The Continuing Trailer Adventure and Life as Pasture Horse!

After Sparky left in the Trailer, I rested in my stall. I was so tired! It was hot out that day and I'd gotten all worked up and sweaty. Dooley told me I was silly. He said he likes his Trailer and that every time his mom takes him somewhere in it, they have fun. I just couldn't believe it. The thing is, I liked going in Trailers when my mom just brought me in for a snack but a long time ago, before she was my mom, nobody every really let me think about it. They just rushed me in and took me off and lots of times I'd get out and be in a strange place with no one I knew around. Sometimes it was really bouncy and I was just little so it was scary too. I didn't like being a Racehorse. Only the running fast part.

A long time later, after feeding time, my mom and Dooley's mom came back. They had the Trailer but Sparky wasn't in it! My mom was nice to me but she didn't stay long and she didn't do anything fun with me. She just brought me my bucket dinner and then Dooley's mom got him out and put him in that Trailer and off they went again! It was so awful. My brother and my best friend were gone and who knew where? Grace was no help. I tried to talk to her about it but she just called me a big baby and went back to her hay. That wasn't really fair. I'm a year older than Grace so it's stupid for her to call me a baby.

The next day I waited and waited all day long for my mom to come. I ate my breakfast, and I took my nap, and I stood in the sun in my paddock missing Dooley, and I ate my dinner and still no mom. Finally she got there and I was so happy and relieved! I thought now we could get back to normal. She got me out and we played some games. They were a lot like the games Indy's mom wanted to play with me but there was no Trailer so I didn't mind. My mom would stand near a gate and tell me to go through it and if I didn't, she'd gently tap my butt with her dressage whip and then I'd go and stand quietly. Then she'd ask me to go through the other way.

She asked me to do that in a lot of places. One time, she asked me to go into a funny place near the Winery. A Winery is a place with big metal barrels that reach higher than my stall. Lots of times it smells very strange; kind of a tart, juicy smell, and there's clanging and banging and people working. It wasn't like that this time but there's a sort of overhanging part of the roof and under it there's lots of stuff and it's not really a place you expect to have a horse go. But my mom asked me. I was a little nervous about it but she was patient and I finally went in. After two or three times, I got relaxed about it and even stood quietly inside it. She praised me a lot and gave me a piece of carrot so that was nice. I thought if we could only play games like that, instead of stupid games with Trailers, life would be fine.

We went back to my stall and she put me in the Round Pen while she cleaned my stall. Then, wouldn't you know it, a Trailer rolled up! It wasn't Dooley's trailer though. It was Patch and Orion and Lightning's Trailer. Lightning was on it and I watched him come off like it was no big deal and go back to the pasture. My mom was talking to Lightning's mom and then she came and got me and brought me to that Trailer and asked me to get on it!

I love my mom a lot. I really do. But I did not want to get on that darn Trailer. I wasn't really afraid. It was more like I just wanted to go home and eat my bucket dinner and have everything be normal and nice. But then Lightning's mom took my lead and she asked me to go on.

Lightning's mom is really nice but she expects a horse to do what she asks it to. I stopped at the trailer door and wouldn't go in and she was patient and just stood there, offering me a carrot if I'd step in. I'd step right up to the door but I was determined that my feet would not go inside it. I can be kind of stubborn. And I can be stubborn for an awful long time. But I found out Lightning's mom can be pretty stubborn too.

When I got sick of being asked, I reared up and pulled back and oh boy was that a mistake! Lightning's mom came out of that trailer like a shot and she jerked my lead rope and made me back up pronto, yelling at me that I better not do THAT again! I didn't either. She nearly scared me to death. Then when I stopped pulling and stood, she let me stand there and then came up to me quietly, pet me and then led me right back to where I was.

Well, I tried everything to keep from going in that Trailer. I fought and I pulled and once I got loose and ran all over the hill which was pretty fun. But my mom came and got me and she handed the lead right back to Lightning's mom and back we went to that darn Trailer.

