Busy days and lazy days

I had a really fun, busy day yesterday with my mom. She came out to see me with Sparky's mom. She got me out of my stall and found some grass hay for a nice snack for me and Spark and then she saddled me up. I'm getting used to working again so I don't get anxious or excited or fussy when she puts my duds on. It's just part of what we do.

She got my wraps all on my legs and got her duds on and then she led me to the Mounting Block and rode me out into the Flat Arena. There was no one else out there which was kind of nice. It's fun sometimes to work with other horses but I do get kind of distracted by them. When it's just the two of us I can really pay attention to what my mom wants and I don't have to be so careful about where I'm going and stuff.

We started out slow like we always do. My mom calls it Warming Up. That means she has me walk around for a while. She says it gets my muscles all loose and relaxed so when we start working hard, I don't hurt myself. She's always careful about me hurting myself because I do seem to hurt myself kind of a lot. She says I'm an Accident Waiting To Happen. I don't know about that but I have had more than my share of scuffs and Stall Rest and I don't want to have any more.

After our Warm Up, she asked me to trot and I bounced right into a trot and then a canter. She didn't mind. She let me canter across the arena, then gently pulled me back down into a trot and had me continue like that. That was okay. I just get kind of excited when we first start working and I need to get some energy out. She seems to understand that so she lets me do some good, fast trotting and a little bit of cantering and that makes me feel really good.

Once I was a little more settled down, she started asking me to do figure 8's at a trot. Figure 8's are fun. That's when you trot around the turn in the arena and then you trot all the way across the middle from one end to the other. When you get to the other end, you go the other way and you do the same thing there. You can do figure 8's for a long time and it's fun because you have to think about the direction you're going and it keeps changing. I like them because it gets boring when you go the same way for too long.

Every now and then, my mom would ask me to go straight instead of turning through the middle for the figure 8 and she'd let me have a canter then. She actually asked me to canter a couple of times instead of me just doing it, and I was so happy about that! I love to canter and now that I'm six, I've learned how to do it better. I don't rush so fast anymore. It seems easier to do so I can just go along at a nice, comfortable pace and I can even canter around the turn without it being hard like it used to. That's because I wasn't very well balanced when I was littler but now I am.

I did get a little over-excited one time when she asked me to canter. I broke into it and then ducked my head down and gave a couple of bucks. It was just because I was happy but it's really not Manners and I felt my mom lose one of her stirrups when I did it. She never falls off me though - she just pulled my head up and stuck her foot back in the stirrup and when I tried to slow down to a walk, she pushed me with her legs and let me know I was supposed to keep cantering, just without the bucking part. I was good then and relieved that I was still allowed to canter. Sometimes I forget my Manners still, even though I'm six.

It was a good ride though. I was a little hot and sweaty when we finished so after she got my duds off, she hosed me off really good and that felt nice. My dinner hay was waiting for me so I ate that while my mom cleaned my stall and filled up my paddock water bucket for me. Then she moved my hay mountain into my stall and put me back in there with it and gave me my beet pulp. But she sat outside my door in her chair for a while so I was able to poke my head out for pets while I ate. I like that.

That was the busy day. Today was the lazy day. The guys had already fed me my hay when my mom got here today so I was busily eating when she came to my stall. She let me keep eating and just opened my door so there was nothing but my stall chain across it. Then she sat in her chair and read a book while I ate. That was nice. I used to be pretty bad if she was sitting like that. I'd get really pushy and even try to bite her and stuff. But now I'm Good and I just softly put my nose near her so she can pet it. It's lots nicer.

After a long time, she got Sparky out and took him to the Round Pen. I whinnied after them because I was kind of jealous and felt left out but I didn't have to worry about it. She let him have a nice roll and a turnout and she cleaned his stall but when she brought him back, she got me out and we went for a walk.

It was so nice. It wasn't a work walk, where I have to walk right along and not put my nose down or anything. It was just a lazy walk and she let me sniff poop and stop and look around a lot. When we got down to the pasture where the Camp horses live, she let me stop for a long time to eat some of the hay that had fallen onto the road there. Then we went on and walked past the Little Rolling Arena, and the Rolling Arena, and then up the hill by Indian's stall. We stopped to say hello to him and he was glad to see me as always. We sniffed noses and nuzzled a lot, then we walked on, up the hill and down the other side, stopping on the way to visit Cozzie.

I was so good on that walk. My mom even told me how nice it was for her to go for a walk with me when I'm all sweet and walk nicely and she doesn't have to work to make me behave and stuff. I liked it too. It was so relaxed and comfy to just be walking along with my mom. I don't even remember why I thought it was fun to be Bad. It's lots nicer to be Good and have nice times.

We just went for that one loop around and then my mom put me back in my stall with my hay. She'd cleaned earlier while I was eating so she got me my beet pulp and got Spark his grain and then she sat and read her book some more. It was a really perfect couple of days, if you ask me.

Fun with Mom and Sparky!

Oh, and with Sparky's mom too. I didn't mean to leave her out - that was very rude of me.

But it really was a fun day! It was hot but that was okay. It was one of those days my mom calls a Day Off so she and Sparky's mom came out kind of early. We both love that! We get so excited when we hear them arrive and now that Spark is right next door to me, it seems even more exciting because we both rush out to our paddocks and whinny as loud as we can. Our moms always call to us and it's the happiest time of the day.

