I had a bunch of stuff to do in town this morning, and it was raining, slushy, windy, and nasty this afternoon.  So all I did with the horses today was let them all in together.  It went about how I expected.  Dan claimed Bella and kept Scout away. 

NOBODY has ever made Scout move the way Dan does.  No horse, no human.  Scout is normally either an immovable object or at best a reluctant mover.  Not today.  I like seeing that.

Scout became my best buddy and followed right at my side, of course on the side opposite of Dan.  He figured I'd protect him.  He was right, but I couldn't hang out in there all day.

This is about how they've been all afternoon:  

 

I wonder what Dan will think when I remove him from his herd to train/ride.  I know other horses that get all worked up because they're not there to keep their herd in order.  If only he knew that Scout is Bella's baby, not a rival.  Hopefully eventually things will be more peaceful and Scout and Bella can scratch each other's backs again.

This afternoon I went out to play with Dan, try his bridle on him, and move Bella next to them.

I was just going to slip the bridle on without a halter, because he'd look more handsome that way.  Which is when I learned what lesson #1 was going to be.  Giving his head to pressure.  Specifically dropping his head to poll pressure, but progressing to tipping his nose to the side also.  Once the halter was on we worked on lowering his head.  At first he'd tuck his nose way back, putting his lips on my hand, and walk forward.  It didn't take long before he realized I just wanted him to drop his head, without moving his feet or putting his lips on me.  He seemed happy to have gotten it.  It took a little bit more time to get him to understand the same lesson with my fingers on his poll rather than the halter, but he got it.  He's pretty smart.  Scout was happy to stand on the other side of me and show off that he knows how too.  :)

Working on tipping his nose to the side was much harder.  He thinks he needs to walk forward when I ask him to tip his nose to the side.  I'm not asking for full lateral flexion around to his girth, just a little tip of the head.  It was a little awkward in the deep snow, circling and circling and waiting for him to get it, and he never really did get it.  But he kind of coincidentally stopped a couple times (once on each side) and I praised him a lot and moved on.

We did a little circle work at a slow pace, mostly concentrating on changing directions every half circle, and that was hard for him.  He got a little willful a couple times and reared up once.  It's easy to see that if he's overwhelmed he gets emotional and quits thinking and has a little fit.  I persisted, slowly and calmly, and he continued without the fit throwing.

Eventually we just stood and hung out and I scratched around his ears and told him what a good boy he is.

I think I will have to do some desensitizing with the rope.  He wasn't comfortable with me twirling it with no intent toward him, and once when it dragged next to him he gave it a little too much nervous attention.  No big deal, just little stuff to work on.

I don't know what he knows and what he doesn't know in terms of this little nit-picky foundation stuff.  He may know all of this already, but we have to work it out together so I'm pretending we're starting from scratch.

When he's more relaxed we're going to work on his tendency to be a space invader.  He leads pretty nicely but with his nose right next to or on my elbow, especially on my left, so I'll start flapping my elbow eventually.  Right now I think he needs that closeness to feel secure, so as long as he's not being dangerous or stepping on my heels he can stay close and touch me when he needs to.

Here he is in his pretty headstall.  I'm not sure if I'll snug up that bit or let him learn to pick it up and pack it.  I guess I'll see which he prefers. 

 Scout was never far away.  He was a very unhelpful helper.

Bella, all wide-eyed, checking out the new horse.

I turned her out in the pasture next to the boys and watched the show.

Dan quickly claimed her as his own, driving Scout off.

I'm not sure but I think Bella likes him.  She never squealed or kicked.

  

Then they dug up some snow and started grazing together.

Just about then the bus pulled up and Huckleberry rushed to meet his kid.

 Yay!  Katia's home!

Poor little Blue has been on house rest as much as possible because he's got a gimpy leg.  It's slowly improving.  Yesterday he wouldn't use it much at all.  Knowing his balls-to-the-wall, kamikaze style, he probably sprained something chasing or fighting with his brother. 

Oh, I also unloaded a 1250 pound square bale of hay today, flake by flake, and stacked it in the barn and one of the grain bins.  That was prickly work.  But I'm glad to have it under cover.  Wish I could find small bales.  Oh well, at least I have hay!

Last night just before it was fully dark I decided to put Scout in with Dan.  He was so agitated, it was cold, there were a lot of sudden changes in his life... I started to worry he might colic.

After some initial noise (Dan squeals like a girl!) they settled down to annoying gelding games like poking each other in the butt, nibbling hocks, and nipping lips.  I had to take Dan's blanket off because Scout was just so enthralled with it he wouldn't leave Dan alone.  After that they settled in to eat from the same pile of hay.  Wee Scout is playing the steady rock for the new guy.  Weird to see my baby in that role.

