's mom asking me to do it, I thought to myself, "I know how to do this" so I did it.

It ended up being a nice workout. Sparky's mom praised me as soon as I did what she asked me to and that was nice, and then she asked me to trot so I did and she praised me again. I like it when people tell me I'm a Good Girl - it makes me want to be a Good Girl some more. So the more we did together, the better it was, and I found myself really trying to do well, just like I do with my mom.

Sparky's mom didn't work me for too long but she asked me to change direction a few times, and she asked me to walk, and trot, and canter, just like my mom does, and when she put down the whip, I walked into the middle of the Round Pen to see her just like I do with my mom. She was nice to me, and talked nicely, and I poked at her with my nose like I do and she petted me and praised me some more. I followed her to the gate and by then my mom was outside the Round Pen and she told me I was a Good Girl too. She'd brought my Cones so she came in and we played the Cone Game together for a little bit. So I had a nice time with my mom too.

It was really kind of neat. I guess Sparky's mom isn't so bad after all. She doesn't know how to do everything but she was fun to work with and was nice to me, so that was neat. After I was back in my stall, she came to say hello to me and I tried to be nicer to her. She seemed to be trying to be nicer to me too so maybe we can be friends.

Scary day

It's been raining again lately and I don't really like it at all. My mom came out yesterday and it was raining and windy and yucky and dumb. She groomed me and stuff, and cleaned my stall, but then the rain started coming down so hard that she decided not to work me. I didn't mind. I wanted to go into my nice clean stall and roll because she pulled out all the old shavings and put nice new ones down for me. I love to roll in new shavings - it feels extra good.

The wind was blowing right into my stall from my paddock so my mom put my rain sheet on me. Sometimes I don't mind wearing a blanket and when the wind is blowing like that is one of those times. I don't really have a fluffy winter coat anymore and it gets sort of cold and yucky when I have to stand in the wind. My mom knows I don't like that, and that I don't like to have my paddock door closed, so she puts my rain sheet on. That way I can stay warm but I can still go in and out the way I like. My mom really does take good care of me.

Today it was still raining off and on and pretty stupid out when my mom got there. She took me out of my stall and took my blanket off. Then she brushed me and put my wraps on so I knew we were going to do something today. But instead of going toward the Round Pen, we started walking up the hill past the pasture.

I was being really good. I've gotten a lot better about walking and my mom has been pretty happy with me. Even though it was kind of windy, which can be exciting, I was walking nicely on a loose lead. But then, up by the manure pile, we saw Sparky's mom coming down the hill and I could tell that she was upset. That got me a little worked up and she told my mom that Sparky had gotten hurt. That got my mom concerned and I could just feel the tension. Plus, as soon as my mom's attention was drawn away from me, I got a little anxious. I can't help it - I like to feel like she's focused on me. It makes me feel more secure.

We all walked up the hill together toward Sparky's stall and his mom explained what happened. Apparently, Spark was tied outside his stall when he got his leg over his lead rope which scared him. He pulled back which of course made the lead get tighter on his leg, and he panicked and fell down. His mom said that he had a lot of scuffs and that he was holding one leg up like it hurt.

I was kind of pulling and dancing a little bit at this point. Everything seemed uncertain and it made me feel really funny. When we got to Sparky's stall, my mom made me stand still outside it and Sparky's mom got him out. I thought we'd go out together and play but my mom led me to his stall and before I knew what had happened, she put me in it!

I was scared. I didn't know what I was doing in Sparky's stall, and there were lots of strange horses on all sides of it. Spark's paddock isn't like mine with just one horse on either side. He has a horse on either side, and then one straight across from him, and two more kind of kitty-corner across from him. All those horses were looking at me and it was scary and weird and I kept running into and out of the stall and into the paddock, and one time I slipped on the floor of the stall. It was pretty awful and soon my mom came back in and started talking to me to calm me down.

At first I didn't even realize she was in there with me. I just kept rushing back and forth. Finally I stopped in the paddock for a minute and she came up to me holding out a cookie. I took the cookie and realized it was my mom and she put my halter on which made me feel a lot better. Then she took me out of that stupid stall and brought me to the Gremlin Arena.

Spark was in there already and I just wanted to go in and run around. My mom brought me in and let me loose but Spark didn't want to play because he was hurt. I didn't want him to get hurt more but I just didn't know what I wanted to do by then. I was very nervous and it was windy and I kept hearing gates slamming in places where I couldn't see them, I could only hear them, and I could hear a horse running somewhere, and it was just all really exciting and scary. My mom tried to get me to run a little but Spark tried to run with me and that wasn't good so she put my halter on again and made me stand while Sparky's mom took him back out and brought him to his stall.

Once I was alone in there with my mom, I realized I didn't really want to run, I just wanted to stand near her. So I went to her and she petted me and told me I was a Good Girl and that everything was okay and that made me feel a lot better. I didn't used to go to my mom when I was scared or nervous. In fact, I sometimes almost ran right over her when I was. Now though, I know that she makes me feel a lot better and she looks out for me. Even if I'm not behaving very well, she helps me to calm down and remember how to be good. It helps me a lot and I can tell it makes her feel good to know that I look to her for comfort.

After I'd calmed down a bit, she asked me gently to go around her in a circle like we do in the Round Pen. She had a lunge whip with her but it didn't have a bag on it. That was okay; I knew what she wanted. I was a little reluctant to move away from her but she kept asking me gently so I decided it was okay. I trotted around her a bunch of times, and even cantered a little bit, but pretty soon I went back near her and pressed my face against her so she put the whip away and cuddled me. I liked that.

