After the Snow Storm

There hasn't been too much going on this past week. It's been so blasted cold that all I do right now are chores. Since the snowstorm Tuesday I've been pulling Babe, Queen, Sam, Zeke, and Rain into the barn. The weatherman isn't calling for below zero temps until Monday. I'm going to leave Rain and Zeke out of the barn tonight but put the mares and Sam back in. That way I don't have to rush them through their supper.

For the past two days with the cold temps, I'd left the ponies in their stall in the hay shed. I also pulled Maverick so he wouldn't have to stand in the cold. This was the first time he'd had interaction with the ponies. I think Tommy was putting him in his place. It was rather fun to watch.

Since I didn't have any place to put the ponies I left them in their stall (but gave them the run of an extra temporary stall that I put up to give them more room. Apparently ponies can only be in that stall for two days. After the second day they start destroying things. They some how managed to pull a bucket full of tools into their pen. Of course I didn't realize what they had done until it was chore time so I couldn't leave them in their stall. It also meant that last night Maverick had to stay out in his pen and deal with the cold.

I moved the ponies back to their pen by the barn. They had to deal with two feet snow drifts which are pretty hard for ponies. Tommy was up to his knees in a snow drift. But I had no other place to put them so I guess that's what they get for being naughty and destroying some of my stuff.

I'm finally making a very small breakthrough with Longhorn. He's actually become my highlight of the evening chores. For some odd reason he's finally discovered that he likes treats. Before I couldn't get him to take one. Now he'll walk up to me to see if I have a treat. It's very good progress. I feel bad that I havent' spent more time with him but I'll be happy for the slow progress. He's willing to eat the treat right out of my hand and sniff my coat for more. Of course this is all while I'm on the other side of the fence. When I'm in his pen feeding him treats he's a bit more standoffish but I'll take it.

Speaking of standoffish, Jimmy really is a very unsocial horse. I'd hoped that he would get over it but I guess not. Every time I come close he walks away. I was warned he is standoffish and that he's hard to catch. They weren't kidding. But I have a plan in place as long as the weather holds. I'm going to have to catch him every night, pull him out of his pen just to groom him down. Then I'll put him back in his pen.

I'd originally planned on putting Jimmy in with Maverick this weekend but I want to spend some time messign with him to hopefully get him more comfortable with me. If he's in with Maverick I may never be able to catch him. I guess I'll just play it by ear.

Last nights chores sort of pushed me over the edge. My temper has been pretty high these past few weeks. But this morning really made it all worth it. Everyone was happy to see me (of course I'm just the food lady). Everyone was nice and calm the entire time. No one was harrassing anyone else. It was great. Mornings like today are why I don't mind getting up so early and going into the cold.