This morning when I went out to feed, Dan greeted me with a whinny.  I had an empty bucket also, and of course that was a big hit with both of them.  Maybe feed would magically appear in it if they stuck their noses in enough times.  Sadly, it did not.

Aren't they cute?

Dan is still very much on the alert - especially in the direction of the cows next door.

 Scout thinks he should quit gawking about and pay attention to him.

 For being the same height and color (although Scout is a darker dun), they don't look much alike.

Dan really reminded me of Tonka in his fear to come inside to eat.  I don't think he's been in the stall yet.  I put their hay right in the doorway.  Maybe Scout will show him that it's okay in there.  Dan doesn't mind stalls as a general rule, so I'm sure it's just a matter of time before he comes to like this one.

A little bit of moral support.

 I have a bumper sticker somewhere that says, "Appaloosa Butts Drive Me Nuts."

 But really it should say "Dun Butts Drive Me Nuts."

Love that stripe.  :)

Of course that is not why I picked Dan.  I love his build and his looks, and the color is like icing on the cake, but I think I'll also love his personality.  

He's still pretty worried so I'm not going to go straight into saddle fitting and training mode.  I think I'll just hang out with him a lot today and get some barn chores done.  Playing dress-up in the western saddle and doing serious groundwork can wait a bit.

Well, Dan is home!  Look at him.  He's a handsome dude.

He wears the same size blanket Tonka did, which is handy.  So now he has two blankies.  But he doesn't wear one all the time.

 The trailer ride was totally uneventful, although he was shaking when I unloaded him.  He'll get more used to it with time.  He's going to be going lots of places now!  Well, eventually anyway, when my driveway clears...

He has a cute bum.

 

There's a lot to look at here, and lots of sounds and things that are new.

 

He's been spending a lot of time just staring off.

I kept standing next to him, thinking, "Is he really 16 hands?"  To be honest I hope he's not, but if he is I'll just have to start doing more yoga.  I should do that anyway.  But if I can get on Scout and Tonka, I can hike my leg up there one or two more inches.

I am frozen to the core!  My hands are just kind of starting to work again.  I need to get out there and love on him some more but I'm going to get warmed up first.

I looked up his sire on All Breed Pedigree, and the only names I recognized were Music Mount and Three Bars.  I'm not a big pedigree person, but I was glad to see that he may be more performance bred than halter bred.  Too many genetic issues with those halter horses.  

Now I think I'll go curl up under an electric blanket for a while.

 Meet Dapper Dan.  He's cute, isn't he?  He's a 10 year old appaloosa gelding.  You can see he doesn't have any appy characteristics, but that's okay.

I tried him out and it looks like he might be my new buddy.

 

 He's a big thick dude with a nice short back who loves to mess with stuff.

 

He's not a finished horse but I'm excited about working with him and getting him ready to hit the trails.  He does have some experience - about 20 rides on trails around here, and some riding in a more populated area back East.  It will be more an exercise in learning to trust and communicate with each other, I think.   He's a bit spooky, a little willful, and he has some definite opinions about bits.  Luckily he likes a Myler, and I have one for him.  I think he might eventually like Tonka's bit as well, but he'll have to earn that honor.  :)  He's only been ridden in a treeless saddle, so it'll be interesting to see how he does with a big ranch saddle.  He's also only had one rider and one owner since birth, so this will be weird for him.  But I think he might be the type who will enjoy an adventure and things to do.  He's a friendly, inquisitive, smart guy.

I think he and Scout will have a lot of fun playing together.  I wonder what Bella will think of him?

I probably won't have an update until next week, but he might be here by then!  So exciting!

Some more happy Christmas photos for you.  We had a lovely day with presents, laziness, sledding, dinner, a little cleanup, more laziness, and now, well, probably more laziness.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

 We finally got enough snow to make it pretty out.  The dogs loved it.

I tried really hard to get a picture of Bob with his ears up.

No luck there.

Pedro says "Move your ass." (To Bob, not me)

"Hey, lady.  I'm much cuter than that old guy."

The sun seems to love Pedro almost like it loved Tonka.

Baby Blue

Huck, looking kinda cross-eyed.

Scout, dignified as ever (not) and his mama hanging back.

 Today the sun made an appearance, and I was home to enjoy it.  Pedro, above, is photogenic as always.  Bob, below, was sweet and cuddly.

 I don't take enough photos of Bob.  He doesn't pose for a photo like Pedro does.  He's old and tired.

The dogs went mouse hunting up the hill and came running when I called.

My mama's boy, Blue:

And happy Huckleberry:

 They're a little camera shy when they know what I'm up to.

Pedro is still lame.  He is improving but I wouldn't want to take him for a walk.  Bob doesn't like to leave Pedro and Pedro runs around when I take Bob out, which would probably make him more sore, so I haven't taken either of them out for a walk.