Today they stopped to visit a new horse that lives in the field near the Flat Arena. It used to be that Aramis and that other horse - his name is Cherokee or Cochise or something. I always forget it. Anyway, it used to be that those two lived there with another horse named Copper. Copper was nice and sweet but they used to pick on him something awful. Sparky says that sometimes happens in a herd, though not in any herd that he's in charge of because he wouldn't let it happen. But he says that sometimes horses will bully another horse and not let him eat any of the food or chase him around and kick him and stuff.

I wouldn't put up with that. I'd just get mad and kick them right back and bite them and stuff. But Spark says it doesn't work like that in real herds and he does know more about that sort of thing than I do.

Anyway, Copper went to a new place and now another horse moved in. It's a bay horse and my mom says he's cute but I haven't really seen him much because he hangs around at the lower end of the field. The first day he moved in, he apparently ran through the fence or jumped over it or something and ended up on the road below running around. His mom was sitting right there too, looking out into the field and she didn't even notice he was gone! It wasn't until some other lady came along asking if anyone knew whose horse it was that his mom realized he was missing.

That would be kind of scary, I think. I've gotten loose a couple of times and while it's pretty exciting, it's also kind of strange. I didn't know where to go and I just kept running around feeling funny and lost. I bet that's what the new horse felt like, especially because he didn't even know anyone here yet or know where anything was. So I didn't mind that my mom went to say hello to him because it's just nice Manners to welcome new horses.

They came to see us soon enough. Sparky's mom even found some hay for us to have a small snack and that was really nice. Then my mom groomed me all up pretty and put lots of fly spray on me because the flies were just awful! Even Spark said so and they don't normally bother him a lot. He's used to living in a pasture, after all and those horses get used to all kinds of stuff. But today they were really annoying.

Then my mom put my boots on me and she and Sparky's mom led us off up the hill by the pasture. I was happy about that. We haven't been on a walk in a long time and I got a little excited and started to dance up the hill but my mom told me to calm down and walk so I did. Besides, I got kind of tired going up the dumb hill.

Well, we walked past the manure pile and up past the barn where Favre lives now. We walked past Cozzie's stall but I forgot to see if he was in it because I was kind of excited about walking and forgot. When we got to the top of the hill, we saw a horse and rider in the Gremlin Arena with that man who bought Jet. Jet was Coco's son and he used to live in the pasture with Spark. He was really nice, Spark liked him a lot. Then that man bought him and trained him to be a Riding Horse because he didn't know anything just like his mom and now he's off somewhere chasing cows which according to the horse who told us that is a good thing. I don't know if I'd like chasing cows or not. Spark seems to think it sounds scary.

Anyway, Jet's dad and the other guy were busy in the Gremlin Arena so we kept walking and went to the Little Fence Arena. I know they're jumps now but I still call the arena that because I'm used to it. I was really excited then because that's a fun arena and I haven't been out in it in a long time. But I was still a really Good Girl for my mom and walked nicely to it.

We had such a fun turnout! Sparky had a really good roll first off but I was all distracted because there was a whole line of horses going up the hill next to the arena. It was the Camp Kids riding out onto the trail and it looked like a lot of fun. Maybe someday I can go out on the trail with a whole bunch of other horses. I don't really want a Camp Kid riding me though. They seem nice and stuff but I like it when my mom rides me.

We kind of whuffled around some and I found a Barrel that was standing up and I rubbed my face on it. Then we walked over to where our moms were sitting under the big tree in the arena and visited them. But then we decided to run and play and that was the best part! Sparky was pretending to be a Herd Boss and was bunching me and herding me and I was pretending to be a Wild Mare and was running away and it was so much fun! Then Sparky's mom chased us a little bit with a lunge whip - she didn't really have to chase us because we were already frisky but having her waving it and asking us to go made us even more eager to run.

One time we were frisking around at the far end of the arena and we both decided to run really, really fast toward the gate! It was so much fun! We both just stretched out and let loose and pounded down the length of the arena! That arena is pretty big so you can get going pretty fast in it. In fact, I got going so fast that I didn't realize how close the fence was until I was about right on top of it. I kind of heard my mom saying, "Easy, Bella, easy, easy..." as I was running and then all of a sudden, she yelled, "BELLA!" and I saw the fence then and screeched to a stop almost on top of it. I was okay though and Spark did the same thing nearby but he was more balanced because he actually knew it was there and was planning on stopping fast. It was all okay though and so much fun - we just snorted and spun and kept on running!

After that, our moms put our halters on and led us over some of the little jumps. My mom knocked one down on one side so it was easy to go over and I stepped right over it nicely and she praised me. Then the next time, I got kind of excited and asked to trot so she let me trot on the lead and we trotted over it! It was fun. I never used to think it was before but I'd never really thought of it as a game either. Spark was going over them with his mom, too. He likes to jump and has even been over real jumps with her on his back!

After we went over the little knocked-down jump, my mom led me toward one that wasn't knocked down that Spark and his mom had been going over. She called it a Cross Rail. it was kind of big, maybe up to the middle of my lower leg in the middle and probably up to my knee on the outsides! I was anxious to try it though so I started trotting and my mom led me toward it and she went around it and I went right over it! Oh, she was proud! She praised me and petted me and gave me a cookie. Spark was proud of me too. He told me I'd gone over it like a real jumper. That was so nice.

It was a fun time and when we were all done jumping we continued on our walk. I walked really nicely out the gate - sometimes after a good turnout, I'm still excited and I try to pull and be bad on the lead but I remembered my Manners today and my mom was happy with me. We went down the hill by Indian's stall and she let me stop to visit with him. I love Indian. I'm always so happy to see him and he's always so friendly and welcoming. I told him about our turnout and how I went over the jumps and he was proud of me too. He's such a nice friend.

