Hot Laps, Halterng, and Feeding

Last night as I was puttering around in the house, Mike came in and asked if I wanted momma and baby outside their fence area. Uuumm, no! Luckily they didn’t wander far and were simply checking out the place. Thank goodness Savanna is all about food. She really loves her grain. I grabbed some grain, got them in to their pasture, and fixed fence. I’m going to have to do some fencing very soon. I don’t like electric. I prefer something more substantial. We’ll see how things progress and how quickly I can get to repairing fence.

It’s been raining for the past few days. I’d let Savanna and Prize out on the pasture and had walked out to the garage to go to work. As I was getting out of the car to shut the door, Prize whinnied at me. He was telling me his displeasure in the rain. He really does NOT like being yet! He is too funny.

The other day, Prize decided that he would do “hot laps” around the pasture. Of course because it’s been muddy everything is slick. So poor Prize couldn’t go full blast through the pasture but he did stretch his legs, running, bucking, and rearing. The funniest sight was Prize pushing momma around. At first I thought he had an itch. Then I realized he was antagonizing momma into moving. He wanted her to move and run! That little guy must have pushed pretty hard because he got Savanna to move around, not at his pace but at least moving. Prize really is a character!

Last night we dumped another round bale in to the mare (and Thor) pen. Last time we put a bale in the drylot, we didn’t have Sahara in there. The last time, I tied the horses to the fence but stayed close talking to them the entire time. Loud noises bother them (although they are getting used to the commotion as long as I am close and can talk to them an distract them). But this time I couldn’t tie Sahara up as she’s never been tied before. Of course, in my haste, I’ve lost her halter and had to find another one that was ill fitting. She worked through wearing the new halter but was unhappy about all the commotion. I made sure that when I opened the gate to have a good hold on Sahara. She was a real champion. She didn’t freak out when I opened the big gate and walked back to the others. She was very nervous when the tractor came in to the pen but she stayed by Babe’s side. She was curious and wanted to watch instead of hide. She didn’t get too upset. She didn’t try to pull me around the pen or try to rip the lead rope out of my hands. In fact, as long as she was close to Babe, and touching me, she was fine. I’m betting the next time we dump a round bale in the pen, she’ll be a pro. Having only been haltered less than a dozen times, Sahara has really progressed. I would rank the ease of haltering her up there with Mayhem, who was a breeze.

Mayhem is getting a little naughty with haltering but only because I haven’t worked with her. And in fact the only naughty part is standing tied. She wants to test her boundaries. But given that she will be exactly one year old tomorrow, I think she’s come along way.

These young ones really amaze me at times. I love the old ones; they are my true calling. The old horses are the true warriors but the young ones seem to make the old warriors feel young at heart. I love watching the young and old interact. I only wish I could offer more for the old warriors who deserve a soft landing for their retirement. I wish I could provide a retirement for more deserving warriors.

I also have two side notes for today. Although I won’t be able to bring anyone home, I plan on attending the July 15th horse auction in Mitchell. The catalog sale starts at 6pm, followed by open consignment and then loose horses. If anyone would like to come with, I would greatly appreciate the company. Also, it’s been three weeks since I asked everyone to “Pay It Forward”. I would love to hear what everyone has done. I desperately need that mental boost to know that even though there is so much bad that there is some good in the world.