Things That Happened

Walk with my mom

2012-01-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

My mom and I had kind of a nice ride today. The weather has cleared up and it's sunny and nice again so the arenas have pretty much dried up. She got to the barn today while I was outside in my paddock having a little nap.

I love to nap. Lots of times I lie down to nap in my stall but I also like to nap outside in the sunshine and when I do that, I do it standing up. Horses can, you know. Sparky told me that it's an evolutionary thing that helps keep us safe from predators. Well, I don't really know what evolutionary means and I'm not sure about predators either but Sparky explained that being able to sleep standing up lets horses run away quickly if a Mountain Lion or something tries to eat it.

I asked him what a Mountain Lion was and he just looked really serious and told me I didn't want to know. So I guess they're pretty scary. They'd have to be if they eat horses. I can't imagine anything being big and scary enough to eat me.

Usually after my breakfast, I take a nice nap in my stall. I lie down in my shavings and curl right up and sleep soundly. When Sparky was next door to me, he did what he called standing guard when I did that. He says that's what the pasture horses do. When one or two of them lie down to take a nap, the rest of them stand guard and keep an eye out for danger. It was nice of Sparky to stand guard for me and I would have been glad to do it for him if I'd know what I was doing. I don't really know what's dangerous and what's not though. Sparky says I'd get eaten in five minutes if I lived in a pasture because I'm not afraid of anything and I just want to sniff things and explore them instead of running away from them. He sometimes laid down to take a nap in his stall but he always asked Raz to stand guard instead of me.

Anyway, today I was outside napping when my mom got here and I woke right up and was waiting at my stall door when she got to it. She pulled me right out and got my brush box so I figured we were going to do something fun. She groomed me really well and then put my Wintec saddle on me and we went out into the Flat Arena to ride.

There were a couple of other people riding horses out there so we just used the upper part of it while they worked at the other end. I was pretty distracted at first. I love watching other horses working and I generally want to go visit them and sniff noses and stuff even though I know I'm not supposed to when I'm working. I just like to make new friends and I didn't know either one of those horses though I'd seen them around. There was a man and a woman riding and the man just sat on his horse in the middle of the arena and told the woman what to do as she rode around him. So I guess he was giving her a Lesson.

It was pretty fun watching because the horse she was riding knew how to do some pretty neat things. She'd make him canter and he'd canter in a nice circle around the man and the other horse and then she'd just sit back a little and he'd stop dead. If she leaned back a little more once he was stopped, he'd back right up. Not like me, either. I know how to back up but I do it kind of slowly, one step at a time. This horse backed up just as fast as any horse does walking forward. It was fun to watch and I kind of wished I knew how to do that.

After a while though, I stopped watching because my mom was asking me to do things that I had to think about. She asked me to do some square corners for one thing, and then she was asking me to bend around the circle a little more than I have been. She was being really light on my mouth but very clear; she'd gently pull her inside rein back toward her middle while still keeping a hold on the outside rein so I didn't just bend my head around. I had to bend my whole body and she was using her legs to help me do it. The leg on the inside sort of helped me figure out where to bend and her outside leg pushed on me further back so my butt didn't pop outwards.

It doesn't seem like much but it's hard work to make good circles. At first, they were pretty crazy but we got so we were making them nice and round and that was kind of nice. Then my mom started asking me to do Shoulder In along the straight sides and we did that for a while too.

Finally, she asked me to trot. I gave kind of a big bounce and broke into a trot for several paces then kind of lurched to a halt. I'm out of practice and I get going too fast and when she tries to steady me, I lose my concentration and walk instead. It's easier when we have the whole arena to use. I need the space to get settled and relaxed. We tried a couple of more times but I was mostly bouncing. Then some more people came into the arena so she took me out and we headed down the road to do a Poop Loop.

I was excited. We haven't done loops for a while and with the cool weather and stuff, I just get bouncy. My mom just sat quietly in the saddle which helped settle me but I still kept getting a little goofy. I'd start jigging and bouncing and she'd sit deep and talk to me, telling me to relax and calm down. So I'd settle down again until the next time.

When we got to the turn by the Rolling Arena, I got pretty tense. I always seem to get excited there. I just want to run up the hill and buck and play even though I know I'm not supposed to. My mom made me walk nicely past the Little Rolling Arena where the Vaulting Horses were cantering around with all the little kids jumping on their backs but then she turned me around and rode me back toward our barn instead of up the hill.

I was a little confused by that but I soon settled down to a good, fast walk. My mom doesn't mind when I walk fast, it's just the bouncing that she doesn't approve of. We walked back past our barn and then started up the hill by the pasture and that's where I got excited again. I just like to run up hills. I can't help it. But as soon as I started getting silly, she turned me around and made me walk nicely down to the tack boxes. Then we turned and approached the hill again.

This time I didn't bounce so much but I was still excited and I couldn't help trying to trot up. My mom sat deep and tried to steady me without tightening up on the reins and I was pretty good until we got about halfway up. I was going sort of sideways and jigging a bit but then I got a little mad and impatient and started trying to trot again so we finished up by trotting/jigging sideways the rest of the way.

My mom got me back into a walk then but I was pretty hot and excited so she got off. I feel bad sometimes but I just can't help myself. And my mom tries to work with me. She tries not to make the reins tight for instance because that just makes me more anxious. Sometimes just being able to go forward and feeling my mom's deep seat will settle me but sometimes I just get so excited that I can't even focus on that. At that point, I don't blame her for getting off because she can get my attention better from the ground.

That's how it was today. At first I was still anxious and bouncy and wanted to rush and trot and stuff but she just stood still and let me move around her while she talked to me and eventually her voice got through to me and I stopped. She had me drop my head and she let me sniff the ground and when I'd relaxed a little bit, she led me on. We walked the rest of the Poop Loop like that and every time I got over-excited, she helped me settle down again before we moved on. It was actually pretty nice. We saw Indian and his mom in the Gremlin Arena and stopped to visit with them. And we passed some other people with their horses. It was a good walk and by the time we got back to the barn, I was a lot more relaxed. My mom says we'll do more of that because it's Good for me.

My dinner hay was waiting for me when we got to my stall so I got to eat that while my mom cleaned my stall. Then she put me to bed and gave me my bucket dinner. It was a nice day.

New trick and a new toy

2012-01-25T18:41:00.000-08:00

I am so glad the Holidays are over with! My mom gets so busy with her Job - whatever it is - and she's usually too tired to help me blog. I can't do it by myself. While I can type pretty well, I do need an editor; the keys on any computer are just too small for perfect accuracy no matter how clever a nose you have. Besides, my mom doesn't allow me to use my electronics unsupervised. She says I'm too rough on them. I admit, I did ruin my iPhone pretty quickly but that's only because touch screens aren't made to withstand hooves. I'm lots more careful with my Macbook but she says she's taking no chances. I guess I can't blame her. She IS the one who pays for this stuff.

Anyway, things have settled back to normal now and I decided it was a good time to do some catching up. Winter has really arrived here in California. It's been very cold and last week we finally got some hard rain. The very day it started, my mom showed up at the barn with a bunch of interesting bundles and I nosed curiously at them, anxious to see what they were. It turned out they were blankets, one for me and one for Sparky, and also a soft fleecy cooler.

Now I'm not a big fan of blankets. Actually, I hate wearing them. I can't feel my nice, cozy shavings when I lay down in them if I'm wearing a blanket, and they feel funny all strapped on me. Most of the time my mom doesn't bother trying to put one on me and I'm generally fine without, even if it's raining. Sometimes though, if it's very wet and cold, and the wind is blowing, she insists and I have to put up with it. I'm pretty rough on them though. The blanket I had was ripped and ratty and kind of falling apart. My mom and Sparky's mom had put it on him because he's living out in the pasture again and he gets cold, but it was pretty pathetic and held together mostly with that string they pull off the hay.

So on the day she brought the new blankets, she brought Spark in and tied him near my stall and pulled that nasty old blanket right off him. Then she opened up one of the packages and pulled out a nice new blue blanket. She let him sniff it and then put it on him. It looked so nice! Sparky looks especially good in blue and this blanket fit him like it was made for him. The old one was too big even for me, and so it was really big and baggy on Spark. This one hung perfectly over his body, with a nice flap over his tail, and straps that fit comfortably around his belly and between his hind legs. He was really happy - I could see it right away. It's one of those blankets that doesn't let the rain get through so it keeps you dry, plus it's extra warm. He went back out to the pasture with a bounce in his walk and all his friends had to sniff his new blanket all over and admire it.

Then my mom tried mine on me. I was kind of fussy and mad because of my dislike of blankets but I had to admit it was nice. It fit lots better than my old one, and that made it feel better on me. And it was nice and warm. I was mad when she made me keep it on all night but after she left, the rain started coming down very hard and the wind was blowing right into my stall. My mom knows I hate to have my paddock door shut but in that blanket I was a cozy as I would have been shut up in my stall with a heater on! I decided then and there that blankets weren't really that bad after all and the next day when my mom took it off me to turn me out, I was perfectly happy to have her put it back on! I wore it all week while the rain kept up but yesterday she took it off me because it's gotten nice out again and I'm happy about that too.

I wasn't sure what the cooler was for at first. It seemed like just another blanket and while I liked it because it was soft, I didn't know why we needed it. But then I went out for a turnout and did a lot of running and got all sweaty and hot. My mom brought me back to my stall but instead of just standing around getting cold until I dried off, she put the cooler on me. It stretches up over my neck so even that gets covered and it's so soft and warm! The soft material helps my coat to dry off and the blanket keeps me from getting chilled when the cool air blows against my wet body. It was so nice and it worked really quickly. I was dry in no time and lots more comfy when my mom took off the cooler and put me away.

She turned me out instead of riding me because she realized I was sore. It started just a little while ago. At first it was just annoying but then it got so it really hurt and I started getting fussy when we rode. My mom has gotten so she notices pretty fast when I'm feeling ouchy. First she noticed that I was overreaching on one side. That's when your back foot reaches up so far when you walk that it hits your front foot. She talked to my Shoe Man about it and he checked my feet but couldn't find anything to explain it. Then she noticed that I was cantering funny in the Round Pen. Instead of leading with the same side leg front and back, I was leading with one side in the front and the other side in the back. We call that Cross Cantering. That's when she had Dooley's mom come look at me.

Dooley's mom is a Carrot Doctor - a chiropractor. I like Dooley's mom a lot. She always calls me Sweetie and pets my nose. And she makes me feel lots better. She touched me all over and it hurt in a lot of places. I thought it was important to let her and my mom know so I stamped around a lot and tried to bite them. I was just trying to help. I didn't want them to think it didn't hurt, after all. Then how would they help me?

Dooley's mom went to work and she adjusted my back in a bunch of places. She adjusted my hip on one side which felt really good - I got the idea and leaned right into it when she did that. She also adjusted my withers. I felt a lot better when she was done so the next day my mom and I did some riding.

But something just wasn't right. I wasn't fully happy riding and I let my mom know it. She was a little annoyed with me I think but soon realized it wasn't because I was being Bad. She stayed off me for a few days and then brought Dooley's mom back. This time, she examined me even more thoroughly. She found some other places that needed adjusting - in my shoulders and neck especially - and that really made a difference. I remember when she adjusted one spot, it felt so good that I just bounced up on my hind legs in place. I wasn't really trying to rear, I just needed to bounce. After she was done, I felt like I had to stretch my head out and lick and chew a lot - it made me feel all tingly but in a good way.

Then she and my mom got my saddle and put it on me. They poked at it and felt underneath it and Dooley's mom even put a flexible metal strap across my back and compared it with the shape of my saddle. Both of them decided that the saddle fit me just fine and since I was all adjusted, I should be all right.

Well, I wasn't though.

My mom saddled me up a couple of days later and we rode in the dressage arena. She was teaching me a new trick called Shoulder In. It's a hard one to learn but I got it pretty quickly. You have to walk down the long side of the arena and when your mom asks you, you have to bend your body slightly so that your inside front leg is moving along a line that's outside and parallel to your other legs. Your outside front leg is on the same line as your inside hind and your outside hind is on its own track. Your back legs have to be moving along straight but your front end has that slight bend to it.

It's really hard work. It takes a lot of muscle and concentration to move like that and get it right but as soon as I realized what I was supposed to do, I was determined to get it. As soon as we got to the corner leading to that long side, I'd get all ready and focused. I'd start grinding my teeth and mouthing my bit like I do when I'm working really hard at something and then my mom would ask and I'd carefully maneuver my body the right way. It was pretty easy to the left -that's my good side - but it was lots harder to the right and I never did manage it on that first session. My mom was really happy with me anyway though and I was pretty happy with myself. I love to learn new tricks.

I was so busy concentrating on the work that I really didn't notice how uncomfortable I was. We only worked at a walk and that's pretty easy no matter what. But then a couple of days ago, she rode me again and this time asked me to trot. I broke right into a nice trot but as soon as I did, I felt uncomfortable and my head came up and my back hollowed out and I lurched to a stop. My mom kept asking me to move forward but I didn't even want to walk then and I'm afraid I was pretty bad. I kept refusing to move and laying my ears back and threatening to buck and stuff. I just didn't want to be uncomfortable.

I think at first she thought I was just being a brat. After all, I'd just had my back worked on and my saddle seemed to fit. But there's just something about it that's not quite right. I can't even explain it. It's not horrible, not like it was before it was restuffed, but it's enough to bother me. I'll admit I'm a little bit of a Diva, as my mom calls me. Sparky tells me I should be more stoic and not react to little things but I just can't help it. If something's not quite right, if my mane is tucked under my saddle pad, if there's shavings underneath it or if my girth is a little off from where it usually is, I just can't stand it! It drives me crazy and I can't focus on anything else.

My mom finally realized what was going on. She made me walk a circuit of the arena because I have to obey her after all, but then she got off and brought me to my stall. She wasn't mad at me and she apologized for making me wear a hurty saddle and not understanding quicker. So that was nice. I poked my nose in her chest and apologized for being Bad. I do love my mom.

I thought she might have Dooley's mom come out again or maybe have the Saddle Fitter come see us but instead she rode me with my old saddle today, the one she calls the Wintec. As soon as she got on me, I felt so much better. That saddle fits me really well and I was able to stretch my shoulders right out and walk on. She could tell I was happy too and that made her happy although she was sad about the other saddle. I know she loves it and I usually do too. But maybe my Saddle Fitter can fix it.

We worked on Shoulder In again today and I remembered how to do it really well even though it's been several days. We did it lots of times to the left and then we changed direction and started going to the right. I was immediately a little tense. I just don't bend as well that way and I'm not as comfortable. My mom didn't ask me to try a Shoulder In though. Instead she rode me a few circuits and then began to ride me in a large circle.

At first, it was a pretty terrible circle. I kept kind of bending to the outside instead of to the inside but she kept pushing with her legs and seat and gradually, I got a better at it. Then one time as we came around the circle toward the rail, she gave me the cue to do a Shoulder In just as we got on the rail. I was already kind of bent to do the circle and when she asked me, I realized that I could do it in that direction too! I stepped along carefully, bending a bit and trying to keep my back legs where they belong while my mom kept saying, "Good, good, good," with every step. She only had me do it for about three steps - it is hard work - but she was really happy with me and I was happy too. I knew I'd done it right and I was excited to be able to do it that way. I was all ready to try again when we rounded the turn and headed up the other side. Sure enough, she asked me and I got it right off!

She was so proud of me! She petted me a lot and called me a Good Girl. It was really fun - I love learning new things and getting them right, and I love it when my mom is happy with me. We did a little more work on it and then she let me relax my neck and stretch. Then she asked me to trot.

I popped right into a happy fast trot and felt so good about it that I tried to break into a bouncing, almost-bucking canter! My mom laughed and pulled me back to the trot but I know she was happy because I wasn't hurting. It felt really good. Then Sparky and his mom came back from riding a Poop Loop so we showed them how good I did a Shoulder In and after that we finished up for the day.

That would have made for a great day all by itself but when I got to my stall, I discovered another surprise. Hanging near the middle of it was a new toy! As you know, I love toys and I have several. I have my Ball Toy hanging near Indy's stall and I love to stand with my head against it when I'm sad or mad or feeling upset. But I also like to just brush by it or bonk into it to make it swing. It makes me feel nice to know my Ball Toy is always there. It's kind of like a friend.

I also have a Ball Toy out in my paddock. This one is bigger and sort of soft. I sometimes bonk it and push it through the bars of the paddock fence. Sometimes I poop on it. It's kind of fun to back up to it and see if I can hit it just right. It's a game I play. Sparky thought it was disgusting but Warren thinks it looks like fun.

In my stall, near the door, I have a set of Keys. My mom carries her Keys on a loop of her pants and I've always liked to play with them so she got me my own Keys. They're bigger than hers so they're easier to grab and they're fun and clatter around when I play with them. I also like to play with the thing my stall snacks go in. It's made out of the same kind of stuff as my Keys and I can bash it around and make it swing and make noise. I like to make noise with things.

Not long ago, my mom brought me another toy. She calls it a Milk Jug and she hung it up near Warren's stall. It's fun. I can bite at it, or make it swing, or bash it. It makes a neat noise and it's easy to bite on so I can sort of squash it with my teeth. I love my toys.

This new toy is really neat. It's round like a donut and it looks and smells a lot like the round things on my mom's car or on the wheeled bucket - the things that make it roll. I think they're called Tires. Yes, Indy just said, they're Tires. So it's shaped like a Tire and it smells like one too. It hangs from the ceiling and it has a thick rope with a big knot hanging from it. The rope is easy to grab with my mouth and it feels nice when I chew it. And the Tire is made out of sort of hard but sort of soft stuff that I can bite without just eating it up. It makes it easy to grab it and play with it and it swings really easily because it's hanging away from the walls and stuff. When I first smelled it, it even smelled a little like Chip because my mom let him sniff it and he put it in his mouth and chewed on it a little bit. I don't mind. I love Chip and I'm happy to share toys with him. When we go out together, we like to play with old whips together. That's what the picture of us on my last post shows us doing.

I mentioned Indy a minute ago. I should tell you that I got to go out with her a couple of times too. That was fun. Indy is nice. She wasn't quite ready to play too much but I think she'll get the idea eventually. She's used to going out with Warren and she says he's kind of mean to her so she was afraid I'd be mean to her too. I wouldn't do that though. I just want to play. I love to play with my friends.

I got to go out with Indian not to long ago too. That was so much fun! I hadn't been out with him for so long and I missed him a lot. We went out in the Little Fence Arena and we ran and ran and ran - I love going out with Indian because he likes to run just like me. Chip likes to play the way I play but Indian likes to run the way I run. I got all hot and sweaty and had a wonderful time, and I got to sniff noses with him and just be close together like we like to do. It's not the same being with a horse when you have a fence or a stall door between you. Horses like to be close together so they can sniff each other all over, and groom each other and just be as close as possible. That's why Spark likes living in the pasture.

Well, I guess that brings us up to the present. Now that my mom isn't so busy, I should be able to blog more.

Me and Chip

2011-12-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

I'm just awful these days about keeping up with my blog! I just get so busy and then I get sidetracked and the next thing I know, a bunch of time has gone by. I really have to be better about it.

A lot's been going on and I'll try to catch you up on it. My mom and I have been working a lot together and it's been pretty fun. Most days I've behaved really well though I have been a bit bouncy now and then. Sometimes, especially when the weather is cool, it's hard not to bounce. But my mom has been pretty happy with me.

We work a lot in the Flat Arena. I've gotten so I like the sort of stuff we do there. It's fun. I have to pay attention and do all the things my mom asks me when she asks. It's like a game and I love games. Sometimes we trot but we don't just trot around the edge of the arena. Lots of times, we trot in figure 8's or in circles. Sometimes we trot around square corners or do serpentines. I never know what she's going to ask for next so it's kind of exciting.

Cantering is exciting too of course. I never know when she's going to ask me to do that too and it's always fun when she does. I'm really good about going right into a canter from a trot and sometimes I do it from a walk although usually she's asking me for a trot when I do that.

Lots of times there are other horses and riders working in the arena. That can be distracting but I try to be good. I've gotten a lot better about staying focused on my mom instead of watching what everyone else is doing. Yesterday we rode with Warren and his mom, and Indy and her mom. That was fun. It was a really windy day but we were all being Good Horses and not bouncing and our moms were happy with us. My mom asked me to trot while the other two were still warming up and I broke into a nice smooth trot that I could tell made her very happy. Then they started trotting too and all three of us were trotting around the arena, crossing in front of each other in figure 8's and doing circles and stuff but not running into each other. It was fun.

After a while, Indy and her mom stopped and just stood in the middle of the arena while Warren and I continued working. My mom asked me for a couple of things and I did them really well and then she stopped me near Indy and she and Indy's mom started talking while us horses just stood there resting. Warren was still working and after a while his mom asked him to canter some but Indy and I just continued to stand nicely. Our moms were happy with that too because we weren't trying to go run with Warren.

I like both those horses but Warren can be kind of dumb sometimes because he doesn't pay any attention when I'm trying to visit with him. I hate that! I get so mad at him because I'll want to get excited about the hay truck, or about my mom coming, or that sort of thing, and he's just standing there being dumb. Lots of times I rush at the bars between our stalls with my ears back because it makes me so mad! But other times he's nice.

Nicest of all though is Chip and I finally got to turn out together a bunch of times! I was so happy. Me and Chip have been friends for a long time but we've never had a chance to just be with each other loose. Last week though, his mom was away and my mom took care of him. One day she turned him out in the Round Pen and then she came and got me! I was excited and so was Chip. We stood and sniffed noses for a long time, then we sniffed each other all over and squealed a little bit. Then both of us suddenly bounced and bucked and ran across the Round Pen! It was so fun! We didn't keep running though - we just wanted to be close to each other so we just walked around together, sniffing noses a lot and nudging each other.

My mom let us stay out a long time and we were both really happy about it. After that, she turned us out together almost every day. One day we ran and played and kicked up our heels a lot but most days we just enjoyed each others' company. One time my mom left her lunge whip in the middle of the Round Pen and we had so much fun with that! Me and Chip both love to play with things and pick them up with our mouths so we both stood there grabbing that whip and trying to pick it up. Then one of us would grab the whippy part while the other had the sticky part and that was fun too. Chip knows how to play with things like that. Lots of other horses just don't. Like Sparky. He's lots of fun to turn out with and I love him lots but he just wants to bite my butt and try to bunch me and that's not nearly as much fun as playing with a whip.

My mom took lots of pictures of us together so I'm going to post one of my favorites. I sure hope I can go out with Chip some more. We both like it a lot.

Weather's changing

2011-11-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

It's suddenly cooled off pretty dramatically. Luckily I have a nice, fuzzy winter coat so I don't mind. My mom says that all the horses got heavy coats early this year and it does seem like we're especially fluffy. Even Sparky, who doesn't normally get that heavy a coat, is shaggy as a Shetland. My mom thinks we might have an especially cold winter because of that. She thinks us horses know. That wouldn't surprise me. Horses are pretty smart.

I like the cooler weather though. It makes me frisky and being frisky is fun. Yesterday my mom and Sparky's mom took the two of us to the Pony Arena for a turnout and it was wonderful! We bounced and played and ran! I was especially excited. As soon as I got in there and my mom let me loose, I went tearing across the arena bucking and bouncing and trying to get Spark to play. He wanted to roll first of course - he always wants to roll first - and I waited impatiently while he did it but as soon as he came up, I charged around again, pawing at him and begging him to run with me. He did then, and we had some good fun.

It was such a good turnout! At one point, after we'd settled down a bit, we heard a funny noise from behind the fence. On one side of that arena, the fence is solid and it's covered with viney things growing all over it. It's kind of scary because you can't see what's behind it and sometimes weird noises come from that direction. Yesterday the noises sounded kind of like birds but not any kind of bird I'm familiar with. My mom said later they were Chickens but I don't know what a Chicken is and neither does Spark. We were curious though and we started carefully toward that fence but just as we were getting kind of close, the Chickens made noises again and it spooked us both good! We ran, with our tails up and our nostrils wide open, snorting. Oh, it was fun! Sometimes it's fun to spook, especially when you're pretty sure you're safe because your mom's right there.