When we got back to the barn, we figured we were all done but after our moms let us rest for a little bit, they put on our saddles and took us out to the Flat Arena. There were two little jumps out there, right in the middle. One of them was like a pole on the ground but the other one was one of those Cavalettis we've gone over before. I was pretty interested because I wondered what it would be like to go over them with my mom on my back. Sparky popped right over the higher one - it was really fun to watch him do it. Then my mom headed me toward them and I began trotting because I was so eager to try it. I trotted right over the pole one and I would have gone over the other but Spark was standing right in front of it.

We trotted around a little bit but by then I was tired and I just wanted to go back to my stall and have dinner so the next time my mom headed me toward the jumps, I just walked over the pole and stopped in front of the jump. I couldn't even remember how to lift my legs over it. It was just too hot. Spark was tired too and our moms figured we'd done enough. My mom got off me and led me toward the jumps to go out of the arena and I remembered how fun it was up in the Little Fence Arena so I started trotting and I really jumped! I didn't just trot with my legs going over in mid-trot - I popped over it! I was happy and excited so my mom let me try it again. I got a little too eager and bouncy the first time and went around it and almost knocked her over but she turned me around again and that time I jumped it perfectly! My mom said so.

It was such a fun day. My mom took off my duds and hosed me off really good which felt wonderful. Then she cleaned my stall and fed me my dinner and gave me lots of pets and treats and told me what a good horse I am. I felt like a good horse. I learned something new today and that's always a fun thing. I hope we do more jumping soon. I think I kind of like it.

Oh, my mom's box thing isn't working right so I don't have any pictures from today. But I like the picture I used - it's me and Sparky in the Pony Arena one time.

Becoming Kia

Now that I live in Kia's stall, and I have Kia's ball toy out in my paddock (because it used to be hers before it was Coco's and before it was mine), I think about her a lot. Kia was so beautiful and so smart and knew so much about being a Riding Horse. She tried to explain stuff to me back then but I was so young and didn't pay much attention. I wanted to be able to do all the fun stuff without going through all the work necessary to learn it.

I'm not sure when that changed but it has. Oh, I'm still impatient sometimes, and I still like to bounce, and I get mad, or silly, or frustrated. But it's not like it used to be. Now it doesn't last very long. I might get mad but then my mom speaks sternly to me and I remember that I have to behave and I settle down. I never used to do that.

And I really want to get things right. When we ride out in the Flat Arena, my mom is working hard with her legs and her seat and giving me cues with her reins and heels and she's telling me what to do with all that. I find myself paying close attention and even though I might want to go running and playing across the arena, I don't. I work hard to understand just what she's telling me and to do it.

There's something really fun about those moments when you get it. When your mom is telling you what she wants and you just know what it is and you do it and you can feel yourself doing it right and you can feel her in the saddle happy with you because you did. The cues change, because when you're doing everything right, all the big pressure releases and all that's left is a light reminder to keep you on track.

For example, the picture up above is of us making a turn in the Flat Arena. Now, a turn probably doesn't seem like much of a complicated thing to anyone who isn't a horse or a rider. And it's not if you're just flopping along and not really paying any attention. But to make a balanced and proper turn, there's a lot going on. You have to bend your body around the turn, not just turn your head and go in a new direction. To bend like that, you have to put your legs in the right places, and your rider has to be sitting straight, without dropping their shoulder or leaning. You both have to be working together so you're not throwing each other off balance because I'll tell you what, it's not easy carting a human around on your back!

When we make one of those turns, my mom isn't just sitting there letting me do it. She's helping me. She gives me a light cue just before we move into it - she calls it a half-halt but what it feels like to me is she sits kind of deep and re-balances, and she gives me just a little twitch on the outside rein. That tells me to pay attention, we're going to be doing something.

Then as we move into the turn, she directs her seat in the saddle so that it turns slightly in the direction we want to go. Her outside rein is steady which helps me not fall into the center, her shoulders are up, and my inside rein is open so I can freely turn that way. What really turns me though are her seat and legs. Her seat points the direction and her inside leg gives me a center point to move around. It sits right about where my girth is and helps me curve. Her outside leg is a little behind and helps keep my butt from flopping to the outside. The whole thing helps me make a nice curving shape as I move through the turn. Once we're out of the turn and on the straight, her legs are even on me, her seat points straight ahead and her hands keep my head steady.

Now you might be thinking that sounds awfully complicated for something as easy as walking around a corner but you have to remember, horses don't move like that on their own. When we walk around by ourselves, we stop and start, we wander, we weave, we stop and look at things. We don't walk straight ahead at a steady pace, we don't move in a steady curve around a turn. For us, it's hard work to do that stuff.

I used to think it was all dumb but I'm changing my mind now. It's kind of like my games that my mom and I play in the Round Pen. It's so fun to figure them out! She's really happy with me when I do and it feels good to be able to do things with her. So I think I'm getting more like Kia and that's pretty neat.

Yesterday we rode for a long time in the Flat Arena. It was a lot of hard work. My mom was trying to get me to trot nicely around it and I was frisky and it was hard to keep going steadily and I wanted to run so I was pretty bouncy. Even so, two of my mom's friends told us we looked great out there and that made us both feel good. My mom was hosing me off by then. First she unsaddled me and then she let me roll and then she hosed me off. Then I got dinner. So I'm working hard but I'm getting rewards for it. Plus we're getting compliments. Just like Kia did. I may never be able to live up to her but I think I'm going to try.

