Movin' on up.
On Thursday I moved Sharif to Bonnie's place. I'm a little sad about it, because Mr. Don and his daughter have taken great care of Sharif for the past five years and I'm really going to miss Homey, Little Foot, Darla and her still-unnamed puppy. On the other hand, I'm excited about being able to ride with friends again. Anyway, Sharif was really nervous when we were loading him into the trailer on Thursday morning. He wasn't flipping out or fighting us, but he was shaking like a leaf the whole time. I ended up riding in the trailer with him to keep him calm. Don't worry, there was a half-wall between us (I was in the tack room portion), so I was in no danger of being stepped on or crushed. I was mainly there just to stand and hold onto his lead rope and call him a chicken-wuss in a soothing voice. It was actually a lot of fun. Kelsey's a good driver, so it was a smooth ride all the way. My thighs are still sore as hell, though.
Anyway, after we got there, unloaded Sharif and I reminded them that they needed to let me out, we put Sharif in the round pen for a while so that he could settle down and get used to the place. The other horses all galloped over from the other end of the pasture to get a good look at him. Then we brought 'em all in to feed 'em, and when they were done I put Sharif out in the pasture and we let the horses in to meet him one by one. This sounds like the smart thing to do, but honestly I don't think it would've ended any differently if we'd just shoved him in the pasture when they were all in there at the get-go. Calypso, the little chestnut quarter horse who's even smaller than Sharif, still would've chased him all over the pasture, Rippy, RJ and Toby (a gorgeous paint gelding) would've still followed along just out of curiosity, and Butch still would've gone "fuck it I'm too old for this shit" and stayed next to the hay. As of yesterday Calypso still won't let Sharif get within fifty feet of the herd, which is sad. Seriously, Sharif'll just stand there, looking lonely, and every time he tries to edge in closer Calypso takes a run at him. This is standard horse-herd pecking order stuff, and in a few days Sharif will be one of the boys, but I still feel pretty sorry for him. At least he made friends with the neighbor's horse, a Hanoverian named Sting. Dabadee, dabadie. Sorry. Anyway, other than that, he seems to be settling in just fine, knock on wood.
In other news, fuck 2011 with a cactus.
Anyway, after we got there, unloaded Sharif and I reminded them that they needed to let me out, we put Sharif in the round pen for a while so that he could settle down and get used to the place. The other horses all galloped over from the other end of the pasture to get a good look at him. Then we brought 'em all in to feed 'em, and when they were done I put Sharif out in the pasture and we let the horses in to meet him one by one. This sounds like the smart thing to do, but honestly I don't think it would've ended any differently if we'd just shoved him in the pasture when they were all in there at the get-go. Calypso, the little chestnut quarter horse who's even smaller than Sharif, still would've chased him all over the pasture, Rippy, RJ and Toby (a gorgeous paint gelding) would've still followed along just out of curiosity, and Butch still would've gone "fuck it I'm too old for this shit" and stayed next to the hay. As of yesterday Calypso still won't let Sharif get within fifty feet of the herd, which is sad. Seriously, Sharif'll just stand there, looking lonely, and every time he tries to edge in closer Calypso takes a run at him. This is standard horse-herd pecking order stuff, and in a few days Sharif will be one of the boys, but I still feel pretty sorry for him. At least he made friends with the neighbor's horse, a Hanoverian named Sting. Dabadee, dabadie. Sorry. Anyway, other than that, he seems to be settling in just fine, knock on wood.
In other news, fuck 2011 with a cactus.