Then some people went by running and that spooked us again so we were all excited and bouncy when a man came leading a pretty mare. He obviously wanted to turn her out so our moms came in to get us. Spark settled down quickly - he seems to be able to do that but it's harder for me for some reason. I was still awfully frisky and dancy when my mom got me to the gate. She knew I was going to be a handful and had a good hold of my halter. She was telling me firmly, "Walk, Belly, just walk" but I burst out of that gate like it was the starting gate at the Belmont Stakes. I was twirling and bouncing and I even kind of struck just a little bit.

My mom was firm with me and kept bringing me around in circles and when I finally settled down enough to really listen to her, she snapped at me, "Now, HO!" and made me back up several steps. That kind of brought me to my senses and made me pay closer attention to her. I was still prancing as we moved on but I stopped twirling and being Bad.

All this time, Spark was being a Good Boy which was lucky because his mom was carrying her new Dog. It's a cute little Dog named Menace and I got to sniff it. I like it - well, I guess it's a "him" and not an "it." He's nice. He trots around while we eat and stuff and he's not really afraid of us now though he was a bit at first. He's only small - he doesn't even come up to my knees - so Sparky's mom and my mom can just carry him around if they want. I like having a Dog around. He's another friend for us.

Anyway, I was pretty good on the walk back to our barn but still pretty lively so my mom put me in the Round Pen while Spark and his mom went on to the barn. She didn't chase me or anything, just let me run around and get my energy out and that made me feel a lot better. By the time she came to get me, I'd settled right down and she petted me and scratched me for a while before bringing me to my stall where my dinner hay was waiting.

Part of the reason I was so bouncy is because I was In Heat. I've been In Heat before but this time it seemed a little different. Mares come In Heat sometimes and that means they smell really good to boy horses and they could have a foal if they were turned out with the right boy. When I was more of a baby, I just got kind of fussy and felt funny when I was In Heat but that was all. Now that I'm a Big Girl, I kind of wanted to get sniffed a lot and it made me feel all antsy and sassy. It was really hard to focus on anything but my mom seemed to understand and while she didn't put up with any foolishness, she didn't get mad at me either.

Even so, I still remembered to be good the day before when she rode me. I was In Heat then too and my mom noticed because she washed my butt. Then she saddled me up and took me out in the Flat Arena but not before I got to watch the Guys do some very interesting stuff in Warren's stall.

I was standing outside my stall, tied up like I often am, when two of the Guys who feed us and do work around the barns came along with a wheeled bucket and a shovel like my mom uses to pick up my poops. They stood there like they were waiting for something and then I saw one of the big machine truck things coming down the hill. It was the one that has a big scoop thing on the front of it and the scoop was filled with some kind of dirt. The Guys seemed to be concerned that I'd be scared but my mom who was grooming me at the time, told them I wouldn't be because I'm not afraid of anything. She sounded proud of me about that which was nice.

Well, the Scoop Machine thing came right up to the barn and turned so it could drive right under the roof of the aisle with the scoop pointing toward Warren's stall door. It was right in front of me, so close I could almost touch it with my nose but I wasn't afraid of it at all, even though it was very noisy. I'm not afraid of trucks and stuff because I've seen a lot of them and none of them has ever hurt a horse that I've known of. People are always sitting inside them so I think they can make them go where they want and of course they wouldn't make them run into a horse!

The Guys seemed to think it was cute that I was so interested - they were smiling at me and talking nicely to me which I liked. I kept poking my nose out trying to get a sniff of that dirt so finally my mom picked up a handful and let me smell it. It smelled a lot like the dirt in my paddock and sure enough, I saw later that Warren's paddock had a nice layer of it all smoothed out across it. So they were fixing his paddock with new dirt.

The Guys began shoveling the dirt into their wheeled bucket and pushing it through Warren's stall. Then they'd come back for more and when they used all the dirt, the Scoop Machine would leave and then come back with more. I could have stayed there all day watching but eventually my mom finished grooming me and saddled me up and we went out into the Flat Arena.

It was a really windy day that day. The trees and bushes that surround the Flat Arena were bending and swaying in the wind and it made weird noises rattling around in their leaves. I spooked one time - I heard a strange noise right next to the arena and it startled me - but my mom just talked to me and asked me to go on and so I did. Then she asked me to make a square corner and I forgot to pay attention to the wind because square corners can be tricky. You have to turn your body kind of quickly rather than the slow curve you do in a normal corner. It's not easy and I used to get stuck a lot but I'm getting better and better at it. After a few times, my mom began pushing with her inside leg when we hit the corner and I realized she was asking me to move my hindquarters over as I made the turn. That was pretty neat because when I did, it made the turn easier to do. I kind of began the turn, then she asked me to move my butt and I did and all of a sudden I was pointing straight down the next part of the arena.

We worked on that for a while and it was fun. I was really concentrating on it. I love learning these new things. They're getting more and more interesting and harder to do and it's a challenge to get them right. Now that I understand my mom's signals better, I can figure out what it is she's asking for so I'm catching on quicker and I don't get frustrated anymore. If I don't get it the first time, my mom will let me walk on or do something I know how to do and then we'll go back to it and try again. Usually I get it within a couple of tries.

After I got the idea of moving my hindquarters over, she rode me more into the middle of the arena and stopped me. Then she tapped me with one foot just behind the girth and said, "over." At first, I just focused on her foot and tried to move forward but she stopped me and did it again so I knew forward wasn't what she was looking for. Next, I tried going backwards but she put her legs on to keep me from going that way so I knew I was wrong again. Then she poked with that foot again and repeated the word "over" and it occurred to me that that's what she says to me when she's in my stall and she wants me to step sideways out of her way. So I took a step sideways with my back feet to see if that's what she wanted and she immediately took her leg off me and let me stand and petted and praised me so I knew I was right. The next time she poked me, I stepped right over and she let off the pressure and praised me again.

We did that a few times and every time I got it right, she was really happy with me. Then we tried it the other direction and I got that right too. So that was fun. She called it a turn on the forehand and said I did a really good job.

Then we walked around a little bit more and she directed me down the center line. When we were about halfway along, she moved her seat so it was pointing kind of to the right and opened up her right rein. She put a little pressure on my side with her left leg and I began moving forward and right at the same time because I know she likes me to go in the direction of her seat. She really liked that and I moved along for a good three or four strides before I got a little off balance. Then we did it the other way and she seemed happy with that too. She calls that one a leg yield.

We finished up our workout with some work on halt. I have a pretty good halt anyway - I know that I'm supposed to halt when my mom kind of "drops" her seat and says "ho" but sometimes it takes me a few steps to do. My mom wanted to get me to halt more quickly so we really worked on it, walking several strides and then stopping. A couple of times, she gave a light tug on the rein and said "ho" sharply and that made me stop quicker. I soon realized that's what she wanted so then I paid more attention to her cues and by the end of it all, I was stopping as soon as I felt her seat drop. She was really happy with me, especially since I'd paid so much attention to her even with the wind all exciting the way it was. When I was more of a baby, i would have bouncing my head off but now I'm six so I know I have a Job to do. And I like my Job.

When my mom unsaddled me and put me away, she told me that I'm starting to look like Kia out there. That was so nice to hear! I still remember Kia and how pretty she looked when she worked with her mom. That's all I really want, to be like her.

Canter work

2011-10-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

I have been having so much fun over the past couple of days and I simply have to tell you about it!

It started yesterday. My mom came out like she always does and she saddled me up and brought me out to the Flat Arena. We warmed up like we always do, by walking around the arena first one direction and then the other. My mom always starts out walking me on a pretty loose rein but by the end of my warm-up, she's gathered them up more. They're not tight at all but she has more contact - that's what she calls it when I can feel every move her hands are making and she can feel my mouth. Contact is something you have to get used to when you're a horse. When I first came to live with my mom, I didn't know anything about it and instead of just traveling lightly alone, I'd hang on the bit. That means I was sort of pulling against it. My mom says it's a common thing in former racehorses because when we run, our riders have a firm hold of us. In fact for racehorses, a tighter rein means to go faster.

My mom taught me not to hang on the bit by just letting the reins go loose. My head would drop nearly to the ground but I couldn't find any tightness to pull against. It made me feel kind of funny but I eventually got used to it and began picking my head up. Then my mom gently gathered up the reins and started feeling for a little contact. It was confusing to me at first. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to stop or go. One thing that helped was when she lunged me in side reins. She kept them very loose, and since they're stretchy, they didn't make me feel like my head was trapped, but they taught me that I could still move forward even when their was some contact on my mouth.

What's harder to learn though is how to Come On The Bit. I'm still just learning how to do that and it's hard work. It means that instead of just moseying along with your front legs out in front and your back legs sort of following, you really step under yourself with your back legs and use them to push your front part forward. In the process, you sort of push right into the bit and your mom can just touch your reins and you can feel what she wants. It takes a lot of muscle and coordination to learn how to move like that but I'm beginning to get the idea. Sometimes, I find myself pushing forward and reaching for that bit, especially when I'm trotting.

Well, yesterday after our warm-up, I figured we'd do more trot work and figure 8's and stuff because we've been doing a lot of work on that. But instead, my mom asked me to trot and when we reached the long side of the arena, she gave me the cue to canter! I was so happy. I love to canter. It's fun because it's sort of like galloping only more controlled and slower. I broke right into a nice canter and happily went down that whole side. When we reached the turn part, I got ready to slow down to a trot but my mom kept pushing me and I cantered most of the way around it until I just couldn't keep it up. It's hard to canter around a corner when you're carrying a rider. It takes a lot of balance and muscle and I'm not used to it. My mom was very happy with me though and I felt pretty good too.

I thought that was probably all we'd do but I was wrong. She kept asking for a canter and every time she encouraged me to keep going around the turn and to go as long as I could. It was so fun! I got a little excited at one point but she just tweaked my outside rein to steady me and as soon as I was going at a normal pace, she asked me again for that canter. After a while, we changed direction and worked on cantering the other way. That was even harder - I always do better when I'm going to the left for some reason but I kept trying and eventually I managed to canter reasonably well that way.

Finally I was beginning to get tired and my mom knew it. We hadn't been working for that long - not as long as we usually do on trotting - but since I'm not used to it, I was pretty worn out. We went for a nice Poop Loop then and that cooled me down and relaxed me nicely. I was pretty proud of myself and I knew my mom was pleased. Today we did some more canter work and it was even more fun because Sparky and his mom were in the arena with us. Spark and I trotted together and that was lots of fun. Then I cantered and Spark got to see how good I did it. He was proud of me too and sniffed my nose and rubbed his head on me to let me know. It was nice.

One time I even managed to canter all down one long side and all the way around the turn and partway up the other side. That was really fun. And when we finished, I got to go on a Poop Loop with Sparky and that was nice. So it's been an exciting and fun couple of days.

Bouncing weather

2011-10-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

What a difference a week makes! The weather has taken a real turn and it's now chilly and damp. Yesterday it rained a lot but today it was just breezy and cool and my mom and I went for a ride.

I was kind of excited when she arrived because Coco's old mom was there fussing with Sparky. I suppose Coco's old mom is nice, and Sparky seems to like her, but she makes me mad because she's always taking him away and then I'm left all alone with nothing to do. At least Sparky's mom pays some attention to me, and usually gives me some carrot or cookies or something. Sometimes she cleans my stall or turns me out. She doesn't just ignore me completely like Coco's old mom. I mean, she says hello to me but that's about it.

But yesterday my mom arrived while she was saddling up Sparky so I knew that I'd be doing something too so I was happy. She got me out and groomed me and tacked me up and we went out into the Flat Arena to work. We were still warming up when another person came into the arena on her horse. It was a nice chestnut mare I've seen around but never had a chance to talk to or learn her name. Her mom is one of those people who watches other people riding and yells at them - my mom calls her an Instructor and says that what she's doing is giving Lessons. Well, as I told you, Sparky has been going to Lessons with Coco's old mom and he says it's fun but that it's hard work. I would think it would be. I don't know if I'd like being yelled at like that.

Anyway, they walked around for a while and then started trotting. I kind of wanted to trot too just because they were but my mom let me know with her seat that we weren't trotting yet so I kept walking. And when I say I was walking, I mean I was walking and not stopping a lot. I kind of picked up a habit of doing that during our warm-up, mostly because it's so relaxed, and my mom rides with a long, loose rein during that time. I like to walk along and stop occasionally just to look around or relax. But a couple of rides ago, my mom started getting strict about that. I have to admit I'd gotten so I was doing it a lot and I suppose she got sick of if.

So on that day, the first time I stopped, she squeezed with her legs and said, "Walk on," the way she does. When I didn't do it, she kicked me briskly with her heels and repeated herself. But when that didn't work, she just flicked her whip and smacked me hard in the butt! That startled me and I stepped right out and walked. Immediately, she was relaxed and calm and called me a Good Girl so I knew that's what she'd wanted. After a couple of repeats of that, I quit stopping and now I hardly ever do. And if I forget, all it generally takes is a threat of that whip for me to remember again.

Since I couldn't trot, I watched the other horse working. She obviously knew a lot more than me; her mom had her doing some of those fancy things that Kia used to do. Like one time she started out trotting along the rail toward us but then began going sort of sideways and forwards across the arena. It was kind of like what I did that one day when my mom was so happy with me and it looked really pretty. She also went down the center line and stopped nicely in the middle, and she did some nice circles that were actually round (my circles usually end up being sort of lumpy).

It was fun watching her do all that and I felt sort of impatient to learn that sort of thing. But then my mom asked me to trot and I forgot all about it in my happiness and excitement that I finally got to go faster.

I don't know what it is about cool weather, but it's so much fun to go fast and be bouncy when the air is nice and crisp and the wind is blowing! Even though I'd had a fun session of free lunging with lots of cantering and trotting, I was still pretty frisky and having another horse in the arena made me even more frisky. I don't know why that is either. Maybe because at the track we used to get to go fast and race each other and every time I start trotting or cantering around other horses, I want to pass them or show them how well I can run. I even do that with Sparky. I think that's why my mom works me by myself a lot. She wants me to focus on learning stuff instead of playing with my friends. But she also tries to ride me with other horses now and then and I've heard her tell people who have apologized for getting me excited that it's good for me to get used to it.

At any rate, I bounced right into a trot and I'm afraid I was rather strong at first. I was rushing and trying to break into a canter, and getting impatient and bouncing a lot. My mom just keeps reminding me with little twitches of my outside rein that I'm supposed to be listening to her but it's hard! Still, I'm getting so that I do listen pretty well - it's kind of a Habit now because we ride so regularly. So pretty soon, I settled into a fairly steady trot. It was still fast, and I was still kind of strong, but my mom always lightens up on my rein as soon as I smooth out even a little bit and I like that so much I pretty much always drop my head a little bit and reach for my bit. It's kind of a Process - I smooth out, she releases, I round and reach, then I forget and get bouncy again. So she twitches that rein, I smooth out, she releases...

It's a lot of work for both of us. I know it is for me anyway and it's got to be for her. I see a lot of horses and riders working and lots of them don't have to go through all that. The horses know what the Rules are and just follow them without a fuss and the riders don't have to spend every minute paying attention to each little signal their horse is giving them. I've even seen riders talking into those little small box things they all seem to carry without paying any real attention to their horse. My mom can't really do that most of the time. She's too busy talking to me, either out loud or with her seat and legs and hands.

This particular time, it was a lot of work and communicating but at one point, the other person told my mom that I was really coming along and that we'd made a lot of progress. I guess she's seen us working before. That was nice to hear and I know my mom was happy about it. She always feels good when people notice how all our work has paid off. And the other person seemed to understand about the bouncy part - she said lots of the horses were frisky.

So it was a good ride all in all. I was bouncy but not Bad. I don't rear anymore and I don't really try to run out from under my mom or bolt or refuse to do what she asks me to do. I almost never buck anymore although sometimes when she asks me to canter, I get excited and forget. I just get a little strong and bouncy when the weather's cool and windy and lots of horses do that.

Learning new things

2011-09-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

I'm learning something new just about every time my mom and I ride. It's really exciting and fun for me. As you know, I love to play new games. Learning all the rules and then getting it right on the first try every time is so satisfying. And it doesn't hurt when I'm rewarded for it, whether it's with a treat or just praise and petting (well, to be honest I do like the treats best).

Yesterday my mom came out pretty late. I'd already finished my dinner hay and was just snoozing in my paddock when I heard her car. As always, that made me happy and I let out a big whinny of greeting. She got me out of my stall and tied me in the aisle the way she does and brought the wheeled bucket thing so she could clean.It was nice and quiet at the barn. Not many people come out once it starts getting dark and it was about twilight when she began on my stall. I love that time of day. The sky is all soft and dusky and the stars are just starting to come out. The air is cooling down and it smells so good. Lots of times the coyotes that live up in the hills and out in the pasture start to sing. That's a nice sound. First one will yip a few times and then they'll all join in and pretty soon it's a whole chorus of happy voices howling. Sometimes they have babies and the babies sound cute - they kind of bark rather than howl and it's high-pitched so you can tell they're just small. I like that. Coyotes are just friends to us horses. They eat little animals like bunnies and squirrels - which is sad for the bunnies and squirrels but the coyotes have to eat too. One time when my mom and I were riding in the Flat Arena a coyote was in there with us just sniffing around and not really paying a lot of attention to what we were doing. I like to share my home with other animals.

Anyway, when my mom finished cleaning she took me for a walk. We didn't go far but it was really pleasant. By then, it was almost completely dark but the sky was clear and the light of the stars and moon were enough to see very well. My mom took me toward the Little Rolling Arena but before we got there, we turned down a little side track that leads to one of the barns. It's not like the other barns like the one where I live. It's set apart from the others and only has two stalls. Also it has a room on the side of it which our barn doesn't. I always kind of wondered about that barn but last night I found out it's where the Vaulting Horses live sometimes. Not always; most of the time they live in a big field like a pasture but once in a while they go in those stalls. That's kind of funny because all us other horses have either a pasture or a stall, not both. I guess Vaulting Horses are special.

I suppose I should explain just what a Vaulting Horse is. Remember how I've mentioned the big horses that go around and around in circles in the Little Rolling Arena while kids jump on and off them and do tricks on their backs? Those are the Vaulting Horses. They have to be big I suppose, so they can carry all those kids - sometimes there are three or four kids on their backs at one time! I don't think I'd like that. It's hard enough just carrying my mom around. I can't imagine having lots of people on me, even kids.Last night, the Vaulting Horses were all in their field and they were mostly standing in their little shelter thing where their dinner hay goes. My mom brought me down near that barn and over to the door to the room. I was kind of jumpy and nervous at first because I didn't know why I was there. I was kind of afraid my mom might put me in one of those stalls and I didn't like that idea at all. There weren't any neighbors for me to talk to, and no duds closet, or food, or ball toy. There wasn't even a paddock. But my mom didn't even look at the stalls; she just brought me over to that door and told me I could put my head down. And when I did, I realized the ground was covered with grass hay!

Well, that was a treat! There had to be at least half a flake of good hay scattered around outside that door. I guess the people who get it out of the room (because that's what's in there, I found out later) are pretty careless and don't have horses that clean up after them like me and Spark do. I was glad to clean it up though and my mom let me. We stayed there for a long time and my mom just stood there quietly with me, with her hand on my back. It was very nice. By the time we went back home, I was nice and full and ready for a good night's sleep.

Today we worked. My mom came out at the usual time and began grooming me right away. The hay truck came while she was doing it and she let me have a little bit of my dinner for a snack but she put most of it aside for me to eat later. That used to make me really anxious and upset but now it doesn't bother me hardly at all. I know she'll give it to me and I know she won't let anyone else take it or eat it. I didn't even try to get it when she took my halter off so she could put my bridle on. I just stood there and opened my mouth up politely for my bit. I'm a Good Girl now that I'm six.

My mom led me out to the Flat Arena like she always does and took me over to the Mounting Block. There was a lady sitting in a chair nearby yelling at some kid on a horse in the arena and a car parked right next to the Mounting Block. There was just a narrow space for me to stand but my mom led me right over to it anyway and got on. The other lady asked if she needed to move her car but my mom said she didn't and then asked me to back up. Well, I know how to back up really well so I did. I took a whole bunch of steps back until I was clear of the car and then turned and went around it when my mom asked. The lady was impressed - I could tell. She told my mom that I'd backed up really nicely. My mom was happy about that and proud of me. That was nice.

I thought we'd work in the Flat Arena like we usually do but instead my mom took me out on the road so I figured we were doing a Poop Loop. That was okay. I like Poop Loops and we hadn't done one in a while. I stepped right out and headed down the road, occasionally trying to reach a stray bit of grass or brush that was sticking out of the hillside. My mom didn't let me get any but it never hurts to try.

When we got to the Rolling Arena, I could see that there were a lot of horses in it. The Rolling Arena always kind of fascinates me. It's sort of scary - it's big, and it has a roof, and there's usually lots of stuff going on there. The birds like to fly around and land on the roof and that makes noise, and there's a building just below it that they call the Winery and sometimes the guys are working there making lots of strange clanging noises. That's weird, especially because there are bushes and things growing along the side so you can't see clearly - you just get glimpses of stuff so one minute you just see a bush and the next, there's a horse walking along down there, or a big truck, or some guys pushing a barrel. You never know what you'll see and that makes it pretty exciting.

I always look into the Rolling Arena when we go by, half wanting to go in and see what it's like. Well, today we did go in. It took me by surprise. I was all ready to walk by the gate even though I was looking in, when my mom nudged me with her seat and directed me inside! I was immediately a little tense. There were a bunch of little trees in big boxes all along the short end where I'd entered and they hadn't been there the last time I was in the arena so that made me feel funny right off the bat. There were a bunch of horses ridden by little kids at the far end, and Mickey's mom was standing in the middle of the circle they were making telling them what to do. I knew what that meant - they were having a Lesson. Lots of horses have Lessons at our barn. Even Sparky goes to Lessons now, with Coco's old mom. He says it's fun but hard.

At our end, there were two other horses working. One was a big gray gelding I've seen around quite a bit. He's handsome and nice, and his mom often rides him in the Flat Arena so we kind of know each other. The other was a gray mare I'm not familiar with. The gelding was doing some trot work and he was really focused on it. His mom had him doing circles and figure 8's at the trot and he was very collected and looked great. The mare was cantering.It was pretty exciting to be in the middle of all that. I almost forgot my Manners for a minute and let out the beginning of a bounce but my mom caught it before it became anything more than that. She quietly made the Bad Girl noise and I remembered I had to behave. After that, I just walked nicely but I was looking at everything. We only went around a few times and then my mom petted me and told me I was very Good and we left. She let me sniff those trees really thoroughly first though.

Then we continued our Poop Loop. By the time we got back to our barn, the Flat Arena was empty again so my mom took me out there. I was a little mad at first because I thought we should be done but then she asked me to start trotting and I forgot to be mad. I'm getting so I really like trotting. For one thing, I love my saddle. It's so comfortable that it makes it a lot nicer to move. For another, I'm getting better at it and it's always more fun to do things you're good at. Once I get warmed up, I start feeling nice and relaxed and i just put my head down and reach for my bit and go. I can tell my mom likes it - she tells me so for one thing but I can also feel it in her seat and hands. When my head is fussy and I'm pulling and stuff, she has to really work to keep me at the right pace but once I settle down, her hands get nice and quiet and giving and I can barely feel her on my back because we're just moving together. It's nice.

We did some big circuits of the arena and some figure 8's and then as my mom rode me up the long side, she gave me a new signal. I'm not sure I can describe it but she moved her seat so that I could tell she wanted me to go up and across at the same time. It wasn't like when she wants me to change direction - then I just head straight for the other side but on a diagonal line across. This time she wanted something else and as she nudged me with her leg, I just started moving in the direction she was heading me in with my body kind of bent but my legs crossing over each other as I trotted kind of forward and sideways at the same time. I wasn't sure if that's what she wanted but as soon as I started doing it, I could tell that it was. Her seat was light and she just kept an open leading rein on the side I was moving toward while her other leg gently continued nudging. I just kept going across that arena and the further I got, the happier I could feel her getting.

I knew I was doing something special and I got kind of pleased about it too. It was fun! I felt kind of like Kia as I did it - I used to watch her doing fancy stuff all the time and now I was doing it! It was hard work though. I got most of the way across the arena but toward the end, I could feel myself losing my balance a little bit and getting sloppy. Still, my mom was really proud of me; once we straightened out, she asked me to walk and turned me right down the center of the arena - she calls it Going Down the Center Line. After going practically sideways, going straight was easy so I marched right down as straight as an arrow and then stopped quietly when she asked me to. She slid off my back then and petted me and made a fuss over me. She was really happy with me and that made me feel good.