It got dark. I don't much like the dark but there were lights inside the Trailer which actually made it almost look like a nice stall. My bucket was in there, and carrots, and hay and shavings but by now it was Principle. I didn't want to lose. Neither did Lightning's mom though. She never got mad at me, except when I pushed my butt at her, or crowded her, or nipped. But once she let me know that wasn't all right, she was nice and quiet and just kept asking me to go in. She'd stand by my head and give a light tug on my halter and say, "Load up." I was loosely tied to the inside of the trailer with a long rope so I could go right in but I just plain didn't want to. It got chilly and my mom and Lightning's mom put on sweatshirts and just kept right on standing there, waiting for me.

I was tired. And I was hungry. And I knew finally that no one was going to take me back to my stall. I'd either have to stand there for the rest of my life or I'd have to go on that Trailer. Lightning's mom took my halter and quietly said, "Load up," and to my own surprise, I got in.

Not all the way. My back feet were still on the ground. But she just patted my rump and told me I was a Good Girl. I liked the sound of that. I came back out and stood there and she let me. Then she quietly asked me again to load up and I went partly in again. I did that a few times and then I just decided I was sick of it all and I walked in and stood there.

Lightning's mom and my mom told me what a Good Girl I was and they shut the door. I didn't feel like a Good Girl. I felt miserable. I was so scared I couldn't eat my bucket, though I did eat the carrots. I kicked a bit, and I kept moving around restlessly as we began to move but I knew I was trapped in there and there wasn't a thing I could do. I hoped my mom wasn't selling me to Lightning's mom. She's nice but I love my mom.

We rode and rode. I smelled the night air and tried to figure out where I was but I've never been anywhere so it was all strange. Once in a while I'd smell horses and that was encouraging though they weren't any horses I knew. Then finally we went over a short, bumpy way and the Trailer finally came to a stop.

When the door opened, Lightning's mom was there but so was my mom and that was a relief. It was really dark but I could tell I was in a strange place. I clambered off the Trailer and my mom led me around a little bit. Then she took me along a kind of long, dark road that went up a hill. It was scary and I pulled a bit but she was firm and told me to walk so I did. We turned up another short hill and I could see a fence and a shed ahead of me, and then all of a sudden, I saw Sparky and Dooley behind the fence! I let out a big whinny and they called back to me. I was so happy! I couldn't believe it! My mom put me in with them and I quickly trotted around the area - it was a big field like a turnout but not flat all over. There was a hill and two shelters in it, and on the other side of the fence, I could see more horses. But just now I was happy to see my brother and my friend and I didn't care about anyone else except my mom.

The boys showed me where the water was and I got a drink. It was a nice big bucket that I could stick my whole head in, just how I like to. That's it in the picture above, with Spark and Dooley standing there. Then they showed me the shelters and where to poop and stuff, and they said it was our pasture! So I'm a Pasture Horse now. It's pretty nice. I've never been a Pasture Horse before.

That's all of us at the water trough. We do everything together because that's what you do in a Herd. I even have a Job! I'm the Herd Mare. Sparky said so. He's the Poop Leader - he tells us where we should poop. And Dooley is the Nap Leader. He tells us when it's time to nap. I'm not sure what the Herd Mare is supposed to do but the boys said I'm doing fine.

I love my Pasture. I can walk around, or stand in the shelter, or trot up the hill. Or I can visit our Neighbors. We have Neighbors on both sides. They're all really nice. One of them is a mare who's going to have a Foal. She's really fat. She said that's because the Foal is inside her and she can't wait till it comes out because it's ridiculous being that fat! She's nice and I can't wait to see her Foal!

The day after I arrived, my mom came to see me. We'd had a nice breakfast and were standing in the shelter swishing flies. There are lots of flies in a Pasture. You wouldn't believe it. I hate flies. They're dumb. Dooley's mom had come earlier and taken him out and me and Spark whinnied for him and he whinnied back but off they went. We were afraid she'd take him away in that Trailer again. Then my mom came and got me out.

