Missing me?!

Not a lot happened to me after my inspection, which is why I haven't write anything for a while - just in case you were wondering!

The weather started to get cold and everyone started to get blankets put on at night.  I was told this was to help slow our winter hair growing.  Now, I think there is a reason we need thicker hair in the winter, dont you?  Why would mom want our coats to slow down growing?  One of the other horses told me that they get hot when they are ridden in the winter and it is difficult for them to cool down.  If they have long hair then mom uses a noisy machine to clip their hair off.  Not something I want to be done to me!  I think I will let mom put my blanket on without walking away.

Here is a photo of us wearing our blankets in the snow.  They do help to keep us warm and dry which I like.

This winter wasnt too bad, which is lucky for the other horses, because when it is really cold mom puts a neck cover on the horses too.  Now those would have been great fun to play with.  I would have tried to pull them off and throw them around the field.  I like to whirl things around with my mouth and a neck cover is big and would have been a marvelous whirling toy.  Oh well, maybe next winter.

Showing Off

I was woken up early the next day.  There was so much going on around me at this farm, horses were being fed, (a stranger fed me), horses were being washed and their manes and tails worked on.  Some other horses had arrived during the late evening while I was snoozing.  It was such a busy place.

My mum arrived and started brushing me and took me for a walk.  I looked around and ate some grass.  I discovered what was going on.  This visit to another farm was for me to be 'inspected'!  I was to be looked all over by experts and then asked to walk, trot and canter around so they can see how I move.  Not sure why.  I went back to my stall and ate some hay.

A little later in the morning my mom put my bridle on me and took me out again.  This time I wasnt allowed to eat.  It was inspection time.  We had to wait for some other young horses to be inspected, I watched what they did so I would be prepared and then it was our turn.

I had to stand quietly while a judge walked around me and made notes.  Then I had to walk up and down a roadway and then trot up and down it.  (That was difficult for my mom because she had hurt her back just before we left on our journey!)

That was easy I thought, now I can go back to my stall and eat some more hay.  It seemed a long way to go just to walk and trot up and down a road.  I was wrong after lunch my mom took me out again.

This is one of my moms favourite photos of me.

This time we went into a big indoor arena.  All the young horses that I watched walk and trot in the morning were in there too.  We all walked around, in both directions and then had to leave.  One at a time we went back into the arena and had to be looked over again by the judges.  Then we walked, trotted and even cantered.  I did my best trot, but didnt do a very good canter.

I think I look magnificent, dont you?  Finally everyone paraded around in the arena together and we all got ribbons.  I got a blue one to take home.  After that I went back to my stall and my mom helped a lady with her horse and foal for their inspection.

Later in the day something happened that I am not sure about.  A man with a stick, which was very hot, pushed something onto my back leg and made a mark.  It didnt really hurt, but did smell bad. It happened to all the horses that were there, so it must have been ok to do.  My mom called it a brand and was done so everyone would know I am a Knabstrupper.  It even has my number on it - 961.

After all that excitement it was truly my dinner and bed time.  This was very exciting for an almost two year old.  I was glad to lie down and fall asleep.

The next morning most of the other horses had already left.  It was time for us to go too.  I decided though, that I didnt want to go and wouldnt go into the trailer!  After 45 minutes I gave in and walked in to the trailer.  Mom wasnt too happy with me. :(

On the journey home there was a loud bang right under my feet and my mom had to park at the side of the road for a while.  Then a man with a very noisy machine came, fixed something and left.  After that we left and finally got home.  The bang was a tyre on the trailer blowing out.

I was very glad to be home and ran out into the field to say hello to everyone.  Then I fell asleep for a long time. 

Changes again!

Things change all the time here.

My mom teaches people to ride and needed another horse for better riders to ride on, so a new horse came to the barn.  His name is Babble and is a Thoroughbred like Handsome, but not as big.  He is older too.  As I said before, new horses dont go out in the field with us straight away because of You Know Who having a problem!!  So Babble went out into the other field.  Luckily my brother Aviator was here at the same time, so they went out together and they get on ok.  Every one is happy.

A few months later I went on an adventure.  It seems people think I am special - not surprising to me of course!!  I was to be 'inspected' what ever that means.  I got a bath, (not keen on those at all), and had my mane plaited into little balls on my neck. Then I was asked to go in the trailer.  I eventually did as I was told, but discovered I was all on my own in there when the doors closed.  I was a little worried about this, but then the trailer started moving and I had to concentrate on standing still as it moved.

