I am still greatly enjoying my quiet time with the horses lately. I've been going out and loving on them, then asking Tonka to do something for a short amount of time. Yesterday I walked him around the house and through the trees, then through some thick brush. This morning I walked him all over the hay field, through some tall weeds, over shallow trickle in a ditch, and down by the creek (he wanted nothing to do with me when I went wading in my rubber boots). When we got done with that I worked on his mane. It still insists on hanging over to the left only at the point where it covers his freezebrand. I don't want that covered! So he got some little ponytails. And I took a LOT of pictures of him.

Tonight we started working on saddling again. First he wore the bright purple Soft Saddle, since that's really light and easy for me to carry. Put it on and took it off several times from either side. Cinched it up, he was a bit weirded out by the pressure on the other side as I tightened it. Kinda twitchy. But he stood. Good boy! Then we did some stuff to take his mind off the saddle (namely, stepped on the evil horse eating tarp) and he forgot all about it. Then took it off and left it there for him to "kill" while I ate dinner. He was having great fun swinging the cinch around in circles.

Here you see him wearing the lighter of my two saddles. I opted for this one since I had to carry it halfway across the property. Turned out to be the wrong choice though, it's way too wide. So I didn't cinch it down. As you can see the breastcollar is lying on his neck. The cinch is hanging on the other side. He really didn't like the saddle, fidgeted a lot, but dealt with it pretty well.

Once he was more comfortable with the saddle I took it off and let him investigate it again. Then lugged everything back to the tack shed. I can't wait to put the other saddle on him and see if it fits. I hope so! We already need to buy a saddle for Lyric, I hope we don't need yet another.

Oh, and back to the tarp. He is SO worried about changes on the ground where he has to step. He is getting a lot better though. Hoses are no problem anymore, nor is the change in terrain from grass to driveway, or muddy ditch crossings. But the tarp is still very scary. It makes noise, and sometimes it moves! He crossed it twice today. The first time he got his front feet on and stood very proudly, and when he finally decided to put his back feet on, the edge of the tarp stayed on the front of his foot and moved with him. He LAUNCHED himself UP and off! It totally reminded me of the "airs above the ground." I think his belly was level with my head, and he kicked out with his hind legs as he passed. Luckily he was not kicking out at me. John happened by at that very moment, and said it looked really pretty. Of course then Tonka had to cross the tarp again, in a more controlled manner. And eventually he did. Not totally calm, he kind of hurried over it, but at least he kept his feet on the ground.

Horse time has been pretty relaxing this week. They're all turned out together in green grass, being a herd, which I always love to see. Since I don't have to trudge around throwing hay, I get to spend my horse time petting everyone. They still get their supplements in the morning, but nothing in the evening. But don't tell them that, because they always come to me in a hurry. I'm pretty sure they think I'm going to feed them in the evening too. Actually they all seem to enjoy getting a good rub down even without food, except for Danni, who I think is mad at me for making her work so much lately. She's shunning me.

Today I had to make the decision between keeping Soxy locked up off grass for half the day, or putting the grazing muzzle on her. She is getting fatter at an alarming rate and I don't want to founder her. Locking her up seemed counter-productive, since she can't move around. So she got her grazing muzzle. Which bothers me more than it does her. She really doesn't mind. Anyway, tonight I went out to take it off, and I was standing there petting Lyric when Tonka came up and started nibbling on it. So I let him take it, and he shook it around. Dropped it, grabbed it up again and shook it. We were laughing, standing back because it has a snap on a longish strap, and we didn't want to get smacked. Well, eventually it got him, pretty hard on the bottom of the jaw. He didn't think to drop it, just bolted in a small circle, then dropped it. Stood for a moment and then started playing with it again. Silly boy. It really is pretty funny. I gave him a Jolly Ball, and he won't touch it. But he loves to play with just about anything else.

Today Tonka didn't seem to be in much of a mood to play. I brushed him, asked him to step into the trailer, took him for a walk, and put him back so we could play more with Lyric. (For details on that, see www.horsetales.blogspot.com)

If this works correctly, this should show a video of him loading:



Here's a picture with more light, but still not all that good.



And a random turkey shot. I love turkeys. This was their second time outside. Soon it will be warm enough for them to be outside 24/7.

Played with my boy today. You know, I need to stop listening to my sister. She keeps making comments about how bad/crazy he is, so I start thinking, "what am I thinking, with a young horse?" and I need to stop thinking that. He's a good boy, and I love him. We did some obstacles today. He's so good! I think he trusts me, or he's just level headed, because even when he's worried he's pretty mellow about it all. We also did a lot of just hanging out, grooming, and picture taking. You'd be amazed at how many pictures I have of this horse...