I was kind of nervous too, and Spark was yelling his head off because he was left all alone. But we went down the hill and there was Dooley with his mom. He whinnied to me and I whinnied back and then my mom groomed me really well and led me all around the place. It's nice. There's lots of horses and even Ponies. There are Ducks, and Cats, and Chickens too. I was jumpy at first but I relaxed after a while and my mom said I was really Good. She brought me back up to the Pasture with Dooley and then go Spark out. Later, when he came back, he said she rode him. I guess we live here now.

It will be strange not to see my friends at my old home. Grace, and Indy, and Indian, and Tissimo, and Misty. But I think it's going to be nice here. I hope we never leave because I like it and because I don't ever want to go on another Trailer as long as I live!

Modeling gig and a trailering adventure

I have been so busy lately! It's all I can do to get a nap in. Let me tell you all about it.

First of all, my mom came out to my stall one day a couple of weeks ago and brought me to the wash rack for a Bath. I don't mind Baths, but I don't much like standing still, and I hadn't stood in the wash rack for a while so I was kind of a pain. I got bored. It takes sooooo long to have a Bath! And my mom sprays the water all over my back and legs and tail (I hate it when she gets my tail all wet. It feels so heavy and strange and I get water running down the backs of my legs and it tickles) but she doesn't spray me in the face nearly enough. I like to play in the water, and drink it, and then stick my wet mouth in the dirt so I have a big muddy spot on my muzzle. That's fun.

But she didn't let me do any of that. She scrubbed me so clean I felt like I'd lost half my fur. Then she let me graze while I dried off but wouldn't you know it, the Horseflies came buzzing all around me! My mom said they liked the water on me and she tried to kill them quick. Horseflies are slow, you know, but they hurt when they sting so they scare me when they land on me. I kept bucking and kicking every time one landed and my mom would tell me to cut it out so she could kill it and I tried really hard but it was pretty bad. Finally she brought me to my stall and dried me with towels. That was better, even if it did mean I couldn't eat grass.

When I was all dry, she groomed me really well. She told me that a nice lady was going to take my picture. Well, I like having my picture taken. When my mom gets out her box thing that she talks to and takes pictures with, I try to help by coming right up to her and looking at it as closely as I can so she gets me in the picture. She's never very appreciative which is just like a person. They're not polite like horses.

But this was special because this person was a Professional. That means that taking pictures of horses is her Job. My mom got me all pretty and put my clean bridle on me and brought me over by the stalls where the vaulting horses sometimes live. There weren't any vaulting horses in there but there was a lady bustling around putting up big poles with lumps on the top and when she fiddled with a gadget, the lumps would make light. It was very interesting. They were set up all around and she made them make light a few times so I wouldn't be scared. I wasn't of course. It was just light. But some horses are silly so she was just being careful.

Then she had my mom walk me back and forth and stop just so, and then she'd make silly noises, or kissy sounds or talk nice to me and I'd look at her and put my ears up. It was fun and I liked it. I was a really Good Girl, my mom said so, and the lady seemed happy. She gave me a treat that she called Sugar and it was quite tasty though I prefer peppermints. And I do think the pictures are pretty. That's one of them at the top. Here's another:

While we were doing all this, other horses began arriving to get their pictures taken. There were some pasture horses that Sparky knows, and a pretty chestnut mare, and then Sparky came along with his mom! I was happy to see him and he was happy to see me too. He was nervous. Spark doesn't like doing new things and he's not a natural-born model like me. But his pictures are nice, too. Here's one of them. It's my favorite because it really shows how handsome he is:

That was a good day and we had some fun working and riding and playing and stuff. I got adjusted by Dooley's mom which felt really nice. She always makes me feel better. And everything was going along really well until just a couple of days ago when Dooley's mom drove up with a Trailer hitched to her truck.

Well, I like Trailers. My mom has brought me in a few of them and they always have hay in them which is really nice. We go in, I eat some hay, she tells me what a Good Girl I am, and we go out again. Trailers can be very good things.

This Trailer wasn't though.

