The end of a long wonderful weekend....

I had three days to myself.....to dance to my own tune....to do what I wanted.....when I wanted.....which meant I had a lot of horsey time in!  It was such a fun relaxing weekend.

Well, for me......for Boom it was another story!  :-)  He got to work....I mean play! 

Early Monday morning I saddled him up and let him eat while wearing the saddle.  I am not usually one to let them stand around all day wearing a saddle but I figured it would be okay to let him do it while I finished feeding, watering, etc.  He and Wyoming eat close to each other.

Boom let me know that given the chance, he would eat llama!  And he doesn't need BBQ sauce!  He charges the panels when the llama gets to close....don't know how he would be out in the open with him.  He also makes faces at Tandee, and she squeals and kicks at the pen - from 10 feet away!!!  They are something else!  But.....Boom and Wyoming seem to get along so I put Wy in the pen with Boom.  Wy walked around looking for dropped food and Boom followed him.  After Boom lost interest he headed to the panel that butts up against the round bale and started eating. 

When Wy followed Boom to the smaller pen, he was very surprised to see the hanging jugs!  He was not so sure he wanted to go by those things...



Check out the mustang butts!  Boom is built very stocky and Wy will always be very lean.  Guess who is who???

We played with the tarp again.  It doesn't take near as long to reintroduce things to him as it did in the beginning. 

After trotting around the tarp scooted down his neck.  He sniffed around on it and nosed it a bit.  Not near as much drama as expected.

I tied the tarp on the saddle horn because it kept falling off.  This worked great because after a while the whole thing flipped to once side and he had to deal with that.  The pool noodles tied on to the front and back of the saddle did not seem to phase him either.

Boom loves his short jump.  He knows when he doesn't stand still for me, he has to move those feet and he literally looks to the jump with his ears up and heads that direction!  It took me a few times but I got smarter.....now when I say we work, I work him 1/2 circles and it does not include the jump. 

The first time with the flag was horrible.  Clinton Anderson says "Heart attacks are free" and let me tell you what, I thought he was going to have a real one!  It was not good at all.....a couple of days later he did some snorting and head bobbing, but he accepted it pretty quick.  I can touch him all over, slap it under and around him.  He has learned that the bag around his face keeps flies away.

He wanted you all to see him wearing the bag as a hat from the side view...he can't make up his mind which looks better on him, so he chose both.  :-)

We are playing our version of the squeeze game.  It did not start out that way but it turned out that way.  The hardest thing was getting him to stop while walking over it.  We will get there.  At this point I am more than pleased that he calmly and quietly walks over it with me standing on the board.

FLAP FLAP FLAP of the stirrup.  One day went real well, and the day after not so well.  No worries...he just needs time to think about it.  This boy is a thinker.  In the beginning it seemed like he would just shut everything out but now that I think about it, I think that he was thinking about things...he just wasn't going to let me know.  He is getting more comfortable and showing his feelings a little more.  It is so neat watching him grow....

Woo hoo!  We stopped!!!!  Goal - to get him to stand there while I jump on the board.

Sending him from one spot to the other has been a challenge because he wants to hurry.  Monday he was very quiet and took his time.  The jugs are not an issue so I need to move them and add something else to the mix.

I pulled around and yanked on the saddle and it went okay - he doesn't know what to think about it but he stood there and tolerated it.  I also put weight in the stirrups with my hand and he did not like that at all.  Especially on his left side.  His left side is the jiggy one...the right one is more calm.  I am convinced that both sides of the brain talk to each other and the right will help the left thru it.  As of now I am saddling him on his right....same thing....the right will talk to the left, and once the rain stops and we get back to the saddle it won't be as big a deal.

He just stands there and rests a foot (he started doing that this weekend - yay!) as I throw around the 'dummy legs'.

While standing on my mounting bucket I was leaning over him and rubbing.  He still doesn't respond to the petting and scratching but he is taking it.  I got to kiss his neck....he smells so good.

A faux hug....hee hee!  Confinement stresses him out, and that includes holding him from both sides.  I have been rubbing both sides of his neck at the same time and I am getting pretty darn close to a real horsey hug!  :-)

It was such a great weekend and I am so lucky! 

THE END!!!

Until later....Karen and Tripp who wants his END in the picture too!  :-)