Me and my Mom ready to go 

It was a long time until the trailer stopped and my mom came to look in on me, and then off we went again.  I have no idea about time, but 6 hours was mentioned.  When we finally stopped I could smell horses and bedding and food.  I looked out of the door, when my mom opened it, to see a very big barn and lots of horses walking around.  I was both excited and scared at the same time.  Where was I?  Was this my new home?  Why was I here?  Eventually the trailer ramp was taken down and I got to get out.  I was on my tippy toes looking at everything.  I called out to see if anyone I knew happened to be there.  All I heard was strangers.  I was a little worried about that.

My mom led me into a stall, gave me hay and water and then went away for a little while.  My stall was near the door so I was able to watch as lots of other horses arrived in trailers and were put in stalls around me.  It was a busy place.  There were lots of horses which were covered in black or brown spots and ones with spots only on their bottoms and a few coloured like me.  I was all very interesting.

Dont I look grown up? 

My mom came back and took me to a big field, so I could run around and eat some grass.  It was great to breathe fresh air and be able to move freely.  Although I wasnt out there too long, it was great to get to stretch my legs.  Being in a trailer for 6 hours and then straight into a stall is not what I am used to.

My mom led me around the farm and into this big open barn with nothing inside it.  This is called an indoor arena.  It means you can ride what ever the weather.  Mmmm, I think my mom might like one of those! By this time I was getting very tired and things were quiet around the barn.  After I had my dinner I decided it was time to go to sleep for the night. 

I wonder if I will find out tomorrow why I am here?

New Field

My friend Lucas decided he wanted to go to another farm and meet new horses, so I had no one to go out in my field and play with me.  So my mom decided it was time for me to go in the big field with all the other horses at the farm.

This would be ok, but Handsome doesnt like new horses in his field.  He is fine with me being in the next stall to him in the barn, but being in the same field is another matter.  I have been told that he has chased at least three horses out of the field so far and knocked a hole in the barn wall when he tried to chase another one! If you dont believe me here is photographic evidence!

Mom had to have the barn rebuilt after this. He made a real mess of the wall and his leg, 30 stitches!!  His leg is ok now.

I was a little worried about going out in the field, but mom put me out with one horse at a time so we could meet.  First it was Blackie.  He is a Shetland pony and very small.  He just likes to be left alone and after sniffing me walked off to eat grass.

Then mom let Wally out with me.  He is a very clever old horse and I think I can learn a lot from him.  He is a Quarter Horse.  (He was the one Handsome was trying to chase when he fell through the barn wall!) Wally was ok with me.  He made faces at me, but didnt do anything else.  I think I will do as he tells me.

The next horse to be let out into the big field with me was Prissy, she is a Mustang.  She is the only girl at the farm and can be very bossy.  The other boys are scared of her, but I am not!!  She tried to boss me, but I didnt let her.  I think I am the only one she is scared of.

The last one out with me was Handsome, a Thoroughbred.  I wasnt looking forward to this at all, but mom had given him some sort of medicine to help calm him down and this seemed to work.  He did try to chase me, but his head was a bit cloudy and he found it easier to eat grass and make ugly faces at me instead.  After a few days like this he decided it was easier to accept me into the field.  I was glad of this because he is bigger than me.

So, after a week or so everything was quiet in the field.  Handsome has to be first into the barn followed by Wally, Prissy, Blackie and then me.  We settled down into a routine and that made mom happy. :)

She is at it again!!

My mom is at it again.  She keeps putting things on me!!

I told you about the pad and bridle she put on me last time.  Well, this time she put things on my legs!!  I am telling you this was way beyond what I could deal with.  Things on my legs.  I tried to shake them off, but I have to use at least three legs on the ground to be able to stand, so that was difficult.  I tried all sorts of contortions to shake all four legs at one time, which proved to be impossible, I can tell you.  (I wonder why my mom was laughing at me?)  I tried brushing them off against the wall of my stall, but the bits of my legs not covered by these things hurt, so I gave up on that idea.  I then tried my teeth.  Unfortunately my teeth are tiny as they are baby teeth, so they didnt prove helpful at all.  I even tried walking them off, but I failed there too.  Eventually I gave up and went back to eating my hay.  Then, of all things, my mom came into my stall and took those blasted things off.  I discovered they were called boots with sticky bits that hold them on. Well, we will see if I allow her to put them on again!