What about the mustangs?  They're there.  I spent a little time with them today, grooming them with my hands and checking to see if they had any itchy spots they wanted scratched.  Scout tested my authority by trying to bite my nose, and Bella would have been happier just to stand around together, without all the touching.  They could both use some more focused work, but for now Scout got smacked and Bella got rubbed all around and then I went to see the donkeys, who I knew were waiting for me and would be happy to see me.

A fellow donkey-lover turned me on to this neat website: http://www.thehorseagilityclub.com/ where you don't have to ride to have fun with your equines.  When I can afford it and Pedro is a little less lame, I'll join and maybe send in a video to be judged.  It'll be fun to have some goals to do on the ground, and it will only help my horsemanship (or should that be donkeyladyship?) and make for a better under saddle relationship. 

I'm off to mop the floors!  Hooray!

 This past week has been busy.  The kids each had performances in Moscow, and then John and Katia had a community band performance.  Then on Sunday I had an employee party.  On the way there, Liam said from the back seat, "We've been partying since, like, Thursday."  He makes it sound so much more exciting than it really is!

 

I've been busy-ish this week too.  I spent a lot of time looking for new shoes.  This new job is killing my feet.  I wanted some Keens or maybe Danskos but for some reason our local dealer was almost sold out.  Nothing in my size.  So today I went digging in my old shoes and put on a pair of old Doctor Martens to get me through another day of shoe shopping.  I thought, heck, why not get a new pair of Docs?  I put many a mile on my old Doc boots in the French Quarter back in the day.  Granted, I still got footsore and I was a lot younger...  So I tried on a lot of other shoes first, then went to the men's section to find the Docs.  They have a new style that has super soft soles.  The salesman guy said that means they wear out faster, but he wears them and recommends them.   So far I love them!

Back on the subject of equines, today was donkey pedicure day.  They were both very well behaved and it was a minor trim.  Not much to take off.  I love how slowly hooves grow in winter.  

I'm now pretty sure that Pedro has active laminitis.  All that free time on the pasture wasn't good for him.  He's still pretty ouchy so I'm making some feed changes and going to try giving him Bute to help with the inflammation.  Dang it all.

Today wasn't a work day but I worked my butt off.  And I'm still not done, darn it.  But I'm close to being done enough to quit for the day.

I had to figure a way to get Pedro off the pasture without leaving him living in a mud pit.  Figured it out, but would have to move them to the barn area and horses to the pasture the donkeys had been in.  That sounds WAY easier than it is.  Have to move all their stuff too.  Lots of trips back and forth.  It was also hay moving day and trough filling day, and I got some things put under cover and some things put away for the winter.  Just busy all around.  Definitely wasn't bored.

I got a rabies vaccine reminder in the mail today too.  It made me realize that my work schedule keeps me from taking the dogs into my old work (they're only open 2 days a week), but my new work costs at least twice as much.  I guess I get discounts on things but not on services.  Basically anything the vet has to do is full price.  Crappy.  Might as well take them in to my regular vet.  I haven't seen them in a while *knock on wood*, so it might be fun to go in and visit.

Well, back to work I go.  I still have hoses to drain, chickens to feed, and a stall to muck.  Oh, and dinner to make.  Deer sausage.  I haven't had deer since I was a kid.  It scares me a bit...  Seems like a parasite risk.  I will be cooking it very well!

I came so close to bringing home a new horse today.  It's a very sad situation - a woman is dying of cancer and has 8 horses.  Her friend is trying to help find homes for two of them so the woman's husband isn't left to care for them all while he's grieving. 

I went to look at a gelding and ended up absolutely falling in love with a three year old filly.  I could definitely see her being my next special horse.  Absolutely beautiful appaloosa (supposedly a domestic born mustang but she seemed too refined)  - kind of a silver chestnut with spots all over, and well put together, and sweet and sensible.  I was about to say I'd pick her up tomorrow but then I noticed a bump on her back.  She was flinchy and sensitive when I pressed on it.  The vet thinks it's just scar tissue from an old scrape and won't cause trouble with riding, and I wanted to believe that, but then why would her skin crawl and twitch when I pressed on it?  I hated to say I couldn't take her, but I couldn't.  Bummer.  What kills me is, what if the vet is right?  Or even if she just needs a chiropractor or some body work and she'd be fine?  But it's too much of a gamble, and I already have 3 equines here that I can't take on a trail ride at this point.  Sucks.  If I had extra money lying around I'd take her anyway to do the lady a favor, and treat any problems she might have.  But I don't and I can't.

When I got home Pedro was standing at the gate staring at me, as if to say he's the only equine I'll ever need.  Maybe he's right.  I kind of like the idea of just going hiking with the donkeys, and having them carry me on occasion after Pedro's hooves grow out. And I always have Scout, who does need some riding. 

So, things are the same here...