Winter coat

Brr, you guys! It keeps getting COLDER. It was 27 degrees today at the barn and you could tell--everything was frozen! It had rained last week so the ground was wet and squish, but thanks to the cold temps the ground froze solid into jaggedy angles. If that wasn't enough, the well traveled path along one of the paddock fence lines had deep hoofprints in the mud which then froze in place, filled with water, and froze into puddles!

 Frozen foot steps.

 Close up!

But even though it was so cold, it was still a nice visit. The air seemed a little hazy with tiny ice crystals hanging out in the sky.

Chilly, and beautiful.

I hung out with Gobie in the paddock with the rest of the horses. We didn't do much. I groomed him with my hands a little--he was super fuzzy and a little dusty but most importantly he was happy and cozy. Warming your hands on your horse is the best.

Bonnie wasn't around this visit, but Cinder's person came by so we ended up chatting for a little bit. Cinder has a runny nose--the vet thinks she's got a little bit of a cold--and has been on some antibiotics. I noticed a little runny nose on Gobie, but it was pretty clear. Cinder's lady said Bonnie was being vigilant about the other horses none the less. Tis the season for all of that nonsense, I guess. I'm always impressed with how busy Bonnie is around the place. I noticed she also put up a snowflake on the barn--cute and so appropriate for the weather!

Let's end on a warm note with a video of me petting Gobie and his luxurious winter coat:

Cold, relaxing

We took a break this weekend after doing all that exciting stuff LAST weekend. The weather is getting colder, but it was still nice to sit down under a tree and relax.

Looking for treats...

The fuzziest ears.

Prancing off!

Looking over the fence.

Gobie over the fence

I have been feeling like junk for the last week, especially physically speaking, so I decided it would be a good idea to make a quick visit to the horses and keep it low key. It was cloudy out, but pretty warm, and thinking about raining. The horses were all in a pretty lazy mood, too. It seems like they're getting along pretty well now a days.

The trees have been dropping leaves like crazy, so as the horses were grazing you could hear the crunch, crunch, crunch of them shuffling around in the leaves with their hooves and their muzzles looking for grass. The crows, too, seemed to be out in force today looking for bugs and other things in the dirt. For some reason they are quite leery of people and extremely hard to photograph, but trust me when I say these are some of the fattest and largest crows I've seen around. Not all the trees have lost their leaves. There's one on the other side of the fence in the woods that is still big and yellow. Inside the horses' paddock though most of the leaves are on the ground.

And some of the horses like to eat the leaves, which apparently doesn't agree with their digestion. Either Gobie doesn't eat as many leaves, or they don't upset his ponys-will-eat-anything stomach, but whatever the reason I'm glad he doesn't seem worse for wear.

Honey was pretty friendly over the fence today and was the first one to come up and say hi to me. But immediately I could tell that Gobie was putting everyone in check to today, including his girlfriend. He came up to the fence and I gave him a treat and he tried shooing a too-nosey Honey away. It was pretty undramatic, but even after he left me at the fence line the other horses were mindful of where he was pushing them around. All the same, our visit was pretty nice. He seems like he's healthy and content and with the impending colder weather that's all you can really ask for. I took a video of the visit over the fence.

Featuring: giving treats, Honey and Bo getting shooed, and me getting my hand licked by Gobie. Enjoy!

Late Afternoon in November

This weekend I went out to spend some quality time with Gobie and the gang. It feels like it's been a while since I just came to sit and relax in the field with the herd. Now that things seem to be sorted out between the horses, it's safer to do so, I guess. It was a pretty afternoon--just cold enough to let you know that it was November but just warm enough for it to be comfortable. It was a wintery sun, though, that kept playing hide-n-seek in the silvery clouds that were languidly making their way across the sky in the chilly breeze.

First, I wanted to check out the wooded trail by the back paddock. Bonnie's place is surrounded by a modest woods, mostly pine trees. I walked along the fence where there seemed to be a path into the trees. The ground was covered in pine needles which seemed to insulate everything, making the entire woods seem quiet and footsteps imperceptible.

Peaceful.

I followed the path back through the woods, and there seemed to be a couple off-shooting paths but I wasn't sure where they went. I didn't want to accidentally trespass on a neighbor's property so I headed back. I came out on the left side of Bonnie's house, facing the front paddock along the driveway.

