Christmas
This year I spent Christmas day with my immediate family. My animals live there, so I was keen to spend it with them. Unfortunately I haven't seen much of the horses, as rest for me almost always seems to comprise of doing nothing, or playing computer games, neither of which leaves me with a sense of rejuvenation or fulfillment.
I've also started a puzzle.
All the animals got presents;
Spot and Mischief got a long dangly toy thing and a tunnel lined with catnip.
They both loved the tunnel, but Mischief decided to come over all camera shy, so here's an older photo of him being fuzzy and adorable ---->
I got a rubber chewtoy designed for dogs for Cracker and Nick, mainly to keep Cracker busy and not chasing Nick around.
Nick was interested when I first entered the paddock
Cracker got there first and had a sniff. The idea is that the inside of the tyre has treats in it (not it's original purpose, but it might work). The tyre then hangs on a fence, and the horse has to move it around, chew on it, get their tongue in there etc, to get at the treats.
Nick's interest waned when he realised I wasn't carrying a bucket of delicious goodness. I brought out a bowl of carrots for him later. This went down much better.
Cracker however, with a little encouragement, seemed to like the tyre. Or at least he didn't want to be beaten by something made of rubber.
He spent most of his time trying to fit his nose into the gap
And then discovered that it wouldn't fit.
After some work he figured out that spinning it helped.
Eventually he'll cotton on to the fact that if he turns it upside or spins it on the loop of rope, the treats will drop out more readily. He emptied it within about half an hour (snapped the rope once and nuzzled it along the ground) and then when I hung it out on a piece of wood he pulled the whole thing down. All in all, it was a success in that it kept him busy for over an hour in total, and the mental workout seemed to settle him enough that he didn't bother Nick again till evening, at which point I caught him careening around the paddock (bad for the arthritic pony and his busted leg) and started swearing at him. Both the boys got christmas dinner, though I didn't spend much time with them. I wish I had done.
The bunnies got two toys. Toby got a weird thing where you can bend the wooden sticks into shapes, the most popular being a tunnel, he seemed happy enough with it.
But decided that some redmodeling was in order
Smooch was to get a treat ball meant for a cat, (and bought for a bird), but we couldn't find it, so he got lots of food and he'll get the toy when it's found or another is bought
Lucifer, the lovebird, got a basket (meant for rabbits and guinea pigs) to hold fruit and veggies. He pulled out all the carrot sticks, dropped them, ate some of the apple,
And then went back to his mirror (favourite toy).
Yes, his head is the wrong way up. Birds can do that. And he does it to scare visitors.
My little sister made up the table all prettyful, but all the photos contain people, so I'd rather not get sued/beaten up/sworn at for putting them on the internets. I had a bunch of other photos too, but they've disappeared. Downloading photos from the camera must've addled my brain.
Also, I got dressed up. Sort of. I had a nice skirt and whatnot on and then had to do horsey things, so I put on my gumboots. ^_^
I had kinda hoped this post would be wittier. Nevermind. When I can think of more details, or something smarter to say, I'll add to this post.
I've also started a puzzle.
All the animals got presents;
Spot and Mischief got a long dangly toy thing and a tunnel lined with catnip.
They both loved the tunnel, but Mischief decided to come over all camera shy, so here's an older photo of him being fuzzy and adorable ---->
I got a rubber chewtoy designed for dogs for Cracker and Nick, mainly to keep Cracker busy and not chasing Nick around.
Nick was interested when I first entered the paddock
Cracker got there first and had a sniff. The idea is that the inside of the tyre has treats in it (not it's original purpose, but it might work). The tyre then hangs on a fence, and the horse has to move it around, chew on it, get their tongue in there etc, to get at the treats.
Nick's interest waned when he realised I wasn't carrying a bucket of delicious goodness. I brought out a bowl of carrots for him later. This went down much better.
Cracker however, with a little encouragement, seemed to like the tyre. Or at least he didn't want to be beaten by something made of rubber.
He spent most of his time trying to fit his nose into the gap
And then discovered that it wouldn't fit.
After some work he figured out that spinning it helped.
Eventually he'll cotton on to the fact that if he turns it upside or spins it on the loop of rope, the treats will drop out more readily. He emptied it within about half an hour (snapped the rope once and nuzzled it along the ground) and then when I hung it out on a piece of wood he pulled the whole thing down. All in all, it was a success in that it kept him busy for over an hour in total, and the mental workout seemed to settle him enough that he didn't bother Nick again till evening, at which point I caught him careening around the paddock (bad for the arthritic pony and his busted leg) and started swearing at him. Both the boys got christmas dinner, though I didn't spend much time with them. I wish I had done.
The bunnies got two toys. Toby got a weird thing where you can bend the wooden sticks into shapes, the most popular being a tunnel, he seemed happy enough with it.
But decided that some redmodeling was in order
Smooch was to get a treat ball meant for a cat, (and bought for a bird), but we couldn't find it, so he got lots of food and he'll get the toy when it's found or another is bought
Lucifer, the lovebird, got a basket (meant for rabbits and guinea pigs) to hold fruit and veggies. He pulled out all the carrot sticks, dropped them, ate some of the apple,
And then went back to his mirror (favourite toy).
Yes, his head is the wrong way up. Birds can do that. And he does it to scare visitors.
My little sister made up the table all prettyful, but all the photos contain people, so I'd rather not get sued/beaten up/sworn at for putting them on the internets. I had a bunch of other photos too, but they've disappeared. Downloading photos from the camera must've addled my brain.
Also, I got dressed up. Sort of. I had a nice skirt and whatnot on and then had to do horsey things, so I put on my gumboots. ^_^
I had kinda hoped this post would be wittier. Nevermind. When I can think of more details, or something smarter to say, I'll add to this post.