Nine

On Wednesday Paul and I went riding, but on our way out the gate we heard Nine whinnying up a storm! I felt terrible so I went back and threw a halter on him so he could come riding too! Well, we didn't make it far before he spooked at something, and I couldn't hold him and Hammer at the same time, so I let Nine go. But Paul went back and got him, and he was perfect the rest of the ride. We saw some cows, which for some odd freaked all three horses out, even though Hammer and Ashley have both worked cows before... Silly ponies! But Nine just stuck by Ashley and Paul didn't have any trouble with them (I, meanwhile, was busy trying to calm Hammer down - he was running circles so I tried to keep him away from Nine so Nine didn't start trying to bolt). But after that, everyone was calm and relaxed, and we had a really nice ride. Paul even trotted Ash and Nine, and while Hammer got over-excited, Nine did not. We plan to keep taking him with us on rides. Next time I want him saddled. Soon I hope to have a chance to take him to the cinders and put a good ride on him.

Winter Braids

My mother in law suggested (last year) that I put the horses' manes and tails into braids for the winter so they have lush, full, beautiful hair come spring. Well, I finally got around to it today. I did Nine's mane, laughed about how silly he looks, then I had to go inside to switch the laundry to the dryer, and when I came back out he was standing fine. But then my daughter and the dog spooked him. Apparently the knot was loose, because when I looked, after getting Elayne away from the horse, he had reached the end of the lead, which suddenly caught and whipped him around. His head hit the end of a pole. I put Elayne against the wall and told her not to move, and when I got to Nine he was working his jaw, which worried me a lot because I feared he had broken his jaw. Luckily he did not, but he did knock a tooth loose. I got some pliers and yanked it the rest of the way out. Nine drank some water so I didn't need to splash his mouth clean. So I took a look, and the tooth that came out was a baby tooth. The adult tooth is already through, so I don't think we have much to worry about. It looks like his mouth was open when it hit the pole and he has a cut in his gums. I will keep an eye open for infection.

Later Elayne took a nap so I went back out and did Nine's tail and Hammer's mane. Hammer did not enjoy it at all! He keeps giving me dirty looks. Nine doesn't seem to mind, even though he looks like a Rastafarian. He feelin' groovy mon.