Back at our old barn

I'm really a rotten blogger. I just get so busy! But right now I don't have any shoes on so I'm not doing much. I'll tell you how that came to be but first I'll tell you about our move. That's my nose sticking out of the Trailer up there on Moving Day.

All of us really liked the place where we were with its big pasture. It had lots of nice places to graze or to nap or to stand in the shade. The herd was quite nice too. A couple of the mares were bossy but Sparky says that's how mares are supposed to be. They weren't very bossy to me. In fact, they seemed to like me and I got used to standing with some of them, swishing flies off each other or standing on guard while they napped. Then I'd lay down and take a nap and they'd guard me. That's how it's done in a herd. Everyone has to take part in keeping the herd safe.

Sometimes we'd see Wild Animals. There were Deer, which are very pretty. I used to see deer at our old barn but only from my stall or a turnout. I was never in the same area where I was able to really see them or get close enough to sniff them. They didn't let me sniff them in the pasture either but I could sniff where they'd been. They smell very wild. They're small, smaller than horses, with tiny, thin legs and delicate noses. But they're very strong. You can tell. They have solid muscles in their body and especially their neck and hind parts. When they run, they sort of bounce and they go very fast, even the little ones. I liked seeing the Deer.

There was also a Bobcat. It was a girl Bobcat - you could tell because she had Bobkittens. They were cute but kind of scary. The Bobcat was lots bigger than a regular cat and it would sometimes catch the Chickens and eat them. Sparky said that Bobcats won't hurt horses but if I ever saw one that had a long tail, I should watch out because that's not a Bobcat, it's a Mountain Lion and they do eat horses. Well, I don't want to be eaten. It sounds awful and for awhile after he told me that, I felt kind of bad about grazing because I thought the grass might feel the same way. But Dooley said I was silly and grass can't tell if it's being eaten or not so I felt better. I was glad too because I really like grass.

It was a great pasture. Sometimes our moms would come and call us and we'd see them way down below by the gate. I'd whinny happily but Dooley said that sometimes it's better not to go when they call us because then they'd get to come out to where we were and see how nice the pasture was and how happy we were. So we'd wait for them and they'd get to take a nice walk up the hill and spend some time outdoors. Dooley says it's important to make sure your mom gets good exercise and that makes sense. After all, my mom makes sure I get good exercise so it's only fair that I do the same for her.

Sometimes we'd get new horses in the pasture. Chance was one of them. He's a black Arab and when he moved in, he was kind of dumb. He didn't know how to behave in a pasture. Sparky tried to teach him. This is Sparky telling him to stop being silly.

The only problem there was that I couldn't seem to keep my shoes on. My mom got a new Shoe Man for me and I really like him and she does too. He's very careful with my feet and makes sure my hoofs are nicely trimmed and balanced. He'd put beautiful new shoes on me and I'd feel so good but within a week, I'd lose one. Then my hoof would break and chip and there would be nail holes in it which would make it hard to put another shoe on so the shoe would come off even easier.

My mom was getting frustrated and she said my feet were very dry. Dooley's mom said his were too and that was unusual because Dooley never has problems with his feet. Even my doctor said they were too dry. So our moms started spraying water on our feet and then putting smelly oily stuff on and that helped a little but I still dropped shoes. My mom said it was because of the soil. She said the soil in that particular valley was made up of something called Alum which is very dry and pulled the moisture out of my feet. She and Dooley's mom decided it was time to move again.

We didn't know that we were moving but we did know something was up. You can always tell with people. They can't hide anything. For one thing, they started pulling out that stupid Trailer and asking me to get on it. Well, I don't trust Trailers. As you know, I had a Bad Experience when we moved the first time and I've never felt comfortable in them since. My mom worked and worked with me on several occasions over a couple of weeks leading up to the move. Some days I'd go right on. Other days I didn't want anything to do with the darn thing. But she kept trying. It was very dumb and I didn't like it one bit.

The boys were nervous too. We all stayed together in a little group because we were afraid if we didn't, they'd take one of us away and we'd never see each other again. I've heard of that happening to other horses. And I've had friends leave in a Trailer and never come back. Chance left one day. And a long time ago, my friend Cozzie left. We didn't want that happening to us but when your mom comes and gets only one of you out, you have to go. It's Manners.

