Carrots

Gus will now approach me in the arena and let me catch and pet him, for a carrot.

Shadow, on the other hand, is still avoiding me and will run at the slightest movement. 

I've separated them today and tonight they will have separate stalls. This will continue until I can catch both of them in the arena without ANY problems. 

My Son, the Rockstar

 My son and his band, DRUG OF CHOICE, opened for a semi good big time band that was heading up in the 90's, PUDDLE OF MUDD.

The venue was Funhouse and El Corazon

Doors opened at 7pm

I think the guys were a bit nervous

Sound check

We were in line just behind them

R2 hasn't seen us yet

But he saw us right after this.

ISN'T HE HANDSOME??

His friends are flirts!

This is Brice, so nice and fun

Friends watching them play

Handsome

Gus is beginning to enjoy being groomed, today he stood patiently while I brushed his body and then the whole time I combed out his mane. Its super thick, on both sides of his neck but surprisingly there were no dreadlocks. There is still a lot of hay in it but for now we'll let that go.

I also cut a bridle path through all that hair to make his halter fit a bit better.

His hooves were trimmed by the vet in Canada before they came here and they look ready for another trim now so I'll need to work on lifting feet more.

And the excess hair was placed outside on the fence for the birds to use as nesting materials.

Shadow is going to need more help than I can provide, he is not accepting grooming very well nor me being on his off side. I'm not a horse trainer so I am searching for someone else to assist with this.

Hay, Up Here

Wifi, look up.

HI!

Hay, Mack, up here!!  Look up!

Shedding

People are posting photos of 'extra' ponies that have made from the hair that's shedding off their ponies and I could totally do that with Gus, he is a shedding fool. Today I didn't get as much but he is enjoying it and since he is food motivated he is behaving very well, till he starts nibbling at my hand.

Today I put a little Cowboy Magic into his mane and maybe tomorrow I'll try brushing it a bit.

Last night we took them for a walk, Gus was fine for Lan and walked calmly the entire time,

about 10 minutes.

Shadow, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult. He was pulling and running so I let him run and then made him run/work a bit. He finally settled down to graze and it was a bit better. Shadow needs a lot more work and time should do it.

This morning while I worked Gus he was excellent and I turned him loose in the arena so I could work Shadow. As I lead Shadow around, Gus came up behind us. I turned, walked over to him and he let me catch him, easy peasy. Very exciting.

Both mini's need to learn to stand tied so I can use both hands to groom and touch them.

This girl has my heart.

Tonight our first AirBnB guest arrives, I'm very excited. Better get off my butt and clean house.

Grooming Stall

Today I groomed all the big horses in the grooming stall for the first time. Wifi first and forgot to take her photo. Then Joey, my handsome boy. I had their halters on each other wrong so this one was snug on him. 

Wifi wasn't impressed with her grooming since I always comb her tail and mane and they were snarled. I can't wait till there is water so I can bathe her, get that beautiful tail all nice and clean again. 

I groomed Mack too because he needed it and he was a very good boy. I don't like to give treats by hand but he was so good that I did, then Wifi got one too. Joey was already heading out to roll when I got the treats out. Mack already looks SO MUCH better than he did when he first got here.

All 3 of these big horses didn't shed as much as one little mini did. Gus left another pony in the stall. 

Both the mini's took treats out of my hand today, stood there and ate them, then took another. They are coming around.

About 9 months ago I leased Sunshower to a gal, she wanted her for herself  and the kids to ride. I agreed because she had just bought her property next door to my friend who has TONS of horse experience and I knew Sunshower would be OK there. But after living there for only 10 months, the gal has bought horse property in Tacoma and wants to take Sunshower there. 

I told her I want to see the property before I agree to it and she DEFIANTELY has to sign a lease agreement, since she didn't do it already.

I do not want Sunshower to go.

I miss her and she's my good riding horse, I don't know what the fuck I was thinking when I agreed to lease her out. All last year I had no one to ride because Joey is retired and Wifi had that back injury. This year Wifi is better and she looks FANTASTIC now but she's never been on trails and she wont ride through mud so I'd be stuck if she had a fit out on trails.

So what to do?

Lan said he doesn't want her back because he didn't build this barn for me to fill it with our own horses. I could bring her home if I got rid of the mini's. I wouldn't need to keep a mini if she were back here because I could take one horse to ride somewhere and Joey would still have the other girl with him.

Mandoor, Barn Door, Aisleway

There is the big back barn door all the way shut

Here it is with the 4 foot wide man door open, barn door shut

And here it is with both open, 12 feet wide. The doors are 11 feet tall so a truck with hay can fit inside to unload into the loft.

We are beginning the planning stages for our summer trip to find a future home. We're definitely going to go back to Colorado and check out the house in Saguache again but other places we need to check out are in Idaho, Montana and Utah.