After she unsaddled me, she led me back out to the arena to roll and I had a really good one! Then she hosed me off with the special hose that feels like rain. I like that hose, especially when she lets it play over my face. I got all nice and wet and cooled off, then I got to eat more hay while she cleaned. So it was a good day and I learned another trick. Now I'm ready to stand out in my paddock and enjoy the night air. It's been a long and busy day.

New box thing!

2011-09-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted! The problem has been that my mom didn't have one of those box things that she uses to point at me and make pictures and I hated to post a blog entry without a recent photo. Maybe that's vain but I do think that half the reason people are interested in my blog is because they like to see me. And it just seems incomplete without it.

But the other day she got a new one and she took some pictures of me so I can get back to work and update you on what's been going on in my life!

For one thing, I've been doing a lot of work and it seems to be paying off. Lots of times, people stop us to tell my mom how good I'm looking and how pretty I am. They often say that I'm "really filling out." That doesn't mean I'm fat - it means that I'm growing up and getting nice muscles so it's a good thing. Sometimes they compliment us on how nicely I'm working out in the Flat Arena. Those compliments make us both feel good. It really seems like my mom and I are becoming riding partners. We understand each other pretty well now and like to work together.

One thing I've learned is how to recognize just what it is that my mom wants me to do. You might think that's easy but it's not at all. After all, I'm a horse and she's a person so it's not like we normally speak the same language. She has to find signals to give me that I can understand and I have to learn to recognize them. Back when I was more of a baby, I wasn't very good at it. I got impatient too fast. If I didn't understand something right off, I just got mad. But now I'm a lot more receptive. My mom thinks that's partly because of all the work we did in the Round Pen and I agree with her. I learned a lot about what she wanted in there and she learned a lot about communicating with me. The Cone Game is a good example - it was really easy for me to figure out that she wanted me to stop at those Cones because of the way she taught me to do it. She was patient and clear and let me know exactly what she wanted before she just went ahead and asked me.

Once we started riding again, she took her time with each new signal and I tried very hard to figure out what she wanted instead of getting mad. It was kind of like a game and it turned out to be fun. So now I know that when she sort of pushes me with her seat and squeezes my sides with both her legs, she wants me to trot. When she just kind of brushes her heel against my outside flank, it means she wants me to keep moving smoothly through a turn. When she changes her bounce at the trot (she calls it a diagonal), it means we're changing direction. And when she lifts her inside rein just a little and gives me a single kick with her outside heel, it means she wants me to canter.

It makes it a lot more fun when you know what the signals mean and it's a lot less stressful. Horses get anxious when their person is telling them something but they don't know what it means. Anyone would. So now that I know all those basic commands, my mom is able to work on helping me keep a nice rhythm in my trot and canter without rushing. We do lots of circles and turns and serpentines because they help keep you focused and you have to concentrate on where your feet are and stay balanced. It's hard work but it is fun. Usually we only walk when we're warming up or cooling down, and sometimes in the middle of our workout so I can stretch my neck and back and relax a bit. Mostly we trot and we almost always canter some now.

We've had a couple of exciting things happen and one pretty Bad thing. One day we went riding with Sparky and his mom and we headed up the hill by the pasture. I love that hill! My mom usually asks me to trot up it but I always want to canter and I usually manage to. On this particular day, we'd done a lot of really intense trotting in the Flat Arena so I wanted to sort of let loose. As soon as my mom asked me to trot, I kicked up my heels in a HUGE buck and began racing up that hill! It was pretty Bad of me and I knew it but I just couldn't seem to help it. Luckily my mom never falls off me - I don't know how she does it because I can buck pretty hard if I put my mind to it. But she didn't even lose a stirrup and she quickly pulled me back down to a trot and scolded me.

I was still feeling pretty spunky though and when we got to the top of the hill, I saw some of the farm workers up on the roof of one of the horse shelters. They were doing some kind of building work and were using noisy machines and stuff and it was pretty exciting to see them up there like that. I wasn't really afraid but it made me dance and bounce a bit. Sparky was spooked by it though, and he tried to get behind me so he could pass them as far away as possible. I wasn't paying any attention to where he was in my excited and silly state so when I felt him brush against my hindquarters, it startled me and before I could think, I gave a big bounce and sort of a bucking kick!

Well, I felt my hooves hit hard and as soon as they did, I heard a scream of pain from Sparky's mom! I'd gotten her right in the leg and she was yelling her head off which actually did spook me some. Sparky had immediately stopped spooking and stood dead still - he always takes care of his mom no matter how scared he is - and my mom quickly slid off my back to see if she was okay. She took the time to smack me and yell at me before she turned her attention away though and I can't say as I blame her. I'm a big girl now and I do know better than to kick out without thinking.

Poor Sparky's mom had blood pouring down her leg and she was obviously in a lot of pain. She hadn't fallen off though and now she carefully dismounted and began leading Spark home. My mom called to the guys on the roof to help and one of them took Sparky's mom in the little open-topped car they use around the farm while the other led Spark down the hill. Spark was so good. Normally he'd be nervous and balky with a stranger leading him but he knew his mom was hurt and he was doing his best to just be a Good Boy and not cause any trouble. I need to be more like him but sometimes I just don't think before I act.

I was still pretty wound up going down the hill but I tried to be good because I knew things were bad and I was in trouble. About halfway down the hill, Fila and Merlot's mom came and grabbed Spark and she brought him to his stall and unsaddled him. Fila and Merlot live in the pasture. They're nice bay Thoroughbred boys and me and Spark like them both. Their mom is nice too and she was concerned about Sparky's mom.

Sparky's mom was sitting in a chair outside the stalls when we got there. Her leg was very bloody and she and my mom were using the word "broken" like they thought it might be and that worried me quite a lot. One time when I was at the racetrack, a horse from another barn got a broken leg. We all heard about it. He was in a race and something bad happened and his leg broke and he had to be "Put Down." That's when a horse doctor gives the horse one of those poking needle things and the horse just dies. I was worried. I didn't want Sparky's mom to be Put Down. I wanted to ask Sparky if that's what would happen but I didn't want to make him more upset than he already was.

My mom just threw me in my stall and quickly took off my duds. Then she put a bandage on Sparky's mom's leg and got her car and she and Sparky's mom left. I felt a little better because of the bandage - if she was going to be Put Down, she probably wouldn't have had a bandage put on. And sure enough, a lot later, past dinnertime, they came back. Sparky's mom couldn't walk very well but me and Spark were both glad to see her. My mom said she got 8 stitches in her leg but it wasn't broken so that was good. I don't know what my mom would have done to me if she'd had to have Sparky's mom Put Down. She really likes Sparky's mom.

Another time, I got to go out for a turnout with Favre in the Pony Arena. I wasn't crazy about the idea at first because one time I went out with him and Sparky and he was really dumb and wanted to sniff my butt a lot and that made me mad. But this time it turned out to be fun. Favre's a Thoroughbred after all, and he likes to run and so do I so we had a good time running and racing and playing. We were kicking up our heels and bouncing together and it was really exciting. The only bad thing was that I somehow lost both my back shoes. I didn't even notice when it happened but once we'd stopped racing around, I realized they were gone. My mom found them - one of them was in the arena and the other one was way out in the grass outside the arena! My Shoe Man came out and put them back on a few days later but I missed being in a Show because I didn't have shoes.

We've been going to the Pony Arena for turnouts quite a lot. That's where the Bad Accident happened when I hit my mom in the face with my hoof and she lied down in the road. For a long time, she and I both got kind of nervous and anxious when we went there but it's been better and better every time and now it's pretty much okay. Me and Spark got to turn out there the other day and we had a lot of fun and I was a really Good Girl leading there and back. I'm glad because it's one of my favorite arenas to turn out in. It's round like the Round Pen but lots bigger so you can go in circles without getting stuck in corners but it's big enough to run really fast.

I've also had a couple of new neighbors but none of them have stayed for long. For a while, Solo was in the stall next to me - the one between me and Mickey. Solo is a big, black gelding who usually lives on the hill in one of the fields. In fact, it was his shelter building the guys were working on the day I kicked Sparky's mom. Anyway, while they were rebuilding his field, he lived in that stall and I liked that a lot. He was a really sweet horse and we became good friends quickly. He still whinnies to me and Spark, and to our moms even though he's back on the hill now. My mom always lets me sniff noses with him when we walk up there.

After he left, Glamour was in that stall for a while. Glamour is one of the pasture horses and he and his brother Teddy are good friends of Sparky's. Their mom is really nice and often gives us cookies or carrots and sometimes our moms help take care of her boys so we all know each other. I love Glamour and he was nice to have next door too. He's a chestnut Thoroughbred and he keeps getting hurt out in the pasture so he has a big bandage on his leg and his mom has him in a stall until he's all better. We spent a lot of time visiting over the fence and he chewed most of my forelock off but I don't mind. I like to chew things too.

One of the pictures my mom took with her new camera is the one I'm posting. It's me eating my Beet Pulp. I love my Beet Pulp and one of the things I love about it is how fun it is to eat. My mom and I have a whole routine that we go through every day and it's so fun! First of all, she mixes it up in a big bucket and when she carries it to my stall, I nicker a lot and kind of bounce on my toes waiting for her to bring it in. She puts my big rubber feed tub in my stall and then comes in with my dinner and makes me stand nicely while she pours it in.

As soon as it's in my dish, I grab the edge with my teeth and pick it up. I fling it away from me and Beet Pulp goes flying across my stall! Sometimes it even splats on my wall but most of it goes on my floor. Then I happily root through it, picking out all the little bites of carrot (because my mom always puts lots of carrot in it) and then eating the rest of it off the floor. You can see how messy it is in the picture. I love being messy. It's fun.

You can also see my keys in that picture. My mom has keys that she keeps on a ring that attaches to a loop on her pants. I love to play with her keys. They make a fun jingling noise and they feel funny in my mouth. She lets me play with them but she also brought me my own set of keys to play with! They're made out of some hard stuff like my stall snack holder and they flop around and bang against each other just like my mom's keys do. Now when she's not around, I can still play with keys. My mom is pretty nice that way.

So that's what I've been up to for the last month. Now that we have a box thing again, I'll make sure my mom takes lots of pictures so I can keep up with this blog!

Big girl work

2011-08-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well, we did do more cantering and it was awfully fun! Let me tell you all about it.

My mom and Sparky's mom came out together which was really nice for Spark because he was so happy to see his mom. I know just how he feels. It's awful when you don't see your own mom for a couple of days. They came out kind of early and I was just waking up from my nap when they arrived so I was sort of sleepy and lazy at first. My mom got me out and Sparky's mom got him out and then my mom took a Bag and went looking for a hay snack for us.

That was nice. In just a short time, she'd found enough so we both got a small pile of hay to munch on. Then she began grooming me while Spark's mom worked on him. At one point, she was testing his back like the Carrot Doctor does to see if it was sore and poor Spark was flinching through his shoulders so she told my mom to look and they both were concerned about poor Spark. I was concerned too. I don't like seeing my brother in pain. It's no fun at all. Spark is so Good too - he never complains and he tries really hard to be a Good Boy and do what his mom asks him to do. Me, I let my mom know immediately if my saddle hurts or if something doesn't feel right. I swish my tail or bite or buck or try to kick or whatever I have to do to let her know and she figures it out quick. But Spark doesn't like to make a fuss so sometimes our moms don't see it quite so quickly.

His mom just brushed him really good and said she was going to take him for a walk so that was good. Spark was happy about that because he likes to go for walks with his mom. He's been wanting to get out and do something but he didn't want to be ridden because of his hurtiness. Meanwhile my mom was putting my duds on for us to go riding.

We went out into the Flat Arena and warmed up. While we were out there just walking, Glamour and Teddy's mom came with her little dog. He's so cute - he's just small like a bunny but frisky and perky. I want to smell him but my mom didn't let me get close enough today. Maybe next time.

Anyway, we were just riding around when we heard Sparky's mom and Glamour's mom calling back and forth and saying that the horses weren't in the pasture! My mom rode me out on the road and we headed up the hill to see if we could figure things out. I felt very important because my mom was using me to actually do something important. Spark was with us too because his mom brought him along in case the other horses were loose. She thought maybe they'd come to Spark because he used to be their herd boss.

In the end, it was all right because they were just way out in the pasture. There was a spot in the fence that was down but they hadn't found it so everything was fine. My mom brought me back to the arena and I thought all the excitement was over but then she started really riding and we got to work on things. She had me trotting in circles and changing direction, and she had me trot all along the long side and then across the middle. She kept changing direction in different ways so I had to really pay attention so as not to get my legs all tangled up. It was fun.

Then she asked me to canter! I love that and I popped right into my canter and she was happy with me. We were going a different direction than we were yesterday and it's a little harder that way than the other but I did it and it was fun. Then she trotted me again and changed direction and we cantered the other way too! We even did it more than once that way and I didn't buck at all and cantered just right. She was really happy with me.

By this time, Spark and his mom had started on their walk and were at the top of the hill by the manure pile. My mom took me out on the road and we started up by the pasture to catch up with them. We'd just started up the hill when she urged me into a trot. I took about one step at a trot and then broke right into a canter and she let me run up the hill. It was a really nice canter if I do say so myself, kind of slow and relaxed and I could tell my mom liked it. I was still a little excited when we got to Spark and his mom and I was dancing a little bit but I soon calmed down and just walked and we had a nice walk all around the farm.

We saw some friends - Cozzie and Misty and Indian - but we didn't get a chance to sniff noses with them. Spark did go see a mare he used to live near and that was nice. Then we went into the Rolling Arena and that was kind of exciting. I haven't been in there in a long time. It's big and there weren't any other horses in there so it seemed even bigger. We walked around the whole thing though and it wasn't so bad. My mom said that's where the Show was and Spark said he'd been in there with lots of other horses and it was kind of scary but okay. I think I'd like to be in a Show.

Pretty soon we left there - Spark had a nice roll on the way out - and went back to the barn. It was a good walk and a nice ride. Spark's mom hosed him off and my mom let me roll in the Flat Arena and then hosed me too. We got our dinner and it was still early enough for Spark to have his nap before hay time. He was pretty tired by then and needed it. He never takes naps at the same time as the other horses because he says someone has to stand guard. I guess that's in case of Mountain Lions. Luckily none of them came while he napped because I wouldn't have known what to do and I don't think anyone else would either.

Trying to work here

2011-08-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to do something and everyone around you is bugging you and keeping you from doing it? That was kind of how my day was today.

It happened like this. My mom came out today and got me and Sparky out of our stalls so we could eat hay scraps in the aisle while she cleaned. That's nothing new. She almost always does that and we both like it. So we munched while she got one of those rolling bucket things and began cleaning our stalls. Then when she was about halfway done, she untied Sparky and brought him to the Round Pen.

Well, I didn't want to be left out so I whinnied loudly as she put him in there and she came back and asked, "Belly, do you want to go out with your brother?" I nosed at her to tell her yes and she must have understood me because she untied me and walked me over there too. I was happy and eager to go but I remembered to be good on the lead. I've been very good lately and my mom has been really pleased. I don't want to mess that up now so I walked quietly but fast and she was happy with that. She doesn't mind me walking fast as long as I'm not pulling or getting ahead of her. The Rule is that I have to walk next to her, with my head just in front of her shoulder. When she stops, she expects me to stop too and if I take one or two steps ahead of her, she makes me back up until I'm in the right place. I know where she wants me now though, so if I do make a mistake, I don't wait for her to ask me to back up - I do it myself. She really likes that.

Anyway, it was just a short walk to the Round Pen so we didn't do any stopping or backing or any of that stuff. It's just Habit now for me to walk nicely so my mom doesn't make me work hard at it like she used to but she still expects me to behave. She tells me that I have better manners than Sparky does sometimes because Spark will often try to put his head down to eat a stray piece of hay or sometimes he stops and makes her have to urge him on again. I don't do any of that anymore. I Learned.

I was happy to go out with Spark and we greeted each other by sniffing and squealing which is what we like to do. He likes to pretend he's a Herd Boss and I'm his Herd and he's telling me what to do. I don't mind because it usually means we play and run a little bit while he pretends to Bunch me. Spark plays differently than some of my other friends like Indian. Indian just likes to run fast like me so we just race around and around. Spark likes to play that he's a Wild Horse and he says Wild Horses don't just gallop around because they have to conserve their strength so they can run away from Mountain Lions. Spark says Mountain Lions are always after horses in the Wild. I'm not really sure what a Mountain Lion is but they sound scary so I'm happy I live in a stall and don't have to worry about them. Anyway, if any of them came around our barn, Spark would chase them away or Bunch them or something.

We had a fun time playing while my mom cleaned and then she came out with her Bag Stick and asked us to run a little bit. We were both pretty frisky and I ran while Spark trotted because he'd rather trot most of the time. That's okay. It's still fun. It got really dusty in there though so we didn't run too long. It's amazing how much dust two horses can kick up in that Round Pen.

My mom led us back to the barn together. She's been doing that a lot lately and we've been really good about it. It's hard to walk nicely with another horse. Horses don't tend to walk at the same pace so you have to remember to pay close attention so you don't get way ahead or behind. Me and Spark used to be pretty bad at it because I walk a lot faster than he does. He'd get behind and instead of speeding up, he'd stop because the lead would be pulling on him. Then I'd get impatient because I wanted to go and I'd have to wait until my mom got him back up to her. It was pretty hard for my mom. But now we're both lots better and we try to walk at the same speed. We do pretty good most of the time and we've gotten better about either slowing down or speeding up when we need to. Mom's been really happy with us.

When we got back to our stalls, she put Fly Spray on Spark and put him in his stall but she kept me out so I knew we were going to do more stuff. Sure enough, she groomed me nicely and put my duds on. I was happy. It was a nice day for a ride. Not too hot but still nice and warm out, and there weren't a lot of horses out in the arena or on the road. We got all ready and went out to the mounting block but as soon as my mom was on my back, Spark let out a big, desperate sounding whinny.

Well, I whinnied back to reassure him and to let him know I was right there but he kept on whinnying and then Solo, the horse in the stall on the other side of me, whinnied too. It made me kind of anxious. I didn't know why they were so upset but they were and it made me upset. I didn't want to go anywhere with them whinnying like that. What if they were warning me about Mountain Lions or something?

My mom just ignored it all and asked me to go out on the road. She started riding me toward the Little Rolling Arena and just kept pushing me on when I stopped and looked back. I could hear them both, especially Spark, and every time he whinnied, I let out a little scared-sounding whinny of my own. My mom loves my whinny. She says that when I call to other horses, I sound just like a baby. I don't know why that is. When i whinny to her, it's a nice big whinny but I get all anxious when I'm calling to other horses and it makes my whinny sound shrill and high-pitched. I guess it does sound kind of like a baby but I can't help it.

She mostly ignored my whinnying anyway and just kept urging me on every time I stopped. She was nice about it, petting my neck and reassuring me but she was insistent. Finally when I got down near the pasture where the Camp Horses live, I got upset and I started backing up and trying to turn around. That's when she gave me a good crack on my butt with her whip and told me in no uncertain terms that we weren't going back to the barn.

I went on but I was pretty upset. It all made me kind of jumpy. I felt very alone, even though there were horses all around me in stalls and fields and stuff. It's not the same as being with horses you really know, and when your brother is calling and calling to you, you just want to go see what's the matter with him. I really wanted to go back to the barn.

But I went on and I tried to be good. My mom rode me as far as the point in the road that's kind of between the Little Rolling Arena and the Rolling Arena and then she asked me to stop and she got off. I thought she was going to bring me back home but she just petted me and then began walking me the same direction we'd been going. I felt a little better with her next to me instead of on my back, but I still felt jumpy and uneasy. She just talked to me quietly and made me keep going and I trusted her and did.

I didn't start feeling better until we got to Cozzie's stall. He came right into his stall and poked his head out his window and my mom saw me staring at him and asked, "Would you like to go see Cozzie, Belly?" I wanted to in the worst way and as soon as I realized she was leading me over to him, I hurried right along and thrust my nose in his window. He was so nice. He knew I was upset and he nuzzled me lots and rubbed my face, and he licked me and made me feel lots better. I love Cozzie. He's such a nice horse and he always seems to understand me. My mom let me visit him for quite a long time and we just rubbed our faces against each other and were happy together.

I was a lot more relaxed by the time she pulled me away and asked me to keep walking. Spark was still whinnying - I could hear him even way up on the hill where we were - and I still called back to him now and then, but I wasn't so tense and upset. I knew we were going back to the barn and I'd be seeing him soon, and I knew that I was with my mom and she understood how I felt and wouldn't let anything Bad happen to me.

All this time, even though I was upset and nervous, I was walking nicely on a loose rein. I didn't forget my Manners even in my distraction so that was good. I know my mom was happy with that because I could feel it in the way she moved and spoke to me.

When we got back to the barn, she led me under the overhang and let me sniff noses with Solo. Then she let me sniff noses with Spark but she told me, "I still have to ride you, Belly." I'd been hoping she'd put me in my stall but I didn't mind when she led me back to the mounting block. I am a Riding Horse now and it is my Job to carry her around. So she got back on and rode me out into the Flat Arena.

I was a little stubborn at first - Spark started in whinnying again - but she just firmly pushed me on and I settled down and just went. Pretty soon, she asked me for a trot and I went into it pretty well. She trotted me around for a while and then changed direction and asked for a trot again. This time I was a little more resistant but she got very firm with me and I soon popped into a good one. She praised me and rode a good circle, then she pulled me back to a walk and asked for the trot again at about the same place she had the first time. Well, I'd learned my lesson by then and went into it pretty smoothly so she was happy. We did several circles at a trot and then as we came around the corner and straightened out, she gave me a tap with her outside heel and clicked at me!

I knew what that meant. It meant she wanted me to canter! I happily popped right into a nice canter and I could tell by her seat that she liked it. She had me canter all down the long side of the arena and then pushed me right into the turn. I cantered through the turn and into the straightaway the other way but then I dropped back to a trot. It's kind of hard to keep a canter up yet - I'm not used to it with a rider. She was really happy with me though because I'd picked it right up the first time so she let me slow down to a walk and praised me and petted me lots. I knew I'd done well so we were both happy. She decided that was a good place to leave off so she hopped off me and brought me back to my stall then.

It turned out to be a good day. I'm still not sure why Spark was so upset but I think it might be because his mom hasn't been out for a couple of days and he misses her. I don't blame him for that. I miss my mom something awful when she misses a day. But maybe he'll see her tomorrow and maybe my mom and I will do some more cantering.

Visit from the Saddle Fitter

2011-08-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

Does saddle fit really make that much of a difference? People ask that a lot. Horses never do. They know.

Try this (if you're one of my people friends). Get down on your hands and knees with a fully loaded backpack on your back. See, when you carry a backpack, it hangs from your shoulders, but when we carry a saddle and a human, it's sitting right on our back.

Now, have a friend manipulate that pack. Have them move it from side to side, and press down on it. Have them put more stuff on one side or lumpy stuff next to your back. Then have them pinch the sides real tight around your shoulders.

Not very comfortable, is it? Think about how it would feel if there was someone sitting on top of it too.

A saddle isn't really that heavy for a horse to carry. We're big and strong and saddles don't weigh much to us. But if it's stiff, or unbalanced, or if it's pinchy or lumpy, it can drive us crazy.

A saddle needs to cover our backs smoothly and it has to be well balanced, both back to front and side to side. It needs to be nicely cushioned and smooth, and it needs to keep weight off our spines and our withers. It has to be wide enough so we can move our shoulders freely but contoured to us enough so it isn't moving and bouncing. Anyone can put a saddle on a horse's back and get an idea of whether it fits or not but only someone trained to fit saddles properly can see all the important points and make sure they're just right.

My mom had my Saddle Fitter out just the other day. As you know, we got a dressage saddle a few months ago and both of us like it a lot. It's really comfortable for my mom and it has been for me too. But recently it began to feel pinchy in my shoulders so my mom stopped using it and called the Saddle Fitter.

I like my Saddle Fitter. When he got to the barn, he was eating an apple and he gave me half of it. It was really yummy. Then he petted me and put my saddle on my back. He carefully felt all around under it and on both sides. Then he told my mom that it needed to be restuffed and that he could do that and make it fit me just right. Of course she said please do.

