A little bit about Copper...

Wow, the time is flying by so quickly! I am not going to give a 'Days Left' count because #1 - I don't know exactly...I just know roughly...and #2 - it really really stresses me out to think about it. I will say it is right around the corner...ACK!

These are a few pictures of the last week.

Copper did something to himself last weekend and I am not sure exactly what. I sometimes let a smaller group of the horses into the yard to eat grass, and this particular day I did not let them in - they let themselves in. They pushed over the wire fence...I found it on the ground with welds broken, so I know someone got stuck in it. Nobody had cuts, and the only thing I could find was two Quarter sized round rubbed raw spots on Copper's hip. I think it was him who got stuck in the fence and I think he pulled a muscle or something. When he eats out of his food pan, he has to struggle to get that neck stretched down there...I even put it up on the bridge for him. He is getting better, slowly but surely, but he has been pretty stiff all week, so we have done little as far as anything that exerts a lot of energy. My friend Jill and I have decided that I am an over worried Mustang Mom, and he will work it out! I am happy to say that Copper gets along well with everyone, and he moved into this small group without any mishaps. It started out with Wyoming, Tandee, the mini's and the donks. Wyoming has moved on and we moved one of the big bunch into the smaller bunch, and he gets along well too.

We have been working on trailer loading, and I am soooo happy to say it has been going well! Here he is not so sure about it, but he trusts me... (most of the time he will go in by himself instead of me having to go in first...yippee!!!)



We were walking between the truck/trailer, my old Jeep, and the car. It was a snug spot and he HATES tight spots! So back and forth we went...then he noticed this good looking mustang in the reflection of the glass...who could it be?



Let's get the newspaper... (we walked around the dirt road for a while)



I was so proud of him after all of that...we had fun, he tried hard to do what I asked, so I thought he needed a grass treat!



I am practicing Brian's technique of not getting attached...Yep, looks like we have it figured out! :-)



ACK! Plastic bags! I mentioned in an earlier blog that I felt more dumb this year and I can't get it together! Well, the bags is one of the things I usually do in the beginning, and I had not done it this time! So we now have a plastic bag attached to the end of an old fishing pole, and it is tied on the panel. It will flutter in the wind. Copper does not like the bag!



Last night we went for a walk thru the woods, and it was wonderful! We walked between trees, got covered in spider webs, plowed thru poison ivy....yep, it was bliss! HA!

Copper walking between trees...like I said, he doesn't like things tight around him, and he did not even bat an eye at this. So many people have said that their horses do much better once they get out of their pen and small area...I cannot disagree!



Now it was not all perfect. The light was not good so pictures were not good, but we found a log that was of decent height, and we were walking back and forth over it. I would stop him as he straddled it, and I would get up on the log and rub all over him. That log is a better height than my bucket! Anyways, I had the camera out, we were chasing horse flies, a horse fly got him agitated and he pulled away...he did not YANK, he just pulled. But me, being ever so graceful was trying to figure out the difference between the nice fat squishy lead line and my skinny little camera string! It was all like it was in slow motion....Copper takes off once he realizes he is loose. Thru the woods he goes, across the top of the hill, and back in to the front area where Wy was staying for a while. When I finally hauled my butt up there, he turned to look at me and say "Ooohhhhhhhhh, there you are......" "YES! Here I are....now we have to go do it again!" So away we went. I got my exercise, and it did not even phase him to go back down there. Back to the log, I stayed up on the log and layed over him (my feet stayed ON the log!), rubbed everywhere, moved my legs around on his side, etc. We spent a long time doing that and he just stood there. It was getting dark so had to head back...but we walked thru the dry creek bed first. I am hoping he is learning that he walks thru them, not jumps them. So far so good, but it is always different when your 'security blanket' is on you instead of in front or beside you.

This is what a picture looks like when graceful girls is trying to get ropes and strings straightened out....it really is kinda neat!



Of course...self portrait! :-)



The other night we were picking tomato worms - a.k.a. Chicken Food...
They sure are pretty, but very destructive!



The day that Copper was in the yard with the small group, he followed Wy around. Look at the similarities and the size difference. (I miss Wy but know he is in good hands)



Brian is practicing his very own technique of not getting attached. Someday I will be as good as him! ;-)



I still have so much to do with Copper, but have to quit worrying about it. Worry is a waste of time. I just need to do what I can with the time I have left, remember to have fun and learn what I can out of it, and hope that someone see's what a great horse he is. He is still reactive about things, but at the same time he comes to me (most of the time) for a reminder that he can do this, and it isn't going to hurt, and he knows he will get that rub on the forehead.

The Midwest Mustang and Burro Club is going to have a fun show in Lyndon, the weekend after Labor Day, so we are headed to that. Our friends Angela and Jessi, and April and Diana will be caravaning to KS together. I won't be riding Copper, but the exposure to something different will be fun, not to mention getting to see a lot of the people I have not seen in a long time.

Have to go feed now...and finish getting ready for work.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend!

Until later...Karen and Tripp