We worked on going through the "Cowboy Curtain." It's a tarp cut into strips blowing in the wind. We're using it to get ready for a trail competition in a couple weeks. He did it for me several times, when I walked through with him and made a kind of opening. WOW. He is AWESOME.



I get such a great feeling when I spend time with Tonka. He's very good for me. I hope he likes me too. I know I'm not as important to him as he is to me, since I'm so annoying and all, but maybe that will grow.

Tonka was a bronc today! And a race horse! Woo hoo! It was really fun to watch him ripping up and down the pasture, bucking and sliding. Then he'd float along at a trot. He thought my brother-in-law's horse was an alien. It was pretty funny. We had taken away his two friends, and rode away leaving him all alone, and he was a little upset. Unfortunately this is the only picture I got, I was too far away when he was being spunky. Still a good picture though, I think. But then I just like my horse :)

My muddy, muddy boy.

Before:


And after (better but look at that filthy mane!):


Today I checked his weight and height, with no halter or anything. He did really well with the weight tape. Took off the first time when I tightened it up, but the second and third times he stood for it. He's just about 950 lbs. Then I checked his height, as accurately as I could, which isn't very... I came up with 15 hands. My sister came by later, she hasn't seen him in a long time. She said he looked more like 14.3 to her. One inch difference, and how accurate is an eyeball guess... she could be right but does it really matter?

Tried his new splint boots on him, and apparently he has really short cannon bones... The mediums don't fit right! I can scoot them down a bit, and they will still work, I think. Will have to try it and see what happens. HOWEVER, I finally got a chance to ask my vet what type of splint boots he recommends for this specific situation (pigeon toed, previous splints) and he said Professional's Choice SMBs. Which is NOT what I bought... But then he also said only use them when he's working hard, doing maneuvering or circle work. So I think these ones will work at least until he goes away to training. If I test them out and they seem to work fine, maybe I won't get the SMBs.

Oh, by the way, Tonka tried on his splint boots without a halter too, even though at first he was skeptical. He wasn't very nice to my sister though, kept pinning his ears at her. Not in an "I'm going to eat you" sort of way, just more like, "Let's see if I can get away with this." They're all acting weird though, the girls are in heat and he's acting like a boy, and they're just flighty and odd. Danni followed my sister around, kept going up and resting her head against her. It was very sweet. I was a bit jealous because she never does that to me, but then she did. She must just be feeling weird. Soxy was more lovey than usual today too. I thought it was just because she was waiting for her turn to be brushed, but who knows.

Click here to read Lesley Neuman's awesome poem.

I think Lesley is a great gentler/trainer, and she sure seems like a good person too. If you ever get a chance to see her work, do so. Check out the rest of her website for more info.

Yesterday they sure tore it up. Lyric started it, and then they were all happy to do some running. Silly horses. Back and forth, back and forth. My poor pasture. But I sure had fun taking pictures.


Eventually they stopped. Danni was done first, but then she's an old girl. Doesn't Tonka look handsome here? (But look at the poor torn up pasture!)


I made him a new burgundy halter. Really all I wanted to do was try it on him and go for a short walk and groom him, but he apparently thought I was going to do mean things, judging by how happily he ran with the others instead of being caught. I did ask him to do a couple quick obstacles, but kept it very low-key, because I don't want him to think every time I catch him we're going to do something long and hard and scary. Then I turned him loose, made a couple adjustments to the halter, and caught him again, tried it on, and turned him loose. So hopefully it was a good experience for him.

Oh, and back to the burgundy. It's going to be his color. Not overwhelmingly, but with some taste... I got him some burgundy splint boots too. And eventually will get a nice woven pad with burgundy. I think it'll look nice with his darker burgundy-ish dun characteristics.

And here is my really actually final decal... I think. No, really, it's the last one, the one I'm having made... I really need to quit fiddling with it!

Our day in pictures:

Tonka following me on Danni, ponying himself. He looks so small from way up there!


Only pic of ponying. He did pretty well, but tried to refuse to go quite a bit.


After ponying, Danni napping, and Tonka a little sweated up but not worn out.


Just after the two of them went through an electric tape gate together. Good horses!


Doesn't he look so grown up, tied by his friend like that? All he needs is a saddle.

Lyric all bug-eyed and hollering, freaked out because BOTH of his friends are out playing.


My favorite grooming tool in spring.



Tonka, directly after:


Trying out my favorite grooming tool. I don't think it was his favorite!


Lyric, coming to greet his buddies as we head back for the gate.