Riding again

I guess I'm a real Riding Horse now because my mom and I have been doing a lot of riding and it's been pretty fun. I wasn't sure if it would be fun today though because Sparky's mom showed up without my mom and I thought it might be one of those dumb days when Sparky gets all the attention and I don't get anything. I don't really like those days.

It kind of started that way. Sparky's mom got him out and brushed him and put on his duds. I was being as cute as I could but she hardly even noticed me. That's how she is. My mom treats Sparky just like she treats me and do I mind? No. I patiently share her with him and I never get mad when she's fussing with him. Well, I don't get THAT mad. But Sparky's mom just comes along and fusses with Spark and neither one of them even look at me. It's like I don't even exist. I finally bashed my ball toy a few times and ended up with my head against it, feeling sad and left out. They left without even looking back.

Since they weren't there to look, I went out in the paddock and ate some of the bush. I also pooped on my outside ball toy. I don't know why. I didn't really mean to but when I heard the sound it made, I kind of liked it. I like things that make noise, after all.

Speaking of things that make noise, did I ever tell you that I have baby pigeons living in my stall? They live on top of my duds closet and their mom and dad take care of them there. There are two babies. They're really loud when they get hungry. They make these squawking noises and the mom and dad come and make cooing noises and then the babies shut up. My mom says the mom and dad are feeding them. Well, that's nice. My mom feeds me and it usually quiets me down.

I kind of like having them there. They're like friends. Sparky says I'm lucky. He likes birds. When he lived out in the pasture, birds sometimes landed on him and he liked that. I don't know if I would. It might be kind of strange to have a bird on my back. It's strange enough having my mom on my back sometimes.

I was thinking about all that stuff when Spark and his mom came back. Spark was kind of upset so I forgot all about being mad and was more concerned about him. He told me later that they went on a trail ride and it was awful because his saddle was kind of tight and he tried to tell his mom but she didn't understand and then his foot started hurting and then they stopped so his mom could check on his foot but the other horses were gone then so he got scared and it was just a Bad Day.

I felt sorry for him but I asked him, "Why didn't you just buck or back up a lot or lie down?" and he looked at me like I was crazy so I asked him if he wanted to look at my baby pigeons or my ball toy with the poop on it. He didn't though. He just wanted to take a nap.

That was a lot later though. When he first got back, his mom took his duds off and put him in his stall and pretty soon my mom got there. I was glad to see her because I figured she'd play with me and sure enough, she got my duds out and started getting me ready for a ride. That made me happy because we've been having good times riding. It's been so long! It's exciting and it seems so new. I don't really remember how to do a lot of things so when we ride, I'm all bouncy and not sure of what's going to happen. I like that.

My mom brought me right out to the Flat Arena and we began walking around. Sometimes walking is a little boring and I kind of have to stop and look around and figure out if there's anything more interesting going on. When I do that, my mom just keeps thunking my sides and saying, "Walk on, Belly" and by and by I do. I just forget to keep going sometimes.

We had a good warmup. Sparky's mom came out with us and sat at the end of the arena under the trees. It was nice. We stopped and talked to her now and then when we came close. Finally my mom decided we'd warmed up enough and she asked me to trot. I was ready to go by then and I broke into a nice canter and ran all the way to the other end of the arena! My mom let me too and she told me it was a very nice canter. Then she asked me to trot.

I did trot for a little bit but I sometimes get sort of tangled up in my legs or something and have to stop. Plus I get pretty excited and forget to trot and try to buck or run or bounce. I just can't help it. My mom just keeps pushing me along with her legs and then I get going again until I start going along sideways again and bouncing. Its so much fun! My mom doesn't get mad at me but she does keep telling me to do what she wants me to do. I do try but sometimes I get mad.

Today I started getting a little mad because she kept asking me to trot but she wouldn't let me run, or bounce, or buck or anything fun so I stopped and put my head down and kicked out with my Kicking Foot! I was mad! But she just told me again to go forward and trot. Oh, that made me mad! Even madder than I was before and I kicked out again but she made the Bad Girl noise and put her legs on me so I had to go forward.

Back when I was a baby, I probably would have reared then. That's what I used to do. I'd get mad and I'd rear and I'd back up and I'd just evade. That's what it's called, you know. But now that I'm six, I know that's not Manners so even when I'm mad, I just get over it and do what my mom tells me because that's what Riding Horses have to do. My mom says she's proud of me for not rearing anymore so that's good. I do want to be good.

We did a lot of trotting and a little cantering and some bouncing and then my mom got off me and told me I was a Good Girl. I figured I was all done and we'd go back to the barn but to my surprise we went over to the Mounting Block and Sparky's mom got on me! Well, that was strange. Sparky's mom almost never rides me! But we went out into the arena again and she asked me to walk around.

I wasn't very happy about it at first because I really did think I was done. But she was nice to me and asked me just like my mom does and so I did what she wanted. And you know, it actually wasn't bad at all. We didn't do much, just a little walking and turning and stuff but it was kind of fun. Sparky's mom is actually pretty nice. I complain about her but I don't really mean it. Not anymore anyway. We're kind of friends now.

I was ready to quit by the time we did though and it was nice to get my duds off and get back into my stall. My mom and Sparky's mom put our stuff away and then left and that's when me and Spark chatted and stuff. Later they came back and fed us and cleaned us. I got to help my mom clean my stall and that was lots of fun. Plus she sat in that Chair thing in front of my open door so I got to play with her hair and stuff.

it was a pretty good day all in all.

