I tried bitting Tonka right before his good feed, and he was agitated the entire time. Did this for 3-4 days. So this morning I decided not to, and good thing too because he has NEVER acted like he did this morning. He was rearing in the stall, tossing his head around, kind of throwing his back feet up, but not far up. So I chased him out of the stall a couple times and I didn't give him his good grub. He just got hay. I think I may cut out the good grub completely, or at least cut it back to just a bite or two. If he's feeling that frisky he obviously isn't putting whatever energy the feed is giving him into growth, which is what I intended it for. Not that he was getting much, and it wasn't precisely "grain." I don't like feeding grain unless necessary. It was 1.5 cups of beet pulp, less than a cup of alfalfa pellets, and 1 cup of pea pellets, which aren't 100% peas, there is a lot of chaff and other filler in there. Now that I look at it that sure seems like a lot of extra feed for a mustang. I guess when I think of it in comparison to what the old horses get it didn't seem like much. He's not fat though, so that's good. I'll just cut it back to a sprinkle of each... Or none at all if he keeps acting like that.
Anyway, back to the bit. I have decided that it will work better to put the bit in his mouth and then do something else to distract him from it, so he'll know that life does go on just fine even with a bit in his mouth. BUT it's raining like crazy and the pastures are flooded and the mud is not conducive to training, so it'll have to wait...
Above are some pictures of our creek, which is now a little river, just got that way overnight. Normally it'd be about 8-10 feet lower than what you see there, with tall dirt banks.
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