Gobie, having a drink.

I squeezed myself between two of the fence rails and already Gobie was standing right next to me to see what I was up to. I gave him a treat and a once-over. It looks like the scrap/bite under his mane is finally starting to grow hair back.

Looking much better!

The order of the day was some prime relaxing and nature appreciation, so I settled down under the orange and yellow leafed tree in the paddock. It was a pretty comfy spot with a cushiony layer of leaves to sit on, and a comfortable trunk to lean against. Belle the Corgi came out to sit with me, too.

Being vigilant.

Gobie came over to see what I was up to. I've done this before--that is, settling down near a tree in a paddock with the horses--but every time Gobie wants to investigate and play with me a little. I wonder if it's instinct. After all, if your horse pal is laying down by a tree you want to make sure they're not sick or hurt in some way. It's probably a little dangerous to be sitting down in a paddock full of horses, but I'm mindful of where they are and how close they get. I'm fairly confident that Gobie won't accidentally trample on me. Being near a tree helps, too since it's a pretty visible barrier of something a horse doesn't want to knock into or rough-house around. Even so, it pays to be mindful of where you legs are in relation to any horses.

Legs and the leaves.

Of course my favorite thing about Gobie is his in-your-pocket friendly curiosity. He knows I'm usually well-equipped with tasty tid-bits.

Got any treats?

He is a bit puppyish in that if you do play hard to get with the treats, he's happy to lick your hands and search your pockets and try all of his charms to try to get you to give him one. It usually works! I really enjoy his company, and it was doubly lovely, sitting beneath a tree in autumn colors. The photo below was going to be a heroic picture of Gobie, but his true colors shone through.

Put that tongue away!

If anything, he's sincere, though. And properly apologetic. And a down-right schmooze. He played with my hair, and was very interested in snuffling around my face--maybe because I was wearing peppermint-scented lip gloss?

Nuzzling my knee.

He would come and go from where I was at the tree, which was fine by me. I enjoyed relaxing, watching the horses from a far, appreciating the weather and all the good nature around.

See you later, pony.

After a while it was time to go, so I walked to where Gobie was mingling with the herd in the field. I gave him a treat, and some scratches on the withers. He must have been in a cozy mood, because he started reciprocating the grooming, by working on my shoulder with his prodding upper lip, licking and even nibbling a little, on my jacket. He also tried mussing with my hair a little.

Getting groomed.

I'm not sure if Gobie didn't link how Booboo was looking at us, if he was trying to come over to break up the niceties or what, but as our mutual grooming session was coming to an end Gobie whisked himself away from the party and ran after Booboo.

Defending my honor, no doubt.

It was a short lived event, though, and I wasn't in any danger from it. Before heading back to the car I stopped by Gobie again to fuss over him a little more, tousle his hair, and steal from heat from under his mane.

Thanks, good friend.

Diamond in the rough

Everyday is a new opportunity when you're training a horse. You have to assess different factors, not the least of which is how your pony is feeling that day. Sometimes it's frustrating--when they're acting like they're complete bozos and have forgotten EVERYTHING. Other times they're perfect and you're convinced they are a diamond in the rough. Today was one of those days. Gobie was SO GOOD.

He and the gang were out eating in one of the back pastures when I first rolled up. I'm super lucky in that whenever Gobie sees me coming he looks up and is interested in me coming out. There are some horses that are hard to catch, but I'm glad that Gobie isn't one of them. He wants to interact and that's half the battle.

Out in the field with Honey (and the rest).

We've been working on leading and he was extremely well behaved being walked from one paddock to our working area. He only stopped a couple times, and then started right back up after a little prompting. When we were in the work area we walked around the perimeter and he was brilliant. He walked forward, stopped when I stopped, backed up when I asked and the whole deal. It may seem like a little thing, but in the language of horses having a pony follow you and respect your space is a good achievement.

We tried a little tying to begin with and he was very good. From our last, and first go at it, I new that if he pulled back he wouldn't freak out about it so I was pretty confident about it. So I took the opportunity to pick out his feet. The front ones were fine of course. For his back feet I put a little food in his bucket (a mix of black oil sunflower seeds and powdery supplement, both for hoof, skin and hair conditioning). It worked like a charm! I picked up his back feet with no problem. It was also a mental feat for me. I'm kind of a wuss for no reason about the back feet but today I decided that I would forget that, and get as close and cozy as possible to his hind end and wouldn't you know it worked out well.

