Let's practice picking up feet...
Tripp and my 27 yr old Arab mare Tandee waiting for dinner...
Not much to tell about July 2nd...I came home early with a horrible migraine type headache, went to bed with a pillow over my head and didn't get up until 7:30! ACK! The whole evening is gone plus I still didn't feel that great. I went out to feed, pet Tripp a little while then told him to enjoy his night off. Which was just as well because we had bad storms go thru a couple hours before that and the water was still running off. Little did I know we would get another storm later that night! Winds moving all directions - normally I enjoy storms, but I got the heebie jeebies with this one. No reception on anything to get a weather update, and I just kept running thru a plan in my head. If we get a hint of tornado, I need to go let Tripp out with the others so they can run to the woods. Thankfully it didn't come to that!
Tonite was pretty good. The mud in the pen isn't real deep, it is just very slick and I was afraid to do anything drastic. He was feeling full of himself too, and I didn't want him hurting himself (or me).
I did a lot of brushing - he was a mud puppy tonite! I know I am not supposed to let him rub into me while I scratch him - but I did it anyways! Heck, when I am itchy I like to be scratched, and I push into it too. We just won't make a habit of it. :-)
I didn't want to put the leather saddle on him in case it fell in the mud. I just didn't feel like cleaning it up - so I opted for the bareback pad tonite. Plus it makes funny noises when I scratch it with my finger nails. He doesn't like weird noises, which means I do it more!
We practiced picking up front feet tonite, and for the first time I actually got to see the bottoms of his hooves! Yay me! In spite of him not liking it and backing up a little bit during the lesson, he still did real good. Once it dries out I will work on getting the back ones with a rope first to make sure there are not any swinging surprises. He let me brush down his back legs tonite, inside and outside, which was a first.
We then walked around a little bit over the boards, and we did some backing up.
He also nosed the plastic bag on the stick that I left laying on the ground, then he stepped on it twice when we walked around it! No reaction at all! SWEET! I don't expect that once I pick it up again, but that is okay. He will get used to it.
I took his halter off tonite. I figure he is pretty good about coming up to me, so he is retiring the nylon halter and we will use the rope halter from here on out. Now maybe the hair will grow back on the rub spots.
We had to go pick up feed tonite, so we also stopped to pick up a couple of balls to put in the pen. He has a jolly ball and he messed with it the first couple of days he had it, and it has not moved since except when I kick it at him. We will introduce the balls tomorrow morning. I am pretty excited about that!
It is hard to believe that tomorrow will mark the 3 week anniversary of me meeting Tripp and Judy meeting Bob. Wow! The time just flies, and I try not to dwell on everything that needs to be done. I want to push Tripp because he needs it, but I don't want to push to the point of making him do things he isn't ready for yet. Or myself for that matter! I am trying to keep it real. I am so grateful to be a part of this! And I sure could not have asked for a better horse to work with!
Everyone have a fun and safe holiday!!!
Karen and Tripp
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