He did it right there and it was fun to watch. He took my saddle apart and took all the stuffing out. Then he carefully put new stuffing in, working it in with special tools to make sure it was even and full. When he was all done, he sewed the parts back together and put it on my back.

Oh, it felt so good! I arched my neck because it was so nice. He felt all around again and showed my mom how it was up off my shoulders now and how much room I had in my withers and back. The best part though was when she got on me. As soon as she lowered herself into the seat, I felt so good. A well-fitting saddle should just feel like a light shell covering your back and that's what mine feels like now. It's soft and cushiony and my mom's weight is evenly distributed across my whole back. I just reached right out and down and let my back rise up and fill that saddle, and I carried my mom across the arena like she was nothing.

Now when we ride, I don't even think about the saddle on my back. I don't have to because it fits so well, it's like there's nothing there. When my mom gets off, my back is as comfortable and relaxed as it was when she got on.

If you think saddle fit doesn't make a difference, bring out a saddle fitter just one time and I bet you'll change your mind. And your horse will love you for it.

Too distracted to post

2011-08-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been bad about posting. I've just been too upset and out of sorts.

At first, it was just because we were so busy. My mom was riding me a lot. Like every day practically. I didn't mind. It was kind of fun and we were doing a lot of fun stuff together. She's been using my old saddle that fits me so that's okay and we've been working really hard. We ride a lot in the Flat Arena and she's been making me do a lot of trotting. It's been hard but I've been trying to behave and it's been pretty good for the most part. She doesn't let me get the better of her and I know better than to try. I haven't bucked or tried to get her off me since that day when my saddle hurt.

Then it got really hot. We still rode but not quite as much. Plus Sparky was getting ready to go in a Show so my mom was helping him and his mom practice stuff for it. I was hoping I'd get to go to the Show too so I could at least watch Sparky but it turned out I couldn't because my mom went on Stall Rest again.

I just hate it when she can't come to see me! It's just awful. She was here one day and then the next day she didn't come. I wasn't very happy when Sparky's mom showed up without her but I tried really hard to be good and I figured maybe it would just be one day without her and I could survive that. But then another day came and she still didn't come! And that day was the day of the Show so Sparky's mom was all fussing with him and not paying any attention to me and stuff. She didn't clean me or feed me or do anything with me for a long time and even when she did, she did it all wrong. So I was pretty upset and then the next day she came without my mom as well!

By this time, I was nearly frantic. I hate it when my mom's not here. No one else knows how to do all my stuff right, and no one else pays attention to me the way I like it. Sparky's mom does her best - I know that - but it's just not the same and I can't help getting mad. I kept rushing out to my paddock every time I heard anything that might be my mom, and I called her and called her but she just didn't come. I had my food, and Sparky's mom did clean my stall and turn me out but none of it was like my mom does it and I just needed my mom. I missed her so much.

Sparky tried to make me feel better. He told me she was probably not feeling good and would be along when she felt better but that just made me more anxious. What if she never got better? What if it took a really long time? What if she forgot about me? He didn't think any of that would happen but what does he know? Sometimes at racetracks, horses get sold and they don't even know it. Someone just shows up with a trailer and takes them away. I don't think my mom would do that to me but I worry whenever I don't see her. I just can't help it.

But today, I heard Sparky's mom's car drive up and as soon as it stopped, I heard my mom's voice calling my name! I whinnied as loud as I could and raced out to my paddock to see and there she was getting out of the car! I was so happy! I nickered and nickered as she came up to my stall and I could tell she was happy to see me too. She gave me a big hug as soon as she opened the door and petted me and told me how pretty I am and all the things I like. I was so happy to see her I almost didn't care about the hay scraps on the ground.

She gave me a nice grooming - just a short one because Sparky's mom told her to take it easy - and took me out to the Round Pen to play. We played fetch with my rope toy and played the Cone game for a little bit and then she just walked around with me and petted me and gave me cookies. It was pretty nice.

When I got back to my stall, the guys were just moving a new horse in next door to me. That was the stall I used to live in when Coco was in my stall. I was interested. There hasn't been a horse in there since I moved out of it and I kind of miss having a horse on both sides of me. I like having friends and neighbors. This is a boy horse, a big black guy, who used to live up on the hill across from my stall. He's very handsome and seems nice. His name is Solo and I think we're going to be nice friends. We sniffed noses a lot and he was very polite.

I'm a lot more relaxed tonight than I've been in a long time. I get so anxious when my mom's not there. I hope she comes to see me again tomorrow. I don't even care if she exercises me. I just like to see her.

Kind of a dumb day

2011-08-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

My mom fell off me today. That's never really happened before. Well, it did one time but that's because I fell down. Today it was because I was being Bad. I guess you could say I bucked her off.

But it wasn't my fault! It was a dumb day all around.

My mom started grooming me and putting my duds on when she got to the barn so I knew we were going to ride. When she started putting my saddle on, I put my ears back and got kind of bitey. That's because I noticed recently that my saddle feels different on my back. It's a little pinchy. I noticed it a couple of rides ago and I know my mom noticed it last time we rode because she always checks the fit when she puts it on. Last time, she spent more time than usual running her hand underneath it and checking it and I heard her tell Sparky's mom that it felt like it might be getting a little tight. Well, it was but it still wasn't too bad.

But today it was just awful! I don't know how I can grow so much in two days but somehow I do it. My mom noticed it right off too. She was concerned when she put it on and then as soon as she mounted, she felt underneath the part over my withers and told Sparky's mom, "This is really tight!" She rode me around a little bit and it was tight and then she asked me to trot and I immediately bucked. I don't like having a saddle that doesn't fit and I'll do my best to let my mom know that it hurts. Sparky was sort of shocked. He told me that he tries to tell his mom more gently than that and won't act up or buck unless she keep riding him over and over with a hurty saddle. Well, I couldn't stand to ride more than once like that!

As soon as I bucked like that, my mom knew that it was bothering me. She made me walk nicely just so I knew that I'm not allowed to misbehave no matter what but then she got off and brought me back to the barn. I was glad. I figured we'd be all done and my dinner hay would come and there'd be no more of this stupid hurting saddle business. Spark had left by this time - his mom took him for a Poop Loop so I didn't even have anyone to be with.

But instead of putting me away, my mom just popped my halter on over my bridle and put my other saddle on me! Well, I was mad! I'd already been ridden and it had been dumb and I'd had enough of it. Plus I was afraid this saddle would hurt too and I was afraid. I've had problems with saddle fit in the past you know, and back then my mom didn't know me well enough to know what I was telling her so I had to put up with it for kind of a long time. So I'm kind of leery about saddles in general.

By the time she got it on me, I was pretty fussy. I even picked up a hind leg and threatened her with it when she asked me to move over so she could tighten the girth! I haven't done that in a long time. She wasn't having any of that though. She immediately yelled at me and slapped me on my butt and made me get over pronto! I did but I was still mad.

She led me out to the Mounting Block and got on and we started riding. The saddle did feel better but I was still in such a bad mood that I hardly noticed. I kept stopping and being fussy and she ended up giving me a crack with her stick thing and that made me even madder. So when she asked me to trot, I kind of pitched a fit.

I stopped, and laid my ears back, and I bounced in place, and I tried to buck, and then I reared. She got really mad then. When I buck, she just makes the Bad Girl noise and keeps on asking but rearing is Really, Really Bad. As soon as I did that (and it was just a little rear), she yelled out, "HEY! NONE OF THAT!" and cracked me a good one. Then she turned me around in small circles and pushed me forward again right into a trot.

Well, I was mad too so my trot was pretty bouncy and unbalanced. I was trotting really fast, with my head up and my back all hollow and I was more jigging than trotting. My mom could barely post to it but there was no way she could sit to it and it was pretty awful but I didn't care. Even so, she made me keep it up around that stupid arena and every time I tried to stop, she'd push me forward and make me keep going.

The whole way, I was trying to get my head down and buck, or bounce sideways, or bolt, but she kept putting her legs on and I couldn't. Finally, I was coming around a circle and I managed to yank hard on the reins and throw a huge buck! I threw up my legs and twisted my body, and as soon as I hit the ground, I did it again! This time, I not only twisted but I twirled too and that was when my mom lost her seat and started going off to the side. She almost stayed on but I jumped sideways again and she just let go and fell to the ground. For a minute, she kept hold of my reins but she'd fallen quite a way away from me and the pressure on my head scared me so I pulled back and she let go. I kicked out with my kicking foot once or twice and then I stood still and just looked at her.

She got up quick and she was mad, though I could tell she was surprised and pleased that I hadn't run off. She picked up my reins and snapped, "What the hell was that?" as she led me toward the Mounting Block. To be honest, I was a little ashamed. I hadn't expected her to fall off. She never falls off, no matter how silly I get. I was just mad and fussy and didn't feel like being Good. But when I saw her on the ground, it made me feel kind of strange. I guess I think of my mom as sort of indestructible.

She lined me up at the block and swung right back on and marched me out to the arena again. Spark and his mom had returned just as she'd gotten up off the ground and Sparky's mom sat on him in the middle of the arena as my mom pushed me right back into a trot. I fussed for just a minute and she immediately whacked me hard with her stick so I broke right into a nice trot. I figured it was maybe time to behave.

She rode me in a circle a few times and then a figure 8 and I was really good. I trotted nicely this time and I could feel she was much happier with the way I was moving. I tried to slow down once as we swung around a corner and she just put her legs on and kicked me hard with her outside foot and I kept on trotting. I knew she meant business. After a few circuits, she asked me to walk and I was glad, figuring she was happy now and we were done but she just walked me for about half a circuit and then asked me to go right back into a stupid trot! I fussed again and started going sideways like I do when I don't want to do something and she just whacked me hard again so I did it. I trotted nice again but she rode me around until I was sweating pretty good. I know she was tired and had the wind knocked out of her but she sure can be pushy!

Finally, she told me to walk again and she let me go up to Spark and stop. She reached down then and pet my neck and told me that I'd been Good so I knew she wasn't mad at me anymore. Then we went on a Poop Loop with Spark and his mom. That was fun, but she did get a little mad at me again because I got sort of foolish going up the hill by Indian's stall. I was still kind of excited about the whole day, plus the hay truck had gone by. Then Spark got kind of ahead of me because of my fussing and I tried to buck and my mom whacked me again and made me go in little circles. So it was kind of dumb.

But then we caught up with Spark and I settled down and we rode down the hill by the manure pile. Spark had already pooped on his first loop so he didn't bother taking his detour. Our moms got off us near Beau's paddock and walked us the rest of the way which I was glad of because I was pretty hot and tired. I'd had a hard workout.

Our hay was waiting when we got to our barn and my mom hosed me off and let me eat while she cleaned and she laughed and talked to me and stuff so I know she wasn't going to stay mad. I wasn't mad anymore either. I know she didn't mean to ride me with a hurty saddle and as soon as she knew for sure it was bothering me, she took it off. I really had nothing to be so fussy about so I feel kind of bad about my behavior.

My mom says the saddle fitter is going to come look at my dressage saddle in a couple of weeks and until then we'll use the old one that fits. I hope he can make it all better because I really do like that saddle and I know my mom does too. The old one is all right but it's not as comfortable as the dressage saddle is when it's fitting right. My mom says that she's going to sell me and buy a horse that her saddle fits instead of having to keep buying saddles that fit her horse, but I know she's just kidding. She'd never sell me because she loves me too much. But I need to stop bucking her off because maybe she will get sick of me if I don't.

I don't have any pictures from today so I'll post one of my nose.

Working hard

2011-08-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging much lately and that's bad of me. It's mainly because my mom's little box thing isn't working right so I don't have any new pictures to post. I suppose that's pretty silly of me but I just feel funny putting up old pictures.

But I've been having a lot of fun lately and being a really Good Girl so I wanted to blog about it. My mom says I'm really growing up and I guess I am. I feel kind of grown up.

Well, most of the time. A few days ago, I didn't. I don't really know what was going on then. My mom said I was in heat and Sparky said it was my Mare Time and I don't know what any of that means but I was just out of sorts. It was strange. My mom came and got me out of my stall and I suddenly felt really anxious and I nickered to Spark just so I could hear him answer. My mom and Sparky's mom thought that was cute and sweet but they didn't realize how nervous and odd I felt.

My mom saddled me up and took me out to the Flat Arena and we began riding. I was trying to be Good but I just didn't want to do anything but go back to my stall and see my brother. I kept stopping and my mom would push me with her legs and tell me to walk on and eventually I'd go but I wasn't very happy. Finally, when I was way at the other end of the arena, it got to be too much for me and I stopped and whinnied as loud as I could! It wasn't very loud because when I'm scared and lonely, I have kind of a baby type whinny. It's real high pitched and desperate sounding, and my mom thinks it's really cute. So she laughed and petted me to make me feel better, and Sparky answered me which made me feel better too.

I still didn't want to go riding though, and I kept stopping and even tried to turn around and rush home. My mom wouldn't let me do that though. She turned me around and made me go on and even though I wasn't very happy about it, I did it reluctantly. I didn't even buck, or fuss too much and my mom was proud of me for that.

She made me keep working even though I kept whinnying and even though Sparky's mom took him out and put him in the Round Pen and he was running and playing and that made me even more anxious. I thought it was kind of mean of her, and I was a little bit mad, but she did ask me nicely so I did what she wanted me to. I was awfully happy when she said I could stop though and I rushed back to my stall as fast as she'd let me.

Spark was back by then and I had to shove my nose right into his stall and nuzzle him just so I could feel better. He wasn't really sure what my problem was and neither was I but it felt good to be near him again and even when I was back in my own stall, with my things, and my Ball Toy and stuff, I had to keep poking my nose toward him against the bars of the stall. I was kind of In A State. I settled down when I got my food, though.

The next day, my mom didn't come to see me. I thought she might be mad at me because I was so needy before and that made me even more nervous and needy. Sparky's mom came out, and she took Sparky away (he told me later they went for a nice walk around the farm) and I was so upset! I stomped and whinnied and pressed my head against my Ball Toy but they just left me there all alone! It was awful!

When they got back, Sparky's mom felt sorry for me. She even said so. Sometimes Sparky's mom just thinks I'm kind of foolish but she was really concerned about me this time because I was so worked up. She came in my stall and visited me, and petted me, and told me it was all right and that did make me feel a lot better. She even got me a hay snack and cleaned my stall. But I still missed my mom a lot.

My mom did come out the next day though, and she and I took a walk. It was so nice! We walked all around the farm. She let me stop and eat some hay off the ground one time, and we saw lots of horses and stuff. I was really good for her and she walked me on a nice long loose lead almost all the way. Then when we came down the hill by the pasture, I forgot to be good and rushed at some hay on the ground and she got mad and made me back up a lot and yelled at me. I guess I kind of deserved it.

We went around again after that and this time, we went a different way. We went past the Rolling Arena to where the String Horses go out on the Trail and we walked along a little trail through the woods that led to Misty's barn. That was exciting but I was really good about it. Then we went past Cozzie's and down the hill past the manure pile and the pasture and I remembered how to be good so my mom was happy with me.

Today, I felt all better and we rode. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work. My mom got me all ready and then we went out to start working while Sparky's mom was still working on him. There were some Poles out in the Flat Arena and as soon as my mom got on, we started warming up and I wanted to go over the Poles. Well, of course my mom let me because she likes to go over Poles too. It was fun! We walked right over those Poles like they weren't even there! I only tripped over them a couple of times. Then we went to the other end of the arena and my mom worked me on going around corners nicely. We'd started doing these things called Serpentines when Spark and his mom arrived. I got a little Distracted then but my mom pushed me on and told me to pay attention so I did.

Serpentines are kind of fun. What you do is, you go one direction across the arena and when you reach the other side, you make a turn and go the other direction across. You keep doing that over and over again until you get to the end of the arena and then you do them down the other side. It's hard because you have to bend your body just right and then when you do them at a trot, you have to be careful not to get your legs all tangled up.

Spark meanwhile was trotting with his mom and going over Poles and stuff but it was hard to see what he was doing because we were working so hard. We began trotting and it was very exciting and at first I was bouncy and wanted to canter and stuff but my mom made me be good and just trot. That was hard but I did it and I finally kind of settled down and my mom said I was really good about it and trotted nicely.

It was a lot of hard work and I was sweating pretty good by the time we were done. I felt good though because my mom said I'd been good and she let me get close to Spark. He said he and his mom had worked hard too and then our moms rode us out of the arena and toward the road.

Spark got all excited then because he knew we were going to ride a Poop Loop and he suddenly trotted off across the car place and onto the road. Well, that got me excited to and I sort of kind of bucked and tried to bolt and my mom got mad at me and made me go in little circles until I calmed down. I did kind of calm down and then she let me go with Spark and we ended up having a nice ride around the Poop Loop.

Spark does something that I have to tell you about because it's funny and cute. Whenever we do a Loop, when we get to the part by the big manure pile, he gets excited and heads straight for it. He makes his mom ride him along the back side of it or even down the middle part between the two big piles. The first time he did it, it alarmed me because I thought he was gone and stuff but then he appeared on the other side. I didn't know what he was doing but then he told me later that he goes that way because he needs to poop and he figures it makes sense to poop in the manure pile instead of on the road. Well, I'd never think of that but Spark would. He's very tidy.

He did that today too but I knew what he was up to so I wasn't as excited about it. Sure enough, when I got to the other end, here he came walking along perkily as he does. I love my brother. He's lots of fun to do stuff with.

We got a nice dinner tonight and lots of treats. Both our moms were really happy with us and Sparky's mom told him that she's going to ride him in a Show! He's pretty happy about that and I'm excited for him even though I don't really know what it means. But I want to watch and see how it's done. I bet he'll be the best pony in that Show!

Busy days and lazy days

2011-07-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-07-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-15T20:45:00.001-07:00

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

2011-07-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-07-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

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.

Funny weather

2011-06-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

It rained again yesterday. Sparky tells me that it's not unusual for it to rain during the summer in places like Minnesota where he used to live, but around here it's very odd. It just doesn't happen or if it does, it's just a light rain. More of a heavy fog. But yesterday, it was cloudy and kind of dark and I could tell by the smell of the air that it was going to rain.

I mentioned it to Coco and she agreed. She thought it was funny too but wasn't very concerned about it. Coco doesn't get upset about much - really she only gets upset when my mom takes me out and away from her. She doesn't get as upset about that as she used to. Now that she has a real mom who does things with her, she understands how important it is to have Manners. So she still whinnies a bit but she doesn't go crazy like she used to. She used to pace in and out of her stall, and she wouldn't eat, and she called and called.

I have to admit, I get upset when Coco leaves. That's different, though. Her mom always takes her when my mom isn't there, so I'm left with no one to talk to or visit with except stupid old Mickey and that makes me mad. It's only Manners to wait until I have something to do too. You know, people talk about Manners all the time but they don't seem to have any themselves.

Anyway, yesterday my mom came out with Sparky's mom kind of early which was nice because for one thing, it wasn't raining yet. My mom greeted me like she always does and got me out of my stall so she could clean. I didn't have a real hay snack - she just took some of the oat hay from Spark's stall because he won't eat it at all and she gave it to me. I don't really like that stupid oat hay but I eat it because it's all I have and I have to eat something. It's not very filling though, and it tastes yucky. I know it's not my mom's fault though so I don't complain much to her. I just eat it.

Spark's mom took him to the Round Pen first thing and I could see him running and playing in there. He looked like he was having a good time. I was glad of that. Sometimes it's nice for us to go out together but sometimes we need to just get some real exercise and you can't do that in the Round Pen with two horses. There's not enough room. My mom says that one of these days when she feels better, they'll take us to a bigger arena where we can run really fast together. I'd like that and I know Spark would too. My mom has been sick lately though so she doesn't have enough energy to do too much. She keeps getting these things she calls Sinus Infections and she says it's because her sinus got broken when we had our accident. I don't know what a sinus is but it sounds like it hurts a lot. It makes me feel bad because I know what she means is that I broke it. I didn't mean to though.

Spark looked really happy when he came back from running. It's amazing what a good run can do for a horse. After that, it was my turn and my mom grabbed my lead and we started walking. I quickly ducked my head down as we passed out from under the roof of our barn because there's just a little strip of grass there. I'm so hungry for real food! Normally now I don't try to graze unless my mom tells me I can but with this awful hay, I just can't help it. Sparky says he's been doing the same. He feels bad about it but he just can't help it - he sees a scrap of real hay or a wisp of grass and he just has to go for it.

My mom was understanding about it and she let me eat what I could find there before she pulled my head up and brought me out to the road. Once there, I got a little belligerent because I wanted more. She got stern with me then and I walked pretty well to the Round Pen but when we got close to it, I started pulling toward the dry, brown grass that grows near it. My mom got very strict then and let me know that while she understands, she's not going to let me drag her around. She made me go into the Round Pen and I did but I was a little mad at that point.

By the time she got my halter off and closed the gate though, I was over it. I know she's right and besides, the grass there isn't even worth eating. It was just hopefulness on my part. She let me just trot around and play a little bit, and look for a place to roll but the ground was too hard and I couldn't find a good spot. So she came in and set up my Cones and we did some free lunging.

I was pretty frisky. The cool air makes me feel like running and we've been riding lots lately which means I've only been walking and trotting mostly. So I wanted to run. My mom knew it and let me and I sailed around and around that Round Pen as fast as I could go! It was so much fun! One time, she asked me to change direction and I tried to scoot by her. She didn't let me - she got right in front of me and shook that bag stick at me and I had to turn or run right into her. There was a time when I would have gotten mad and reared and struck at her but I don't even think about that anymore. No matter how mad or scared or fussy I get, I don't ever, ever pick up my front feet off the ground. I've learned my lesson about that. It's Bad Manners and can hurt someone and I'm only allowed to do it when I'm playing with other horses and only when turned out, not under saddle or on a lead rope. It's one of the biggest rules there is.

I had a good run and then my mom and I visited and stuff like we do after a workout. That's one of my most favorite times. She wraps her bag stick up and I know we're done so I can come up to her and whuffle at her and she pets me and tells me how Good I am. Sometimes she gives me a treat. We usually walk around the Round Pen and maybe do some tricks. And she picks up my Cones or we play some Fetch.

This time, I still wanted to roll so even though it was raining by now, she waited patiently while I walked all around to see if there was a good spot. I kept stopping and pawing the ground to see if it was soft enough but even though the surface was loose, it was just too hard underneath. I'm pretty picky about where I roll. I like it when it's nice and soft and I can sink right into it. Sparky's not nearly so picky. He just trots out to the middle of whatever arena he's in and flops down. He's just tougher than I am. Plus he's built differently so he can roll all the way over no matter where he is. I just can't do that. I've only gotten all the way over a couple of times and only in really, really soft places like the two Rolling Arenas.

My mom finally called me over to her and put my halter on. I was a little anxious when we left because I wanted to roll so badly but then she led me to the Flat Arena and I knew she understood. She was just bringing me somewhere I could find a proper spot. I love my mom.

By now it was raining pretty hard but the dirt underneath the very top layer was still dry and I soon found a good deep place. I flopped down and dug my neck into it and rolled and rolled! Oh, it felt good! I can't explain how nice it is for a horse to roll. I just don't know what people might like that would compare to it. We horses can't scratch lots of places on our bodies. We can't reach them. Lots of times we groom each other and that helps a lot but there are still spots that get neglected and a good roll in some nice dirt relieves lots of those itches. Plus it gives us a good stretch. And it's fun.

I popped up from that roll feeling great and we finally got out of the rain. Just in time too, because I was no sooner in my stall than it really started coming down! When it rains really hard, it makes a big racket on the roof of the barn. Some horses don't like that sort of thing but I do. I kind of like noise. The other day, I managed to get hold of the bucket my mom mixes my beet pulp in and I had a good time banging it around until she took it away from me. I like kicking my walls too and rattling my stall chain. Noise is fun.

It rained all night. It was pretty strange for this time of year but I kind of liked it. It makes everything smell so good. Coco says it makes things grow too. Maybe it will make the grass grow. I sure would like some nice fresh grass. Or even some grass hay. Anything other than this stupid oat stuff!

My stupid computer isn't letting me put a picture in right now so I'll have to try again later. I had a really cute one all ready too!

Such an exciting day!

2011-06-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

I had a really exciting day today but first let me tell you about yesterday which wasn't exciting at all and in fact was pretty dumb.

I was hanging around in my stall, looking forward to seeing my mom when I heard Sparky's mom arrive. Well, that usually means that my mom is on the way but I waited and waited patiently and no mom. Sparky's mom fussed with him for what seemed like forever and then finally she came and got me.

