Scout's Happy Birthday!

I almost forgot to mention it's Scout's birthday!

Just a bit ago he was 7 years old. Wow. He was an incredibly feisty little thing, and now he's such a lazy mountain of horse.

Seven years ago, at about 9: 33ish o'clock PM, listening to the baby monitor, I heard Bella's water break. She was breathing like a freight train. By the time I made it the hundred yards to the barn, Scout was in the world up to his hips and already trying to get up. In fear of his hind legs flailing inside his mother, I took hold of his legs and felt how terribly heavy and slick a little horse is. But then it was over, and a whole new adventure had begun.

It's been an interesting ride so far. He's had more than his fair share of troubles, and I think he inadvertently caused the death of his (and my) best friend, but he was only trying to help him get up. He may not always put a lot of energy into life, but he is fiercely loyal, trustworthy, predictable, funny, and a damn good horse. If only he'd get well so we can find an adventure to chase. (I think the antihistamine is helping.) I'm proud to say I'm his second mama, and I hope I always will be.

Happy birthday, ya big goob.

Oh how dearly do I hope that we have many, many laughs - and adventures - ahead.

Nice weather, sick Scout.

Scout started snotting and coughing again, darn it. I got him some antihistamines, which are apparently on and off backorder and rather expensive... Drug companies irritate me. But I won't go on about that.

So I went hiking yesterday rather than going on my first trail ride of the year. My sister took her horse.

This is where we started out.

A quick picture break.

We played a silly game with feed dishes. Scout was convinced there was food in them. It was funny watching him try to figure out how to he his nose into the bowl on his butt. He settled for checking the other horses' bowls and knocking them all down. Luc was a little scared at first, but I think being in a relaxed group with me laughing set his mind at ease.

Back yard flowers.

Enjoying a quiet evening snack with my horse. He still rejects my offers of apples. He doesn't believe they're food.

More backyard flowers. The plum trees are blooming. :)

Dentistry

Luc met the dentist yesterday. He was more afraid than I expected. She parked her truck and trailer right next to the gate and he wasn't sure he wanted to come out. But he did. And he was very curious about the trailer. He stepped right up onto the ramp to look things over. The vet led him into the trailer and he followed well, but I did have to stay at his shoulder to help him feel more secure. I really need to have him spend time with people other than me so these situations will be more comfortable for him. He did try to back out at one point, but by then the back gate on the stocks was closed. so it was a no-go.

His teeth were pretty disorderly.

The two retained top incisors had to go, and they didn't really want to. Also, the lower left center (your right) incisor was hanging on to its baby tooth, but it was flapping around with a very sharp point that dug a hole in his lip. Poor guy.

He had a loose wolf tooth and a blind wolf tooth, lying horizontal and unerupted. Of course those had to go too. I carefully saved all the teeth to show you, but then I accidentally flipped the all over a weedy spot outside, so you'll just have to imagine 5 bloody white things.

The only thing I found concerning was a weird gap in all four quadrants of his molars. Probably just another baby tooth thing, but it bears watching. They are trapping food and she had to irrigate to get a good look at what's going on. All of these little added procedures, plus a sheath cleaning and health certificate, made for an expensive visit. 

We went on from here to do dentals on 6 other horses. It was an interesting and rather tiring day. I work with her again on Wednesday. I really enjoy meeting horses and their people. I think I haven't helped her with this group of horses before, so it ought to be fun.

I am finally over my cold, I think. Even with being sick, I got some time in with the boys. Trimmed hooves on both Luc and Scout. I was so proud of Luc! He put his hind foot up on the hoof stand and stood patiently while I trimmed away, and then when I pulled it forward under his belly and put it on the hoof stand, it was no big deal! I was expecting him to knock it over. He is prettty cool. All this with nobody holding him, just a halter on in case I needed it.

Yesterday we took a walk around the property, following John and Scout. I think Luc was more relaxed when he didn't have a horse to follow, but I'm not sure. We went out and about in the neighbor's trees, then went into the big pasture with Bella and the donkeys. Luc hadn't been in with them in a couple days because he jumped the fence and got out. He is a challenge when it comes to fences. Most horses would stay in any fence as long as there is plenty of grass and all their friends are there. I guess he's an adventurer. Good thing he's easy to catch.

Anyway, Bella was so happy to see her boys she kept trying to incite a riot, galloping around and bucking. Pedro put Bob in the mustang pen, team-penning style, and then galloped back out to be with us. Eventually Bob trotted out to join us too. It's always so weird to se the donkeys moving fast.

Donkeys are more apt to reflect on things than to run.

