Okay, so I lied. I'm back. Hi!

I really shouldn't be sitting here. But I've got a blogging problem. And I'm okay with that.

New bit:

Tonka (Sorry, not the best pic):

The Huntress:

So I had to share with y'all, because although it's weird and funny, I figured other horse people would understand.

I stopped by a local store that's closing out all their horse stuff, hoping to find a sweet iron snaffle for Tonka. They had a few that looked like sweet iron but didn't say. So, very discreetly, I taste tested them. Have you ever done that? I must admit I've done it berfore even on bits I knew were sweet iron. Just to see what it was like. One of them, of course the cheapest, was NASTY. It tasted like a dirty old penny. And don't ask my why I know that. Haven't all kids stuck pennies in their mouths? (And learned that's a bad idea, eww.) There was one that was really pretty and would have been about $18, but I got a plain one that was only $10. Good deal!

Now I'm going out to try it out and see how he likes it. I have to hurry and try to keep my ride very short, since I have SO much to do.

You probably won't be seeing any entries from me for the next 5 days or so. I'm going to visit family in western Washington, so nothing horsey to blog about... John'll be guarding of the home front.

We had another good ride tonight. I took Tonka out to the round pen and we practiced side-passing and giving to the bit.

As a side note - he LOVED my sister's sweet iron bit yesterday. Wouldn't let go of it. So if you have a sweet iron snaffle you'd like to sell, let me know! I may just go to a tack store and get one though. I don't think they cost all that much.

We opened and closed a gate, but it took a while. Then we backed a figure 8 around 2 barrels. He did SO incredibly well at that. We took our time, and he listened to every cue, and stopped his movement when I stopped asking. What a good boy! Then we were done for the night.

Bella's hind feet are trimmed! I couldn't leave that left hind to continue to flare, so I just went ahead and did it. I even pulled her hind feet forward for the first time to rasp from the top. No problem. It's not like I'm plopping the stand down under her and trimming like I would a trained horse. I'm asking very little of her. But I'm still really proud of how she's handling it.

Today I went over to my sister's to ride. She's not an instructor or anything, but she knows more than I do and she loves to train horses. So I asked her to help me with getting him to give to the bit better and side-passing. He was so good! It didn't take long before all I had to do was close my fingers on the reins to get him to give, and he was flexing laterally really nicely as well. I was having trouble feeling him give, but then found I was looking for too small a try. It turned out to be pretty obvious when he gave, and when I released at the right time consistently he immediately improved. This was all at the standstill. We both tried it at the walk, and he's not ready for that yet. I'd really like to start getting him collected though, to strengthen his LONG back.

The side-passing wasn't as miraculous an improvement, but I did find out that I wasn't giving the wrong cues. It was more like I wasn't setting him up in the easiest way for him to understand what I was asking. She wants me to work against a fence to help show him that I'm not looking for forward movement. I've done that before with other horses and it helped a lot, but I kept thinking I didn't have a solid fence to work near, just electric. Completely forgot that we just finished up my round pen and I can use it! Duh. He really did improve, but he wasn't perfect at it by any means by the time we were done. I could get a step or two correctly, which is GREAT, but sometimes I'd just get the front end moving over and the hind end lagging behind. So now I have my assignment for tomorrow!

Actually the round pen isn't completely done, I still need to hang the gate. I think I'll do that in the morning so we can practice opening and closing it from the saddle too. Funny, he side-passes up to a gate better than he does out in the open... Or maybe that was just a fluke.

I have to go to the chiropractor tomorrow, but I think I can sandwich in some riding time somehow.

If you go WAY back almost to the beginning of this blog, you'll read about my bidding experience when I got Tonka, and how I almost had a heart attack. Someone was bidding against me and I just couldn't lose him. Which we all know I didn't, now, but at the time it was SO stressful. Months later, I "met" the other bidder online. We've been hanging out (online) a lot since then. She lives a a long ways from me so virtual visiting is all we've been able to do so far. She and her daughter adopted Quiet Storm, a really neat little silver bay, after I outbid them on Tonka. Then they got a reassignment mustang filly and adopted another two year old this year. You'll find the links to Tracey's mustang blog and her other farm type blog (where she milks sheep and makes soaps and lotions and does all kinds of other fun stuff) in my list of the blogs I read off to the side here.

