soft moments with horses
Last night was very healing for me. I stopped by the horses around 9:30 p.m. to give Diamond her nightly feed (Dolly, as you can imagine, only gets a little bit). It was misting (I can't really call it rain). Diamond takes a long time to eat, which is nice because I don't fear her getting "choke" like Dolly has had twice since I've had her. So while she's eating, I usually either work on removing dead hair from her spiraling mane, or just stand there and watch the two of them, or shovel manure. After she finished eating, I removed the barrier between the two horses (I usually lock Diamond in the stall so she can eat in peace) and I didn't want to leave. Dolly was munching hay and Diamond went out and stood in the front pen. So I decided to shovel manure.
Anyway, Diamond is just such a lover. She loves people. I suspect that Dolly doesn't always let Diamond as close as she'd like, since Dolly is used to be a loner and seems to keep it that way a lot of the time (I have seen her let Diamond really close, though). But Diamond follows me all around when I'm shoveling manure. If I stop moving, she wants to put lots of things her mouth and explore everything I'm doing. She loves to be pet and scratched. She has an itchy spot near her ears, but if she really gets into it, she'd probably knock me over with her enthusiasm, so I can only scratch for a short time. But she returned the favor this time, nuzzling my ears and head and shoulder. It was really sweet. I scratched her neck, too. I think it was itchy from the rain. Then both horses rested in the front pen, Dolly on lookout about 35 feet away, and Diamond hanging out right next to me. I try to be careful not to let her get too used to being super close because that can turn into a dominance thing, so I also make sure she backs away from me whenever I ask her to. But oh my gosh, it is just so heart melting. It is great. I don't get enough peaceful moments anymore. I am always stressed or always busy or always on the go or always getting ready to be on the go shortly. It turned out to be 11 p.m. by the time I got home.
P.S. It snowed this morning. For me, it was the first snow of the season.
Anyway, Diamond is just such a lover. She loves people. I suspect that Dolly doesn't always let Diamond as close as she'd like, since Dolly is used to be a loner and seems to keep it that way a lot of the time (I have seen her let Diamond really close, though). But Diamond follows me all around when I'm shoveling manure. If I stop moving, she wants to put lots of things her mouth and explore everything I'm doing. She loves to be pet and scratched. She has an itchy spot near her ears, but if she really gets into it, she'd probably knock me over with her enthusiasm, so I can only scratch for a short time. But she returned the favor this time, nuzzling my ears and head and shoulder. It was really sweet. I scratched her neck, too. I think it was itchy from the rain. Then both horses rested in the front pen, Dolly on lookout about 35 feet away, and Diamond hanging out right next to me. I try to be careful not to let her get too used to being super close because that can turn into a dominance thing, so I also make sure she backs away from me whenever I ask her to. But oh my gosh, it is just so heart melting. It is great. I don't get enough peaceful moments anymore. I am always stressed or always busy or always on the go or always getting ready to be on the go shortly. It turned out to be 11 p.m. by the time I got home.
P.S. It snowed this morning. For me, it was the first snow of the season.