Sunday, June 02, 2013

I have been so exhausted lately I haven't found time for the horses.  Since it's summer I don't even have to feed them, I just look to make sure they're still there.  I should at least be giving them their vitamin/mineral supplement once a day, but I haven't been.  I can't even stay awake all day, working with horses just isn't happening.  Not really conducive to training. 

But the last couple days I have gone out and found them and rubbed bellies and scratched itchy spots.  I think I can at least do that.  And Joseph likes that a lot better than doing hard stuff anyway.  :)

I did quickly trim Scout's front feet last night.  It was actually kind of funny.  I put Winston in the dog fence and went and got Scout, and when Winston went bouncing through the grass near us Scout bolted sideways.  He hadn't seen the new dog yet.  Then Scout marched right up to the fence and confronted the great white monster.  I'm not sure if Winston thought he wanted to play with Scout or if he was scared.  I think a little bit of both.  He sure bounced around a lot.

Winston is still settling in really well.  He and the other two dogs are getting along fine, and Winston has met most of my family and seems way cooler with strangers than the Aussie brothers are.  We went hiking today and passed a growly pit bull and he had his hackles up but stayed right beside me and only watched as she walked by.  He walks on a loose leash most of the time and really I'm just impressed with him.  He doesn't seem high energy at all, but every now and then he batts tennis balls around the house like a cat and gets toys and shakes them to death.  He loves to play fetch.  I finally got him interested in some treats (he was really stressed and not eating at all at first) so I took him outside off-leash and boy howdy he can run!  It is the funniest thing ever.  Full-speed ahead, butt-tucked, joyous running with ears and legs flapping out to the sides.  I can't even describe it.  Hilarious.  He just made a circuit of the mowed field and came back to me for a treat, and repeated the performance a couple times.  Yep.  I'm pretty happy with him.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Who doesn't love a good butt scoot run!
I can relate to how you are feeling. I spent a week with out doing anything but throwing food out, and half the time I didn't even do that. I made Simon do it. The good news is, the ponies don't mind. They are happy just being ponies and getting a good scratch once in a while. Hopefully you can get caught up on some rest soon.

Keechy said...

Never underestimate the value of a good daily scritchy. I used it to turn my new-at-the-time, very stand-offish mare into a pocket pony in a very short space of time. :)