New Toys

The boys have some new toys. On our way back from the farm last night we swung by the ranch to visit the boys and drop off some tires. We got three race car tires for them to play with. They used to play with them all the time when they lived at the shop so we thought maybe this would help them stay out of trouble. ;)

It was dark when we got there and most of the horses were kind of afraid of me rolling the big tire at them. We just put one tire out for now, we'll see how that goes. I'd like to hang one in a tree this spring when they get out into the other pastures. Cody and Axel knew what the deal with the tires was right off the bat. I expected Axel to be a little more into it but he did chew on the tire a bit before walking away. Cody surprised me by taking command of the tire. He played with it a little before Corey, Kiko, and Kalani had their chance to see what the fuss was about.

On our way out I had Jeff turn the car so that the headlights were facing the pasture. We ended up sitting there watching Cody and Kalani play tug-o-war with that big tire for the longest time.

Time to buy a new Jollyball

Another calm day despite the wind. It seems like maybe Cody has put himself as #2 in the herd. And Axel didn't chase Beau around at all while I was there, so hopefully he's not really doing that much any more. Tom must really be working with Axel when he feeds because he was backing up a lot better today. He'd take a good 3 steps before stopping. I did get to see Cody and Kalani play a little bit, but they weren't rearing up at each other, I had hoped to catch that. I was only out for a little while, curried and brushed manes and tails. Maybe when it warms up a bit I'll go for another ride. They must be really enjoying the Jollball. Every time I go out there I have to retrieve the ball from the other side of the fence. The poor ball has seen better days. Axel likes to bite the the ball instead of using the handle. Maybe I'll have to get them a tire to play with as well.

Another Sunday Visit

Sunday I just went out for a quick visit since I was starting my new
job the following week and wouldn't get in as many visits as usual.
Did the usual cleaning under the overhang where I like to think the
horses stand when it's windy or rainy or something. Then I went out
and curried all the horses and brushed manes and tails. Even Kalani
was willing to stand there for it. It was still pretty mellow and the
sun was out so everyone was eating and soaking up the heat.

Axel isn't quite the most graceful of creatures so I decided it was
time to work on backing up. I got out the Parelli carrot stick and
string and put Axel's halter on him. First we played the friendly
game with the stick and string, he pretty much just wanted to eat the
stick. He didn't care if I swished the string around him or over his
back or neck, or smack it on the ground next to him. Then we played
porcupine game trying to get him to move his hind quarters. He seemd
to figure that out after a while on both sides. The backing up didn't
work out quite as well as the hind quarters did. Right now he'll just
take one step at a time back. But we'll keep working on it.

I ran into Tom on Monday and he mentioned that when he had been
outside on Sunday he saw Cody and Kalani playing a couple games
together. One game that Kalani and Rusty used to always play is when
the two horses rear up on their hind legs at each other. That game
was dubbed "Stalliono," and now Cody is playing it with Kalani. The
other game they were playing was pass the Jollyball. Just like they
had been passing the stick a while ago, now they were passing their
Jollyball back and forth (a Jollybally is like a plastic ball with a
handle on it they make for horses so they can carry it around). I
knew it was just a matter of time before Cody made some new best
friends. You could tell he really wanted to play with the other
horses but was biding his time until they invited him.

Sunny Saturday

I didn't have a lot of time today so it was just a quick visit. I had Tricia come out with me and we went for a ride around the pasture bareback. When we got there we found most of the horses napping in the sun.

Axel did not want to get up. Tricia even sat on him for a while and he just wanted to nap.


We decided to use Axel's laziness for a photo op.


We finally got him up to go for a ride. I rode Cody and Tricia worked with Axel. He's starting to catch on pretty well.

Goodbye Rusty!

Rusty's owner came out today to take him to another barn. His arthritis is getting pretty bad and she wants to keep him indoors more and also closer to where she lives. So out in the cold we went to load him in the trailer. Cody was eating with Rusty when I got there. They've been hanging out together a lot, so I think that Cody will be a little sad to have Rusty gone. Rusty's owner put some polo wraps on his legs to provide some protection while in the trailer. Poor Rusty hasn't worn wraps in a while so he was high steppin' it for a while, it was pretty cute. And good ole Rusty loaded into the trailer like an expert. He was sad to go and kept calling to the herd, and the herd all lined up at the fence and called back. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the herd dynamics now. Rusty was kind of a protector of Beau. Hopefully someone will step up and take over that job. I think maybe Cody would be the next best canidate. Someone needs to keep Axel from chasing Beau around all the time.



And just for fun, I'm going to start calling Axel, "Sugar Lips" from now on.

Farrier Visit

Yesterday was the 2 month mark. Tom and I were out grooming when a big bald eagle flew over.

We had the farrier out yesterday to trim. Axel really needed it. And now he looks fabulous. It was super sunny and warm. I almost had to take my jacket off when I was grooming it was so warm, but I didn't want to get my shirt dirty.