Weeks #9-10

Well, I'm incredibly behind on posting! Gah. What's really important, though, is Badger. :) I really enjoy going out to the ranch just so spend time with him, although a big majority of the time out there now is prying shovelfuls of goopy, matted gunk off the ground. Thanks, rainy season. =_=

Thursday I put him in the round pen for the first time...more on this later.

Sunday was my first "owner's meeting" where Tracy basically goes over the rules, any updates we need to know, etc. I also got to meet some of the other owners whom I hadn't met before! ...I'm still having trouble with it all though, and I'm sure they're still going to be "Tio's owner" or "The girl who owns Rocky" for quite a while. Arrgh. I'm awful with names...but I already know I'm very visual, so I guess I should get used to it. At least it helps me figure out which horse is which.

Sunday was also the day after what was apparently a torrential downpour. I don't know what it is about California and rain, but really, it seems like even the ground has no idea what to do with water when it shows up. Two full wheelbarrows of stinky pudding-like muck later, I had to give up...I'm not a lightweight but I could barely get enough leverage to push them out of the stall, through the mud, and around to the back to dump them out. My boots nearly suction-cupped themselves off my feet.

It was so muddy, in fact, that Badger was covered head-to-hoof in dried mud, and the only reason any of his body was clean was because of the blanket he was wearing. Needless to say, the *blanket* was so covered in mud it didn't look plaid anymore. He was lucky though, as several of the other horses' stalls were completely waterlogged, without a dry spot to stand in. When I arrived that day it was a bit of a visual surprise.

It's amusing yet disconcerting that Badger's preferred method of walking with me is with his nose almost directly in the small of my back, as if I must lead the way. Still, watching some of the others work with their horses, he's got both a sharpness and manners that some lack. He doesn't need a raised voice to stop from even a brisk trot. Most of the time I don't have to touch him or the halter to get him to back up a step or two. It made me laugh aloud when I put him in his stall and took his bridle off at the end of the day...even after I took it off, he was leaning over and poking the gate with his lip, as if he wanted to be out longer.

Sunday was, for obvious reasons, not a photo op day...so here are photos from last week instead.

  

I've started taking photos of his back from the mounting block too, mostly since I'm happy to see his spine bumps disappearing. Standing on the ground, I totally forgot about the white dot on his butt since...well, 16 hands is a couple inches taller than I am. :p