Dooley's mom took him out of his stall and put him in the Trailer. She put a funny bar thing against him and he didn't mind at all even though he was trapped in there. Then Sparky's mom came along with Sparky and asked him to go in. He didn't want to and she had to ask him a lot of times. Finally he climbed in but his big butt didn't fit. I thought that was funny. Spark picks on me for being so big but he has an enormous butt and it wasn't going in that Trailer. I guess in that kind of Trailer, you have to get in and step over sideways and he didn't want to so he kept coming back out.

So they took Dooley out and tried putting Spark in the front. He'd go in but he wouldn't step over and he'd get nervous and back out again. So they tried me.

I clomped right in. There was a hay bag in there and it was a nice Trailer, I thought, but then my mom asked me to move over and that seemed stupid and I didn't want to. She kept trying and I fussed a bit and backed out, then I went back in and I was sort of pushed over and my mom clipped me in.

Well, I kind of panicked when I felt that strap clip on and I pulled back, and it broke, and that scared me even more, and I went barreling out backwards and then there was just no way I was going back in that Trailer because it was a very Scary place.

My mom told me she was sorry, and she calmed me down and tried to get me back in but I got stubborn, and then I got belligerent, and then I got mad. So I started making a big fuss, hoping they'd just leave me alone and let me go back in my stall. But then Indy's mom came by and she began working with me. She was so persistent! She kept tap-tap-tap-ing me with a crop on my butt, not hard but it was really annoying. If I took a step forward, she stopped, but if I went backward, or tried to rush past her, she made me go around her until I stopped and then tap-tap-tap again. It was really dumb and I was sick to death of it all. Oh, I cooperated some. I knew what she wanted. I'd stand nicely, or move forward, and once or twice I even got on the dumb Trailer, but I got right back off. Then I'd feel mad and I'd rear or fight or pull and we'd start all over.

At one point, I stepped on her foot as I was trying to rush past her and I accidentally knocked her down. My mom grabbed my lead and I rushed around her in a circle but then I stepped on HER foot and accidentally knocked her down! Then Indy's mom grabbed the lead. Those two were quick. Meanwhile, Dooley's mom was on the Trailer because she was holding the rope to keep my head pointed in the Trailer instead of away from it. Sparky's mom took a picture. It's not my best moment but you CAN see my dapples.

Finally, I got so I was standing nicely at the door of the Trailer and not fighting but I wasn't going to go on. It was hot and everyone was tired so they got Sparky back out and got him on by himself and just closed the door and took him away. I felt bad. I was worried about Sparky and didn't know what was going to happen to him. Indy's mom took me to the Round Pen and made me go in when she pointed in, and then come out when she pointed out, and we did that about a thousand times and when I was finally doing it really good, she let me go home and have dinner. It was really dumb though because my brother was gone and I didn't know where.

All Grown Up

Wow, it's been a long time since I blogged! It's not that I've run out of things to talk about - I always have things to talk about. I've just been busy with other things.

A lot has changed since I last posted. For one thing, I'm 9 years old now! That's pretty amazing, isn't it? I was looking at some of my old posts and thinking about what a baby I used to be. I was an awful brat. But I've grown up so much. My mom sometimes asks me who I am and what did I do with her silly mare? I know she's just joking though. She likes that I'm a Good Girl all the time.

It's funny, but I like it too. It's a lot nicer when my mom isn't mad at me or nagging me about my manners. We go for nice walks together and she lets me stop to eat grass sometimes because she knows I'll be polite and leave it when she wants to go on. And she cleans my stall with me inside it a lot because I don't buffalo into her and push her around. And it's nice. We do a lot of fun stuff together and she hardly ever gets mad at me. She says Sparky is more of a Bad Horse than I am now!