Sparky's girl was upset too. That was obvious. She'd sometimes come to the pasture and just hug him and cry. And when she rode him, he said she was extra sweet and loving to him. He was very upset. He didn't like to see her cry and he'd put his head and neck around her body and try to make her feel better but he said that just made it worse. He didn't know what to do. It was a very trying time for all of us.

Then one day, my mom and Dooley's mom pulled out the Trailer again. I figured they were just going to work on loading again so I wasn't too worried. But then they took Spark and Dooley out, put them on the Trailer and drove away! It was horrible. I knew they weren't just going for a trail ride. I could just tell. And here I was, left all alone in the pasture. Well, all alone except for the herd.

They were gone a long time. When they came back, they got me. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to go in the stupid Trailer but I wanted to be with my brothers. It was so upsetting. They worked and worked on loading me but I was too wound up. At first, I'd put my two front feet in and they seemed pretty happy with that but then they wanted me to put all my feet in. I'd start to but then I'd back out again. And the more I backed out, the less I wanted to go in. It went on and on and on.

Finally, it got dark out. I put my front feet in and stood there and my mom patted my neck and said that was enough. She was tired, I was tired, Dooley's mom was tired. She put me back in the pasture and they left.

That was a long night. I'd never been in a pasture for a whole night with my brothers. I was lonely and scared and wondered where they were and if they were okay. I knew my mom would try to get me in the Trailer again the next day and I didn't want to do it. But I didn't want to be alone either. I was pretty miserable. I almost lost my appetite! But I managed to eat. It's important to keep your strength up.

The next day, my mom got me out and led me to the Trailer. I immediately knew that something was up. There were two other people there, the woman who gives lessons to Sparky and his girl and another lady I remembered from our last barn. They had lunge lines tied to either side of the Trailer, making a sort of chute that led to that dumb open door. They each held a lunge whip. I wondered if I was in trouble.

My mom led me to the door of the Trailer. As always, I walked right up to it. Then she asked me to step up - that's what she says. "Step up." I put one hoof in then I backed up. Immediately, the lunge lines started slapping my sides. I tried to back up some more but I couldn't because my mom had my head facing that trailer and she wouldn't let me.

Well, I tried everything I could think of to outsmart that bunch. I tried ducking to either side but the lunge lines blocked my way and if I got too far over, they'd poke me with a lunge whip handle. I tried rearing but no one was impressed. I tried bouncing and pulling and twirling but I couldn't because my mom was just calmly in the Trailer encouraging me to come in while everyone outside was making life very unpleasant.

It finally got to be too much. After an hour of this, I stepped onto the trailer and just stood there. My mom petted me and told me I was a Good Girl. There was a hay net in there with Alfalfa in it so that was nice. They closed the door and then Dooley's mom came in and slowly and carefully pushed a bar thing over to make a sort of stall at the front of the trailer. It made me stand sort of slanted with my head near the hay net. I didn't mind. It wasn't scary or anything which kind of surprised me.

Then they all stood around and talked for about forever while I stood in the Trailer wondering if we were ever going to go anywhere. Finally my mom and Dooley's mom got in the truck and we started going. I discovered that I could poke my nose out the open spots and the wind made my nostrils flap and that was fun. So it was okay.

When we stopped and I got off, I discovered that I was back at the first barn I'd lived at when I came to live with my mom! I remembered it very well. They put me in the Pony Arena to trot around and relax then my mom took me to a stall. I didn't stay in the stall too long though. After a couple of weeks, she put me in a small pasture with two other horses. They're okay. They're both geldings. One is a dark bay gelding named Kass and the other is a Paint named Freedom. They were kind of dumb when I first moved in. They chased me a little and were crabby about the hay. But we're friends now. It's pretty nice. And I found Sparky and Dooley. They're back in the pasture they used to live in. I can't live with them because they don't let mares live in it which is stupid but it's the Rules. So I have my own little pasture.

And here's Sparky and Dooley. They said that when they arrived, the first pasture horse to greet them was Chance! His mom had moved him to the same place. So we all had a friend we knew which was nice.

Since then we've seen a few other horses that we remember from before. One of them is Favre who was always a special friend of Spark's. He's kind of sweet on me now. Every time he sees me he gets a goofy look in his eyes and he wants to sniff me all over and nibble on my neck. So we're all settled in and pretty happy. My mom has brought me out Trail Riding a bunch of times and I love it! It's kind of nice being grown up.