Well, of course I was mad. She's not my mom and my mom wasn't even there and here she was getting me out. I hadn't had a hay snack and we're still getting that oat hay that I don't really like, so I kind of pulled a little bit and went over to Sparky's stall to see if he had anything good to eat. He didn't, and Sparky's mom was squawking at me and telling me I was Bad just because I was starving to death and looking for food. And then I wanted to visit with Chip and she wouldn't even let me! She's so mean! She never lets me do anything and I try so hard to be Good but she just treats me like dirt!

I really wanted my mom but then Sparky's mom took me to the Round Pen and turned me out with Spark so that was kind of nice. I love Spark but I don't know how he puts up with his mom. She's dumb and she doesn't know anything about horses. She's nice to me when my mom is around but she gets all mean and unreasonable when we're alone.

She brought us both back to our stalls together and I tried to be really good on the lead like I always do. She didn't clean my stall, and she didn't groom me, and she didn't give me a proper dinner... it was a pretty awful day. She just put me in my stall and went off to ride stupid old Sparky.

They rode in the Flat Arena and I watched because I didn't have anything else to do since my mom wasn't there. Sparky was really Good, I have to say, and it looked like fun. He was kind of frisky and was trotting happily and one time he asked his mom if he could canter and she let him and he popped into a nice canter. He told me later that they had a nice ride. I didn't tell him how dumb I thought his mom was. That's not really very nice. He loves her after all.

Today was lots better. My mom came out nice and early with Sparky's mom (who was all nice to me like nothing Bad ever happened yesterday). I was so happy to see her. I whinnied loudly when they drove up and I nickered nicely when she got to my stall. There was stupid oat hay all over the place in there because it tastes dumb and I don't really like it much but she'd brought me a little hay snack with some grass hay and that was so nice! I was nearly starving after all, what with having to eat oat hay and having barely any dinner the day before.

My mom cleaned my stall up and then she groomed me really well and made me all shiny. She cleaned my butt with some nice warm water too. I had kind of a loose poop yesterday afternoon and it sort of dribbled down my backside so my butt and my legs were kind of gross. My mom notices that sort of thing though and she keeps a special bucket and sponge just for my butt. At first I didn't like it at all when she cleaned me like that. It seemed pretty invasive, if you know what I mean, and I'd swish my tail and lift my leg like I was going to kick. But she wouldn't put up with that and now I don't really mind so much. I know she's just trying to take good care of me and keep me from getting infections in my lady parts.

After all the grooming and cleaning, she put my fly spray on and then tacked me up so I knew we were going to ride. We've been riding more and more lately and I like it. She put my Dressage saddle on - we're using that one all the time now. We both love it. Sparky's mom was tacking him up too so I was happy. I love to ride with my brother.

First we rode in the Flat Arena. It was okay. We walked in circles for a while and then Mickey came in with his mom and he did some lunging. It was kind of fun to watch him. I like watching other horses at work. After we got all warmed up, my mom asked me for a trot and I broke into a nice one without even thinking about it. She was really happy about that because it's been a long time since I trotted without fussing about it. Then Sparky's mom asked about riding around the Loop and my mom said okay.

I got excited about it as soon as we got on the road. It's been so long since I rode Poop Loops and it seemed like a real adventure. We rode up the hill near the pasture and I got really fussy and was asking my mom if I could run. I was dancing and prancing and going sideways and instead of getting mad at me and pulling on my reins, she loosened them and pushed me forward so I broke into a big gallop and raced up that hill! My mom was trying to pull me gently down into a trot but I just wanted to go so it was more like a bounce up the hill. It was really fun.

I was still excited when we got to the top and dropped to a walk. I couldn't help it. I was sort of prancing along sideways and my mom was just telling me with her seat to relax and calm down. I was actually getting ready to do it even though there was a big tractor thingy pushing the manure around in the manure pile - it was on the other side of it so you couldn't really see it properly, you could just hear it and that made it extra exciting - but then I saw a bunch of guys on the hills way above walking around and doing stuff and it just spooked the hooves off of me!

I don't know why it made me so scared but it did. They looked so odd up there and all I could really see was their white shirts moving around on the side of the hill. It made me feel funny and shaky and unsure and I suddenly went from being silly and prancy to being really scared. I spooked badly and began backing up, looking for a way to get out of that scary place. I could hardly feel my mom on my back. She was doing her best to calm me, pushing me with her legs to stop me from backing up and talking to me and trying to reassure me. But I was panicked by then, and just wanted to get away and going forward seemed really scary. I backed up until I could sense that I was about to run into things - there were barns and fences and stuff back there - then I bucked a little. I couldn't help it.

My mom didn't get mad. She knew I was scared. She just kept talking soothingly and finally the words, "Whoa, Belly" got through to me and I stopped for a moment. I felt her lean forward then, the way she does when she gets off me and I stood nicely while she did that.

Things were better then because my mom was on the ground with me and she was petting me and letting me know that she wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. Sparky was cheerfully walking along all this time, not the least perturbed, and that settled me down some too. His mom continued to ride along the Loop and my mom led me along with them. I was pretty fussy and silly at first but once I realized that my mom was with me and no one was going to hurt me, I was okay. I still don't really know why I got so scared and I feel a little silly about it but Spark says that horses get scared like that in order to protect themselves in the wild and that it's nothing to be ashamed of. I love Spark. He makes me feel a lot better sometimes.

After that, we had a nice walk around the farm. My mom let me visit with Cozzie for a few minutes which really helped calm me down, and then I visited with Indian too which also helped. They were both sympathetic and said they'd spooked before and it wasn't a bad thing - sometimes horses can't help it. So I felt better. My mom wasn't mad at all and seemed to understand so it was okay.

She hand walked me the whole way around and when we got back to the Flat Arena, she got on again and just rode me one time around it, just to remind me that it was okay to be ridden and that we're a team. I was good there. I'm used to the Flat Arena but I just get excited when we go to places I'm not used to anymore. Then she got off and petted me and took me to my stall and unsaddled me. Coco was just coming back from her ride - her mom had arrived while I was getting groomed and we all got ready to work together. We're all Riding Horses now, after all.

I got a new bed and my mom gave me my beet pulp kind of early. That was nice. I ate it all up with no fuss because I was hungry. I hope we get some good grass hay soon because I'm sick of this oat stuff and so is Spark. He eats even less of it than I do but he at least gets alfalfa in the afternoon.

Observations By Spark

2011-06-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

This is my sister Bella’s blog but I asked her if I could do another guest blog because I’ve been reflecting a lot lately and felt like I had a lot to say. Mostly I have been thinking about life; my life and the lives of horses in general. I have a great life, I have the best mom ever, plus my grammy and all my friends, a nice stall, hay, and lots of good stuff. I like the place where I live now but I used to live in a different place. That was Minnesota. There I had the same mom but no grammy, different friends, a different stall, different hay, all of that. That was a great life too but me and my mom came here to be near grammy and Bella.

Sometimes when I’m standing guard in my paddock in the mornings while the rest of the barn naps, I think about that place. I miss the friends I had there: Leiny, Sergeant, Ace, Onyx, especially Treasure. When you’re a horse you don’t get to choose where you live, you just go where your mom says. One day some guys put me in a trailer and that was it, I never went back to that place. It turned out okay because my mom was here and I have Favre and Dooley and Poco and the other guys to be friends with but it was all really scary.

That’s why I don’t like trailers, because usually you get on the trailer and you don’t come back to that home again. Bella says that’s not true. She said when she was just little she went on trailers lots of times to places called the Track and the Training Barn and that she always went back to her same house. I know that a lot of horses go on trailers for shows and things and then come back but I just can’t bring myself to shake the fear.

Another thing that really scares me is water. I drink water and that’s okay as long as it’s not splashy but sometimes my mom wants to put water on me like with a hose or a bucket or cloth or something! I don’t like that at all! I’m not even really sure why, but I just get so frightened when water is around. I try really hard to be good for my mom though, I love her and I trust that she wouldn’t hurt me. She can tell that I’m scared and she goes really slow.

That is one reason I love my mom so much, she knows that there are things that make me nervous or even scare me and she is really sensitive about it. For example I sometimes get really scared when I am tied up and I panic, because of that my mom doesn’t tie me up unless she really has to, usually she just holds my lead rope or just lets me stand loose or with the rope through the stall bars but not tied. Horses in a herd look out for each other so everyone is safe and it makes me feel safe having my mom in my herd.

Horses need to trust and bond, whether it is with other horses or people or dogs or whatever, we just plain need it. A horse all alone is dead. Even if it isn’t dead, it might as well be. I tried to trust a lady before I met my mom. She was different though, she wasn’t a good herd-boss and I knew that she was nervous so I took charge so we would be safe. But it didn’t help. When she rode me she held my head in so tight that it hurt my mouth a lot! I couldn’t even move my neck in a natural way. I fought against it as hard as I could and eventually she just stopped riding me. I was so lonely then and mad and scared too because I was alone and I had no herd. But then my mom came and she was different. At first I didn’t want to trust her because I thought she would hurt me too but she was there every day, talking to me, cleaning my paddock, giving me treats, and over time we became a herd.

Even though I have a really great mom I also really enjoy having my horse friends! It is so nice to be able to run around and play and you can’t do that with your mom. Bella would say that it isn’t Manners. She uses the word Manners a lot and she has learned to be nice to grammy and stuff but she doesn’t know anything about horse manners!

She introduced me to her friend Chip the other day and he reached right out toward my face and nipped at me! I squealed, pinned my ears, and raised a foreleg to put the little upstart in his place, but he and Bella didn’t even notice! I asked her about it later and she seemed to think it was perfectly fine. “He was just nibbling” She told me and kind of shrugged the whole thing off. The polite thing for horses to do is sniff noses, then you should ignore each other by grazing or something for a minute, then you can sniff again and see what happens. Bella and her friends are kind of strange.

Me and my mom have been riding a lot more lately, she says we’re getting ready for a show! We’ve been having a lot of fun and going to a show sounds exciting. She comes to see me every day now and it makes me so happy! I know that my mom is really busy so I understood before when she sometimes didn’t come, but it is so nice to see her everyday. I kind of miss having my special times with just my grammy though, going for rides around the farm and stuff, I really love my grammy, but we still see each other all the time since I live near Bella now. Well time to go outside and enjoy the last of the sun and the cool evening breeze, thanks for reading!

~Spark

I'm a Riding Horse now

2011-06-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

My mom and Sparky's mom came out today and my mom had a bucket with a bunch of stuff in it. I was pretty curious but I was also a little busy because she'd brought me out and tied me in front of my stall and I was whuffling around trying to find a decent hay snack. We got some really weird hay this morning. My mom said it was Oat Hay. It was strange. It had kind of thick stems and big flowers on it. The flowers were okay, I guess, but I'm used to my grass hay now. I didn't much like it and left kind of a lot of it in my stall. Sparky didn't eat any of his.

But I couldn't find anything but more Oat Hay outside my stall so I ate some. When that's all there is, that's what you eat. I wasn't that excited about it though so when my mom came with that bucket, I stopped to help her look at the things in it.

There were some sponges. That wasn't really very interesting. Sponges are boring, and they don't taste good. I just kind of gave them a quick sniff and poked my nose toward the bucket to see what else there was. Then she pulled out a funny ring made out of rope. It was about as big around as a bucket, and the rope was thick and braided. On one side, there was a sort of tube of hard rubbery stuff around it, kind of like a handle. My mom told me it was a toy for me and that we were going to use it to play a new game but we never did play with it today. Maybe another time.

Then she pulled out a new bit. She held it up for me to sniff and I did. It smelled good. I don't know if you know anything about bits but they're all different. Some of them are made out of stuff that doesn't really taste very good, and some of them don't taste like much of anything. Some of them taste kind of nice though, and that's the kind I like. I have lots of bits. The first bit my mom used on me was just a regular old snaffle. It had a little bit of a curve to the mouthpiece and it was jointed in the middle. It was an okay bit and I liked it well enough, but it didn't taste like anything and sometimes I was a little fussy with it.

Then my mom got me a snaffle with a little piece in the center of the joint. She called it a French Link. I liked that better. It didn't pinch the roof of my mouth like the other one sometimes did, and the link was fun to play with. It still didn't taste like anything much but I liked it fine.

Later my mom got me a different bit. That one tasted really good. It had just one link again, but it had these neat little rolling things made out of a tasty metal - my mom called it Copper. That confused me because I know a horse named Copper and it seemed really strange to make a bit out of him. Besides, I could still see him in his pasture when I went that way, and he isn't made of metal anyhow. Finally Sparky explained to me that Copper is a type of metal and lots of bits have it. His does and he likes it too. So I felt less confused and was able to enjoy the taste of the bit then.

I liked that bit a lot but it wasn't curved like my other bits were and that felt kind of funny. It laid against my tongue too much or something so while I liked the taste, and played with the Copper roller things a lot, I also didn't like the way it felt sometimes. When my mom started riding me again just recently, she put my French Link bit back on. And that's what we've been using until today when she put my new bit on my bridle.

It's really pretty and you can see it in the picture I used. It's black and my mom calls it Sweet Iron. It tastes really, really good and it has little bits of Copper in it too that make it taste even better. The sides don't pinch my mouth at all which can sometimes happen with a bit, and it's curved so it's really comfortable. I just love that bit! When my mom first put it on me, I mouthed it and mouthed it a lot getting used to it, and by the time she got on my back, I had my head down low and I was just enjoying it. My mouth got all wet and slobbery which felt nice, and the bit was really soft in my mouth.

We had fun riding today. Sparky didn't come with us because his mom was cleaning his stall and later she was giving him a bath which he didn't like at all. Spark's kind of funny that way. He hates the water. Not to drink. I don't mean that. Horses have to drink water after all. But he hates having water hosed on him, or even sponged on if it's splashy. He gets all scared and nervous and stuff and tries to get away from it. I don't know why. I like to get hosed off when it's hot and baths are kind of fun. And even if I don't really feel like it, I don't mind getting washed. It's just water. It doesn't hurt. But Sparky won't listen to me when I tell him that. He says I don't understand. Well, he's right. I don't.

But anyway, that's why he wasn't riding with us but that was okay because two other horses were. We rode in the Flat Arena and Sparky's mom took a break from cleaning to bring that box thing along and point it at me. My mom had groomed me all up, and put my wraps on, and a pretty red saddle pad, and my new dressage saddle, and my pretty rope reins. Also, one of the things she brought today was a new head bucket thing for her so she was looking all pretty too. So I felt good and it was kind of fun to be out with other horses.

I didn't forget to be Good though. I'm six now, and a Big Girl, and when you're Big, you have to be good and listen to your mom. So I didn't buck or bolt or get silly - I just tried to do what she wanted me to do. First we just walked around which was okay but a little bit boring. I was having a good time looking at the other horses though. One of them was a big bay who was doing all kinds of fancy stuff like Kia used to do. He'd trot along all squashed up with his head pulled in and his back legs right under him, then he'd go across the arena the long way and stretch his legs right out like he was flying. It was pretty to watch. Then he'd go almost sideways for a while - I can do that but my mom usually tells me not to.

I wanted to go fast too so I kind of told my mom and she told me I could if I wanted. So I broke into a trot and she let me go kind of fast. It was fun! I was sort of surprised at that because I've had the idea that trotting is dumb. Maybe it's because I'm six now, or maybe it's because I have a new saddle, but whatever it is, I decided that trotting wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was. I didn't do it too long because I got kind of excited and didn't know what to do so I stopped. But my mom petted me and told me I was a Good Girl so we got going again and after a while I trotted some more.

It was really fun. One time I sort of bounced in a silly way instead of breaking into my trot nicely but Mom let me know I needed to just go forward and I did. Then another time I broke into a canter instead but she gently pulled me back into a trot so that was okay. I think she was proud of me though. Even with other horses in there trotting and cantering, I paid attention to her and behaved myself.

After we were done, she put me in my stall and cleaned my paddock while I ate my dinner hay. I was happy to get real grass hay this time and enjoyed it a lot. And my mom opened up my duds closet to put things away so I got to sniff all my stuff which I love to do. Best of all, she'd bought me a new stall snack and had hung it in my stall so I have something to munch on this evening. I love my life! I'm a really happy horse.

Lots going on

2011-06-22T20:48:00.001-07:00

Things have been different since Spark moved in nearby. For one thing, his mom comes out every day now which is really nice but kind of dumb. It's nice because I know Spark likes to see his mom and I like to see her too but it's dumb because lots of times she comes without my mom and then Spark has his mom and I don't have any mom at all. She always says hi to me and usually gives me a treat and that's nice but then she goes and sits with dumb Sparky and I have to be alone.

I don't like that part and I get mad and plunge around my stall sometimes and finally when I'm all over being mad and I'm just sad that I don't have a mom there, I go and rest my head on my ball toy and just stand there. Somehow that makes me feel better.

But always, just when I'm feeling like my mom will never come, I hear her car! And that's the best part of the day because then she calls my name and I whinny happily and hurry to my stall door to see her. And she opens it up and greets me and gives me lots of pets and tells me how Good I am and then things are all better.

Things have been busy too. We've been working a lot and not just on one thing. We've been working on lots of things and it's been fun and exciting. One thing we've been working on is doing stuff in the Flat Arena with me in my halter and lead. My mom leads me around and she doesn't let me roll, or sniff poop, or anything fun which is pretty dumb and boring. Then she makes me stand nicely and she fusses with my feet trying to get me to stand square (that's what she calls it but I don't know what that means. I'm NOT square, after all). Then I have to just stand there, like a bump on a log. It's really dumb.

Sometimes Sparky and his mom are with us and he does the same things. Sometimes they set up a Cone in the arena and then our moms will have us trot toward the Cone and stop at it. I like that part. It's exciting to trot in hand (that's what it's called, you know) and I usually start off trying to gallop and doing a lot of head tossing and even a little striking out, just because I'm excited. But my mom tells me I'm not allowed to do that and so I settle down and start trotting nicely. Stopping at the Cone is easy - I know how to stop at Cones, after all.

Then my mom will ask me to pivot or back up or something. I don't mind that stuff. That stuff is fun but the standing part is so dumb! We're doing all this because my mom is going to bring me in a Show. I don't really know what that is either. I asked Sparky, because his mom is bringing him too, and he said it's when you have to be really Good and do what your mom tells you to, only it's with other ponies and lots of people are watching. Well, that's just the sort of thing Sparky would say. He's always on about how you have to be Good and do what your mom says. So I'm not sure if that's what a Show is or not.

It sounds kind of dumb if that's it but Kia used to go to Shows all the time and Mickey does too. In fact, Mickey sometimes gets these interesting cloth things that his mom hangs on his door and he says they're things he's won at the Show. I try to eat them when I get a chance because they're so soft and silky, they seem like they'd taste good.

I know I have to be Good for my mom whether we're in a Show or not because it's just Manners but I hope it's not so much standing still as it seems.

Other things we've been doing are more fun. Like the other day, my mom took me in the Round Pen and we played the Cone Game only we played it at a fast trot! That was so much fun! I was a little surprised at first when my mom told me to stop while I was trotting but once I realized what she wanted, I was excited to play. It was lots of fun to get going at a really quick trot and then have to stop really quick. Then I'd go again and before I knew it, I'd be at the next Cone and it would be time to stop again. My mom was really proud of me. She says I'm the smartest horse she ever met.

After we finished doing that, we walked around to pick up my Cones and my mom started teaching me a new game called Fetch. She showed me a Cone, then she tossed it a little ways and said "Fetch!" When she said it, she hurried toward it and I followed and she put her hand down near it and I poked my nose on it and she told me how Good I am and gave me a cookie. So I knew that's what she wanted. She kept throwing it and saying that word and every time she did, we'd go to the Cone and I'd reach for it. I even lipped at it one time and she got very excited and happy about that, petting me and praising me. It was lots of fun. I love learning new games and I can't wait to play that one some more.

That was yesterday and one thing happened that really made my mom proud. I had a loose shoe and when we first got in the Round Pen, I started running around really fast because I was pretty frisky. My mom had hosed me off because it was hot and the water felt good on me and made me ready to run. But as soon as I began running, that darn shoe started clinking and flapping around. It was really annoying but I was so frisky, I didn't care. My mom didn't like it though and she quickly put her stick down and asked me to whoa.

I didn't want to but she did ask, so I trotted up to her in the middle of the Round Pen and she petted me and told me I was really Good. Then she went to my back foot and picked it up to look at the shoe. The darn thing was hanging half off - I'd sort of torn it off one side and my hoof was pretty messed up from it. It was way too loose to stay on but it was still pretty tight on the other side. Mom pulled on it and wiggled it, trying to loosen the nails. It took some time but she managed to get that side loose enough so she could get it off.

The whole time she was messing with it, I stood perfectly still. She was so happy with me and I was pretty proud of myself too. It's not easy for me to stand still anyway, and I was pretty rowdy, and I was loose in the Round Pen so for me - really for any horse - to stand so nicely while someone was yanking their shoe off is pretty impressive. I got lots of cookies later for that.

Today wasn't quite as hot, and my mom and Sparky's mom came to the barn together, and they came kind of early so it was really nice. They took us out and groomed us in the aisle and then began saddling us up. I love having Sparky two stalls down. It's so fun. We can see each other all the time, and our moms can fuss with us at the same time, and we get to be in the aisle together.

My mom put my new Dressage saddle on me but since Sparky's mom was riding him, she couldn't use his girth on me. She's been using it because this saddle has shorter billets than my other one and my girth is just a little too small. But she got it on me today, even though I got a little mad because she had to really pull. It wasn't too tight - I just always puff up a little when I get saddled. All horses do that. We can't help it.

But it was okay and I do like my new saddle. It doesn't cover my shoulders at all and I like that. My other saddle is okay, and it does fit me, but I don't like the way it feels to have a saddle touching my shoulders. It makes them feel like I can't move them very well. This one makes me feel like I can really step out and go forward.

Our moms rode us up to the Gremlin Arena. I was pretty good until we got to the Rolling Arena, then I started jigging a bit going up the hill. I couldn't help it. I was excited to be out and riding. I kind of expected my mom to tighten up the reins and make me walk but instead she kept them loose and pushed me forward with her legs. That made me straighten out and I sort of did a slow trot up the hill. She didn't mind that - it was only when I bounced or went sideways that she corrected me and only but pushing me forward. So by the time we got to the Gremlin Arena, I was ready to trot.

As you know, I generally don't like trotting under saddle. It's always seemed pretty dumb. And in fact, I did try to canter instead when my mom let me know I could go forward faster than a walk. But she didn't let me, instead sitting down and slowing me and then trying again. The first time, I trotted sort of diagonally across the arena and it wasn't very pretty but to my surprise, I wanted to do it. It used to be that when she asked me, I'd just move sideways and resist. But now I want to.

I think a lot of it is the saddle. Back when I had a saddle that didn't fit, it pinched my shoulders and even though my other saddle doesn't do that, I get anxious when I feel it touching me there. But my Dressage saddle doesn't do it at all so I don't even think about it. Also, I think me and my mom kind of know each other better now. It used to be that when I started trotting, she sometimes jerked my mouth. Not on purpose and not all the time but I think she sometimes felt like I was a little out of control.

Now she feels like she understands me better and I trust her more. I think she likes the saddle a lot too, because she feels more balanced on my back. So we're working better together and that's a good thing. All in all, we had a nice time today and we trotted lots of times. Sparky was good too and had a fun ride with his mom. And it was fun to be riding with him too.

Our moms hand walked us back down to our barn. I was hot and sweaty and our moms sponged us off with cool water and this stuff called Vetrolin that smells really good and makes my muscles feel nice. They left us with a hay snack and I had a nice nap after that.

Later though, my mom came back. It was just about time for the hay truck and I heard it coming but I also heard my Shoe Man's truck. That was good, I thought, because I needed a shoe on that back foot. I was happy to go over to the Shoe place but I was surprised to see a different Shoe Man! I think it must have been someone in the family though because he kind of smelled like my Shoe Man. He was lots younger though so I think he might have been his colt.

Well, I didn't like that much. I'm used to my Shoe Man and he's used to me. This guy was nice I guess, but he did things different and I don't like different. Also he didn't work as fast so he held my feet forever and I got sick of standing on three legs. I have to admit I was kind of bad. I didn't kick or bite or anything, but I did try to pull my feet away when I got sick of standing there and I got very fussy towards the end. My mom finally had to really smack me. But I got through it and I have nice new shoes now so that's good. And my mom put me away and gave me my beet pulp and my hay was waiting and it's cooler out so all that is good.