Anyway, to get to the point, Tracey is planning on starting a mustang rescue and rehabilitation facility. There are a lot of throw-away horses in the world, especially every fall when people realize they need to buy hay, and Tracey really wants to help those of the feral persuasion. So go check out her website. She has some fun fund-raisers, and is going to (hopefully) set up a Kitty Lauman clinic next year somewhere near Seattle (sorry, all those towns are "near Seattle" to me, not sure exactly where anything is over there) to help raise funds for her equine endeavor. Here's the site:

http://wildhorserehab.com/

Check back here later and I'll have some buttons on the side where you can click and shop, and a portion of the purchase price will go to the Wild Horse Rehabilitation and Rescue Center.

Walking through the ditch - I love his expression.

We got to ride this evening! It was fun. The tarp was scary again, with me on his back. Not too bad though. The barrels were less scary but we only walked around them. Side-passing was pretty decent if we had a pole on the ground as a "crutch" to guide us, but not out in the open. My fault I'm sure. He was pretty mellow, almost dead-eyed when we got done. I think the vaccination this morning might have him feeling a little down. I know I felt like crap for a couple days after my tetanus shot, so I felt kind of bad for asking him to work, but we really didn't do anything hard, just puttered around the obstacles.

Just riding... He was kind of resistant to turning this direction today.

I also had him carry my bright yellow rain slicker and I put it on and took it off several times. He wasn't impressed. Yawn. We dragged a log, but only when I was on the ground. I fumble with the darn lariat and didn't want to get in a wreck. I need to stand around and coil and uncoil it repeatedly until I get the feel for it. We also rode up to the gate and side passed up next to it, but I couldn't reach the latch (it's in a corner) so we didn't open it. We need to get the gate hung on the round pen and I can work on it there. Darn it! I meant to do that today.

Earlier in the day I went to the chiropractor for the first time in years. My back, neck, and hips have been getting worse and worse, until last weekend I could barely turn my head. Turns out I have a bulging disc in my lower back, which should be fixable, and had some ribs out. I suspect the lower back problem wasn't helped by falling off Tonka, but I did have pain there before that. The rib problem started last week. I have no idea what I did to cause it. I have to go back 5 more times in the next 2-3 weeks. He did something to my elbow too, which will hopefully help with the tennis elbow. Actually, the way he described it, it works in the same way that pin-firing is supposed to work on horses. He described it as "turning on" the nerves. Kind of like you're bringing the body's attention to the fact that "hey, there's something wrong here!" so it can heal it. Busy day!

Well, I did try to upload a video. Once again it didn't work. Wasn't very interesting anyway, but I thought it was cute. Maybe one of these days I'll put it on YouTube.

We worked with the barrels some more, and the tarp, and side passing over a pole and the barrels. All of this has been in-hand, by the way. I hope to ride later today. The weather is gorgeous!
The tarp is no big deal. Although still fun to paw at, lick, and bite.

Well, he sure is honest about his feelings. He really doesn't like those pesky barrels. And we did find out that they are just tall enough when standing on end to get kind of stuck under his barrel if he makes a wrong move. Goof ball just hasn't understood yet that I don't want him to run into, over or through them when I'm asking him to back around them. I think that's a large part of his dislike of them. They do weird things when he does weird things. Hmm, imagine that... I've never known a horse that behaves like he does. He has to do a thing to see what's going to happen, even though I think he has a pretty good idea it's going to be unpleasant, because he's cautious and thoughtful going into it. Then he bumps, paws, runs into, whatever, and it scares him. He's goofy. But I think it will make a better horse of him eventually, since he's willing to explore things. Luckily when we're riding I can direct him away from doing things like that though.

Mack-man, peeking over Tonka's neck. He's a pest, but he's darn cute.

This morning Tonka got his Flu/Rhino booster. This vaccine is a newer one, called Calvenza, and my vet said it's better, has all the more up-to-date flu strains. I was glad it wasn't Ft. Dodge, thought I'd have to settle for that since I wasn't mail-ordering and that's what my vet and the feed stores usually have. I normally don't boost in the fall, but since he's going to be exposed to a LOT of horses next month, it was the wise thing to do. I didn't have to do his strangles vaccine again since we just did it in May. He was a VERY good boy for his shot. John said that last time he threw a fit. I don't remember that. What, MY Tonka, do something BAD? Never! Anyway, he barely flinched this time. Helps that John's quick with the shot.

