Thanksgiving Ponies

I don’t know why but I always feel compelled to see my horses on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. I think it is maybe because I started riding late in life. I had always wanted to have horses more than everything. I wished for a pony every Christmas even though I knew it was totally unreasonable. So when the holidays come I feel like I need to seem them to make sure they are real.

This Thanksgiving was perfect. The last few years it has been hard to squeeze in seeing my horse but I am housesitting at Bre’s barn for a few days. Dickie and Bre are less than five mins apart so I have easy access to both of my ponies. On Weds Romeo’s girl came out to ride Josey. Romeo’s arena is outdoor and turned to mush five months early. She is doing high school eq team so we need to get riding time in any way possible even if it’s not on Romeo. It was really fun to be able to visualize what Josey was doing. She is pretty talented, so with direction she rode Josey as well as I would have. We even worked on Josey’s understanding of the canter command because I was on the ground giving the voice command and using the lunge whip. They bombed around like they were off ot the races but she picked it up better than I have seen!!

Dickie was quite impressed with this teenage. He was sure that she didn’t know the rules and started nuzzling her. I could see him sizing up whether or not he could get a little taste of her. Luckily she is quiet and not much gets past her and she let him know that wasn’t acceptable. He was disappointed but still thought she was pretty awesome. Good teens are priceless. They are happy, have boundless energy, pick up heavy things, and think nothing of spending an afternoon riding in the rain.

It was wonderful to be so close to Dickie because I ran over there for a quick cuddle session late Thanksgiving night. I am so happy we have reached the point where I feel comfortable working with him loose in the stall. He is aware of where I am and makes an effort to respect my space. His tantrums are pretty rare at this point. He used to get his mind set on something and if you asked him to move over, not bite you, or pick up his feet up he might throw a fit and strike out. He also seems to be getting the concept that you can’t nip people. I can let him nuzzle me a little without immediately getting nipped. He has never been a mean biter. He doesn’t come at you teeth bared or anything but a friendly nip can still take a chunk out so I am working hard on this naughty little problem. 

It was nice to wake up to Bre and Romeo. I hate getting up early, even more so now that I am on a grave schedule, but being greeted by Bre’s loud rumbly nicker made it worthwhile. When I arrived home Thanksgiving night I was once again reminded of how loving my mare is. I trimmed her tail and mane. Now she actually looks like someone loves her. The neighbor gave us some blankets because he is getting out of horses and Romeo got to play pony model. I discovered that the reason he always seems to “grow” out of his blankets too fast is because he is wearing blankets two sizes too small. Oooops. Now he is wearing a grown up outfit. They seemed to enjoy beauty parlor time. 

Romeo says "Hi, kiss my nose please"

Romeo wants to visit but Bre would rather eat every little piece of hay. 

"Treats, puhhhleeeeeze?!?!?!?!"