We have a lot of pets. It's probably hard for people to keep track of, so think of this as a primer.
Max is the OG kitty. Carrie rescued her a long time ago and predates our relationship. She's an adaptable little fart who likes to explore. I wish she was a better mouser. She's not overly fond of dogs and puts Loki in his place, but isn't traumatized by his presence.
However, she kicks her back leg like a dog when you scratch her ear just right.
Bucket is traumatized by Loki, though. She likes to hide in cabinets, behind the TV, or curtains and keep as farm from him as possible. She's a scaredy cat in general and terrified of her own bowel movements.
She is a snuggler. She loves nothing more than sleeping on a blanket in Carrie's lap. If Carrie's asleep on the couch, Bucket is usually near.
Happy is the newest addition. She's a failed barn cat, but our only cat tolerant of loud, hyper boys. We used to find her sleeping with Shane in the morning. She used to stay in her room and Shane's despite having a cat door to greater things, but now she's out and about.
She is the only cat who tolerates, nay, likes Loki.
It was slow developing, but they actually play together some. She will bat at him and hop off a chair to chase him, no growling and claw-free. Loki's happy to run around any chair she's perched and on she doesn't bolt.
In an incredibly gross display of bonding, I've seen Loki lick her butt clean. I corrected him and they both looked up at me. I kid you not, she rolled onto her back and he kept one eye on me and went back to licking.
I'm hoping it was a one time thing.
Loki has grown considerably from the summer. He's over 20 pounds of fluffy and hyper. Like the cats, he is very interested when anyone lies down on the couch. Only he's likely to run back and forth across your chest and cause a ruckus by invading feline space.
Loki's a big fan of chasing cats in the house (when they let him). Outside of the house he wants to pace cars. It terrified me at first, but Loki seemed afraid of the road when I had him leashed as the school bus came up. Loki's done a great job of recognizing the fence is his boundary. I don't know how much of that is from my yelling and how much is from his own inclination. He's actually run away when I've been in the barn and I've found him running back and forth up front whenever I remember he's out there.
Basically, I trust him not to get himself killed.
That trust took a ding, recently. When I'm with Loki, I take him out near the horse jumps so there's a long runway of unbroken fence. I take him away from the entrance to the driveway and away from the west end where the fence changes to (uncharged) polywire. Loki likes to get a headstart on the cars and I've been worried about what he'd do if he got too far ahead of them and ran out of running room.
I was getting the mail and I watched Loki duck under the fence into the ditch as a car went by. The car honked and I started yelling. Loki may have gotten within four feet of the roadside before he turned around. I gave him a stern dressing down (he peed) and took him right into the house.
Later, I realized I had dropped my phone when I went into action mode.
Hopefully, Loki learned his lesson and won't go for an encore performance.
We've got five outdoor 'pets' on property.
Annie is the newest addition to our personal herd. She is Nib's half-sister (same stallion) and a real beauty. She's very gentle and curious in nature. She will walk up next to me and sniff at my hair, shoulders, or whatever when I let her out at night. I don't know if she's still growing or if it's due to being half-Friesian, but her blankets fit oddly. Her neck is higher and her back is a little shorter.
She's low on the dominance totem pole and our most skittish horse. Carrie's started to train her and she was terrified of the arena gate for the first several sessions. She's eager to please and has progressed quickly.
Carrie loves her. She braided her mane and was giving her some butt scratches in this photo.
Right now, we have a very laid back and positive herd on the ladies' side of things. Annie's the one who's taking a nap in the photo.
Kitty is with us until May. She and Annie have bonded to the point I sometimes call them a "two-headed monster."
Kitty taught me that horses snore. She's loud!
She's got a few other quirks worth noting. She will stretch her legs out and contort herself to avoid ever having two hooves on the stall mat. She eats more than any horse I've ever seen without blimping out and foundering.
I have to be careful with her, because she highly dislikes her blanket and anyone touching past her shoulder line. If I don't watch her, I'm likely to get bit.
Maddy is the final member of our herd of mares. She's a great little pony who gets along with horses and people alike. We recently found a leaser who likes to ride her, so she's a contributing member of the family. Carrie, Shane, and I have all ridden her.....and so has Jenny, Gay, and Sophia! She's a trooper.
Lately, she stands and expect scratches whenever she's let out of her stall. He lip quivers and she'll toss her head gently whenever an itch
Maddy has one unfortunate tendency: She poops almost every time she's stalled. I don't know if she wants her stall to fill "lived in" or if she's acting out her displeasure.
And then she steps in it.
I've come up with little nicknames for each horse, and I figure if Maddy had a tribal name it'd be "She Who Steps in Shit" shortened to "Poop-hoof" or "Shit-stepper"with her friends.
Thankfully, her piles are pretty small (when not kicked and spread all over).
Samwise (aka "Sam") would like to be with the ladies, but he's in the other pasture. Sam is Carrie's ride. He is the most flatulent horse I've ever heard or been downwind of. He toots with pleasure as he walks by me into his stall and he toots enough in his stall I'm always checking for phantom piles.
And he does it under saddle, too! Carrie calls it "his rocket booster."
Sam's the biggest horse on our property. He's got some cold-blood stock in him (Clydesdale) and Carrie calls him a "Heinz 57" overall. He's very food driven and always acts like he's starved when it's time for dinner. Shane watched him eat once and said he didn't chew. "He inhaled his food!"
He's been on a diet. It must be working, because I haven't heard Carrie call him "Apple Butt" for a while.
Sam's pasture mate is Eddie. Eddie was our first boarder!
I often call him "Steady Eddy" and/or "Old man." He's turning 22 years old. His owner, Heidi, says he's got a thing for the ladies, so no co-mingling allowed! He liked to cozy up next to the polywire when Nibs was in her 'private lot.' He and Sam both tried to shimmy closer to the mares the one time they escaped.
Overall, Eddy is a mellow fellow. He knows what he likes and he's predictable (Hence, "Steady."). He has his quirks, though. He likes to pick up his food bowl and flap it around. It reminds me a little of prisoners rattling cups on their cell bars in movies, but there's more of a comedic effect with the plastic bowl flopping up and down as he bobs his head!
Loki is still afraid of all the equines. In this picture, I was surprised he came in the barn to greet Heidi, at all!
Our last horse, Nibs, is away learning how to work for a living. She's at Dragonfly Eventing learning how to bear a rider.
She's doing really well at it, too! She gets along famously with people.
Alas, she's still having trouble getting along with other horses. We wonder how much of that stems from being an orphan. Unless she has a miraculous change of attitude, we may decide to put her up for sale. She's beautiful and extremely capable, so she should be able to find a good home where she's valued. She got along famously with Sam, but despises Eddie so she can't pasture with the boys.
Someone with more fields and horses than us could find a working herd situation much easier. Sonya first stuck Nibs with Gizmo to learn some manners (she did) and then moved her to another herd of mares when Gizmo needed to help with a problem pony.
And that's everyone!
.....for now.
You never know with Carrie. I hope that we get more boarders rather than new pets. Carrie's posted some ads and had some people contact us, but nothing that's stuck. That could change based on what I'm hearing, but who knows until it really happens.
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