Bella was extra jumpy this morning. I wonder if it's because the routine got broken up a bit by Tonka's shot. I didn't feed grain before I fed hay. And we messed with Tonka before I fed Bella. Not a very big change in routine, so who knows, maybe she was just having an off morning.

Well, it looks like we're going to go to the "2nd Annual Mountain Trail Novice Explorer Challenge" at the Oregon Horse Center in Eugene. I don't know which class I'll enter. They have so many. I ADORE the fact that they have an in-hand class for horses ages 3 and over. AND they have a green horse class for any age of horse (as far as I can tell) so long as they weren't ridden at all before May first of this year. Which Tonka wasn't. We could also enter the maiden horse in-hand... I really want to try to ride though. So it's time to put our noses to the grindstone around here. In a fun way, of course.

Tonka is such a big sweet goof. I threw a couple barrels in the pasture and then went out about a half hour later and asked him to play around them. Walking over them, through them, backing a figure 8 around them. I swear for a while he thought he was just supposed to knock them over and push them around. Finally he picked up his feet and stepped fully over them. Backing a figure 8 around them was really hard for him. But he finally did it. Then I trimmed his back feet and let him go out with his buddies.

HOW do you teach a horse to move his hindquarters TOWARD you? Sideways, like the opposite of yielding the hindquarters away. I know it can be done. I just have no idea how. There are all sorts of things to teach a horse to move away from you, but how on earth do you get them to move a body part toward you, when you can't push or pull on it from the other side? I was thinking it might work if I had a cue for it, and then had someone else push on him from the other side... There has to be another way though...

I hope to have pics or video of us playing with the barrels later today. Have a great day!

Sorry I haven't been writing much. I seem to have blogging lulls.

I realized a few days ago that we've only had Bella for 4 weeks! It feels like she's been here for months. So I thought, with all the progress she's already made, I'm going to back off a bit, give her a routine, and see if she relaxes around me a bit. I've been going in the morning, feeding, cleaning her stall, picking her hooves, and brushing her. In the evening I do the same thing. The last couple nights I've really wanted to just feed and skip the rest, but I made myself do it. It only takes a couple minutes, really. I want her to feel that life is somewhat predictable, and that she can relax. She's getting better... Still pretty iffy about me touching her head, but she lifts her feet like a pro, and I've been going back and forth right behind her a lot, and brushing her all over. She's not flinching away from me near as much.

I've been meaning to spend more time with Tonka, but so far have only spent one afternoon with him this week. By afternoon, I mean about a half hour in the afternoon. It was nice though. He was choosing to hang out with me, and being sweet.

In a couple weeks he and I and my sister and her horse will be heading to the Oregon School of Natural Hoof care for a week. It'll be a LONG trailer ride. Yuck. But Tonka and Levi both have odd hooves, and it will be nice to be able to get some expert advice on them, and have them there to ride and spend time with in the evenings after classes. Then the weekend after school is over there is a big famous trail competition in Eugene. We may go and enter our boys. I would love to ride Tonka through doing the green horse class. But unless I got a lot of practice beforehand that would be a bad idea. They have an in-hand class for horses 3 and over! I think that's awesome. We'll see how scheduling works out, for preparation and for entering. It would mean a hotel stay somewhere, stall fees overnight, and other $$$. Not something you get the opportunity to do every day though!

Sorry I haven't been writing much. I seem to have blogging lulls.

I realized a few days ago that we've only had Bella for 4 weeks! It feels like she's been here for months. So I thought, with all the progress she's already made, I'm going to back off a bit, give her a routine, and see if she relaxes around me a bit. I've been going in the morning, feeding, cleaning her stall, picking her hooves, and brushing her. In the evening I do the same thing. The last couple nights I've really wanted to just feed and skip the rest, but I made myself do it. It only takes a couple minutes, really. I want her to feel that life is somewhat predictable, and that she can relax. She's getting better... Still pretty iffy about me touching her head, but she lifts her feet like a pro, and I've been going back and forth right behind her a lot, and brushing her all over. She's not flinching away from me near as much.

I've been meaning to spend more time with Tonka, but so far have only spent one afternoon with him this week. By afternoon, I mean about a half hour in the afternoon. It was nice though. He was choosing to hang out with me, and being sweet.

