Sunny's Dilema

Sunny allows me to stand on her right side...wow!

The sun has been shining for a week now. It's been glorious! It's taken that long for the paddock to completely dry out, but Sunny and I were back at it a couple days ago. She's not to thrilled with the whole program and often stands looking longingly over the gate, no doubt wondering when she'll be turned loose again.

A couple days ago I couldn't get close to her. The sunshine has my girls feeling good. Sunny was in no mood to let me get close, trotting in wide circles around me. Okay, I can play this game, too! No food until you come take it from my hand. Hmmm....well, it appears Sunny wants food, so she came and snatched the hay from my hand, but with a bit of attitude!

Yesterday she again protested my wanting to get up close and personal. So while Quiet Storm was out in the pasture, I had Sunny trotting circles in the paddock. She wasn't enjoying our game too terribly much, and it wasn't long before she stopped and turned to face me. I had her go a few more circles each direction, always stopping when she turned to me. I didn't approach her, but walked away and left her after about 20 minutes. She sighed a relief behind me.

This afternoon I went outside to find her with the lead rope over her neck and the halter pushed ahead of one of her ears. She's been terribly itchy, trying to rub off her winter coat on any solid surface she can find. Seems her head was itchy, too! The halter must also have been uncomfortable, because she didn't give me much trouble catching her. This is quite the dilemma for Sunny; she loves being scratched but hates being touched. She turned away a couple of times, then stood as I reached down for the lead rope. I managed to get it over her neck, then talked to her and worked my way alongside of her neck, scratching down to her withers, then working my way up to her poll. She didn't even flinch when I pulled the top of the halter back into place over her ears.

After that, we worked a bit on leading, then I grabbed her rubber curry and began brushing that long, winter coat from her neck and shoulder. She really was enjoying my working along her spine, so I didn't stop; just kept moving back until I was behind her hip. That's when she suddenly realized just where my hand was and shot forward with a snort!

I went back to her 'sweet spot' again, getting her to relax. Then I worked a bit on her face. She really doesn't like having it touched, but tolerates it above her eyes. It took a while, but I managed to work my body over to where she could see it with her right eye. That's the side of her body she doesn't want me to stand on, so any time I can get her to look at me it's good. Today was very good, and I was able to brush her face from standing just a little off center!

Rain, rain, go away...

We're having buckets upon buckets dumped on us here. Located just below the Canadian border, I find their weather reports to be more accurate than those on the Seattle stations. Yesterday they were saying something like "High rain warning"...and it certainly is raining!

I was glad I had the opportunity to let the girls out to play on Tuesday, as on Wednesday afternoon Taffy lambed. Which meant she needed the top pasture to herself. Eventually I'll get that field divided (and the bottom one as well), but for now it's all Taffy's. Not that she's using it. Far too wet to bring babies out into!

Wild...again!

Sun Storm...aka Sunny

First, let me just tell you how despite not being 'worked', as in my grabbing the end of that lead rope and dragging her about the paddock, Sunny has made great strides. I stood in the opening of her stall, talking over the wall to Quiet Storm. There was hay in Sunny's manger, and she rather wanted to eat it. The problem, of course, being me standing there in the opening.

Her eyes went back and forth between me and the hay. After a minute or two, she gave up a sigh and walked quietly past me into the barn. A momentous occasion! She'd put herself in a corner, basically, with me now between her and the way out. I gave Quiet Storm a pat and walked away with a smile.

Yesterday the sun came out (but only after the snow flurry) and since Quiet Storm hadn't been out of her paddock in over a week, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. I moved Taffy and the other ewes into the bottom field with the rams, grabbed the lead rope and led Quiet Storm through out of the paddock and towards the pasture gate. Good golly, was she feeling good! She did these little 'airs above the ground' moves when she should have been walking placidly at my side, or at the very least trying to grab at blades of grass.

The mud monster proving she's still got it!

Turned her out in the pasture and...zoom! Off she went. Typically very laid back, generally not exerting more energy than necessary, today she was bound and determined to show her wild side! Instead of her usual two laps, she spend five minutes out there playing.

I left Quiet Storm out for an hour or so. She had spent her energy and was digging through old sheep hay, so I put her back into her paddock. Sunny watched. I looked out at the pasture, wondering if I'd be able to catch her? She's so food oriented, and City Boy had just finished the gate linking her paddock to the field only moments ago...surely I'd be able to get her back in, right? Well, only one way to find out. It's not like she's the easiest horse to catch up in the paddock, but it can be done. And the day was so beautiful...

You know, it's always frightening turning a horse out for the first time in spring; you never know just how stupid they're going to be, or if they'll stumble, twist something, or break a leg in their haste to bolt out into open. Add to that the fear of turning your still semi-wild horse loose, and you ought to be a nervous wreck. I'm not smart enough to be that nervous. Oh, sure, I was a bit nervous. But not nervous enough to have checked to see that the battery for the electric fence was dead before moving forward with my plan to set Sunny free.

Sunny walked along obediently. She tried to pull away just after moving through the gate, but I had firm grip on a short lead, so she went back to leading...and she did it well enough so as to convince strangers that she actually knew how! I was amazed, quite frankly, at how easily she followed me towards the fencing. I wanted her to acknowledge the boundaries before I turned her loose. She looked at the fence, gazed at the sheep, and pulled her head down where the nubbins of grass were.

Green grass? This tastes good!

That's when the neighbor let her horses out. They've got a gelding that screams like a stallion. Sunny bolted immediately towards them. Too much for me to hang onto that time, so I just watched her go. Thankfully, there's a small stand of trees between the fences, so she was forced to slow down and see the fence line down there. But boy, did it feel good to run! And so she did it some more...

Free at last!

Look at her get down close to the ground!
I think she needs to work cows...

That doesn't feel good...

I let her play for about 20 minutes. The actual playing time was more like five; once she settled down and had spent some time grazing, I decided it was time to go in. Sunny didn't agree. It took me another 40 minutes to catch her up; she didn't run or get stupid, just made sure my hand couldn't quite reach her lead rope. And I didn't spend the entire time following her around, I did a few other chores between attempts. She wanted her grain, but not badly enough to go back into the paddock. Eventually she gave in and allowed me to lead her back to the barn.

I think before I let her out again, though, I'll recharge the battery for the fence!