Little Charmer

 

Once again, I have to blog about Amigo.    Let me start by telling those of you that don’t follow us on Facebook that he is the smallest escape artist I’ve ever had.  Electric fence?  No problem!  He just ducks under it quick enough to not get jolted.  Lower the wire?  No problem!  He just lies down and wiggles his way under it.  Lower the fence even more?  No worries!  He just jumps between the top and bottom strand of electric without touching either.  Put up a third strand of electric in the middle?  Not a problem!  He just jumps all three strands.  I’ve wondered more than once if his daddy was a deer.

And his most favorite place to go when he gets out?  In with the main herd.

 

Whiskers really likes the little guy because she’s in season and she somehow thinks that he can scratch the itch that none of the geldings can.  Good luck with that, girl.

 

Sometimes he stays out in the yard with Junior and follows him wherever the he goes.  River can be calling from her paddock, but Amigo just ignores her as if he doesn’t need her anymore.  Once I found him sleeping in the sun next to Lucille by the pond – completely out of sight of River.  Neither one of them minded much and Lucille enjoyed the company.  He’s only six weeks old!  Little tyke should not be that independent yet!

His teenage angst and “rebel without a cause” attitude reminds me of another little twerp I used to know…

 

 

Opie!!  Opie is living large with his adopter, has run of the whole farm (since he ducks under fence as adeptly as Amigo), and likes to follow his adopter when she takes her other horse out for a ride.  What a lucky pony!

Siesta

 

The sun came out yesterday and it was 60 degrees, which was a nice switch from the cold and hail yesterday.  I’m sure I’ll wake up to snow tomorrow.  Thanks for the brief respite, Mother Nature!

But do you know what happens when the sun comes out and warms up the ground?

Naps.  Lots of naps. 

 

I have very lazy equines around here.  You’d think I worked them in the coal mines eight days a week the way they fold those long legs, crumple to the ground, and pass out without a care in the world.  Matilda went down especially hard today so those of you that felt the earth tremble, don’t worry.  It wasn’t an earthquake.

I have a pop quiz for you.  Who’s incredibly rotund belly is in the next picture?

 

If you guessed that to be the “mommy” belly of River, you would be correct.  Now run to the store and get yourself a gold star.  Or a beer if you need an excuse for one. 

See that little tuft of brown fur to the left of River’s ginormously large butt?

 

Why, why, WHY do they always have to open their lips a bit in a smile when they lay down??  It’s almost too adorable to stand!

 

River had her eyes shut, getting in some much needed REM sleep.  She didn’t even wake up when I let the dogs out and they took off around the yard barking and chasing each other.

 

While I was snapping away, Amigo woke up and gave me the same look that the GBH sometimes gives me when I wake him up too early.

 

Then he showed me more of his GBH impression…

 

… and went right back to sleep. 

Foals learn by imitating, but what I want to know is when the heck was Amigo in our bedroom??

Just a few pony pictures

 

I don’t think I’ve ever been clinically depressed in my life, but the past few months have seen a new side of me, a side I don’t think I like.  It’s been terribly difficult for me to find the energy to do anything except feed the horses.  When Amigo was born I had to force myself to get the camera and take some pictures of him.   I felt like I was far underwater, just trying to swim to the surface for air.  All I could concentrate on was flapping my arms in hopes of reaching the surface before I drowned.  I didn’t want to ride, take pictures, blog, start any seeds for the garden… none of the things that usually get me going this time of year held any interest for me.

This morning when I rolled my weary body out of bed I decided that enough was enough and took the camera with me when I fed.

Sky and Quill were very thin when we got home in February.  Their hips and backbones were sticking up under their thick winter coats and they were lethargic.

 

Being so young, they recovered quickly.  Quill still has a little weight to put on, but he’s starting another growth spurt right now and not only growing out, but also growing up again.

 

Had Tabby been fed properly this winter, she’d already be back to normal.  But when we got home, she didn’t look that much better than when we took her back from her adopters.  I’d still like to see another 150lbs on her.

 

I only wish they could all be like Dallas (except for the covered in mud part)!

 

Traveler is another one that didn’t lose much weight over the winter.  He was still plump and round when we got home.  Greedy little pony still thinks he needs all the grain in the world and runs me over at every feeding.  Good thing he’s cute and cuddly.

 

Ditto for Jewel.  That mare could stay fat just by looking at food. 

 

Molly was fat when she came back from her foster home, but quickly lost weight and became ribby when Gilbert refused to feed her because he said he didn’t like her.  She picked up weight quickly and is ready to start carting me down the trails whenever this weather warms up again. 

 

Now if this four day migraine would go away and spring would come back to town, I could be happy again.