In a couple weeks he and I and my sister and her horse will be heading to the Oregon School of Natural Hoof care for a week. It'll be a LONG trailer ride. Yuck. But Tonka and Levi both have odd hooves, and it will be nice to be able to get some expert advice on them, and have them there to ride and spend time with in the evenings after classes. Then the weekend after school is over there is a big famous trail competition in Eugene. We may go and enter our boys. I would love to ride Tonka through doing the green horse class. But unless I got a lot of practice beforehand that would be a bad idea. They have an in-hand class for horses 3 and over! I think that's awesome. We'll see how scheduling works out, for preparation and for entering. It would mean a hotel stay somewhere, stall fees overnight, and other $$$. Not something you get the opportunity to do every day though!

Guess who got a pedicure! Bella! Just one, but I'll do the other front hoof when Liam gets on the bus. (I wasn't quite done when I took the picture.)

She was so good. Other than taking her hoof away once when I first started rasping, she just stood there for me. That is, after some work on picking up feet to remind her what it's all about. I can't wait to get the other one done! Then I have other horses more in need of a trim than her to work on, and I'll come back later to the hinds. I expect they'll be pretty easy, she's a lot more comfortable with me handling them. But setting her leg up on my thigh might be hard for her to do. I may try to do it just holding the hoof this first time.

What a good girl!

Edited to add another photo of the SAME foot, because I'm an idiot and for some reason thought I was taking a picture of the left foot after I trimmed it. I'm directionally challenged. I usually know where north, south, east and west are, but left and right are more complex, apparently.

She was a gem, again. This was her left foot, her bad side. She did swing her hip toward me the first couple times I approached her shoulder. I showed her that wasn't really the response I was looking for, and we got to work.

I picked out her hind feet and really I could have just run the rasp over them real quick and been done. There's very little to trim. But I wanted to call it good. Short and sweet.

The mustangs had the day off today, but we did have fun with the domestics. Check out my other blog www.horsetales.blogspot.com.

Well, tonight I not only picked up all four of Bella's feet, but I picked them all out too! Ooh, I've been wanting soooo bad to see what the bottoms of those feet look like. I wasn't disappointed... Very nice feet, of course, since she's a mustang. The frogs are a bit icky thanks to the wetness and the poo that gets packed in them. But nothing serious. They really aren't very overgrown either. Just a bit to take off, and a roll all around, and they'd be great. That'll take a little longer to accomplish. Maybe not too terribly long though!

On the subject of feet... Her hind left leg is all swollen. I don't know if it was before or if it's just been the past week or so. I just kind of ignored any "dings" since they're just going to have to heal on their own. But anyway, that swollen leg also has an odd hoof. It went from beautiful to flared overnight, and now the flared bit is peeling off. Chipping, you could say, but not brittle enough to chip, so it's kind of peeling. I wonder if she hurt it when she hurt the leg, or if the heat in the foot is causing the lamina to let loose, or what. I didn't see anything under the hoof that was a problem. Of course the hoof was dirty, it was dark out, and I wasn't going to plant my face directly behind her hoof... It'll have to just heal. I may try to sneak her some bute in the morning.

Today we played dress-up. Well, actually we did some real work too, but dress-up is more fun.
Here Tonka is modeling the latest fashion, Blaze Orange, which is very popular this hunting season. Note the blaze orange duct tape on the cheap headstall. I think that's a charming touch.


In this picture he's showing off his brand-new Mayatex blanket that I've had my eye on for a while. I kept thinking how nice it would look on him, but the price tag scared me off. Today I went to the 50% off closeout sale and I am so glad I bought it. I love how it looks on him.

Tonka and I finally got to go for a good ride again yesterday. We went with my sister and a friend of hers. It was a gorgeous day, and a really nice ride. Tonka mostly behaved himself, but I did have to get after him a few times. We rode for about 3 hours total, heading for some trees to ride in. They're tightly packed poplars, pretty dim inside, an environment I haven't had him in yet. I got off a little bit before we got there, so I could introduce him to the new place confidently. We didn't actually get to go in there though, because one of the dogs started acting really weird about something just over the hill. We thought it might be a moose, since he doesn't run away from much else. Apparently it's the season for rut, and you don't want to get in a confrontation with a mad bull moose. They're faster than horses, so no point in trying to outrun them, and I didn't like the idea of that anyway! So we turned around and headed back. Which turned out to be a good thing, since my sister had to be home to meet the school bus. After I got back on Tonka wasn't sure he wanted to continue to lug me up and down hills. He kept just stopping. We got over that, and he was a good boy until we got to some horses he'd rather look at than listen to me. So we did some work, and he got over that too. We passed the shop where my brother-in-law was blowing chaff out out the combines and Tonka thought that was worth keeping an eye on. He's heard an air compressor before, but is worried about the big farm machinery, so I wasn't sure how he'd take it and I got off and walked for a while. He just watched it with a very curious face. Then, going through the field where all the other equipment was stored, he was kind of twitchy and very worried. But we got through just fine. Lots of good learning experiences!

