Mustang Saga

This morning I practiced weaning. I decided to separate Bella from the boys during feeding time. They were just across the fence from each other. It was a total non-event. They were apart for a couple hours and neither Scout nor Bella freaked out about it. Scout did nurse immediately when I put them back together.

Scout also got his booster shots. Two shots, poor kid. He did pretty well. And I must thank my wonderful husband yet again for being so good at giving shots.

Speaking of wonderful husband, today is our anniversary. We were married at Cliff Park in Spokane, it was a perfect day for a wedding. Overcast, but no rain, and the overcast made for good picture taking. What a fun day that was! Barefoot in my wedding dress, running around in the woods waiting for everyone to get seated. :D

Thanks honey for keeping me grounded and sane. I love you!

Tonka is moving a lot better today. No real limp, but he is stumbling on the hind end and resting that foot a lot.

Here's a picture of Tonka's hoof abscess.I debated about whether to soak or not. Soaking introduces dirt, might soften the hoof (although with the Epsom salt to dry it out I'm not too worried about that). But it also helps keep the exit tract open and draining, and it helps draw out the ick. I decided to soak it. I think I might soak it in a water and apple cider vinegar mixture next time. I have to look up the benefits of that again, I'm not sure why it's supposed to be good for abscesses.

Look how sweet my boy is. He was an angel today after his little attitude adjustment session yesterday. Here he doesn't yet realize that thing on his hoof is annoying.

"What IS that thing??!!"

"It won't come off!"

I had to stay with him for a few minutes and reassure him that he was okay. He wasn't totally flipping out, but he was worried. Gave me a chance to get him brushed. Then I went off and picked up poo. I LOVE Davis soaking boots. This way is so much easier than standing there trying to make sure they don't spill the water out of a feed pan, with the minutes dragging by. I fill the boot with a watering can with a thin nozzle and just top it off if he fidgets too much. Easy as pie.

I did some housework while Tonka stood tied and dried out. Then I went out to water trees. I lifted 1050 pounds of water today! All by my lonesome. Only about 125 gallons. Which is a real bummer because I filled the whole tank and now I don't want to dump out the excess, it seems like a waste. I might water the trees on this side again to use up the water.

I have Mack in the round pen right now, going to go out and saddle him and play with him. He's plenty bored, hopefully that'll help him want to play with me. We're having a good day so far. I decided I'm going to treat him like Bella, stay nice and slow and calm. I have a tendency to get very mad at this horse. I hate to admit a weakness like that, but with that admission I begin to fix the problem... I hope. Each horse that challenges us makes us better horsemen or breaks us. I've thought he was just a stubborn buttheaded jerk, but I'm starting to think he does the things he does out of fear. So I'm going to be ultra gentle (yet firm) and see if we can be friends.