Another big change is that Dooley lives next to me. Dooley used to live in the pasture with Sparky but he hurt a tendon in his leg so he had to be on Stall Rest. His mom is my mom's friend, and he's Sparky's friend, so they were all happy that the stall where Indy used to be was available and I was too because the horse that moved in there after Indy moved was a pain in the butt. His name is Shadow and he's an old, cranky, grey Arab. As soon as he moved in, he took one sniff of me and started squealing and kicking the walls! I didn't even do anything. Everyone says I'm a nice neighbor. I always get along with other horses and all I did was try to sniff noses. He was a jerk and he made me nervous. Every time I moved, he'd squeal and kick. It got so bad that I started kicking too. Plus I got bad about my food again. I used to be really nasty about my food and I'd make faces at my neighbors and rush at the bars of my stall so they wouldn't try to take it. It was silly, baby behavior but it was a Habit. Well, it kind of came back when Shadow was there and my mom was upset. She knew it was because of him but she still didn't like it.

Luckily, another stall opened up and Shadow moved into it. It was Chip's stall on the end. Chip went to a new barn with his mom. I miss him but I know he's happy there. He has a nice pasture to live in and lots of friends. I see him on Facebook sometimes so I know he's okay. It's not like it is sometimes when horses move but you don't know it until you just don't ever see them anymore. My mom told me he was moving, and he knew he was too. We got to have some nice turnouts together before he left and that was good. Then I saw him get on his Trailer and go so I didn't wonder where he was. This is me and Chip in one of our turnouts together. We were playing with a whip. That's what I liked about Chip - he loved to play with stuff like I do.

Dooley is like that too, though. We've become good friends. Even though he was Sparky's friend first, he's mine too now. I like his mom, too. She's my Doctor sometimes. She's a carrot doctor, the kind who pokes you and pushes you and makes your hurty parts feel better. Chiropractor. That's the word. But she also takes care of me sometimes. My mom takes care of Dooley some days and Dooley's mom takes care of me some days. It's nice. I had to get used to it at first. I was kind of upset. I wondered where my mom was and acted kind of sassy. But Dooley's mom told me to behave and she also gave me treats and carrots and stuff so it wasn't so bad and now I like it because it's like having two moms. Dooley and I both mooch treats from both of them. It works out well.

Anyway, Dooley loves to play. He has lots of toys in his stall just like I do in mine. He used to have a pair of his mom's old pants hanging near his bars and we'd play with those all the time. I'd get hold of them and pull them through to my side, then he'd pull them back to his. One day, I pulled them right down and put them in my water bucket. That was fun. But his mom finally took them down for good because we kept pulling them down after that so now we play with my food bucket.

My mom got me some buckets that are soft instead of hard. They're easy to pick up and throw around and you can stomp on them and they don't break, they just bend. I like to toss it around my stall when I eat because it mixes up the food and helps me find the carrots. Usually I end up spilling my food on the floor and eating it there. Then I bring the bucket outside and play with it in my paddock. I'll throw it over the fence and then Dooley gets to play with it too. It's lots of fun. We tease each other with it and throw it back and forth. Grace thinks we're silly but she just doesn't know how to play properly.

We've also had a lot of Rats this year. My mom thinks it's because of the drought. That's when you don't have enough rain. I don't know what it is but I do know the Rats have been terrible. For a while, they were going into Dooley's stall and chewing on his hooves! Dooley is just too nice. He loves little animals. Well, I do too but I draw the line when they start chewing on me! Dooley said it didn't hurt and they just wanted to nibble. But one of them finally came in my stall and nibbled on me and I didn't like it at all! I warned the Rat and told it to go bother someone else but it didn't listen so I finally stomped it. Rats aren't like buckets - they don't just bounce back when you stomp them. They just die.

Our moms were really happy when they found that dead Rat in my paddock. I got treats and pets and got to graze a lot. The Rats still go in Dooley's stall sometimes but they keep away from mine.

I haven't been riding much. My mom is in Law School and apparently that takes more time than a Job does. She's always too busy to ride so we go for walks or she turns me out. She says we're going to move soon and I'm going to live in a big paddock with another horse. She says I'll have room to run around. I'm kind of excited about that but a little nervous about living with another horse all the time. I guess we'll see how it goes. If it's a horse like Chip or Dooley, it could be fun.