We played in the pond a little too. Luc didn't march right in but he wasn't afraid to get his feet a little wet, as long as he could eat the pond weeds.

Oh, and we practiced trailer loading too. Luc has to get in the dental trailer next weekend. I don't think it will be a problem.

I have a cold. I got sick of staying in bed, and I had to go get Scout anyway because he was picking on Pedro, so I saddled him up and we had a short ride in the front field.

This could almost be Tonka, with his rock star hair and just barely visible dun ear tips.

Everyone is in the big pasture together, and Luc is loving the extra space to run and explore.

They're sure hard to catch ;)

I should clarify, Scout is all by himself now because he was chasing the donkeys too much. I wish he wouldn't do that.

A boring weekend and a good Monday

It rained all of Saturday and Sunday, so we went thrift store shopping. I scored a fold up wheelbarrow for traveling and something that I think will work well as a grooming tote.

Yesterday the weather was nice again so I got some work done outside, after doing some work inside, then we went exploring.

Beaver dam:

Imagine the story behind this old truck, way out in the mountains.

We found snow:

Huckleberry kept photobombing.

Later in the day I took Luc out to feed him some alfalfa. He kept pushing into my space because he was nervous, so I moved his feet around a bit. Mainly just moving his hibdquarters over. I don't know for sure, but I think he needed that reassurance that I was the leader, because when we went for a short walk after that, he seemed more comfortable than usual. He went into a treed area next to our property with just a little worry.

Then Scout and I went for a walk, played in a pond, and had a very nice little ride. :)

It was peaceful, almost dark, getting chilly but warm enough to take my coat off. Scout was more willing to move forward and even gave me a very nice, smooth trot.

Oh, I almost forgot, I found a moose antler! It isn't in very good shape, but it's still kinda cool.

Two Good Rides

Yesterday I saddled Scout up and we rode for a about 40 minutes. He is so lazy. He always has been, but I suppose being sick recently doesn't help. He had bus-stop syndrome and kept trying to take me back to the mounting block and ask, "Hey, isn't this your stop?" Going up our big hill was more work for me than it was for him. I wasn't sure we were going to make it, but we did. 

I decided to take Bella for a walk and the boys sure did get some exercise! What a couple of dorks. The galloped and reared and played bitey-face until they were soaked with sweat. So I guess the way to get Scout back in shape is to take Bella for walks. :)

Not the best picture, but here they are, complete with dust cloud:

After taking a break to do some housework, I couldn't stand it, I had to saddle Bella up. She hasn't worn a saddle since Easter, but I can't remember if that was last year or the year before. Anyway, she is a wonder. I don't know many horses that you can hop on and ride in a halter after so much time off.  Especially horses that were once wild and have limited training. But it was hard on her. I think her lameness is worse. And of course she's fat and out of shape.

This is her, "Can I have a treat?" face. She's so cute and sweet.

I spent some time with Luc also. Took him out of the pasture to eat some alfalfa (he's thinnish) and then his attitude left a lot to be desired so we did some slow circles with direction changes and a fair amount of backing out of my space and standing there. Then we had some quiet time. I noticed some really tense muscles in front of his shoulders so I worked on getting them to release. I think he enjoyed that.

Building on basics, Scout Still Sick

I took Scout for a mile-long walk on Saturday, staying on our property in case he's contagious. I realized his cough had gotten worse, although the snot was better and his spirits were still up. So he's on antibiotics now. 

Luc is doing really well with his hoof handling. I've been gradually trimming away the imbalance in his hooves. We're also building on his ability to walk around the property near new things and away from the other horses. I can't wait to start taking him hiking with me but we're a ways from that yet.

One super cool thing is that every single time I walk outside, Luc comes to see me. Even if I'm just getting in my car to leave, he's standing at the fence watching. When I go to halter Scout to give him meds, Luc marches up and asks to be haltered instead. When I put him back in the pasture and move on to doing other things, he watches like he'd rather not be done playing yet. I love it. 

I've been hiking a fair amount, kind of hoping to find an antler or two, since this is when they shed them. No luck so far, but it's good exercise anyway.

Blue is so goofy looking. 

He enjoyed playing in the water, but when I took my shoes off and waded to the other side, it was painfully cold! I don't know how dogs love it so much.

I had a root canal yesterday. Just a little sore today. It wasn't as bad as all the rumors led me to believe. Glad I could finally get it done. This tooth broke over a year ago, and then broke again last week. Perfect timing, I could finally afford to fix it. I'd rather have spent it on something fun, but being able to use that side of my mouth again will be pretty nice.

I am off to conquer another day! Hope you all have a lovely Tuesday!