Do the weather folks ever tell the truth?
Today was the worst rain we've had yet, and I'm telling you, it's been mighty soggy here since October. But today...today I had water running over my driveway and through the backyard, where blades of grass stuck up out of puddles gasping for air.
Surprisingly, the runs looked no worse than they have all winter. Yes, some water and certainly not as high and dry as I'd like, but not bad, all things considered. No one was going to drown out there.
Yesterday I'd hoped to spend the day with Firecracker. From having her eat her breakfast from my arms, to tolerating me moving around while cleaning, pushing her around with a pole and a rope...eating a bit more later in the day; it was all going to be about her and me. But then City Boy called me on his way home from the dump, saying that Darling would like to see a movie with me. So the day didn't quite go as planned.
Firecracker had been doing so well with the long branch, but I've not had it out for several weeks. Before having to pack myself into the house and cleaning up, I decided to work her with it a bit. She panicked. Flew around the corral as fast as she could to escape before realizing after the third lap that she wasn't really going anywhere, nor was the stick. So she stopped, a bit wide eyed, and I was back to rubbing it up and down her body and legs...everywhere but her poll. That wasn't going to happen.
She's been pushing her right side up against the panels, not letting me cross over to that side of her body, but with the long stick I was able to reach in between her shoulder and the rails and rub it up and down. At first she wasn't sure how to handle it, and again tried to run. This time, though, her right side was facing me. This, of course, is the wounded side and what she's been trying to protect from me. But the stick was just what I needed to get back into that space.
I moved on to the lariat after that, hoping she'd let me just place it over her head. Wishful thinking. She was a lot more tolerant of it than she's been the past few days, though, and I did get it closer to her face before she backed away. Since I didn't have a whole lot of time left, I opted not to toss it over (because that would mean I'd have to take the time to get it off again!)
Before calling it quits, I pulled out the rubber curry and she promptly turned her butt for brushing. This has got to stop...but it's nice to have at least one activity she enjoys!
Later in the day, when I went out to feed dinner, I saw her standing in the middle of the paddock, not in any real hurry to turn away from me. I walked up to her left side and rubbed, even partway up her neck, before stepping away. She took a step towards me, but nothing more. I walked around, from a distance, to the right side. She stood still, so I walked softly up and for the first time in weeks, she stood still for me to rub on her right shoulder and barrel. Not a long time, just a couple seconds, but that was enough for me and I stepped away before she could.
Yesterday was good....
Today was the worst rain we've had yet, and I'm telling you, it's been mighty soggy here since October. But today...today I had water running over my driveway and through the backyard, where blades of grass stuck up out of puddles gasping for air.
Surprisingly, the runs looked no worse than they have all winter. Yes, some water and certainly not as high and dry as I'd like, but not bad, all things considered. No one was going to drown out there.
Yesterday I'd hoped to spend the day with Firecracker. From having her eat her breakfast from my arms, to tolerating me moving around while cleaning, pushing her around with a pole and a rope...eating a bit more later in the day; it was all going to be about her and me. But then City Boy called me on his way home from the dump, saying that Darling would like to see a movie with me. So the day didn't quite go as planned.
Firecracker had been doing so well with the long branch, but I've not had it out for several weeks. Before having to pack myself into the house and cleaning up, I decided to work her with it a bit. She panicked. Flew around the corral as fast as she could to escape before realizing after the third lap that she wasn't really going anywhere, nor was the stick. So she stopped, a bit wide eyed, and I was back to rubbing it up and down her body and legs...everywhere but her poll. That wasn't going to happen.
She's been pushing her right side up against the panels, not letting me cross over to that side of her body, but with the long stick I was able to reach in between her shoulder and the rails and rub it up and down. At first she wasn't sure how to handle it, and again tried to run. This time, though, her right side was facing me. This, of course, is the wounded side and what she's been trying to protect from me. But the stick was just what I needed to get back into that space.
I moved on to the lariat after that, hoping she'd let me just place it over her head. Wishful thinking. She was a lot more tolerant of it than she's been the past few days, though, and I did get it closer to her face before she backed away. Since I didn't have a whole lot of time left, I opted not to toss it over (because that would mean I'd have to take the time to get it off again!)
Before calling it quits, I pulled out the rubber curry and she promptly turned her butt for brushing. This has got to stop...but it's nice to have at least one activity she enjoys!
Later in the day, when I went out to feed dinner, I saw her standing in the middle of the paddock, not in any real hurry to turn away from me. I walked up to her left side and rubbed, even partway up her neck, before stepping away. She took a step towards me, but nothing more. I walked around, from a distance, to the right side. She stood still, so I walked softly up and for the first time in weeks, she stood still for me to rub on her right shoulder and barrel. Not a long time, just a couple seconds, but that was enough for me and I stepped away before she could.
Yesterday was good....
2 comments:
Don't you just hate when they do things like that. You think they have something learned and then all of a sudden it grows troll parts and they're snorting and running like they've never seen it before. Horses!! lol
Troll parts, lol! Yes, it sure seems like that. And yet...we're back to being sensible today. Thankfully, because it's too cold for me to want to stand out there and wait it out :)
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