I also put some hoof oil on his feet. It's been a bit dry and the freshness of his last trim is starting with wear off so he's getting a little frayed around the edges. He was good about having the stuff slathered on, like an old pro.

Lookin' good.

I decided I might as well give him a dose of fly spray while I was at it. I untied him for this since I know we're still working on not running away from the spray. The initial squirt he wanted to get away, but I asked him to stand still and he did. Both sides, all up and down his legs, and it was no problem.

While I was spraying I noticed his chestnuts were gone! Chestnuts are rough spots on the inside of a horse's legs kind of like the rough part on your elbow. Except for some horses chestnuts get quite large and knobby. Gobie had these giant ones because they hadn't been picked off or groomed down. They don't serve any purpose, and they don't hurt anything, but they're kind of cosmetically goofy in my opinion. I had been thinking about trimming but, but I'm glad they took care of themselves. I actually kind of wondered if someone hadn't trimmed them off for me, and maybe the extra attention was why he was being extra good but Bonnie assured me no one had. He's just naturally good!

No chestnuts!

Unfortunately for Gobie it was also time for him to be dewormed this month. A deworming schedule is an important part of making sure that your horse and the pasture where he lives is healthy. Horses can pick up parasites just by eating grass and grain and so on so they have to be dewormed on a regular schedule. Gobie, and most other horses, aren't a big fan of being dewormed probably because the paste used to do it tastes yucky. The last time Gobie was dewormed Ben the Farrier did it.  He wanted to get away from the whole thing, but wasn't mean about it.

This time I started by taking his weight using a special measuring tape. The deworming medicine dosage is determined by the weight of your horse so I wanted to get an accurate reading. The measuring take goes around the horse's girth, or measuring around his body behind his front leg. When I first pulled the tape out Gobie was scared, so we did a little desensitization. I waved the white tape in the air and when he looked at me I stopped waving and let him sniff it. In no time he was cool with me wrapping it around his body. According to the tape he was about 800lbs so I set the dial on his dewormer syringe to that.

Gobie's no dummy so when he saw the syringe he threw his head up in the air. It took several minutes, but eventually I could put the syringe by his mouth without him trying to avoid it. Speedily I stuck that stuff in the corner of his mouth and squeezed the paste in and it was all over. Whew! He got plenty of treats afterward and (hopefully!) forgot all about it.

In the paddock we did a little more work walking around, backing up, and doing some general yielding exercises. We also tried a little lunging where we're both getting better. But Gobie's favorite part was working on taking treats politely throughout. Since he was being so amazing I was heartened and clipped the lead rope on the side of the halter and tied the rope end to the other side. With this makeshift bridle, I tested his "give" by standing at his shoulder and then pulling on the left rein to turn his nose in to touch his shoulder, and then on the other side the right rein to do the same. He offered no resistance at all! For a moment I thought: "I bet I could jump on his back right now and everything would be fine." But I resisted the urge :)

Ending on a great note, I turned him back out with his friends. Even though I'm pretty sure Gobie enjoys our interaction, he still runs to great his friends.

I went out to relax with the horses in the field. Since it was hot I went down to the tree line and sat under a pine tree. The other horses pretty much ignore me, but Gobie always comes over to say hi. It's pretty cute sitting on the ground and having Gobie curiously amble over and sniff my face and knees and feet. As if to say, "what are you doing out here with us, silly human?"

Under the pines.

Before I left I joined the horses in the sun out in the field and itched Gobie on the shoulder a little. He treated me to a little mutual grooming by using his upper lip to itch behind my ear. His muzzle was right in my face, so I breathed gently into his nostril. I had been drinking orange juice earlier, which must have smelled funny, because he flipped his upper link into the air making that silly face horses do when they smell something they have a strong opinion about. It must not have been too offensive, because he went right back to messing with my hair as I itched his shoulder.

Here he comes to say hi...

He looks like a giant from down here, right?

teehee! what a wrinkly muzzle.

I know not every day will be a productive and warm-n-fuzzy as today, but I'm happy to bask in what a great little pony he is.