Goodbye Coco

Both my mom and I have been so busy lately that it's hard to get our schedules together enough to blog. Today though she had a Day Off and she spent almost all of it with me! It was a fun day and a good day but also a Bad Day because Coco went away. And I don't think she's going to come back.

It makes me pretty sad. Horses have it rough that way. We don't have any control over our lives and we make friends only to have them go somewhere and never see them again. For people it's different. They have cars they can go in so they can visit with their friends, and they have those little box things they talk to - I think they use them to talk to each other. Horses don't have anything like that. Not most of them anyway. I'm lucky - I have my Facebook page and my blog but most of my friends don't so I can't even keep up with them that way. They just go away.

I kind of knew it was going to happen. You hear people say things. I knew Coco was For Sale. That means that her people were going to let someone else have her. I was For Sale one time and my mom came and took me home. That was scary but it turned out nice and I hope it turns out nice for Coco too. Some people came today with a trailer and put her in it. She whinnied once as it drove away and I whinnied back. And then she was gone.

I banged around in my stall for a little bit and then stood by my ball toy with my head against it thinking. I thought about how Kia used to live in Coco's stall and how much I missed her when she went away. And then Coco moved in and we became friends and I almost forgot about Kia but not really because she was so smart and pretty and knew so much about being a Riding Horse. But having a new friend made me feel better about losing my old one.

I didn't have time to get too sad though because I heard my mom's car coming just a little while later. She seemed to know I was sad because she gave me a nice hay snack and pet me lots. It helped. There's not much that a good hay snack doesn't fix.

After she got my hay snack though, she went into Coco's stall and started fussing in the duds closet. Then she came into my stall and started fussing in MY duds closet. Next thing I know she's pulling stuff out of mine and putting it in Coco's. I tried to just eat my hay and not pay attention but I was so curious! She even took down my stall snack holder, and my play keys, and my ball toy and she took my new water bucket out of my paddock! She put that right in front of me though so I could play with it. That took my mind off things.

Sparky's mom came along about then and after she said hello to Spark, she brought me out to the Round Pen. I was kind of frisky because I hadn't gone out yesterday. Besides, I always like it when Sparky's mom takes me out because she usually plays with me and lets me run really fast. Sure enough, after she left me out for a while to sniff poop and walk around, she came back with a Bag Stick and we had so much fun! We ran and ran and she even ran with me! We were racing and I got going really, really fast and I beat her lots of times! It was exciting and when we finished, I went in to the middle of the Round Pen and let her pet me and tell me how Good I was. I was panting and hot but I felt so nice! Sometimes horses just need to run.

She left me in there to cool off and went back to the barn and I walked around a little bit and relaxed. After a little bit my mom came and got me and she brought me to the Flat Arena to see if I wanted to roll. I kind of did but there was a funny little fence thing in there that I wanted to look at. My mom let me walk over to it. It was one of those Pole things that has the wood pieces on the end of it that make it stay up off the ground. My mom called it a Cavaletti or something like that and she tipped it over so it wasn't so high and then she tipped it over again so it was almost lying on the ground. Then she asked me if I wanted to step over it.

Well, I've stepped over Poles before so I did and she told me I was a Good Girl and that was fun. So we stepped over it a few more times and then went to hose me off because I was pretty hot and sweaty. I never did roll though.

After I got hosed, she led me back to my stall but instead of putting me in MY stall, she led me into Coco's! I was kind of excited. It's always exciting to go in a new stall, you know. I quickly went out in the paddock to explore and I found my big water bucket and Coco's old ball toy that hangs on the fence. And then I looked into the next paddock and there was Sparky! He let out a big nicker and I went over to see him and we sniffed each other over the fence and squealed a little bit. It was fun! I'm so glad Sparky is my real neighbor now!

Then I went inside the stall and there was my ball toy just where it always is, and my keys, and my salt lick, and my fly spray machine thing. It was just like my stall has always been so I settled down quickly and soon discovered that I even have a big bush just outside my paddock to eat! So that's nice. I know I'll miss Coco but it helps a lot to have Sparky close enough to sniff noses with and it is nice to have all my things around me.

And I'm in Kia's stall! All that time, I thought Kia was so special and so wonderful and now I get to live in her stall! Maybe that means I'm really growing up and I'm going to be the special and wonderful one! Spark thinks I'm kind of silly when I say that but my mom is always saying that I'm going to be a great horse someday so why not starting now?

By this time, our moms were leaving but it was still early so I knew they'd be back to feed us. Spark and I had a nice visit outside and I napped in my paddock for a bit. Sure enough, they came back a while later with some shavings for Spark. His mom cleaned up the poop he'd left in his paddock and visited with us for a little bit and then she left but my mom stayed. She took off Spark's bandage on his hurt foot and put a new one on and then she gave him his dinner and came and got me out. I got excited because I thought maybe we were going to ride and sure enough, she groomed me and started putting my duds on.

It was a nice day for a ride, warm but not hot, and breezy. I was feeling really good and when we got out to the Mounting Block, I saw that there were already a couple of horses in the arena. I like it when I can ride with other horses. It's more fun that way. These horses live on the hill across from my barn. I can see them from my stall but they're too far away to smell or make friends with. One of them is big and black and the other one is spotted black and white. They seem nice and my mom is friends with their people.

