Going to Work

We don't have enough of a barn to make it a full time job, but it keeps us busy enough.

Mainly Carrie. She's the only one in the family who really knows how to ride!

She pops on Magic once a week to exercise him for Ellie.

She works with Eddie to keep him in shape for Heidi.

Heidi's knee prevents her from riding, so her visits have just been to check on her boy, hang out, and have fun rather than exercise herself.

Micayla, Abby's owner, has been showing up every day. Her medical school doesn't start for a while yet, and if you bring a horse you may as well work with the horse! Carrie's joins her on occasion.

Same managed to tweak himself again, so I don't have recent pictures with him. He trots around fine, but Carrie says there's a lack of impulsion when she pushes him to canter. She added a new supplement to his feed and he is NOT a fan.

This is the horse equivalent to choking it down. The big baby knocked his food bowl over twice before we switched him to the bucket.

Not that it stopped him from finishing.

Sam cleaned the bucket and hated every minute of it! He's truly stomach-driven.

Sam's on a week of rest. Alex, Laura, and Carrie all ride him from time to time, so he'll probably enjoy the break.

Huck has adapted really well. He really likes to place bitey-face and has proven dominant over Eddie and Ernie. He doesn't leave Magic be either, but Magic puts him into his place when he's had enough.

Huck's super friendly with people. He's got a great personality. Whoever owns him one day will love the little guy (and that's me saying this...).

He's shown an amazing amount of trust and willingness to work. He came along further than Pippin in just a few sessions. "He's a blank slate," Carrie said.

Carrie was shocked when she put the saddle on him and he acted like it was no big thing. He went up banks and jumped over ditches the first day she introduced them!

She was so excited she had me film the second day she took him out to the obstacles. If he wasn't tiny, Carrie would probably want to keep him!

Huck's owner stopped by to check in on him one day while Carrie was out. She plans on coming by for a training session eventually.

There's all the usual chores and horse care mixed in. It could be something as simple as braiding Maddy's mane....

...or fixing a fly mask! How do they do these things?

Pippin's a character. She farts and laughs.

Really, it was a yawn. Just like the shot where I caught Maddy.

It looks like they're making noise, but the yawns were silent.

We try to do most of the work in the mornings before it gets too hot. We end up sweaty messes regardless. There's no rush, so I work at a more leisurely pace. Some of it's still pretty tough: I weighed the bucket of Sam's poop the other day and it was 72 lbs! It was also the first bucket. If I take a day off he starts to stack his piles....