I can't wait to see what we'll do tomorrow!

Exciting News!!!

2011-06-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Lately Spencer hasn't been in his stall. That's not really unusual. Sometimes horses go places like to Shows and things. I don't really know what a Show is but I know Mickey goes to them and Kia used to. They sometimes go for days and then they come back and everything is the same as it always was. I used to get upset when Kia left and then she left for good one time so that was pretty upsetting but then Coco moved in and it was all right again. I still miss Kia sometimes but Coco is nice so that's okay.

Anyway, the other day Sparky's mom came to the barn with my mom which wasn't unusual, but she went into Spencer's stall and was fooling around in there and that was unusual. My mom and I hung out together and she cleaned my stall and then she put my new dressage saddle on me and she rode me in the Flat Arena. I felt pretty grown up out there with my mom in my new duds. We stopped by the glass thing out there that my mom calls a mirror and I could see what we looked like. I used to think it was another horse that I was seeing but one time I stepped right up to it and poked at the horse with my nose and it was just a hard, flat thing that didn't smell like horse at all. Eventually I figured out that somehow it was showing what me and my mom looked like. I don't know how but I could tell it was my mom and so it must be me. So now I know what I look like which was kind of strange at first because you don't really think about what you look like except when someone says you're pretty. But I really am pretty and in my dressage saddle with my mom on my back, I look like a big girl.

Sparky's mom took a break from whatever the heck she was doing in Spencer's stall and she sat in a chair in the Flat Arena and watched me and my mom work. It was kind of fun. We just did some work walking and practicing going where my mom tells me to and stuff like that. It was nice and I liked it. My mom said I was a Good Girl and when she brought me back to my stall, she petted me lots and gave me some good cookies.

Then she and Sparky's mom got into my mom's car and they left. I wasn't too worried. She hadn't fed me my beet pulp yet but I figured they were just going to go clean Spark and they'd be back. They were but it was only my mom in the car and she parked near Spencer's stall and started pulling all kinds of stuff out of the car. She had brush boxes and saddles and bridles and all kinds of horse stuff. And then here came Sparky's mom walking down the hill leading Spark!

I was glad to see him and nickered politely. His mom tied him up outside Spencer's stall and gave him a little hay snack and my mom gave me one too. Then they fussed around with all that stuff and by and by put Spark in the stall! Spark didn't mind. There was some hay in there and he just does whatever his mom tells him to without getting upset. I would have been upset. I don't like going in strange stalls with different horses next to me. When I moved into this stall, I was pretty wound up and I kept whinnying for my friends. But Spark settled right in nicely and when the hay truck came, the guys gave him some hay just like they do the rest of us. And he stayed there all night!

The next day, my mom came out and the first thing she did was take me out of my stall and lead me over to say hi to Spark. That was nice. My mom understands that horses need to talk things over. I poked my head in the stall and we sniffed noses and I asked Spark if he was living there now. He said he guessed he must be because his mom had put him there and she'd put all his things behind the door in his stall.

That's your duds closet, I told him. He doesn't know about duds closets because he's never had one. All his duds went in a tack box before but a tack box is different from a duds closet. He seemed happy to know what it was and we nuzzled each other a lot and were happy because we're brother and sister and we love each other and now we can see each other all the time and visit even though he's not right next to me. Coco is in between us but that's okay because I can see him and even smell him from my stall, through the windows when I'm inside and across the paddocks when I'm outside. In fact, the picture I used today is of Sparky in his paddock and it was taken from my paddock so you can see how close we are. I like the way he looks in it - he's looking over the fence because his mom had just arrived.

Coco was mad the whole time we were visiting. She kept charging at the bars of the stall and baring her teeth at Spark and telling me I wasn't allowed to talk to him. I tried to tell her that it's okay because he's my brother but she's awfully bossy sometimes and thinks I'm her foal. And Raz is kind of upset about Spark being there because he sometimes thinks he's a stallion (Raz not Spark) and he gets upset and squeals a lot. I think they'll be friends after a while though because Spark is so nice to everyone. Raz is friends with Chip so I think he'll make friends with Spark - he just needs to get to know him. And Coco will get used to him. He loves mares and he's very respectful of them.

When we had finished visiting, my mom brought me back to my stall and began cleaning. Spark's mom came pretty soon and she had a Dog with her. It was a pretty cute dog and I got to sniff noses with it which was fun. I've always wanted to meet a Dog but I've never been able to get close enough to one.

One funny thing I forgot to mention about the first day Spark moved in - his mom went out to the pasture and got Dooley and brought him over to Spark's stall to have some dinner. Our moms often take care of Dooley - he's really like a member of our family and we all love him. After everyone had finished eating, Sparky's mom grabbed Dooley's lead and opened the stall door to take Sparky out so they could have a turnout together. But Dooley just walked right into the stall and Spark didn't want to leave while Dooley was in there so she finally just let them both loose in the stall and closed the door! It was so funny! There was hay in there and everything but Spark didn't mind Dooley being in his stall because Dooley is his best friend in the world. They just walked around and Spark showed him the paddock, and the water bucket, and his duds closet. I don't think I'd like to have anyone else in my stall with me. There wouldn't be room for one thing, but both Spark and Dooley are small and compact so they fit better than us Thoroughbreds. Me and Chip would probably take up a lot of room in a stall together.

So now my brother is my neighbor for the first time ever and I really like it a lot! He was kind of my neighbor when he was in the pasture but not really because I couldn't see him all the time. Now all I have to do is look up and there he is. I like that.

Work

2011-06-09T23:20:00.000-07:00

It's been kind of a while since I posted. That's mostly because I've been so busy Working. Us riding horses do have Jobs, you know, and this is the time of year when we get busy. It's not easy being a Riding Horse. I've been carting my mom around a lot lately, and remembering how to behave under saddle which is a lot of work. So you'll have to excuse me if I've been a little lax in my blogging.

We've mostly been riding in the Round Pen which is okay but kind of boring. You can't do much in a Round Pen after all, except go around and around. I don't mind really, and I do tend to learn a lot in there but sometimes it gets sort of stupid. My mom doesn't usually ride me every day - she tends to change it up with some free lunging or sometimes she puts my saddle and bridle on and lunges me on a line. When she does that, she sometimes rides me after and sometimes she doesn't. So I'm never sure just what we're going to do. Even though I like to have a routine, I don't mind that. It's still a routine because I'm getting out and doing something.

One day my mom rode me around the farm. That was pretty fun. We haven't done that in a long time. First she groomed me really well. Then she brought out my new Dressage saddle. I had to sniff it all over because I'm not used to it yet. I thought she was going to put it on me but she just set it on my back and checked the way it fit. Then she took it off and got my other saddle. Well, I had to sniff that one very carefully too just to make sure it was really mine. I'm pretty curious and kind of picky about my duds. I like to examine them and my mom lets me. I think that's nice of her.

Anyway, she saddled me up and put my wraps on and then she walked me to the mounting block near the Flat Arena. I knew then that we were going to do something different because when she rides me in the Round Pen, she gets on me in there. I was a Good Girl while she got on. It's easy to stand still near that mounting block because there's a big bush that grows right there and I like to nibble on it while she mounts. She doesn't really mind although she sometimes pulls any extra big pieces of bush out of my mouth once she's on.

She asked me to walk on and I did and she rode me right out onto the road and off we went. It was nice. The sun was shining and it was a pretty day. There were horses in the pasture on one side of me and more horses in the little small pastures on the other side. I was interested in everything because it had been so long since I'd gone that way. My mom has hand walked me around the farm but it always seems like it's different when she's on my back. I don't know why.

I wanted to stop a lot and look around but my mom made sure I paid attention to her and kept moving. That's pretty hard. When you're a Riding Horse, you have to remember that it's your Job and you're not allowed to just poke along or stop all the time. People don't like to ride like that for some reason. They'd rather hurry along in a straight line which isn't really natural for a horse. Horses like to take their time and they like to browse which means they're poking along with their heads down, smelling things and maybe eating as they go. It's just not natural to move the way people like to move.

But when I'm being ridden, my mom is the one in charge so I tried pretty hard to be Good. I did really well up until we got to the Little Rolling Arena, then I got a bit excited. That part of the road is always exciting. I'm not sure why. There's something about the way those kids jump on and off the big horses that just makes me bouncy. So I started to get a little fussy and began to dance and trot along sideways and stuff.

My mom talked to me quietly and worked with her seat to calm me down but I didn't want to calm down and kept fussing. I even gave a couple of little half-bucks as we went past the Rolling Arena. It was Bad and I knew it, but I wanted to bounce or run so badly, I couldn't help it. My mom knew it, and while she wouldn't let me get out of hand, she did let me begin trotting slowly up the hill once I was straightened out.

It helped a lot. Sometimes a trot is just what a horse needs. It's funny because as you know I'm not a big fan of trotting much of the time but somehow when it's my idea, it seems just fine. I guess I'm sort of silly that way but at any rate, by the time I got to the top of the hill, I was ready to walk and felt much better. At that point, Mom got off me and praised me a lot for being so good. Then she hand walked me back to my part of the farm and got on my again. We finished up by riding around closer to where I live and that was nice. I was less bouncy and able to pay attention better, and we had a good time practicing stuff. It was a nice change.

We've done other stuff too. One day I got to go out in the Round Pen with Sparky. That was really fun. It's been a while since we were able to play together and we had a good time playing some bite-face and running around together. We did some sniffing and squealing - that's always fun - and Spark pretended to be a herd boss and bunched me for a little bit. I don't really like being bunched but Spark enjoys doing it so we make a game out of it. That makes it a lot nicer. I love Sparky after all.

We've also been doing some lunging on the line, and sometimes with my saddle on. It's a lot of hard work being a riding horse and now that the weather is getting better, we get to work more. That's okay. I like to work and get out and see my friends and stuff. It's fun.

More yucky rain

2011-06-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

It sure has been raining a lot. It doesn't seem like it usually rains at this time of year. I kind of remember it as being nice and hot and stuff, though with flies. I am glad the flies aren't really out yet. That's the one good thing. But I'm kind of sick of rain. I like to stand around in my paddock and doze in the sun and there hasn't really been much sun for dozing. And it's not that fun to stand and doze in the rain.

My mom and I have been riding more, though. It's been pretty fun, I guess. She rides me in the Round Pen. It's funny - my mom used to ride me quite a lot but I've sort of forgotten how to do things. It's been a long time since we rode together after all, and I wasn't ever that good at it. Now though I have a better idea of what she means when she asks me to do stuff because we've done a lot of it with me loose and her just on the ground with me. Like backing up. I love to back up. I don't know why, I just do. It's easy, for one thing, and my mom always tells me I'm a Good Girl and often gives me a cookie when I do it.

When she got on me that first day, one of the things she asked me to do was back up. I knew just what she wanted because she said the words the same way she says them when she's on the ground. She says, "Back up," and you can't really mistake that for anything else. She also held my reins so that I was kind of whoa'd - not pulling back on them but not letting them loose like she does when she wants me to go forward. At the same time, she leaned a little bit forward and squeezed with her legs. All those signals told me she wanted me to go, but not to go forward. And I knew she wanted me to go backward because she said so.

I backed right up without any hesitation at all. She was so happy with me! I guess a lot of horses aren't real happy about backing up. I don't know why. Sparky says it's because he doesn't know if there's anything dangerous behind him but I know my mom would never ask me to back up toward something dangerous! That would just be silly. I don't think Spark doesn't trust his mom - in fact, I know he does. He just tends to think like a Pasture Horse - always on the lookout. He kind of thinks of his mom as someone he has to take care of, like he used to take care of the other Pasture Horses. But I don't think that way. I look at my mom as someone who takes care of me.

One thing I still don't like to do though is trot. I don't mind trotting when I'm lunging but as soon as my mom is on my back, I just don't like it. I'm not even sure why. She asked me to trot the second time we rode in the Round Pen. I knew what she wanted. We'd been walking and I'd gotten more and more comfortable with it, swinging along at a nice walk around and around. She was moving to the rhythm of my walk which felt nice and we were just enjoying it together. Then I felt her put a little more energy into her seat. I don't know how else to describe it. I could tell by the way she sat that she wanted me to go faster and I could feel myself responding to it with a more animated walk. Then she put some leg pressure on and I knew she wanted a trot.

Immediately, I got all tensed up. I started drifting into the center of the Round Pen and I slowed right down and began swishing my tail. She patiently steered me with her seat back to the rail and continued to apply pressure but I was so unhappy about it. I didn't want to trot. Finally I did but it was bouncy and off balance because I was so tensed up. She tried to post quietly to it and keep her hands still but my head was bobbing all over the place and I finally stumbled and lurched and went back to a walk. It was sort of a disaster.

It's not that it hurts. It doesn't. I think maybe I'm remembering how it did hurt one time. Back when my mom first brought me home, she was using a saddle on me that fit at first but soon didn't. She didn't realize it though and kept riding me and I got more and more uncomfortable. I started trying to tell her by resisting and being bad but she didn't get it at first. When she finally did, she got me a new saddle and had a Saddle Fitter man come out and make sure it fit me right and it does. And she had the Carrot Doctor come make my back feel better too. I still remembered how the other saddle had hurt though and I didn't like to trot. Then I hurt my leg and I had to be on Stall Rest and then I hurt my mom and she had to be on Stall Rest, or whatever people call it, and then I wasn't ridden for a long time and now I don't want to trot. I guess it's kind of silly.

We didn't ride today though. She did, but I didn't. I was in my stall when I heard Sparky's footsteps outside so I looked out my window and there was my mom riding by on Spark! She does sometimes ride him, you know. I whinnied at them and they both said hello to me. I didn't mind. I know my mom loves Spark too and he likes to go riding.

Sure enough, a while later she came to play with me. I was happy to get out because I hadn't yesterday. Sometimes my mom can't come out to see me. It's because of her Job. I figured out how the days work so I wasn't too concerned. You see, on certain days, the guys leave shavings outside my stall. They leave a bag of shavings on one day and on that day, my mom usually doesn't come out. Then the next day, there's no shavings and she comes. The day after that, they leave more shavings and she usually comes out kind of early. She calls that a Day Off. The next day, no shavings and she comes around hay time. The day after that is another Day Off when she comes early and I don't get shavings. Then the next day, they bring another bag of shavings and I get fed early in the afternoon, sometimes before my mom even gets there. That's because different guys do the feeding on that day. Mom calls them the Weekend Guys.

On the day the Weekend Guys feed, there are usually lots of people at the barn. It's like that the next day too. On that day, I don't get shavings and she comes out at the usual dinner time. Then the next day is back to the beginning, with me getting shavings and my mom not coming to see me.

I like that I can keep track of things like that. I do like a routine and I get anxious when I don't have one. Yesterday actually wasn't the usual day she doesn't come - it would have been the day before when I got shavings. But on that day, she did come out so I wasn't surprised when she didn't the following day. There's almost always one day she misses. I don't mind too much. My stall doesn't get that dirty now that I know how to poop outside and I don't have to go out every day. I do miss getting my beet pulp that day though. But I survive.

Anyway, today I was happy to see her and ready to get out. Because we've been riding more, I haven't had a chance to run lately so I was happy when she just led me to the Round Pen and slipped off my halter. As soon as she came in with the whip, I was ready to go and I took off running! I ran and ran, sometimes digging in my heels and going really fast! It was exciting and fun and by the time I was done, I was snorting and bouncing. I sort of danced up to my mom and put my face in her chest to say thanks. She always seems to know when I need to go fast.

Then we played for a while. She dragged the whip around in the dirt while she walked ahead of me and I tried to pick it up with my teeth. One time, I managed to but when I shook my head, the bag on the end hit me right in the face and it scared me half to death! I dropped that thing and shied halfway across the Round Pen and I'm afraid I stepped on my mom's foot when I did it. I didn't mean to - I was just startled. Luckily, I didn't step on it hard and she laughed about it.

We also played some games where she asked me to move a certain way and I had to figure out how. First she asked me to back up and that was easy. Then she asked me to move my front end away from her. I've done that before so I figured it out quick enough. Then we did the same with my back end. All of that is easy. I'd learned it before when she taught me by holding up her hand against the part she wanted me to move. Now she does it with her body - she moves toward the part she wants me to move and I have to move away from her. It's a little harder but I'm getting it.

Then she did a really hard one. She walked alone with me at her shoulder the way I always walk with her. Then instead of walking straight, she began walking forward but also sideways toward me. I wasn't sure what to do at first. It didn't seem like she wanted me to turn. Finally, I started stepping forward and sideways myself and she was so happy with me! I guess I did the right thing because she gave me a cookie and everything.

She was also happy with the way I'm stopping with her now. I'm supposed to stop right at her shoulder, in the same place I stay when we're walking. When we first started doing that, I'd sometimes take a couple of extra steps before I stopped and she'd ask me gently to back up until I was in the right place. Now, I almost always stop right with her but if I accidentally take an extra step or two, i back up without her telling me until I'm where I should be. She really likes that, I can tell. I like it too. I like being smart and getting the rules right. It's fun.

After my turnout, we went back to my stall and she gave me a nice hay snack while she cleaned. I was just finishing the hay snack when the hay truck came so then I had a whole big pile of hay! Then when my mom was done, I had a clean stall and a new bed and my paddock was all clean too. It was a good day all around.

Riding in the Round Pen

2011-05-27T20:26:00.001-07:00

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

2011-05-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-05-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Rewards

2011-04-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Outsmarted

2011-04-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In trouble again

2011-04-21T19:57:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New stuff

2011-04-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Busy days

2011-04-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Turnout!

2011-03-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my mom took me to the Pony Arena and gave me a turnout. It was so much fun! We've been spending a lot of time in the Round Pen working on Cones and things, and that's fun but sometimes I really need to run fast. It feels good and you just can't run that fast in a Round Pen. It's too small. Big horses like me, with long legs need lots of space to get up our speed. So I was happy to go to the Pony Arena.

Whenever we go there though, I think about that Bad Day when I hurt my mom. That's where it happened, after all. It was just outside that arena. I was Bad then and didn't have Manners, and that's what happens when horses don't have Manners. People get hurt. I don't know if my mom thinks about it but it doesn't seem to bother her. She just walks me right to the arena like it's no different than any other place. I'm glad she's not mad at me.

I was good on the walk. Since we're walking more now, it's easier for me to remember to be good. I was happy when she brought me to the arena though, and as soon as I got in and she took my halter off, I trotted off across it and began to sniff all over the ground. Horses like to sniff the ground because you can tell what other horses have been there. If there's poop on the ground, we like to smell that because that really tells you a lot about other horses. So I sniffed around for a little bit and my mom let me because she knows that's important.

Finally, I lifted my head and looked at her so she said, "Are you ready now?" and I tossed my head and waited. Sure enough, she moved to the center of the arena and held out her Bag Stick and I began trotting around in a circle around her. Pretty soon though I broke into a canter and then a fast canter. And then I put my head down and galloped!

Oh! It was fun! I raced around and around, and then Mom asked me to change directions and I did and I raced even faster the other way. Mom just let me - she didn't try to make me go a certain gait, or do turns or anything like that. She knew I just needed some exercise.

I finally settled down to a nice trot and trotted around for a while, then Mom picked up her Bag Stick and I knew I was allowed to come to the middle and visit with her. I like that part. She pets me and tells me what a Good Girl I am and feels my chest to see how hot I am. I was pretty hot yesterday but it felt good. Then she let me just walk around again and do whatever I wanted to. That's always nice. Sometimes there are other horses waiting to have a turnout so we have to be polite and go but when no one is there, she always lets me just wander around.

It was such a nice day. Sunny and warm and it smelled so nice. After I had a nice roll, Mom put my halter and lead back on and we walked all around the farm. First she brought me into the Rolling Arena and I had an even better roll. Then we stopped to visit Indian, and we stopped and visited Sparky, then we stopped and visited Dooley, and then we visited Cozzie. And then we walked back to the barn and when we got there, Mom led me onto the grass and told me I could graze! So I got to munch on some wonderful, yummy grass too!

She let me graze a long time and when she made me leave, she still let me stop and take a few bites now and then as we walked back to my stall. That was nice and made it a little easier to walk away from it. All in all, it was another great day.

Spring!

2011-03-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

Finally! It's stopped raining and it's nice and warm! I was getting so sick of rain. It was really making me mad. I like it when it's nice and sunny and warm and my mom and I can do fun things and my paddock isn't all muddy and gross.

When I was little, I didn't mind having mud all over my paddock because I liked to play in it. But now I'm a Big Girl and I don't really like to get that dirty or to stand around in mud. It makes my feet feel all nasty and gets tangled in my fetlock hair. I like to be pretty after all.

A couple of days ago when it first stopped raining, Mom took me for a walk around the farm. We haven't done that in forever! It's been so wet and muddy and slippery and gross that it just wasn't worth the bother. I was excited. She didn't even take me to the Round Pen first - we just started walking down the road. I was looking at all the other horses, and the paddocks, and the birds and things and remembering all the things I liked about walking around. But every time I got too distracted, Mom would remind me with her Bag Stick that I have to walk nicely with Manners.

It was kind of hard, especially the first time around. There was so much I wanted to investigate! When we got to the Little Rolling Arena, one of those big horses was lunging round and round with three kids on its back doing the most amazing things. They were standing up for one thing, and one of them was standing up ON the other two kids, and the horse was just cantering around and around like it was all perfectly normal.

I've seen that sort of stuff before but it's always very strange and a little scary. I wouldn't want anyone doing that stuff on MY back. Sparky agrees - he doesn't like that part of the farm at all. Anyway, I got a little snorty and bouncy as we walked past but Mom talked to me and calmed me down and when I tried to scoot past really fast, she reminded me with the Bag Stick that I had to behave and trust her. Well, I do trust her. I don't think she'd let anyone jump around on me but it still makes me feel funny, especially when I haven't been past there in a while.

I was kind of bouncy for a little bit after that and when we started going past the Rolling Arena, I pulled kind of hard and almost twirled. Boy, was that a mistake! Mom shook that bag at me so hard! and made me back right up while she shook it right in front of me, all the while telling me "NO!" I settled right down after that. It's no joke when my mom's mad at me.

After that I behaved nicely - until we got to Cozzie's stall. I wanted to go see Cozzie so badly! I forgot my Manners again and pulled really hard toward him, hoping my mom would just say, "Oh, how cute - you want to see Cozzie!" and let me go but it didn't work that way. There came that Bag Stick again and she shook it even harder this time, I think. It even scared poor Cozzie and we weren't even that close to him.

So then I settled down for real and just walked nicely. It's so hard to be a Big Girl sometimes. I really want to be good but I do forget. Sometimes I used to get confused because my mom would let me be bad one day and then the next day she wouldn't, but now she doesn't ever let me be bad and I guess it's better that way because at least I'm not confused. I know for sure that I'm not supposed to rear, or strike, or... OH! That reminds me!

I was bad one other time on that walk and it was Really Bad. It was right after we left Cozzie and we were walking along by the big pile of poop. I was still kind of mad about not getting to see him and even though I was walking along nicely and not pulling, I was walking pretty fast. My mom doesn't mind when I walk fast as long as I'm not walking faster than her. She walks pretty fast for a human and we get to swinging along and it's very good exercise and feels good. Anyway, we were walking along like that and I was feeling pretty mad so I just suddenly threw out one of my front legs angrily. It wasn't a strike like I used to do - I used to kind of rear up and throw out my leg really hard - and I wasn't aiming at my mom at all, but it WAS a strike, there's no denying it.

Well, you would have thought the world just ended! As soon as my foot cleared the air, my mom yelled, "HEY!" and there she came at me with that bag stick flying and the maddest look on her face I ever saw! She meant business and if I thought I was in trouble when I pulled toward Cozzie, it was nothing compared to the trouble I was in now! She had me backing up double quick time within seconds, faster than I'd been going forward I think, and all the time yelling at me saying, "I DON'T LIKE THAT! AND YOU DON'T DO IT!"