We started out just doing a lot of walking around, with my mom reminding about how I have to go straight and turn nicely when I get to a corner and stuff. We walked across that Pole a couple of times too which was fun. I was stopping a lot at first because I kind of get stuck but after a while I remembered that I can keep going so I did. Then one time when I came around the corner by the Mounting Block, I saw April and her mom coming in.

I like April. We've never really ridden together but we see each other a lot because she lives kind of near me in one of the little fields and she gets tied where I can see her when my mom rides me or leads me around. She just seems nice, and her mom is nice too. So when they came into the arena, I followed them and got a little more interested in the whole thing.

April's mom started talking to my mom so we were walking together. That was nice. Then she started trotting. She trotted around a couple of times and my mom asked me if I wanted to trot. So I did. At first it was sort of awkward. I'd start trotting and I'd get to a turn and I'd just stop because I couldn't remember how to turn a corner at a trot with a rider or something. But pretty soon, I settled down and we had some good trotting with me going around and around the arena a few times. One time, my mom asked me to trot and I broke into a canter and she let me canter across the arena. That was fun and she petted me and told me it was very nice. I cantered once or twice more for a little way but then I got pretty excited about it all so she told me to relax and brought me back to a good trot. She wasn't asking for a canter anyway and I knew that. I just wanted to go fast.

It was a really fun ride. My mom was happy with me and April's mom said I was pretty and cute and stuff. I hope we can ride with them again some time. I liked it lots.

We got back to my new stall just in time for the hay truck. My mom took my saddle off in my stall and than the guys gave me my dinner hay. So it was a really nice day except for Coco going away. I'm going to miss her, there's no doubt about that. She was a really nice friend and neighbor. I hope she has a good home and a nice life wherever she is now. And for a tribute, I've posted a picture of her. So long, Coco. Don't forget about me.

What a wonderful day I had!

I know I just blogged this morning but I can't wait until tomorrow! I had such a good day today and just when I thought it couldn't have been better, it was because my mom and Sparky's mom brought me the most wonderful surprise! And I'll tell you about it but first I have to tell you what happened before that.

It was another hot day. I had my breakfast hay and took my nap and I was standing around in my paddock being companionable with Coco when I heard my mom's car arrive. Well of course I whinnied, and Spark whinnied too because my mom is his Grammie and besides his mom is usually with her. And Chip whinnied because he loves my mom, partly because she's MY mom and partly because she loves him and always stops to visit with him and snuggle his nose. So it's quite an event at the barn when my mom's car arrives.

I like that all the other horses love my mom. It means she's a really special mom but it's especially special because she's MY mom and she comes to see me and not any of those others. Even though she likes them all, and she loves Spark, she loves me best. So I feel pretty good about that. After all, there are lots of other nice moms and dads at the barn but none of us greet them like we do mine.

Our moms got us out of our stalls and immediately started grooming us and putting on our duds. So we knew we were going riding. We were both pretty happy about that. I haven't been riding since before I hurt my knee and Spark hasn't gone riding since he went on a trail ride one time. My mom cleaned me up nicely and sprayed me real well with fly spray. I was glad of that because the flies were driving me nuts! I hate flies! I know all horses hate them but I think they bother me more than most. They tickle so! And they bite. And they just feel awful landing on you, and even just flying near you. I can't stand them, they make me mad, and they make me fidget.

My mom understands how I feel so she does keep me sprayed and she keeps my fly spray machine thing in my stall working. But they still bother me.

Once I was cleaned up, she put my boots on. She put my regular red front boots on but then she put some different boots on my back legs. I don't much like having boots on my back legs. I have a set of red boots that my mom calls Skid Boots but I hate them! They feel so funny and they make me kick. My mom hardly ever makes me wear them. She usually puts my Polo Wraps on and I like them as long as they don't come down over my fetlocks. But instead of my Polos, today she put on these other boots which were blue. She said they were Sparky's and he was letting me borrow them.

Well, that was nice of him but I wasn't too sure about them at first. When my mom put the first one on, I was a little fussy and I did kick at it once or twice after it was on but then I was okay with it. It wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as those Skid Boots. It just covered a short part of my lower leg and the inside of my fetlock joint but it didn't go around my fetlock itself. It actually felt a lot like my Polos and I decided it was okay. So my mom put the other one on and I was fine. Later, Sparky's mom said I could have them and that Spark wouldn't mind. That was so nice! I love Sparky and his mom.

We rode in the Flat Arena today and it was a lot of fun. Spark was frisky and got kind of spunky when his mom got on him but he just likes to do that in order to get his bounces out. He's not like me - when I bounce, I kind of keep bouncing. It's hard for me to stop. But he just has a couple of good bounces and then settles down. He's older than me though. Maybe when I'm ten, I'll be like that too but now I'm only six.

I was feeling good too but I stayed at a nice walk like my mom asked me to. I'm not stopping a lot anymore and I can tell she likes that. I walk along pretty well and only get stuck occasionally. I did have to stop for several moments today to look in that Mirror thing because I thought I looked extra pretty and I wanted to make sure the new boots didn't look odd. But they looked fine.

After some good walking, my mom asked me to trot. I was excited about that and kind of wiggled across the arena but she straightened me out and asked again and I broke into a sort of head-tossy, bouncing trot that was almost sort of bucky. If I could have gotten my head down, I think it might have been. I was just pretty excited. My mom just lightly kept my head up though and kept me trotting though it was pretty awkward and bouncy. I finally sort of shuffled to a walk again but she petted me and praised me anyway because I did do what I was asked. Then she asked me again and I did it better, and on the third time I broke into a pretty normal trot.

