Was so sleepy I forgot to provide a title...
This week I've been trying to cram in as much pony time as possible while we still have daylight after work. On Wednesday I finally got to ride Donk ( in the absence of a working Small he is really sleepsy_mouse's horse ) for a little while, which was really nice. He makes me acutely conscious that Zorro is a fairly hard horse to work with. Things that Zorro will dispute extensively Donk just offers. On the flipside Donk isn't nearly as smart as the other two, when you're asking for something new he'll quite often need to be asked a few times before he figures out that the thing he's been trying is not working and he needs to try something else- I'd guess it takes about twice as long as I would expect with one of our regular two before he starts exploring different options. He tends to carry a somewhat anxious expression as well, as though he knows he's not terribly smart and he wants to do the right thing but he's not sure how. I'm sure that is entirely anthropomorphic transference but it helps focus one's mind on the job in hand.
On Thursday Zorro and I went down the trail below the ponies' field, which has been entirely reworked by the local authority so it is now passable by things other than the most rugged of four wheel drive vehicles and the boldest of cobs. It turns out a path that has changed particularly one that has grown beech-trunk posts to stop people taking said four wheel drive vehicles off the byway and into the woods, is terrifying and it took quite a bit of persuading to get us through there. Get through we did, however and I'm sure the path will be fine next time.
Today we began by walking down to visit the ponies. On the way past we met this gentleman:
I have named him "Mr Scruffymanes" and clearly his hobby is rolling in bracken.
When we got to the yard, we found ourselves a big bay horse, put some tack on him and sleepsy_mouse hopped aboard for a gentle wander down the valley and up the other side ( valley is steep so Donk had to grumble a lot as he went along ) and for a short loop on some permissive bridleways around the fields on the other side.
I think this was a conversation about which way to go next. Donk looks like he's studying the options pretty intensively.
Now dear little Small remains ill but he's also been very flat and we've been wondering if he's a bit depressed in general. In the end sleepsy_mouse decided that maybe it would be worth putting him out with Donk to see if they got on alright. Donk seems quite friendly with him and when Small was in his playpen in their regular field, Donk would just stand by him on the other side of the fence ( while typically Zorro would be at the furthest possible point ) and look mellow.
Donk meets small for the first time and they do the breath sharing thing.
It's been a while since we had any of this from the little guy.
Let alone this...
Both horses move beautifully.
Grabbing a moment to play the squeaky-breath-game again.
After a few minutes of that they basically set to grazing together and hardly looked up. Donk seems very happy to have a friend and Small is more cheerful than he has been for a while, although his heart rate was up a bit at teatime and we're a little bit worried that he'll wear himself out as the major symptom of this virus seems to be lack of energy. He was by no means as expressive as he would be when in full health, but it was nice to see him feeling able to play a bit.
Once we'd had lunch while watching the ponies graze, I went and obtained a cob and we went out for a hack together. I was quite tired, I think Zorro was feeling a bit flat ( possibly the autumn shedding thing that geldings seem to be affected by at this time of year ) and it wasn't the best ride ever. It was enjoyable and we went some places we've not been before but we didn't have much forward and there were a couple of moments as we got closer to home that he decided to charge off at top speed and buck a little. I changed his mind about doing that and he was fine from then on, but it slightly indicated the slightly plodding quality and vague background disharmony of the ride.
Out on the sandy trail.
Of course, compared with where we were a few months ago, a vague sense of disharmony is still pretty good, but knowing that he can be amazing now means that I know I have to offer him something slightly better.
Also, it's hard for Zorro to tell me if he is a bit off. Small is super-keen riding out and so the minute he doesn't march off excitedly in search of adventure sleepsy_mouse knows something is up. Although Zorro is pretty good on the trail now he tends to slow down, think about going home and generally be a little resistant, particularly on the early part of a ride, so all the things Small has as ways of communicating a problem are basically standard parts of Zorro's insubordination repertoire. I don't know how to work around that except maybe for me to trust that I'll know if he isn't really up to the work. Today I had a niggling feeling he may not be, which was quite possibly one reason he seemed not to be. Damnit, who made horses this complicated?
All in all, the weather has been pleasant, the ponies have been good and it's been a more than passable day. It felt more like August than most of August did really.
On Thursday Zorro and I went down the trail below the ponies' field, which has been entirely reworked by the local authority so it is now passable by things other than the most rugged of four wheel drive vehicles and the boldest of cobs. It turns out a path that has changed particularly one that has grown beech-trunk posts to stop people taking said four wheel drive vehicles off the byway and into the woods, is terrifying and it took quite a bit of persuading to get us through there. Get through we did, however and I'm sure the path will be fine next time.
Today we began by walking down to visit the ponies. On the way past we met this gentleman:
I have named him "Mr Scruffymanes" and clearly his hobby is rolling in bracken.
When we got to the yard, we found ourselves a big bay horse, put some tack on him and sleepsy_mouse hopped aboard for a gentle wander down the valley and up the other side ( valley is steep so Donk had to grumble a lot as he went along ) and for a short loop on some permissive bridleways around the fields on the other side.
I think this was a conversation about which way to go next. Donk looks like he's studying the options pretty intensively.
Now dear little Small remains ill but he's also been very flat and we've been wondering if he's a bit depressed in general. In the end sleepsy_mouse decided that maybe it would be worth putting him out with Donk to see if they got on alright. Donk seems quite friendly with him and when Small was in his playpen in their regular field, Donk would just stand by him on the other side of the fence ( while typically Zorro would be at the furthest possible point ) and look mellow.
Donk meets small for the first time and they do the breath sharing thing.
It's been a while since we had any of this from the little guy.
Let alone this...
Both horses move beautifully.
Grabbing a moment to play the squeaky-breath-game again.
After a few minutes of that they basically set to grazing together and hardly looked up. Donk seems very happy to have a friend and Small is more cheerful than he has been for a while, although his heart rate was up a bit at teatime and we're a little bit worried that he'll wear himself out as the major symptom of this virus seems to be lack of energy. He was by no means as expressive as he would be when in full health, but it was nice to see him feeling able to play a bit.
Once we'd had lunch while watching the ponies graze, I went and obtained a cob and we went out for a hack together. I was quite tired, I think Zorro was feeling a bit flat ( possibly the autumn shedding thing that geldings seem to be affected by at this time of year ) and it wasn't the best ride ever. It was enjoyable and we went some places we've not been before but we didn't have much forward and there were a couple of moments as we got closer to home that he decided to charge off at top speed and buck a little. I changed his mind about doing that and he was fine from then on, but it slightly indicated the slightly plodding quality and vague background disharmony of the ride.
Out on the sandy trail.
Of course, compared with where we were a few months ago, a vague sense of disharmony is still pretty good, but knowing that he can be amazing now means that I know I have to offer him something slightly better.
Also, it's hard for Zorro to tell me if he is a bit off. Small is super-keen riding out and so the minute he doesn't march off excitedly in search of adventure sleepsy_mouse knows something is up. Although Zorro is pretty good on the trail now he tends to slow down, think about going home and generally be a little resistant, particularly on the early part of a ride, so all the things Small has as ways of communicating a problem are basically standard parts of Zorro's insubordination repertoire. I don't know how to work around that except maybe for me to trust that I'll know if he isn't really up to the work. Today I had a niggling feeling he may not be, which was quite possibly one reason he seemed not to be. Damnit, who made horses this complicated?
All in all, the weather has been pleasant, the ponies have been good and it's been a more than passable day. It felt more like August than most of August did really.