I thought I was free and clear after the trouble with the boots, but it wasnt to be.  On another day she came at me again with something that looked like a saddle pad, but was bigger. This was called a saddle.  It was heavier and harder on my back and had dangly things on each side.  If I moved they hit my sides - so I didnt move!! The belly strap wasnt as soft either and was done up tighter than the saddle pad.  Just standing still made things easier, so thats what I did.  But eventually I got bored and moved over to my hay and started eating.  When I am eating things dont seem so bad.  I got used to the saddle and the stirrups hanging down by my sides.  Of course getting treats from my mom helped too!

My mom forgot to take a photo of me wearing the saddle or the boots, so here is just one of me being handsome.

More things on me!

I said before that my mom likes to 'do things' to me.  I put up with it just to make her feel good.  She thinks I am amazing, so gives me lots of attention and treats.

After getting used to the blanket, my mom started putting more 'things' on me.  I am used to a head collar (halter) being on my head, but then she put on something called a bridle.  This is more complicated and has a metal bar thingy that goes in my mouth - now that is weird!  I couldnt stop chewing on it, it tasted funny and was cold to start with.  After a while I got used to it in my mouth, but then I tried to eat my hay and it was impossible.  The thing in my mouth is called a 'bit' and sits on top of my tongue, so I wasnt able to move the hay to my back teeth so I could chew on it.  Not sure I am going to like this bridle thingy.

Dont I look good ?

Once I was used to the bridle my mom introduced me to something else.  This time it was on my back and under my belly.  She called it a bareback pad.  It didnt feel much different to my blanket, only shorter and softer, so I wasnt too bothered by it.  The strap around my belly was a little concerning though.

My friendly chicken was paying a visit!

During the summer my mom kept practising putting these things on me and I let her.  We also did lots of leading 'exercises' around the fields and I got to see the 'big' arena.  She made me step over things and walk around odd shaped things.  I just did as I was told.

Doing as I am told!

Shortly after my trip out with my brother, he went home to his mom's farm so she could ride him every day. That meant I could stay out in the field with Lucas all the time.  That was fun.  We got to play in the woods and the stream, and we could chill out in the run-in shed.  We would get fed out in the field too.  My mom walks round from the barn in the morning and the evening with our feed buckets.  We know she is coming because we hear her calling the other horses in to eat, that live at the barn.

One evening she was calling and calling and calling.  I thought she was calling me, so I thought I would help her out and meet her on her way round to our field.  I jumped over the field fence and trotted down the lane to meet her, but she wasnt there!  So I walked onto our neighbours lovely green lawn and ate some grass until I saw my mom.  I trotted over to her.  She didnt seem very happy with me at all!!  I got dragged back to the field and given my dinner.

At least once a week Lucas and I would be brought round to the barn and things done to us.  Lucas would be ridden and my mom would do 'things' to me.  I would get a good brushing and my feet picked out.  I am still unsure about this standing on three feet thing!  She would stand me in the barn aisle and try to tie me to the walls!  Again, something I am not so sure about.  It means I cant move my head to bite anyone.  The other horses just look at me and sigh.

I like to play with anything I can find.  My lips are always doing something!!  And this can get me into trouble.  My halter and lead rope hang on my door, so they are just asking to be played with.  I like to suck on my lead rope, which makes my mom worry, as so much of it seems to be in my mouth!!  I flip my halter up and down and around, hitting it off things - so much fun.  I know my mom wants to film me doing it, but as soon as she gets her camera out, I stop.  He he he.

My mom seems to like doing things to me, I dont know why.  I am quite happy just playing and eating.  One day she produced this huge piece of material that she said she was going to put on me.  She walked around me with it in her arms and brushed it against me.  I tried to move away, but we ended up going round and round in circles.  So my mom tied me up to the wall.  I could only go so far.  Eventually my mom managed to get this thing on me.  She called it a blanket.  She had to do up lots of straps to keep it on me.  After a while I realised that this blanket was actually good, I was warm underneath it, which was great on some of the cold and rainy nights.  

Maybe some of the things she does to me are good!