The only problem was, my knee was still just a little sore and the bounciness hadn't helped much. As soon as my trot leveled out, both my mom and Sparky's mom could see that I was still a little sore so we finished up our ride. My mom was still happy with me though because I'd been a Good Girl and Spark's mom was happy with him because once he settled down, he did a nice trot too. So that was nice. Our mom's took off our duds and let us roll in the Flat Arena which was wonderful and then they hosed us off which felt good.

After that, they gave us hay snacks and cleaned our stalls. Well, I did get a hay snack eventually but I had a little Incident first. When my mom brought me out to hose me, I walked nicely but on the way back up the little hill by Chip's stall, I got distracted by some wisps of grass and lunged for them. I nearly knocked my mom into the manure pile, and I did step on her foot. Oh, she got mad! Once she got her foot out from under mine, she yelled at me and made me back right up fast. Then she made me walk forward several steps and then asked me to stop. And when she said "whoa" she said it like she meant it! I stopped, you better believe it!

Then she made me back up again, and then walk forward, and back up, and go forward, and we did that all the way to my stall. It was pretty dumb but I did it and I did it like I meant it because my mom was really mad at me. Finally she tied me at my stall and told me to stand there. I moved my butt around once while she was taking her boots off and she got mad all over again because I moved it kind of up against her. I just wanted to be close to her but she wasn't putting up with any of it. So I settled down and stood still and after a bit, she petted me and told me I was good for standing and gave me my hay snack. I felt like I really deserved it by then.

Once my stall was all clean, she put me inside it and gave me my beet pulp but she stayed outside cleaning all my duds for the longest time. She took my bridle apart, and cleaned the bit and all the leather, and she cleaned my girth and even her boots and the long leather things she wears over her lower legs. Then she cleaned my saddle and after she'd cleaned everything, she rubbed it with this oily stuff that smelled really good. She said it Conditioned the leather and would make it nice and soft. It sure made it smell nice.

It was a good long day with my mom and most of it was fun so I was happy. She and Sparky's mom eventually cleaned up all the stuff they had out, she put my clean duds away and gave me one last cookie and they left. She told me, as she does every day when she leaves, "I'll see you tomorrow Belly."

It wasn't too much later that the hay truck came and I was knee deep in dinner hay. I ate a lot of it and then I laid down in my new shavings and took a little nap. After such a hot and busy day, that felt good. It was a little while later that I was back up and eating more hay when I heard my mom's car again!

I thought I must be mistaken so I just kept eating. But then I heard Spark greeting his mom and next thing I knew, here was my mom! It was a surprise and it got to be even more of a surprise because she put on my halter and tied me outside my stall. I didn't know what was going on. Were we going to ride again? Was I going to get a turnout? I just didn't know but then she and Sparky's mom came down the aisle carrying a big bucket. it was so big, it took both of them to carry it. Luckily it had a handle on each side so they could each hold one. And from the noises it was making, I could tell it had water in it.

Well, that was very interesting. I love water and I love water troughs. This bucket was like a water trough - in fact, it was like the bucket outside Chip's paddock that catches the rain water off the roof. I love to play in that bucket! It's dry now but during the rainy time, it's always full and my mom lets me go over to it. I'll stick my head right inside it up to my ears in the water and I'll splash and play. So I was excited when I saw this bucket and thought maybe she'd let me have some fun with it.

But instead of stopping near me, they brought it into my stall and out into my paddock! They put it in the corner near Coco's stall and tied it to the fence and the put more water into it with buckets until it was full! I could hardly wait to go in to check it out. As soon as my mom brought me in and let me go, I went and stuck my head in and splashed! It was so much fun! But then I turned my head and saw that Sparky's mom had brought that funny box thing into my paddock so I went over to see what she was doing with it and got all distracted. So my mom and Sparky's mom left.

Since I didn't have anyone to play with, I went back out and examined my new bucket. It's red which is my favorite color, and it's nice and big and deep. I can fit my whole head in it! Oh, I love it! I keep going out in my paddock just to get a drink and dunk my head. It's fun and it keeps me cool. What a wonderful surprise it was! My mom and Sparky's mom really do know how to make a horse happy.

Lazy hot days

It's been hot again and since I hurt my knee, I haven't been doing too much. It's too hot to do much anyway. Sparky doesn't mind the heat. He's half Arab so he says he has the desert in his blood. Well, that sounds really fancy but I don't know what a desert is and I don't know that he does either. He says it's a really hot place with sand and Camels. So I asked, what's a Camel? And he said they're animals that live in the desert and people ride them. Well, that sounds like an Arab to me. Sometimes Sparky doesn't make a lot of sense.

I get kind of sleepy and lazy when it's hot. On really hot days, my mom hoses me off to cool me. That feels good. The breeze hits the wetness and makes me feel nice. Sometimes my mom lets me drink out of the hose too. That's fun. It feels funny when it goes in my mouth because it squirts all over the inside. I love that.

Sparky doesn't like water either. Again, he says it's because he's a desert horse and there's no water in the desert. I said, if there's no water, how do horses drink? And he said they have to go to special places called oaseses where water comes out of the ground. It all sounds pretty fishy to me. My water comes out of my bucket. Why don't those stupid Arabs just have buckets? I wouldn't want to live in a dumb old desert. It sounds boring and hot.

