Mustang Saga

I just got back in from spending some time with Bella and Scout. Those two have been challenging lately. Bella is trying to be wild again. She doesn't want me messing with her boy, so she's been hard to catch, and hard to groom and pet without a halter on. She just leaves. Which of course shows Scout that I'm a no-good character and he should avoid me. So between the two of them either running off or following the one running off, there's been a lot of running off going on and no good progress made. I've been wracking my brain trying to think of a way to make Scout want to check me out. Wasn't worrying too much about Bella since it's normal for her to be freaked out when I handle her foal. I finally decided that I've been looking at it backward though. So I caught her and worked on flexing her neck and a small amount of disengaging the hindquarters. Asked her to give her head downward for me. Mostly I wanted to do something standing still that was familiar and would make her calmly think about something instead of worrying. It worked. Then, when Scout would peek around her hindquarters I'd pet him. When he'd run to the other side I'd swing the rope slowly and rhythmically on Bella's other side, and he'd decide it's easier to peek around her butt and let me pet him. I also need to make a commitment to be out there doing this several times a day, instead of just once or sometimes twice like I have been. I'm going to make him a little halter today. We have some fun times ahead of us! Lots of work!

Meanwhile he's getting HUGE. I really need to get some pictures. Bella's looking good too. The areas that are completely shed out are a darker chestnut, which makes a nice contrast with her mane and tail. I can't wait to see how she looks in a couple months.