If you think I'm ever going to do that again, you're dead wrong! I was so good for the rest of the walk. And it paid off in the end. We walked past my stall (Cocoa was whinnying like mad - she always does when I'm gone) and went around again and this time I was good as gold. It was lots nicer too. My mom talked nice to me and petted me when we stopped to rest, and when we got to Cozzie's stall, I didn't even look at him. But suddenly I felt my mom move her hand in that direction and she led me right over to him! So I got to see him after all and my mom petted him and reassured him that she would never hurt him with her Bag Stick. Cozzie likes my mom - he's a little shy with people he doesn't know but he always remembers her because she's my mom, so he was happy she wasn't mad at him. We sniffed noses and visited for a few minutes and then it was time to go on. But I was glad I got to see him because he's one of my Best Friends.

Yesterday we had a nice day too. I thought it might be a Bad Day at first because my mom didn't come when she usually does, and then Cocoa's person came and took Cocoa out. She's been coming to see Cocoa every day and I'm glad because Cocoa needs a person to play with her. She's been getting better about things too. Her person (it's not her mom but she's kind of like a mom because she takes care of her all the time so maybe I will call her that because it gets confusing to write "her person" and it's a pain) - her MOM makes her stay in her paddock while she cleans her stall and at first Cocoa got all upset and kept trying to come in and stood out there and whinnied and panicked, especially if I was in my stall or if my mom had me tied out front.

Now she's lots better about that and her mom has been bringing her outside her stall to groom her and handle her and she's Learning to be good. But yesterday, she took Cocoa for a walk! She put on her halter and lead and took her out and just led her away! Well, I was pretty upset. I'm not used to Cocoa not being next to me and I don't like it when she's not there. It's not fair! So I started pounding around in my stall and kicking the walls and being mad. But then Raz's dad came over to my stall and smacked the bars with a lead rope and told me to cut it out! It surprised the heck out of me but I settled down a little bit. It was kind of embarrassing to get yelled at by someone else's dad.

When Cocoa got back I was glad to see her and I was hanging my head out my window watching her mom groom her outside her stall when I saw Sparky come walking along with my mom on his back! Well, that explained why she hadn't come yet - she was taking care of Spark. I don't mind that - Spark is my brother, after all, and I love him. I was glad he was having fun with my mom. I whinnied to them and my mom said hello and talked to Cocoa's mom for a minute while Spark and I visited. He said she'd turned him out in the Little Fence Arena and he'd had a fun time running and bucking in there, and then she groomed him really good and now they were having a nice ride. He said he got to ride with Dooley for a little bit while his mom was hand walking him, and he got to ride with Scout for a little bit, and he got to ride with Gentry for a little bit so he was having fun.

My mom came to see me later. I'd already had finished my dinner hay by then and most of the people from our barn had come and gone. Glamour and Teddy's mom was still there but that's about it. Mom brought me to the Round Pen to play and it was lots nicer in there, almost all dried up. I did some good running and practiced my turns, and then my mom got me trotting and we played the Cone Game while I was trotting! I was surprised at first when she told me "Whoa" as I trotted toward a cone but she put her Bag Stick up the way she does to let me know I need to stop and so I dropped to a walk and then stopped real quick. She immediately said, "Good girl!" so I knew I'd done it right and I started trotting again.

It was so much fun! I got the idea really quickly and soon I was stopping at every Cone when she told me to. Then she had me go the other direction and that was a little harder - I kept forgetting and instead of stopping, I'd change direction. But she was patient and kept reminding me and I got it after a while. It was a really fun session - I love to learn new Games. By the time I was done, I'd worked up a sweat but I felt really good. I nuzzled up to my mom and then I rolled really good two times. And then my mom let me graze for a little bit.

It was a really nice day in the end. I hope we do more fun things today!

Fun day with my mom and Sparky's mom

2011-03-25T21:17:00.001-07:00

I had kind of an awful day yesterday. I didn't really feel very good. I don't know why. The day before, the Shoe Man had come and played with my feet and put new shoes on them and that was nice. He said I was a Good Girl again. I liked that. But then my mom gave me some of that awful Wormer stuff that she puts in my mouth. It tastes kind of yucky and it feels really weird. Kind of sticky and gooey. I ate it - I always do because I figure if my mom squirts it in my mouth, she must want me to eat it. Plus, I always think it might taste better this time but it never seems to.

My mom put my blanket on before she left because of course it was still raining like it's been doing forever. And I ate my dinner and was pretty cozy but then during the night I just started feeling kind of yucky. It was cold, and the wind was blowing the rain right in my door so even when I lied down on my shavings I was getting wet. I felt kind of sleepy and sort of sick and just not right. I think it was the stupid Wormer making me feel nasty and when my mom came the next day, she thought so too. She could see I didn't feel very good. She got me out to clean my stall and she put my dinner hay out with me but I didn't even want to eat it. And then I tried to lie down in it right there outside my stall and then my mom really knew I didn't feel good. I was just tired and cranky and I hadn't been able to lie down and be cozy and dry all night.

She quickly finished cleaning my stall and she put new shavings down and she closed my paddock door so the stupid wind wouldn't blow in and she put my nice soft warm blanket on instead of my stupid old rain sheet. All that made me feel a lot better but I was still kind of cranky. Cocoa and Mickey were eating their hay and that just made me mad because I didn't want to eat my hay and it wasn't fair that they wanted to eat theirs.

But my mom was really nice to me and that made me feel good. She did poke one of those little sticks in my butt like my doctor sometimes does and that was strange. I kept trying to turn around to see what she was doing and I'd end up turning in circles so she finally tied me up so I'd stay still. Then she listened to my belly using one of those funny tube things like my doctor has - it has two ends that poke in her ears and another end that she puts on my belly. It doesn't hurt or anything, and she let me smell it all over and wear it on my face so I didn't mind her doing that.

I was starting to feel a little better by then. It was late afternoon and I'd gotten my dinner hay. I wasn't really interested in hay but I was feeling hungry finally so my mom gave me a little bit of my beet pulp and I ate it all up so she gave me the whole dinner. Then she left but she came back later and she drove her car right up next to my stall door so I could poke my nose out and smell it. I liked that. She opened up the glass thing she sits behind and I poked my nose inside at her so she could pet me. It was lots of fun and she could see I felt better so she gave me a carrot right through the opening.

Today I felt fine and when my mom came out with Sparky's mom I was happy to see both of them. I hardly ever see Sparky's mom anymore and I hardly ever see Sparky. I miss him. Maybe if it ever stops raining, we can turn out together one time.

My mom brushed me and put my wraps on and then we went to the Round Pen and I got to show Sparky's mom how smart I am and how I know how to play the Cone Game. She was happy to watch me and told me how Good I am and how smart and stuff. It made me feel really good. And when my mom brought me back to my stall, she let me stop and visit Chip. We were both so happy! We sniffed and sniffed each other, and then I started sucking on his under lip and he started licking my neck and then he scratched my withers with his teeth and it was so nice! I love Chip lots and lots.

Later while my mom was cleaning my stall, Sparky's mom untied me and brought me onto the grass so I could graze! That was really nice of her! I was surprised because I didn't expect it and I got a little excited at first but as soon as she reminded me to be a Good Girl, I remembered my Manners and behaved. She let me have lots of nice grass and my mom brought out her box thing and pointed it at us and I think that's when she took that picture I posted on this blog entry.

After a while, I went back in my stall and had my beet pulp and hay and stuff. My mom had given me a new bed and opened my door even though my paddock is still a gross mess. It's not so windy though so I like having the door open. And she didn't put my rain sheet on tonight because it's just not so bad out. So it was a really nice day. I love nice days.

Still raining

2011-03-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

I'm kind of sick of rain. It's pretty dumb. My paddock is a rotten mess and so I spend more time in my stall and that gets all messy too. Plus it's cold. I don't usually get cold. I have a nice fuzzy coat that almost always keeps me nice and warm but lately it's been windy and it blows right into my stall and chills me. I don't really like that at all so my mom has been putting my rain blanket on. I don't much like my blanket either but it's better than being cold.

Today a new person came to see Cocoa. It wasn't her mom; it was a younger girl. She put a halter on Cocoa and took her out of her stall. Cocoa was nervous because she doesn't go out much and I got upset because I'm used to her being next to me. I don't like it when she goes out because then who am I going to visit with? Mickey's boring and besides he gets all crabby. So I got mad and started whinnying and kicking and I kicked the door to my duds closet so hard I made a big dent in it. Mom was kind of mad at me for that.

Cocoa heard me fussing and that got her all excited so she started fussing too and she was whinnying and dancing and pulling on her halter and being bad so the girl had to bring her back. She and I were both happy about that but the girl kept trying to make her do things, even in her stall. I felt bad for Cocoa because she didn't know what that girl wanted. Cocoa's nice but she doesn't know anything about how horses are supposed to behave. She's just been a mom horse.

Meanwhile, my mom had taken me out and brushed me and put my wraps on so I knew we were going to go to work. That got Cocoa going again but I ignored her. I'm a Good Girl when my mom takes me out and I don't fuss about leaving Cocoa. She sure does fuss about leaving me though. It's just because she hasn't Learned.

I had a good turnout. It wasn't raining at that point and the Round Pen wasn't quite as mushy as it was yesterday so I was able to run better. Yesterday my mom kept me at a trot because I was sinking so deep in the mud but today she let me run a lot and it was fun. I kept kicking up my heels and racing really fast but I was still a Good Girl and went on the outside of my Cones and turned when my mom asked me to. It's important to do what your mom tells you to do. I tried to explain that to Cocoa later but she pointed out that the girl who was fussing with her wasn't her mom and since she was right about that, I didn't know what to say. Kia always knew how to answer those tough questions but I guess I just don't have the Experience yet. And Cocoa does have a good point because I don't usually listen to Sparky's mom like I do my own mom so it's kind of the same thing.

Anyway, I got all hot and sweaty running around and having fun then I got tired and my mom asked me to walk and we played the Cone Game for a while. She's been putting the Cones in different places lately but that doesn't fool me; I know just how to play that game and I stop and poke the Cone with my nose just to show her how smart I am. She's always really proud of me and calls me a Good Girl and stuff. Then when we're all done playing, she calls me over to her and she pets my face and rubs the star on my forehead. I like that. It feels good and it means she loves me.

After that, we pick up my Cones. I like to help when we do that. We walk around the Round Pen and I poke each Cone with my nose and sometimes I bite it and try to pick it up and Mom pretends to pull it away from me and we have a little game with it. It's fun. Then we go get the next one and she piles it on top of the first one. It fits just right so it looks like just one Cone but it's really two. Then we get the last one and now she has a whole stack of Cones and they're all mine. I love my Cones.

She puts the Cones away in the box thing where she keeps them so nobody else runs off with them and then she takes me for my walk. Today we walked for a little bit in the Flat Arena. Cocoa was still bellowing for me in her stall while that girl was cleaning it but I ignored her and we walked around. Mom asked me to do some of my tricks like backing up and moving sideways and I did them and got a cookie for it. I love it when she gives me cookies for doing my tricks. It's fun for me to do them anyway but it makes it more fun when I think I might get a cookie.

When we were all done, she tied me outside my stall with my dinner hay while she cleaned. I get lots of hay now. I used to only get a little bit but now the guys give me a whole bunch and it makes a big fluffy pile when I scatter it all around. I do that so I can pick out the best parts first. I eat all of it but I like to eat certain parts first so I poke my nose into it and make it go in all directions. Soon I'm standing in a nice pile and it's fun. Today Mom came out for a minute while I was eating and she just dropped down on her knees in my hay and kissed my nose. It was nice. I think my mom likes being in my hay pile too.

Sometimes in my stall, I even roll in my hay. It feels good and it's scratchy on my back. I just love my hay and my bucket dinner. I used to be hungry all the time but now that I get lots of hay, I don't feel so eager to eat like I used to. I'm still hungry at dinner time and breakfast time but I get enough food so I'm not impatient about it. It makes me feel lots better. Horses like to have something to eat most of the time. We're made to graze after all, so if we have to wait a long time or don't get enough food it makes us mad and it can make us sick.

Once I was back in my clean stall, my mom brought my Beet Pulp. It's been tasting better lately and I've been eating it instead of just dumping it out. The first day it tasted better, my mom brought it and I began poking all the carrots out and I realized it smelled different. It smelled like the stuff they call Molasses and which is sometimes in certain grains and foods. Molasses is yummy - it's sort of sweet and brown and sticky and horses love it. When I tasted it, I could just taste a hint of Molasses in it so I think Mom must have added some to make it nicer for me. She's so nice. She always notices when I don't like something or if I need something. She's a good mom.

I'm pretty comfortable even if it is raining. I have a clean stall and my blanket on and I still have some hay to munch on so I can't complain. But I do hope it stops being cold and rainy soon. I'm sick of all this mud.

Stupid rain!

2011-03-18T18:49:00.000-07:00

It was kind of a stupid day today. I had gotten used to the weather being nice and warm and sunny but today was all cold and wet and rainy. I didn't much like it. My paddock was all full of water and mud and I couldn't stand out there and nap in the sunshine like I like to do.

When my mom got here, she was all wet and smelled like Sparky so I knew she had taken care of him first. That was okay. I know Sparky needs to get taken care of too and I wasn't mad. She was with Sparky's mom too so that was nice. I haven't seen Sparky's mom in a long time and she stopped to say hello to me then grabbed my red halter and lead and went to the pasture. That was kind of strange because I knew Spark wasn't in the pasture anymore but then my mom put my rope halter on me and brought me to the Round Pen so I forgot about it.

I was eager to get out. My mom didn't come out to see me at all yesterday so I was kind of frisky. I still remembered my Manners though even though it was hard. Mom made it a little easier by letting me eat some of the nice wet grass on the way. Wet grass tastes so good! It's juicy and sweet and smells wonderful.

I thought we'd play some Cone Game or something but my mom just popped me in the Round Pen and told me to exercise myself. Then she went back to my stall. I saw her grab a rolling bucket thing on her way so I knew she was going to clean my stall. I didn't mind not playing our games. Sometimes it's fun to just play on my own and do whatever I want to do. I started running around in the rain and bucking and kicking up my heels. It was fun! Every now and then my mom would poke her head out of my stall and say hello to me and tell me I was being a Good Girl. So that was nice.

After a while though I got sick of it. It was pretty cold and the rain was coming down hard. Besides I could see that Mom and Sparky's mom had another horse in front of my stall and I was anxious to see who it was. The horse was eating something and I thought it might be my food. My mom is really good about feeding me and even though I sometimes have to share a hay snack she makes sure I get enough. Even so, it's hard to watch someone else eating at your stall when you're not there.

I was waiting patiently by the gate when I saw my mom coming but then she turned and went behind the food area place and I got mad! I reared right up and pawed the air like a wild horse! I thought I probably looked pretty scary but then I heard Sparky's mom yelling, "Look! Bella's so cute!" and that kind of ruined it. My mom came to get me then and when I tried to act fussy and bouncy she just shook her Bag Stick at me and told me I had to behave whether I liked it or not so I did. It's hard to be six sometimes.

But then I got to go back to my stall, or rather to Cocoa's stall because Mom tied me up outside of her stall. I like Cocoa. We're good friends even if she is sort of weird. She always whinnies a lot when I go anywhere and acts like I'm never going to come back. She won't even eat her dinner if I'm not in my stall. Then when I come back, she gets all huffy like I went away on purpose or something. Well, I have to go when my mom tells me to, besides I like to go out and do things. Cocoa just doesn't understand because her mom never takes her anywhere. She used to be a Broodmare which is a horse that just has babies. That's its job which seems like a strange job to me but Cocoa says my mom was probably a Broodmare too. Anyway, because of that she really likes babies and she seems to think I'm her baby or something even though I'm a Big Girl and six now. I don't mind because it's kind of nice to have a horse fuss over me like that.

So I was in front of Cocoa's stall and I didn't have anything to eat because Mom didn't bring me a hay snack or anything. I could see now that the horse Sparky's mom had brought from the pasture was Sparky's friend Dooley and he was all wet and very cold and looked kind of sad and miserable. Mom and Sparky's mom had dried him off and put my rain sheet on him and given him a Bran Mash but he was still kind of tense and uncomfortable so I poked my nose out at him and tried to make him feel better. I could hardly reach him but we sniffed noses and he smelled so nice! I liked him immediately. I've never had a chance to really meet Dooley but he seemed like a really nice gelding so I told him that my mom would take good care of him and he didn't have to worry about things now. Which is true. My mom always takes good care of me so I knew she'd make him feel all right.

He seemed a little more relaxed then which was good and he was warming up nicely by then. So I started poking around with my nose to see what i could play with. I just like to play with things. I don't know why. Finally I found a towel on the ground nearby - I think they'd used it to dry Dooley off - so I picked that up and started shaking it. Dooley seemed interested so he started poking around with his nose too. He grabbed my bag of shavings and pulled on that and that made me like him even more because I like to play with my shavings. Then I played with my food dish and he played with his bucket and he rubbed his head on Sparky's mom and I played bite-face with Cocoa and then my mom yelled at me because I kept picking up my hind foot. I wasn't going to kick anyone - I just wanted to warn Cocoa not to mess with me but it's not Manners so Mom got mad. I made my foal face at her but she seemed to mean it so I tried to be good after that.

Finally she was done with my stall and she put me back in it and started opening my shavings bag. I was excited because I love to help spread my shavings but just then that box thing of hers made a racket and she started talking to it and I had to wait. I kept pawing at them to tell her I wanted to get my shavings out but she just kept yakking. Sometimes people are just clueless.

At last she put the thing back in her pocket and while she helped me open the bag she told Sparky's mom that she could put Dooley back in his stall instead of the pasture. I was glad to hear it and so was Dooley. He didn't want to go back out there and I would have felt so sorry for him if he'd had to. But now he's in a nice warm stall and so am I. I had a good roll and then my mom brought my bucket dinner and it smelled really good today. I still dumped it out and picked out all the carrots but then I started eating some of it and it actually tasted kind of nice. I think my mom put something special in it. I ate it all up.

It's still raining but my tummy is full and I have a clean bed and a big pile of hay. I'm glad all my friends are safe from the weather. Really it was a good day after all.

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-03-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today is my Birthday! I'm six years old now. My mom told me that means that exactly six years ago, I was foaled. She seemed to think that made it a special day and it does seem pretty exciting that I'm such a Big Girl now. I guess I'm a real horse now and not just a filly anymore.

Everything seemed a little special today. When my mom got me out of my stall, she didn't put my wraps on and she kind of hurried me to the Round Pen. I was surprised but I figured she knew what she was doing and then when I got in there, I saw there were no Cones in it! I've gotten so used to seeing those Cones that it looked funny without them but she started lunging me and so I did what she asked.

It was a short session and she didn't ask me for too many turns but I did the ones she asked for just right so that was good. I had a good time running though and I even kicked up my heels a little bit. Then when I was ready to slow down, she asked for a walk and I was just walking along when she asked me to whoa. I was right where one of the Cones usually is and without even thinking about it, I stopped. Mom was pleased and she praised me a lot and told me what a Good Girl I am.

That was nice and so we ended up playing the Cone Game without any Cones! It was still fun because I know how to stop when my mom tells me to and now I don't really need any Cones to remind me. Even so, I like having them there. I like to play with them when we're done with our work. Sometimes Mom will thrown one across the Round Pen and I'll pick it up and play with it some.

We had just finished up when Dooley's mom drove up. Dooley is a friend of Spark's - he used to live in the pasture and our moms are good friends. It turns out that Dooley's mom is a Carrot Doctor! That's a Chiropractor for anyone who hasn't read my blog before. I didn't know that but I guess my mom did because she led me out and Dooley's mom watched how I walked and stuff and then started poking around on me. I didn't mind. It didn't hurt except it was a little tender in a couple of places. But then she pushed or moved that spot and it felt lots better.

She said I was a really Good Girl and that I wasn't "out" in too many places and only a little bit anyway. When you're "out" it means the parts of your body aren't quite lined up the way they're supposed to be and it can make you sore. Carrot Doctors can move things to make them straighten out and it feels really good. They said she was going to do Spark as well and I bet he feels nice now too.

So that was really nice and my mom said it was my Birthday Present. It was a nice Present and afterward I got to go in my stall and eat my dinner hay. All in all, I had a really nice Birthday.

Progress

2011-03-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

That's what Mom calls it. She says we're making Progress. I'm not sure what that is but I think it's a good thing and I do know that I'm learning a lot of fun stuff.

Every day Mom comes to the barn and we go to the Round Pen and work. We have a Routine. I greet her at the door of my stall with a whinny and a couple of happy nickers because I know we're going to have fun together. She gives me a kiss on my nose, right where the snip is, and then she takes my halter off the hook by my door and says, "Face." That means I have to put my nose out so she can put the halter on and I like to do it. It's one of my tricks and I think probably the first one I learned because I've been doing that one for a long time.

Then she gets me out of my stall and ties me up just outside the door. Sometimes there are some hay scraps on the ground that I can eat and sometimes the hay truck comes while we're getting ready so I have a whole big pile of hay. I snack while Mom brushes me all over and cleans the dirt out of my feet and then she puts my wraps on.

I have lots of different wraps but the ones I usually wear are pretty because they're red. The ones on my front legs are sort of shaped and stiff with fasteners that attach and hold them on tight. I have one wrap that covers my leg from just under my knee then down over my fetlocks and another wrap called a Bell Boot that goes over my hoof. Then in the back I have some wraps called Polo Wraps. I don't know why they're called that but I love them! They're very soft and kind of fuzzy; I like to rub my nose on them when my mom first gets them out. They're VERY pretty, red with black hearts all over them. Mom wraps them around and around my leg and then attaches them with more of that stickyt stuff like the stuff on my front wraps. She calls it Velcro.

Once I have all my wraps on, it's time to go to work. Mom grabs her Bag Stick and unties my lead and we walk to the Round Pen. I used to be awful when I walked on my lead! I'd pull hard against it and push my shoulder into my mom, and I'd get excited and turn in circles, and twirl, and rear, and strike out my front feet. Sometimes I'd even kick out my hind feet. I don't do any of that anymore. I've Learned. It's just not Manners and my mom doesn't like it and she won't put up with it anymore. She says I'm a Big Girl now and I have to Behave.

At first, she made me behave by shaking that Bag Stick at me when I acted bad on the lead. It really made me listen. The first time she used it, I was surprised. I didn't realize she could do that outside of the Round Pen and I realized I'd better start paying attention to my mom all the time because she was tougher than I thought she was. Now she hardly ever has to use it. Every once in a while, I get distracted and forget my Manners and she gives it a light shake and that's all I need to remind me.

When we get to the Round Pen, she puts me inside and slips off my halter. Then she sets up my Cones. She always puts them in the same spots. We use three of them now. Mom says that's because I'm so smart. We don't play the Cone Game right off though. First we free lunge and she lets me trot and canter a lot which is nice because I really need to get my energy out after being cooped up in a stall.

Once I've had some time to warm up, she starts asking me to change direction. She does that by changing hands with the Bag Stick and motioning with her empty hand. It's easy. I'm just supposed to quickly turn and go the other way at the same pace I was going the first way. Sometimes I get a little lazy about it, or I keep going in the same direction a little too long. Then she reminds me with the Bag Stick that we're working and I have to be a Good Girl and I generally do it right after that.

Then we play our Cone Game where I stop at each of the Cones when she tells me to. That's my favorite game because if I do it really, really well I get a cookie.

Usually we go for a walk in the Flat Arena or out on the road after that but a few days ago, we did something a little different. Mom put on my halter but instead of leading me out of the Round Pen, she got my saddle and bridle and put them on me! I was surprised and a little nervous - I haven't been ridden since that day I was cranky and mad and didn't behave well. But Mom was very relaxed and calm and that made me feel a little better.

Once I was all set, she got on my back and began riding me right there in the Round Pen. I was sort of tense still as she asked me to walk around it but then we got to the first Cone and I felt her weight deepen in the saddle and she touched my mouth with the reins and said, "Whoa." She said it just like she does when we play our game and I immediately knew what we were doing - we were doing the Cone Game with my mom on my back!

I was happy then. That's something I know how to do. I stopped nicely and she patted my neck and praised me then she asked me to walk on and I did. Sure enough, when we reached the next Cone, she asked me to whoa again.

I have to say it was really nice. You see, a lot of times when my mom has been on my back, I haven't really understood what it was that she wanted me to do. She's always nice about it, and I try really hard to be good, but I think those times that I have done the right thing, it's been more of a lucky guess than anything else. But this time, I knew exactly what I was doing and it made all the difference. I was so relaxed and happy and we rode around lots of times and stopped at those Cones.

