Thursday, September 18, 2008

This morning, Pat took everyone but Chaco and Sparky out of the big corral.  Then she let Skeeter out with Chaco and Sparky.  Chaco did some dominant horse stuff, but for the most part he was nice to the little guy.  They were all getting along splendidly.  I was going to get my camera to take a picture of the three of them, and then something else came up and I forgot.  Next thing I know, I was outside walking to the other building and I heard a lot of ruckus that sounded like horses running.  I thought maybe Pat had let everyone out into the yard.  But, there was dust in the corral with Sparky, Skeeter, and Chaco.  I looked over there, and Sparky, with his ears flat back, is running at Skeeter and chasing him all over.  Skeeter is kicking up with his back feet to keep Sparky away.  Sparky chased him from one end of the corral to the other.  I went in to get Pat, and at that moment Sparky chased Skeeter into the Ox Pen, which is where she wanted him.  She ran over to lock the gate so Sparky and Chaco couldn't get in, and Skeeter was safe again.

I looked at him, and it looked like he had blood all over his butt.  Pat was in the corral with him and checked it out.  She said that she couldn't find any cuts, that it just looked like blood.  She thought maybe Skeeter kicked someone, and then got the blood from their mouth on him.  Sparky was right at the fence, and I looked in his mouth.  Sure enough, he had a bloody tooth.  He had tried to bite the little guy, but got kicked in the mouth in the process!

Later on, Pat wanted to try to get him to give her his foot.  It went slow, but he finally lifted each foot for her.  It took him awhile and he didn't get it at first.  He'd lift his foot, but immediately paw at the ground.  He did really good, though.

Later on, I went over and petted him on his neck.  I scratched him on both sides of his neck and he really liked it.  But, after awhile, he started pawing the ground and lifting his feet!  He thought that he could get some horse cookies that way!

This evening, the wind was blowing, so the mosquitoes weren't around.  I took Chaco out, brushed him, played with him, and then we went into the round pen to lunge.  He did pretty good.  He's pretty much stopping on a dime when I say, "Whoa," which is what we want.

Then, I put a hackamore on Toby and rode him around the maze for awhile.  He's doing a little better on turning right and left, but he still has his moments when he wants to go the opposite way.