My knee feels a lot better. It never was too bad. My mom kept me in my stall for two days and she rubbed it with medicine and put some medicine in my food during that time. Then the next day, she let me go out in the Round Pen but she didn't chase me or anything. She let me just walk around and stretch my legs. That's what she calls it. She hosed me off and stuff and gave me treats and cleaned my stall and just let me be and she did that for a couple of days. Then two days ago, she brought me to the Round Pen and asked me to trot a little bit. She was happy with how my leg looked so yesterday, she made me trot more and even let me canter some. It was fun! I got frisky and excited and worked up a good sweat. Then we played the Trotting Cone Game for a little bit and that was fun too.

I wasn't sore at all after working so she was glad. She said it was just a slight injury and nothing to worry about so that's good. I do hurt myself kind of a lot. I can't help it. I'm a Thoroughbred and we tend to be Fragile. That means we break easily.

I'm really liking having Spark nearby. It's nice to have family close. And my mom can spend more time with me because she doesn't have to go to another barn to visit him. She and Sparky's mom have chairs that they keep outside our stalls and they sit on them and chat lots of times. Me and Spark just hang around with them, eating hay snacks or just standing around and it's nice. Sometimes I can reach my mom's chair from my stall and when she's not in it, I play with it. Yesterday, I was tied outside my stall and I was picking it up and turning it upside down and shoving it around with my nose. It was lots of fun. I love to play with things. Spark thinks it's silly but he just doesn't understand. I get bored when I'm just standing around with nothing to do.

It's a nice quiet morning and it smells nice out. I'm going to have a nap and maybe later when my mom comes, we'll do something fun.

New horses and more stall rest

I hurt myself the other day. It was pretty dumb and it's got me feeling pretty mad. I'm not sure how I did it in the first place. My mom thinks I probably bashed it barging around in my stall. That could be. I sometimes do get a little excited in my stall when she's not there, or when Coco leaves, or when Sparky's mom won't pay attention to me, or when the hay truck is coming. Once in a while I kind of kick, or bang on the door with my front foot, or bash at my feed tub, or fight with Coco or Mickey. So I guess I might have hurt myself doing something like that but was too excited to notice at the time.

My mom noticed it right off yesterday. She took me out and brought me to the Round Pen and as soon as she let me loose, she asked me, "Bella, are you off?" Well, that was kind of a dumb question because I really didn't have any way of saying if I was or wasn't but sometimes people say things and don't expect an actual answer. So then she waved her whip at me and asked me to trot but as soon as I did, I noticed that my leg hurt a little bit so I didn't want to. So I trotted about three steps and switched back to a walk.

Well, I guess that wasn't enough for her to see if I was limping or where so she asked me again and I did the same thing and so she felt all my legs and watched me walk and all kinds of stuff but still wasn't sure so she asked me to trot again and I got mad and started to trot pretty fast and almost immediately tripped and nearly fell on my face and then I was really limping.

She quickly stopped me and felt my leg again because now she knew just where it was and I was mad because it was all her fault for making me go fast when I didn't want to. I didn't stay mad long though because she felt bad and gave me a cookie and apologized and she took me to the water hose and hosed my leg for a long time which helped make it feel better. But it was still sore.

So she dried it off and put some medicine on it and she put some of that funny tasting medicine in my food - the stuff that makes me feel kind of sleepy. It does seem to make hurty parts feel better though.

Today she checked it again and put some Nice Cubes on it. Well, I remembered what that was all about because when I hurt my leg one other time, I had to have Nice Cubes so I was good about it. Besides she gave me a hay snack and she brought some of that Watered Melon that she gave us one time. That was so good. I ate lots of it and so did Spark and Coco and Raz and Chip and Mickey and the new horse who's in Favre's old stall. Favre moved out. I thought he might be gone away from the farm but one day when we went riding around the Loop we saw him in another stall up by the manure pile. So he's still here which will make Spark happy because they're friends.

The new horse looks nice. She's a mare and that's good because we needed more mares in this barn. And today two new horses moved into the pasture. I got to see them really close because their mom tied them right outside my stall while she took some wraps off their legs. They're both bay and they're both Thoroughbreds like me so I poked my nose right out toward them and said hello. They were both very polite and didn't say much - they'd had a long trailer ride and were kind of tired. But they seemed nice and when they went out in the pasture with the other horses, everyone got along fine.

Before all that happened though, my mom finished up with the Nice Cubes and then took me to hose my leg again. I was kind of frisky and hoping to go to the Round Pen to run but she wouldn't let me and when I walked back up the little hill by Chip's stall, my knee hurted and I remembered I had a bad leg. She put more medicine on it and then got to work on my stall but I asked to come in with her and she let me. She got mad at me though because I went out in the paddock while she was cleaning and got into a little fight with Coco.

I couldn't help it - Coco was poking her nose at my mom like she wanted to get petted and I got mad and put my ears back and rushed at her to tell her that she had no business getting petted by MY mom, but I got all tangled up in that big wheelie bucket thing and almost fell inside it and scared myself about silly and hurt my leg again and my mom yelled at me. So that wasn't any fun.

Then my mom finished up and went to take care of Spark so I just hung out in my paddock for a while until she fed me. That was nice. She put my carrots in my dinner but she also gave me more of the Watered Melon and she gave some to the new pasture horses too because they were right there when I got mine. I didn't mind. I thought it was nice of my mom to do that and they seemed to like it.

Now I'm all settled in and kind of drowsy because she put more of that medicine in my food. I hope my leg feels better tomorrow because I'm already sick of Stall Rest.