Good things are afoot!

Well, today was definitely a breakthrough day. She picked up all four feet, gave to pressure on the halter, switched eyes with a person walking from one side to the other directly behind her, and just generally had a lot of messing with her done. I saw that curious, open look that made me fall in love with her on her face a lot today. She was a new horse. And sometimes she was the same scared, stiff, tense horse. But stuff is definitely happening.

Check out the new duds! She was SO relieved to have that cumbersome and constricting heavy halter off.

It took a while, but with the halter turned inside out so I could do the work from her good side, she finally let me put it on over her other halter, and then slip the other halter out from under. She immediately relaxed and started licking and chewing like crazy. It doesn't fit just right because I adjusted it after trying it on the first time, and I over-adjusted. Hopefully I'll get to fix it later. I think she looks pretty in that color. I picked out the rope just for her on the night I first met her, before I knew for sure she'd be ours.

I think there's something happening. A little breakthrough. Maybe a little trust building.

Bella is getting better all the time. Today she was more relaxed. On the left side today I rubbed her a lot, worked my way up to her poll, over her ears, and onto her forehead. Then worked up her neck, to her jaw, and forward toward the front of her face under her eye. Even removed an eye booger! I loosened the noseband part of her halter, which made me feel better, and I got an impression she was happier, but who knows... It had rubbed some of the hair off her jaw on the bottom, because it was a bit too snug when she chewed.

Tonight I rubbed her right side. I even rubbed her bellybutton! Then worked advance-and-retreat style all up and down her right foreleg. She didn't like when I touched the hoof itself, but was really not all that worried about it otherwise. She really was relaxed, just eating. Good girl.

Tomorrow I would love to be able to ride. We'll see. Tonka of course, not Bella! :)

I've been missing my horse pretty badly. It's not like he's not right there, and I feed him twice a day and sweet-talk him, but I haven't had time to spend with him. Last night I was feeling really sick (I have a cold) so I went out to feed early and I was going to be lazy the rest of the evening. But as soon as I walked out there, he perked up and started heading for me like he always does. I love his sweet face. So I shimmied under the fence (closest point to get into the pasture) which rather shocked him for some reason. It's not like he hasn't seen me do it before. But usually he's not standing right over the top of me when I do. I loved on him a bit, rubbed his muddy spots, and then went and got them some hay. His hay went right next to Bella so she could watch me love on him. She was very interested. I got him all groomed up, and was going to show Bella how I lift his feet, but then I noticed it looked like he's been rubbing his butt on something. His winter coat was all ruffled toward the bottom of his butt cheeks, like where a britchen would sit. Hmm. Ahh, maybe it's his filthy sheath. He's dirtier than most, and a lot of horses will butt rub when that itches, since they can't really scratch it. So... I had to reach under and pick the bits out of the folds, and work my way in deeper to where it was gooey and sticky instead of firm dry clumps. EWWW. I got a lot out of there, I hope he appreciates it, because it was disgusting. I couldn't check for a bean because that part of the apparatus had quickly darted away. I have to point out that I did all this picking and reaching while he was without a halter or lead, and he didn't raise a fuss at all. I know, there are lots of other horses out there that are that good, but Tonka is my boy, and he makes me proud and happy.

So here I am with gooey smegma on my hands to the point where my fingers are sticking together, and I want to still be able to work with Bella. I went to the hose, which happened to be filling Bella's trough, and washed as best I could, then rubbed my hands in the grass a lot. That at least got me presentable enough to love on miss filly. She was a good girl, and actually relaxed while I was rubbing her left side. I tried to introduce her to the new halter, and she was okay with it on her neck and body, but not so much near her head. We'll work on that. I want to get that web halter off, it's making her hair all funny and I don't want her to end up with a halter dent in her nose. But I need to be able to get a rope halter on. I was actually tempted to just take the halter off and leave her naked. It's not like the halter does us any good, she's so worried about pressure on it. But I'd prefer to have something on her. Maybe a collar? I could get that on pretty easily... I'll think about it. Makes me a little nervous, something on her neck... But there's nothing to get caught on, and if it were a flat web collar it'd be less likely to be dangerous. Maybe I just ought to work more on the haltering.

