Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Tale of Two Horses

We harnessed Lil Fred up, no cart, and gave him a spin around the barn, several spins. He really is good and this is the first time we had him in harness since the cart mishap. He doesn't like even looking at the cart.
After that we tried to harness Sprite. No. Can. Do. She was rearing, plunging, kicking out, side-stepping. Making it impossible to put the bit in her mouth. She was good the first and only time she was harnessed. Sometimes that is the defining moment. You think they've got it, when in fact they got your number. And it's never going to happen again. I hate to admit a 300-pound pony got the best of us, so I put her halter on and lunged her, a lot. She was breathing heavily when I said enough. We'll try again soon, and if it doesn't work out she'll get lunged, a lot. There were weather alerts into the evening: Heavy downpours, thunder and lightning, until 10:45. While putting hay in the keeper, I moved the cart and Lil Fred had a 'freak out' and took off. I got the big boys in, fed them a flake of hay, and watched the clock. At 11:00 I put them back out, the worst of it had passed by then. Overnight we got a smattering of rain, not enough to put the dust down.

5 comments:

  1. The thing about them having your number is so true. Somehow they find my toll-free number way too often.

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  2. Oh these guys are precious, 300#'s of precious, lol. OK so I'm a uneducated, what does it mean when you say you 'lunged' her? What kind of horses are these? Are they a Shetland and considered a pony. So pretty, I bet they know they are pretty as well lol! Patti

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  3. I should do a post on this! All things horsey!! step 1. put a long rope on their halter. step 2. twill the end of the long rope or a buggy whip or like that and get them to move around you like a merry-go-round, at a trot or canter. Step 3. try not to get run over. Step 4. get them to go the other way. Step 5. Try not to get run over in this new direction. Step 6. Do this until you are dizzy and they are breathing heavily. Step 7. Let them rest and pet them. Easy, right?

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  4. Answer 2: they are officially miniature horses, not ponies. Smaller than a Shetland and horse-like, easier to manage, not pony-like.

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