Friday and Saturday, September 19th and 20th, 2008

Friday

When I feed alone, I try to close the gates to the "feeding corral" before I feed, because it makes it so much easier for me.  So, the other day, I closed the gates.  Even though JD is the lead horse, he isn't always first at the gate when it comes time to open it, because he's often chasing Chaco or someone else away from the gate.  When I went to open it, JD and Cisco were off chasing someone else or JD was chasing Cisco, or something, and low and behold, who was first at the gate?  The donkeys!  They usually get to the feeding corral last.  I opened the gate, and they took off running into the feeding corral!  It was so funny.  It was like they never get to be first and here was their chance and they weren't going to blow it.  What a hoot!

I love the snow . . . the way it falls soft and silent to the earth.  It always gives me a contented feeling.  You know what else makes me feel like that?  Donkeys braying.  It is the sweetest sound . . . kind of makes me feel like I'm in Old MacDonalds Farm or something!  I love that sound.  (By the way, I'm talking about " . . . a heehaw here and a heehaw there . . . " kind of MacDonalds, not the Big Mac kind of McDonalds!)   

When I open the gates as the equines go to eat, no one stops to say hello.  They are all intent on eating.  Even Chaco only sometimes will acknowledge my presence.  He is a fat boy and his main concern is eating.  The other day he passed me in a hurry and then actually came back to say hello!  Wow!  Anyway, everyone just passes me by without a hello . . . except the donkeys.  They stop and say hello every single time.  The three of them all stop and wait for me to pet them before they go on.  They are the sweetest animals.  I never appreciated donkeys before I got here and got to know them.

Saturday

Pat worked with Skeeter today trying to get him to lift his feet for cleaning and trimming hooves . . . not that she would do that yet, but the first step is getting them to lift their feet.  He didn't always get what she was asking and would try pawing the ground.  Sometimes he'd get frustrated and try to kick her with his hind feet.  Later, she took him into a smaller stall and put a rope on him.  He didn't like that.  When I came to give her horse cookies for him, he was rearing up because he didn't like the rope on him.  After a few cookies and a few minutes, he was letting her lead him around the stall!

We practiced "fluidity" today.  That's when you are riding a horse, you are moving with the horse instead of against the horse.  Your legs are supposed to move the way the horse's hind legs move.  So when the left horse leg moves forward, you move your left leg up.  When the right horse leg moves forward, you move your right leg forward.  It's harder than it sounds.  We've taken videos and everything trying to get it right.  So today, Pat and I both practiced it on JD.  I'm not sure if either of us really got it, but I know when I sat the trot, it felt pretty smooth and I wasn't bouncing around.  That is the idea of the whole thing.

Then I lunged Chaco for awhile.  He and I both did better!  He's staying farther away from me, and he even trotted on command.  He stops on command really well . . . which will be really good if I ever start riding him.  Stopping is important!

Later, I saw Pat out in the main yard with Cisco.  She had turned a feed bucket upside down so she could boost herself up on Cisco . . . but not all the way.  Just leaning over him with her weight on him.  After she got up there, she would hand him a cookie and then get back on the bucket.  I decided to try it with Chaco.  He stood right up to the feed bucket and let me get on him (like Pat did with Cisco, not sitting on him) with no problem.  As long as I give him a cookie, he'll let me do most anything.  I did it several times and he got several cookies and then we stopped.  He wanted more.  He knows a good thing when he feels it!