Then we did something different. Instead of asking me to stop, or to keep walking toward the next Cone, Mom gently pulled the rein nearest to the fence so my head was kind of turned toward her foot. While she did that, she was poking at my side with her heel - the one on the same side that she was pulling me toward - and she was saying, "Turn."

I was kind of confused about that at first but she was patient and I suddenly realized that "turn" is what she says when she wants me to change direction while we're lunging. I started moving my back feet around so my front would face the other way and she immediately let the rein relax and called me a Good Girl so I knew I was right. I swung around then and we went the other way and played more Cone Game.

Then she asked me to turn again. This was a little harder. For some reason, it was kind of hard to figure out where to put my feet going that way and I had to really think about it a little bit. Again she was patient and just waited while I got it straight, gently using her rein and heel until I got moving and then easing up with them so I knew I was doing the right thing.

Even though we didn't do anything more than walk, it felt like we did a lot on that ride. I felt like I understood a lot more of what I was supposed to be doing and it felt like my mom knew it. She was really happy with me and when she got off she petted me lots and told me what a Good Girl I am. Then we went for our walk but she led me with my bridle instead of my lead.

Since then we haven't ridden again but we've kept up the other work and it's been fun. One day instead of doing it in the Round Pen, we did it in the Flat Arena with me on the lunge line. I hadn't worked on a line in a long time but Mom set up the Cones just the way they always are so I knew what we were doing and I just worked like I always do. She was happy with me that day too. In fact, she's happy with me most days now which is nice.

Just yesterday in fact, she put down her Bag Stick while we were walking in the Flat Arena and we finished up our walk without it. I remembered my Manners and didn't get fussy or pushy or anything. I didn't even pull toward the grass when we went out to the road to walk back to my stall. I think she was happiest of all about that.

So things are going well. Lots of times my mom lets me graze after our workout and the picture is from one of those days. She took it with that little box thing that she talks to sometimes so maybe that's why the color is a little funny. The grass wasn't a funny color though. It was nice green and it tasted delicious.

Visit with the horse doctor

2011-03-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

My doctor was out to see me today. He floated my teeth, which means he made me really sleepy then took all the rough parts off with his tools. He also said I was a really Good Girl.

I like my doctor. He always pets me and calls me a Good Girl and he does interesting things with me. I don't mind. I'm used to being handled and stuff. I used to have to do all kinds of strange things at the track so nothing really bothers me too much. He came with a girl who helped him. I was tied outside my stall because my mom and I had finished another nice session playing the Cone Game and walking around and stuff. I figured it was time for dinner but then my doctor came and I was interested in what he was doing because he was at the end of the barn row trying to throw ropes over the metal bars that hold the roof. It was funny to watch him because he was jumping up and down which was sort of silly.

Anyway, he finally did it and he hung this funny contraption up that looked like my stall bar only lots shorter. Then he came to my stall and petted me and poked me in the neck with one of those sharp things doctors like to poke horses with. I don't know why but it doesn't bother me. It doesn't really hurt, it just feels funny.

But then I started feeling even more funny. My mom led me out of my stall and I felt all funny on my legs, like I couldn't really walk right. I stepped really carefully and everything looked sort of out of focus and strange. It wasn't scary though - just weird. Mom led me up to that hanging contraption and I sniffed it but it just smelled like a halter. Then the other girl took off my halter and strapped that thing on my head so that the soft bar part was under my chin.

By this time, I was really sleepy and was hardly paying attention to what anyone was doing. The doctor put a strange metal thing in my mouth - it was kind of like a bit but it fit against my teeth so it held my mouth open. That was a little weird but I still didn't care. Then he hoisted my head up and began working on my teeth.

His tools are noisy and they feel funny in your mouth but I was just so sleepy and felt so relaxed that I just stood there. I don't mind loud noises and I kind of like things that feel funny or are unusual. Both the doctor and the girl said I was a Very Good Patient.

After he was all done, they rinsed out my mouth and my teeth felt lots different. They were all smooth and nice with no sharp points and when I got my dinner later, I could chew better. I liked that. I felt really good. My mom told me that Sparky was getting his teeth done too. And he was getting his boy parts cleaned. I don't have to do that because I'm not a boy.

This is an older picture - my mom's camera stopped working which is too bad. Hopefully she'll get another one soon. In the meantime, we'll just use some of the other ones she has. She takes lots of pictures of me because she loves me.

Fun and games

2011-02-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

I am having so much fun with my mom! We play the most interesting games and the best part is, I get treats and pets and hugs when I get them right!

You know, I used to be kind of cranky all the time. My mom would ask me to do things and I didn't want to, or I thought they were stupid, or I just didn't get it and it made me mad. So I'd get cranky, and try to bite her, and I'd swish my tail, and be bad and stuff. She didn't always ask me to do that stuff - sometimes we did really fun stuff. But lots of times I was confused and sometimes I have to admit I just wasn't paying any attention.

But now I'm always paying attention because I never know what my mom is going to ask me to do and if I don't pay attention, she waves that Bag Thing at me and it makes me pay attention! She hardly ever has to do that though because I've discovered how much fun it can be to do what she wants me to do.

I told you before about our Cone Game. That's the game where I have to stop right at the Cone and my mom gives me a treat. We've been playing that game a lot and it's gotten more fun because one day, Mom brought in a second Cone! She put it across the Round Pen from the first Cone and let me sniff it then she got me started free lunging. She let me run and trot and stuff first and then she asked me to walk. Once I was walking, she asked me to stop at the first Cone and I did so she told me I was a Good Girl and gave me a cookie. Then she had me walk again.

I got more and more excited as I approached the second Cone because I just knew she was going to ask me to stop. I kept looking at it and then looking at her waiting for her to say the word "whoa" and sure enough, she did. So I stopped right next to it and poked it with my nose then I looked at her to see if she noticed. She did of course, and she came and petted me and gave me a cookie and scratched my withers and told me that I'm the Smartest Pony in the World. I liked that.

Now we're playing with three Cones. It's fun. My mom makes it tricky because she doesn't always ask me to stop. Sometimes she wants me to keep walking and stop at the next Cone, or walk past all of them and then stop on the next time around. I have to pay close attention to her and I have to remember to walk on the outside of the Cones and not cut inside of them. It's such a fun game! I always look forward to playing it.

We also take lots of walks and I'm lots better about behaving on them now because Mom carries her Bag Thing on the stick and reminds me if I start getting foolish. It's kind of more fun to walk nicely because she's not always pulling on my lead and getting mad at me and I can see things better. Plus we walk longer because she's in a good mood and not all tired out by my Shenanigans as she calls them.

So I'm having a lot of fun. I love to learn new games.

Guest Blogger: Sparky!

2011-02-14T10:47:00.001-08:00

Hello there, this is Sparky, Bella’s brother doing another guest blog. It has been a while since I did one and a lot of stuff has happened in my life, so Bella thought I should share it with her readers. The main thing that has happened is that I am not a Pasture Horse anymore. At first that made me kind of sad, I missed my friends and being able to run around free in the field. My Mom said that I was going to live in a stall now because the pasture gets muddy, cold, and dangerous in the winter and she doesn’t want me to get hurt or sick. I love my Mom and I always want to be a Goodboy and do what she wants because she knows what is best, but this time it was really hard!

It didn’t take too long for me to get used to my new life though, and once I did I realized it is pretty nice! Now I live in a cozy stall with good sturdy walls that keep out the wind and rain. My Mom makes sure it is clean and has nice comfy shavings in it, although I do my part by keeping my bed very neat. I poop in one neat little pile and I don’t walk through it at all, mostly I pee outside but if I pee inside it is just in one spot so it is easy for her to clean up. Inside my stall I have a yummy salt lick, an automatic water bucket in my favorite color: blue, and a hangy treat holder that has a carrot flavored treat in it. I don’t really like the carrot flavor as much as the apple flavor but I don’t think Mom knew that. The walls of my stall are all wood and are solid all the way up, but the front part has a gate on it made out of metal pipes. Over it is an open space so I can hang my head out and the guys can toss me my hay. I get my OWN hay piles for breakfast and for dinner! I like that part. I also really like the outside part of my stall.

When I lived in Minnesota I had a stall but it was just a big square box with one door and if that door was closed I couldn’t get out. It was okay because I only lived in there at night to eat my hay and sleep, but now I have a big doorway right across from the gate that leads to a big paddock! I can go out there any time I want to and no one has to let me out or anything. I spend a lot of time out there dozing in the sun, playing or sniffing noses with my neighbors, and just watching things. I am a lucky horse because my paddock is bigger and nicer than some of them. I am also lucky because I am surrounded by friends. Bella only has two friends at her stall but I have lots. Plus there are mares and geldings which is nice because that is what I am used to.

My two next-to-me neighbors are both mares. One is not very nice to me, her name is Sadie. She bites at me and kicks, and if my Mom is giving me a snack she rudely bangs her hoof on the wall or fence. I don’t like that stuff so I pin my ears at her and try to tell her not to do it, but mares don’t always listen or make sense. On the other side is Polly, she is a pony but not so small that she is scary. Although she can be scary when she wants to be! I respect Polly because she is fair, she likes to sniff noses and chat like a normal horse but when a horse does something she doesn’t like she is firm! I don’t like to make Polly mad so I’m careful not to bug her when she is irritated. I can see a mare named Lily from my paddock but we are not nose-neighbors. I know her from when Bella lived in her first stall. My good friend Cisco’s paddock is right up behind mine so we play a lot together. He is a chestnut quarter horse, the same age as me, we have a lot in common so we get along well. Next to Cisco is Classy. She is a very pretty Tennessee Walker mare. I like her a lot. We don’t play but lots of times she will stand in the corner of her paddock near mine and we will sleep with our noses near each other. I haven’t liked a mare this much since Treasure *nicker*

Another thing that makes my new stall good is that my best friend Dooley lives in a stall right nearby! We can smell each other and call to each other and if I am in front of my stall tied up, I can see his stall! My Mom and Grammy were taking care of Dooley for a while because his mom was hurt and couldn’t do the things she normally did. Dooley wasn’t worried though because he knows my Mom and Grammy and his mom came to visit him, she just couldn’t clean or groom and ride him and stuff. Our Moms are friends too so we ride together a lot and we get to turn out together almost every time! I love to turn out with Dooley, he is my best, most favorite friend! First we both roll right away, we really like to roll. Then we like to run around and pretend that we’re wild Arabs! I always get to be the stallion because I was the Herd Boss. We like to play biteface too, Dooley is fun to play with because he is quick and really good at it like me, sometimes we even rear up and strike at each other but our Moms know we’re just playing, we never really hit each other.

Another important thing in my life is that I am learning to be a Trail Horse. This means that I carry my Mom outside of the arenas, not on the farm, out in the woods and I don’t get scared. It is really hard because there are a lot of strange, scary things out there and it is my job to make sure my Mom is safe. I get nervous sometimes when I don’t think I can protect us from something but my Mom tells me not to run. Like one time we saw some people on Bicycles on the trail, that was really scary. A lady at my old barn used to ride a Bicycle and that wasn’t scary, but I think that is because it was moving slow and I knew her and it was right there at the barn so it seemed safer. The ones on the trail were fast and they were ridden by strangers! At first I was scared and tried to run, but Mom was calm and firm and made me turn around. The people on the Bicycles stopped and talked to me so that they were less scary but I still didn’t like it. Still I have to admit that the next Bicycles we saw were a little easier to take, maybe someday I will just ignore them like Dooley does. Another time we had to cross a Bridge! A Bridge is flat pieces of wood, like the walls of a stall, laid down over nothing!! They are just kind of floating there all hollow. The one we crossed smelled a little like water, but there wasn’t any; Dooley said that sometimes there is water running under them! I don’t like water at all, I’m a desert horse, and I didn’t like that bridge either! My Mom asked me to step onto it and I started to but then stopped, I wanted to be a Goodboy, but I was scared. So Dooley went first to show me that it was okay and I followed him when my Mom asked me to. Once we were over it I felt pretty excited, like I was invincible, I even broke into a little trot!

Being a Trail Horse is kind of scary sometimes but when I’m not scared I really like it! It is fun to see new places and smell new smells. I like exploring with my friends and my Mom. Sometimes we get to run and that is really fun! Mom says I am also going to learn to be a Jumping Horse. I already knew that because I kind of am a Jumping Horse already. Mom used to set up small jumps for me and lunge me over them, I loved it! As soon as I am facing the jump I prick my ears up and speed up a little because I am excited! A couple of times Mom let me go over little jumps while she was on my back! I liked that a lot, it was like we were flying together and she was so proud of me! Once last week when me and Dooley were turned out in the Jumping arena I decided to go over a jump on my own just because I wanted to! Mom and Grammy said that I had really good “form” which meant that I went right over the middle of the jump and tucked my feet up nicely. Mom wants to get a trainer to work with us on jumping because she says I have natural talent and enjoy it and she wants to make sure we do everything right. My Mom is really smart and she is very careful because she wants us to both be safe, that makes me feel so good.

At night times Mom or Grammy come and make me my dinner. I love my dinner, it is warm and has alfalfa, pelleted horse food, and bran in it. Usually it has carrots too. I nicker when I see Mom get my blue dish or the kettle that warms up my water. Sometimes Mom brings me my favorite snack: Ritz crackers! They are so yummy! They are crispy and salty and I would rather have one of those than any other snack in the world! After dinner I munch hay with my friends and enjoy the cool night air. Once it gets too cold I just go in my warm stall and curl up safe and cozy. Sometimes I miss sleeping with the guys in the field but I have a really nice life! I am one lucky boy! Thanks for reading my guest blog!

~Sparky

Fun new game

2011-02-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

My mom and I have been playing a new game. I really like it because it's fun and it involves treats. Plus I like learning new games.

We started a few days ago. As usual, Mom came and put on my halter and brought me to the Round Pen. Then she brought in something new. It's kind of hard to describe. It has a flat base that it stands on and then on top of that is a round upright thing. The round part is fatter on the bottom than it is on the top. It's made out of some sort of funny material that is stiff but flexible when you nibble on it. It smells a little bit like the tires on my mom's car. She called it a Cone.

She put the Cone down in a spot that was about as far away from the Round Pen fence as I am long. I went over and sniffed it. It didn't seem like anything special or scary so I didn't mind having it there. My mom is always doing odd things when we play. She usually has a reason for it.

Then she started free lunging me. I was ready to run a bit because I hadn't been out the day before. She let me canter around for a while then turned me and I cantered the other way. It was like any other day that we've had recently with her in the middle with her stick with the Bag Thing on it and me running around the Round Pen. The only difference was that Cone. It wasn't in the way though - I just ran between it and the fence and there was plenty of room.

After a while, my mom started asking me to change direction. That's normal too - we do that all the time. It's gotten kind of fun. I try to keep an eye on her so I can tell when she's going to ask me to do it. I can tell just by the way she moves and even how she looks at me. When her eyes flick from my hindquarters to my head, I know she's getting ready to ask me to reverse. Sometimes I do it too soon though - I have to wait until she actually asks me or she makes the Bad Girl noise and quickly turns me back again. She says I'm not supposed to Anticipate.

We had a good workout. I dropped down to a trot and we worked that way for a while and finally she asked me to walk. I figured we were all done but instead of asking me to come to her and petting me, she got my halter and began leading me around the edge of the Round Pen. It was kind of odd but sometimes she walks me to cool off though she usually does it without my halter on. I just follow her. But she's the boss so I walked along with her. We walked around the whole thing and then she asked me to whoa.

I did of course, and she petted me and called me a Good Girl, then she asked me to walk on again. We did that a few times, walking around and then stopping and eventually I realized that we were stopping at the same place every time which was right where that Cone was. I didn't really think anything of it but then she turned me around and we walked and stopped the other way. Sure enough, every time she asked me to stop, we were right next to that Cone. And every time, she told me I was a Good Girl.

After a while, she took my halter off and asked me to walk around the circle loose like I was free lunging. I did it. Then she began asking me to whoa like that. I wasn't sure what she wanted at first. I know how to whoa but it usually takes me a little while to do it. I kind of walk along for a little bit and then finally stop. Now though, she wanted me to stop as soon as she told me to. She stood closer me as I walked and when she told me to whoa, she pointed her stick at me with the bag very quiet. At first, I thought she wanted me to reverse but it wasn't the same movement and posture so then I just stopped and she got very happy with me, petting me a lot and telling me how good I was. So I knew she wanted me to stop.

She still kept sending me around though and then she'd ask me to stop. Finally one time, I stopped and she came right over to me and petted me and petted me and called me Good Girl and gave me a cookie! That was nice. So the next time she told me to whoa, I did it and looked at her hoping to get another one and I did. That's when I noticed I was right next to the Cone again.

I started thinking that maybe that Cone had something to do with all this so the next time I stopped, I stopped right next to it and put my nose down to sniff it. Well, you would have thought I'd done something amazing. Mom hugged me and praised me and gave me a cookie again and petted me all over. She also reached down and touched the cone, then petted me so I knew right then that I was right. She wanted me to stop next to that Cone.

Well, we've been doing that game for a couple of days now and I'm getting better and better at it. It takes me a couple of tries to remember that I have to stop at the cone but once I do it, I remember and I do it every time. Mom says I'm the smartest horse she ever knew.

I also got new shoes the other day. It was a good thing too because just the night before, I had one fall off in my stall. I'd noticed it was loose - my mom did too - and I knew I'd probably lose it. And wouldn't you know it, the very next day, the Shoe Man showed up! I don't know how he does it but he always seems to know when it's time for me to get new shoes. It's pretty amazing.

I was proud to show off my good manners to him and my mom was too. She told him all about how we'd been working and he said that I was just perfect when he worked on my front feet. I didn't fidget or swish my tail or try to bite or pull my feet away or anything. I was a little fidgety with my back feet - I was getting tired of standing there and I knew my dinner hay was waiting. But he still said that I was much better than I had been and he gave me a piece of apple. That was really nice. I love my Shoe Man.

Today after our work, my mom let me graze on the hill for a long time. She's been doing that a lot lately and I've gotten to be really good about it. I used to pull really hard to go that way, and I'd rush to trot up onto the grass and dive my head in. I don't know why. I was so eager to get to it that I couldn't seem to behave. But now I'm a Good Girl. I stop when my mom tells me to and if she leads me toward the grass, I just walk nicely. I don't try to pull away or run onto it either. I just walk up the hill and put my head down to eat when she says it's okay. And I leave when she tells me to, also. That's not easy but she always lets me have lots of grass and she takes me out there pretty often so I know I'm going to get more another time.

It's funny. Since we've been doing all this work, I've gotten so that I trust my mom a lot more. I always did trust her but I also sometimes felt that she didn't know what she was doing, or that I knew better than her. Now I don't. I feel like she's in charge and that's okay because she doesn't make me do anything scary or awful or anything. She takes care of me. So that's nice.

The picture is me while the Shoe Man was playing with my feet. It used to be that my mom had to hold me the whole time but now she just ties me and stands near my head. I guess that means I'm getting to be a Big Girl now.

In my stall

2011-02-05T21:18:00.000-08:00

You'd think from reading my blog that I spend a lot of time playing with my mom, or going on walks or rides, or having turnouts. But actually I spend most of my time in my stall. I do get out for several hours every day but my stall is my home. Lots of times I write about what I do when I'm out because it's always different. The stuff I do in my stall is kind of a routine but it's one I like. So today I thought I'd talk about it.

First I ought to describe my stall. It has two parts - the stall itself and the paddock part. The stall is my inside part. It's a nice size, big enough for me to move around comfortably, and to lie down if I want to and even roll. It has a built-in bucket thing in one corner and there's an opening there that I can stick my head out and the guys can throw my hay in. Lots of times it lands in that bucket thing. I usually use my nose to poke it out onto the floor because I prefer to eat with my head down. But there's always little bits left in the bucket and I eat those up too.

I have a salt lick in that bucket thing too, so when I eat my hay or any snacks that go in there, I often lick the bits off the salt block. That tastes pretty good so sometimes I just keep licking at it. My mom says salt is good for me. It makes me thirsty though so I usually have to get a drink after a while. That's okay though because I have a water bucket in another corner. It's a neat water bucket because it never runs out of water. When I take a drink, it gets lower in the bucket but as soon as it does, more water comes into it! I don't know how that works but I like it, though I wish I had a water trough like the pasture horses do. I love to play in the water and my bucket just isn't big enough for that.

In another corner is my duds closet. It's just a flat wall but when my mom opens it, you can see it's really a door and behind it are all my duds like my saddle and bridle and my brush box and all my pretty saddle pads and polo wraps and blankets. I love my duds closet. Whenever my mom opens it, I like to poke my nose in and look at all my things and she lets me. Sometimes I try to pull things out and she tells me I can't do that but it's just because she doesn't want me to ruin them.

There's only one corner left and it doesn't have anything big in it but it does have something special and that's my keys. I love keys. My mom carries her keys on her pants hooked onto a little loop and I love to reach out and play with them. I take them in my mouth and they jingle and feel funny against my tongue. So one day my mom brought me some keys of my own to play with! They're bigger than hers, and they're made out of different stuff - kind of like my water bucket actually - but they're on a ring like hers and she hung them from the bars of my stall so I can play with them whenever I want to. That was nice of her. She thinks of things like that.

I also have my ball toy. That's a round ball that hangs from the ceiling of my stall near the bars that separate my stall from Cocoa's. My old stall just had plain walls but this one has big barred windows on both sides so I can sniff noses and see my neighbors. I like that lots better. Anyway, my ball toy hangs there. I don't really play with it but I do like having it there. It's mine and seeing it makes me feel at home. Sometimes I like to just walk past it and brush against it. It makes it swing gently and that makes me happy because that means I'm in my own stall with my own things and I can play with them whenever I want to. That's nice.

My stall door is the kind that slides open and shut. It has bars on it too - in fact, there are bars across the whole front of my stall except for the window part. I like that. It makes me feel safe inside my stall because other horses can't just poke their heads in whenever they want to but I can still see outside. Outside is an aisle with a roof over it and that's where I eat my hay snack when my mom is cleaning my stall. It's nice because even if it's raining, I'm nice and cozy under that roof. Some of the barns don't have an aisle like that so we're lucky.

My paddock is the outside part of my stall. It's about the same size but instead of walls it has a fence made out of metal pipe stuff. That's nice because me and my neighbors can put our heads over it and visit each other. Cocoa and I like to groom each other over the fence. My paddock is nice because lots of times it's sunny out there and I can stand in the warm sunshine and doze with my neighbors. That's one of my favorite things to do.

Another thing I like to do is watch the horses that are working in the Flat Arena. The Flat Arena is right behind our barn. There's a bush growing outside my paddock, and a little short hill with grass and rocks on it, and then the Flat Arena is right there. We can see it really well, all but a little bit that's blocked by the bush. I like the bush though because it's kind of shady sometimes and it smells good.

Lots of times I see horse I know working in the Flat Arena. I like that. Since Cocoa hasn't been here as long as me, and hasn't been around the other barns like I have, I often tell her who they are. I feel sorry for Cocoa sometimes. She doesn't get to go out like I do so she doesn't have any Adventures. I tell her about mine sometimes and she likes to hear about them. And sometimes I explain to her what the horses are doing in the Flat Arena because she's just a broodmare and doesn't know anything about riding like I do.

Sometimes exciting things happen. One time Spencer got loose and ran all over the hill across from my stall. That was pretty exciting and I wished I could do that. Other times I see big groups of riders and horses going past and I wonder where they're going and whether they can run as fast as me. And sometimes I see people with dogs or little people. I like little people. One of them was petting me today and he gave me a piece of hay to eat. I liked that and I took it very gently so I didn't bite him.

One of the best things is when people I don't know come and look at me and they usually give me some grass or hay or something. They usually tell me how pretty I am and they pet me and don't make me do anything. And I also love it when my mom cleans out my stall and puts fresh shavings in it. I love to roll in my new shavings! They smell so good and it feels so nice!

But the very best thing of all is when my food comes. Every morning the guys bring my breakfast hay and every afternoon they bring my dinner hay. And when my mom comes, she usually gives me more hay and my bucket dinner. She always puts carrots in my bucket dinner and I find them with my nose and poke them out of my dish so I can eat them first. I love my dinner.

All in all, I'm a very lucky horse. I have a nice home that I love and I'm cozy in with all my special things around me. And on the door there's a board thing that has my name on it so everyone knows it's mine.