Giggle & Neigh

When I went out to check on the baby horse this morning, her tail seemed really tangled, so I figured it was a really good day to try brushing her tail out. It turns out, the tangle was the result of a huge piece of wire twisted up in her hair. I got the wire out and ran the brush through her tail a little bit. She was not crazy about the tail brushing and moved her rear end away from me just enough to get it out of brush reach. I worked on it a bit from each side and got half the tangles out. She sniffed the brush and booped me with her nose the whole time – she’s just super curious and very engaged.

Today, we put the halter on and walked around the arena several times practicing walk on, and whoa. We stopped and worked on yielding the nose to the girth for a bit, and then tied up to have the tangles out of her mane. She let me brush and comb it out completely and brush in some conditioner. I also brushed her whole body. Tomorrow, I’m going to try brushing her tail and picking out her feet.

It’s hot out, and irrigation came, so horses are pretty bored in their stalls. I made up one of those horse popsicles going around Facebook with the electrolyte water, apples, and carrots.

Next time, I’ll hang it over a feed bucket. Most of the electrolyte liquid was wasted, and a few of the carrots and apples hit the ground, too. I think they’d be just as amused with just frozen electrolyte water, honestly.

Today we put on a halter and a lead rope!

We walked around the arena and practiced whoa, walk on, and trot.  She whoa’s fine, but I lose her attention – it’s a grass arena. Not bad for a first attempt, though.

I’m just hanging out in baby horse’s stall, sitting on a bucket, watching her eat and drink. She turns to me for scratches and pats and attention constantly. She’s very friendly and curious. I got super lucky with this one!

Today I brought a mallet out to show the baby horse. She was totally unfazed by it.