Later in the day, the "horse playground." It's hard to see, but there are a bunch of branches on the ground, that's the "clearcut area," the tarp is our horse-eating bog, and the sheet of OSB just may be horse-eating too, and the bales with pole are just to get them stepping up and over. Can't think of a cool nickname for that. "Gigantic log" maybe.


Soxy, the good, steadfast ole trail horse.


Aren't they cute? They rode over all the obstacles too, but these were just the cutest pics. Katia saddled her own horse today!!! Yay!



These are the same pictures, with my possible future pickup decal in black and white. I'm not sure, I may want to wait until he sheds out and get a better picture. Heck, maybe I'll just have to put two decals on, one for winter and one for summer.

Tonka did the obstacles pretty well. The tarp was his biggest hang-up, but I did get him to put 2/3 of both front feet on, and one whole front foot.

It was a great day! Now I have a slight sunburn. It's definitely getting on toward spring.

(Just a quick reminder, because I NEVER rember this... I think you can click on the picture to see it full-size.)

Tonka stood tied for the first time today, and he did wonderfully. He was a bit unsure at first, and he fidgeted a bit. It was definitely anti-climactic, which is just fine by me! I used a Blocker Tie Ring, and if you haven't heard of it you ought to check it out. I believe both Clinton Anderson and Charles Wilhelm sell them on their websites, but you can probably find them elsewhere. The ring causes the rope to give when the horse pulls back, but only grudgingly... Enough that they shouldn't panic, but it gives enough pull to let them know they need to give back. This is the first time I've used it, and I have to say I like it. I can't wait to try it on Lyric, my chronic panicked puller-backer.



Look at that butt! I love horse butts. Does that mean there's something wrong with me? I don't think so. I know other people who feel the same. This is a big, raw-boned butt, as opposed to the ever-beautiful apple butt, but I love this butt just as much, if not more, because it's on my Tonka. And it's just a nice butt.

Purty boy, wish the flash hadn't caught his eye like that.



The other two are 15.2 & 16 hands. Tonka's just about right!



My mud moose. He was blowing bubbles with his nose while he ate. Funny.



Dribbly.



He wet my pants!



Love this one, great reflection.


Tonka Tonka! He was nosing it around, but my camera was too slow to catch it!

It was a wonderful day. I was grinning like a kid in a candy store, or a girl newly in love. He's a very special horse.

Tonight Tonka seemed a little odd. Just slow. Didn't come dashing to the hay. Lollygagged along... The others came running. I checked him over and he seemed okay. Hooves slightly warm, but no warmer than Lyric's. Danni's were ice cold and wet, so I don't know who's normal and who's not. They're probably all normal for themselves. No dripping eyes or nose, no blood anywhere, gut sounds normal. After what happened to Roseanne, I am scared. I hope my assessment is correct. I can't imagine losing him. And I'm too tired to deal with another struggle to live. So I'm hoping that my fortune today is correct, at least for today. It said "God will give you everything you want." We all know that's absurd. But tonight, I want all my loved ones to be well.

Mud monster!


Pretty foot!


What's over here?


This is kind of scary!


I don't wanna!


Okay, I did it, now I get some grass...

What a beautiful day today! Bright sun, a little less mud, and lots of time spent with my boy. I trimmed his feet, which he was very good for. Well, he did kick me... I'm not sure he meant to, but I think he probably knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted his right hind back, and I didn't give it to him, and he ended up taking it, with a little tap against my thigh JUST after he got it back. Quite quick. He got in big trouble, had to back all over the place, circle and yield a lot, and then right back to trimming. He didn't do it again. Other than that he did really well.

Then I got him onto the driveway to check my trim, since it's a hard level surface. And we went for a small walk halfway up the driveway, played in some puddles, and then walked out into some standing water in the long grass. Went back, looked in the tack/feed shed, gave him a bite of Roseanne's alfalfa. Sniffed a tarp. Then on to the field where the board and the branches are, and walked over both, calmly and slowly. Took some patience, don't get me wrong, because he didn't really want to, and then he wanted to rush the second half, but we got it done right after a try or two. Then on down the driveway to see the Sox's and check out the drainage ditch there. I got him to WALK over it, rather than jump, at a point where the banks weren't high, but where the banks were higher he insisted on jumping. I think he knew what I wanted, as I could shut down his jump and get him to step one foot at a time at the shallow spot, but he just didn't want to walk down into the creek where the banks were higher. Went back, did a slight amount more work on one hoof, and then reluctantly put him away.

He was so relaxed today! Not so boogery around the yard where all the toys are. And happy to be out and about, I think.