She asked me if I wanted to go home and I sure did. She seemed to understand that so she put my halter back on and asked me to walk nicely around the arena a few times. I know she was just trying to remind me how to walk nicely on the lead so I'd be good when we left but I kept getting nervous every time we walked away from the gate so I'd start trying to twirl and pull a bit. She was patient but firm with me, and the one time I got too fussy, she kind of yelled at me and told me to behave. I did then and once I was walking fairly well, she took me out.

I was in a hurry to get to my stall so I started out kind of buffalo-y, pulling and trying to drag her along, but she wouldn't let me. I settled down pretty quickly, once I realized she wasn't going to let me do it and that I was headed toward home. She talked nicely to me but didn't let me pull any silly stuff and that actually calmed me down a lot. By the time we reached the manure pile, I was walking pretty well and once we got down the hill, I relaxed a lot and felt a lot better. My mom knew it and she praised me for being good and let me know I was okay. She gave me another cookie and put me in my stall and that was a big relief. I don't know why I got so upset about being up near Sparky's - I guess it was the weather and the way everyone was concerned about him.

I hope he's okay. He said he was. His knee hurts a little bit and he's got some scuffs but he said he was more scared than anything else. I know his mom and my mom will take good care of him. I love Sparky. He's my brother and my best friend and I wouldn't ever want anything bad to happen to him.

Routine

I'm a horse who likes my routine. I get my breakfast hay in the morning, I take a nap at midday, my mom comes in the afternoon, my stall is cleaned, I go out and do something, and I get my dinner afterward. That's what I'm used to and that's what I like. Well, this past week or so, my routine has been turned upside down and I didn't like it a bit!

I didn't have any warning either. One day my mom came out and we had our usual nice time and then the next day... no mom. Well, sometimes she just can't make it but then Sparky's mom came out. Now as I've said before, I like Sparky's mom but she just doesn't know how to take care of me properly. And she's bossy. She's always telling me what to do and she doesn't pet me the same way my mom does or tell me how pretty I am or brush my face with my soft face brush. In fact, she didn't really brush me at all!

The first time she came out, I was kind of mad because she didn't come at the right time and she wasn't my mom. She came in my stall and started bossing me around so I got mad and sort of reared and struck at her. I wasn't trying to hurt her or anything. I just wanted her to pay attention to me the right way. But do you know what she did? She just left my stall and left me in it and went away! No hay snack, no turnout, no dinner, no nothing! Oh, I was mad!

She came out again the next day and when she came to my stall, she had a Bag Stick. Well, I was a Good Girl like I always am, and she took me out and put me in the Round Pen and she cleaned my stall and I ran around a little bit. But she didn't play the Cone Game with me, or do any fun turnout stuff. She doesn't really know how to do anything right. I don't know how Sparky puts up with it.

My stall wasn't cleaned right when I got back to it but it was better than nothing. She didn't really clean my paddock and she didn't spread my shavings the way my mom does. My mom always walks me into my stall and then stops me and tells me I'm a Good Girl and takes off my halter in a certain way but Sparky's mom does it kind of different and I didn't like that. She just doesn't know how to do things.

She did bring me my bucket dinner but it didn't have any carrots in it. My mom always puts lots of carrots in my dinner and I poke around with my nose and find them all and I pick up my dish with my teeth and dump it on the floor so I can find the carrots better. I dumped my dinner but even though I looked all through it with my nose, there weren't any carrots at all.

And that's how it went for a whole week! Some days Sparky's mom came to take care of me and some days she didn't. Nothing got done right and I never once got any carrots and it was just awful. I missed my mom terribly and kept hoping I'd hear her car but I never did.

But then today I was dozing in my stall when I heard a familiar voice call, "Belly!" I raced out to my paddock and looked over the fence toward where the cars go and I whinnied loudly because I knew it was my mom! I hadn't noticed the sound of her car because I was sleeping but when she called me, I got so excited! I was waiting at my door when she came and she had a nice big carrot for me and she petted me in all the right places and told me how pretty I am and what a Good Girl I am and how she missed me so much! Well, I missed her too.

She got me out and she brushed me really, really well and all the time she was brushing me, she talked to me and petted me and gave me kisses on my nose. I kept nuzzling her and playing with her keys and nibbling on her pants legs like I like to do. I was so glad to see her that I just wanted to be close to her. She cleaned my feet out and combed out my mane and tail and brushed my face gently and made me all pretty. Then she brought me out to the Round Pen and we did some work.

She told me she couldn't get my Cones out because she didn't have the right keys but we played the Cone Game with no Cones and that was okay because it was my mom. I had a nice time and I tried to be really good and she seemed to be happy with me. After we played in the Round Pen for a while, she took me for a walk all around the farm and I remembered to walk nicely and have Manners. She was really happy with me.

When we got back to my stall, she cleaned it. At first, I was tied outside but I didn't have any hay to eat and I wanted to be close to her so I kept poking my head in and sort of hugging her with my neck. She liked it - I could tell - and finally she let me back in my stall so we could be closer together. She made me stay out in my paddock but she stayed close to the door a lot so she could pet me and I could nuzzle her. When she cleaned my paddock, she let me stay out in it with her and that was the best part because I got to play with the rake and the big rolling bucket and stuff and she laughed and played with me. It was fun.

She couldn't give me my beet pulp because she didn't have her key but she did give me a big dish of carrots and that was really yummy. I didn't mind not getting my regular dinner because my mom is home now and I feel lots better.

The picture I posted is kind of an old one but it shows me and my mom together so I like it.