I went to another Trail Challenge today. It would have been great to take Tonka, but I went horseless. I don't know why I let my sister talk me into it. I'm still freezing, and my cold is worse, and I just don't feel good. I don't like getting up that early either. She needed someone to go with her so she didn't have to go alone... Silly, she knows everyone around here...

Anyway, it was a nice course, nothing too extreme, but still challenging. I probably could have ridden Tonka through it, skipping one obstacle. It's definitely on my to-do list for next year. It's in Helmer, Idaho at the Park Ranch. If you're into that sort of thing, I highly recommend this one. The prizes were very nice too.

I had a bad dream last night. Tonka had been sold to slaughter. It was horrible. I was trying to find the guy who'd bought him, so I could buy him back. You know how real dream emotions are. I woke up and was SO relieved to realize none of it was true, but then fell asleep back into the same dream. Ugh. I think it comes from the fact that I was worrying about my first horse, Willow, before I went to bed. Her new owners want to "get rid of her" and now they're not calling me back. I really hope they are just busy. I can't imagine they'd just send her to auction, when they know I'll buy her back if I have to. But I can't help but worry.

Today I didn't do much, just brushed her right side, touched her left, and tried to get pictures of her teeth. I'm not sure whether she's just losing her baby teeth and growing in new ones, or if it looks like her bottom incisors are broken.

Click on the following picture to see it full size and tell me, what do you think? (Bad picture, but the best I managed to get.)


Now look at this next picture. Because of the color of those two central incisors, I'm tempted to think they might be her permanent teeth. But they're sure small. What do you think? If they are permanent, she'd be closer to 3 years old than two. Not that it matters. She's ours now, and either age gives her time to grow... I just hope she grows enough. I don't want to have to sell her.

Here's a picture of Tonka running to meet me this morning, just to show I haven't forgotten about him. Although I haven't been spending any time with him at all. I hope to change that this weekend.

This morning I intended to leave miss Bella belle alone, but I noticed that her mane was starting to re-tangle. One thing led to another and I was out there for over an hour. I worked on getting her to allow me on the left side, to touch the left side, to brush, and to touch and move the halter a bit from both side. She sure doesn't like me messing with the halter. I'd like to be able to tell her that it's all leading toward taking the halter OFF. We'll get there.

No more tangles! I've spent time with her twice since my last post, and I was wrong, she didn't revert to saying "don't touch me." I brushed her with a gentle body brush, and boy is she soft now! I did some brushing on her left side, but it was limited and took a rather long time before I could get close enough to her. That's okay.

I'm so happy to have the tangles out! I still need to get the excess detangler out. The smell is bothering me. Probably annoying her too. She will let me wipe it with paper towels, so I figure I'll take out a damp rag and go over it, then dry it and hope a lot of the stuff comes away with it. Do this several times and it ought to be gone.

I made WONDERFUL progress with Bella today. She had let me pet her and stuff, but never like this. I used an actual brush and got her mane mostly under control, then braided the part that I'd just untangled so it will hopefully flatten out and get out of the habit of tangling. I still have the big, bad tangle left to go. If brushing a mane sounds simple, think about the pulling, the big movements with both hands, the fact that the human's body is pointed directly at the horse. She was relaxed about it by the time I got done. Licking and chewing. Not quite napping, but pretty okay with it all.

And I petted her all over! Well, not all over. Before all I could rub was her shoulder and if she felt good her neck. Today I rubbed all around under her halter except the nose and poll, and even reached under and rubbed on her left side. I tried to straighten the halter since it's a little cockeyed, but she blew up and left me. Got back to rubbing and brushing, and worked my way back to her tail, down almost to her hock, to her knee in front, and over onto the left side of her back and neck. Wow. Not much belly rubbing, she would shift her weight when I rubbed her cinch area, and I'd work my way back up to comfortable territory, back down to cinch area, back up, so that she never had time to get totally alarmed about it, but I did get to rub there a bit. No udder rubbing just yet, I'd like to keep myself in one piece!

Next time I go out I may not be able to touch her... She's an enigma. I hope we've made some sort of breakthrough, but my gut is telling me we'll probably go back a few steps, then forward again. That's okay. It's such a rush when things go well.