Horse Sense....
So I come home and he who knows everything has done 98% of the hanging hay nets.
Wood, bolts, electric saws (for cutting wood), 20 million different kinds of drills....
And they look bloody awesome.
At first Mumma, Boo and Cappy were like, Ummmmm...what's going on... and then they were like, Ooooooohhhh...
I am so lucky that he is my friend.
Oooohhhh...wait...and he told me that to combat the water that leaks into the stall next to the stable, put down sand.
Made some phone calls and it arrives just after 7am tomorrow.
Will put up photo's/video when finished.
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Well, well, well eh? Where shall I start?
Let's start with the sand. So it turned up and I started doing the stable but not stable bit then remembered my friend had said it was great for muddy bits. I called my friend and I was like, Hey, you know the entry to the Welcome Paddock, the part that gets all muddy, could I use sand there?
Perfect.
So I called the sand peeps to order another 2 square metres, and (I swear, Spirit were looking out for me today) the lovely lady said, No problem, will get it to you now.
It turned up within 20 minutes.
Then I decided to half sand the stable. Mostly because the rain sweeps in a little bit and makes the shavings all wet and ugly. Take part of the shavings out and put the sand in and we should be sweet. Completely new pine shavings in the rest of stable. Then the rest of the sand went in the driveway part of the Welcome Paddock.
It looks bloody awesome. I'm stoked with it.
Now onto Boo...
Boo's had a very bad day.
First off, some time last night he must of got separated from Mumma and Caps, got scared, ran through gate. This of course, makes you think that it was a small gate and a little run.
That would be inaccurate.
He hit the gate so fucking hard he put a body imprint on it AND sent the gate flying just under 2 metres.
Boo was fine.
Not one scratch, dent, blood, cut or broken bone.
Thank fuck.
But wait, I had shut down the Welcome Paddock for the day while I worked which pissed off Mumma, then Caps told him off and then Mumma, who wasn't in the best of moods to start with, gave him an ass whooping.
She chased him up and down the paddock going, I'm your Mamma and you WILL NOT disrespect me. You are NEVER too big for me to whip your ass.
Then she would take a break.
Cappy would start.
This is not how we do things.
Then...You think you're a stallion? You think you're running this herd? And Mumma would chase him again.
Then Cappy.
Then Mumma.
I felt sorry for the little bugger by the time everyone had finished with him.
But all's well that ends well and as I am writing this, everyone is all snuggled up and cosy like in the stables.
Which, holding my breath, crossing my hooves and doing a little prayer, seem to be a success.
Oh...almost forgot - the gate is back up. I'm old school and sit with the belief system that if I don't put the gate up I am rewarding bad behaviour.
Now that it is back up, he understands that if he does this again then:
a) Mumma's going to whoop his ass.
b) Caps is going to tell him off.
c) The Welcome Paddock is off for the day while Tarns fixes it and
d) He gets winded when he hits it
He's clever, he's got it.
Oh wait...I have to share this because it's kind of funny, but not.
When I got sold Caps, among other untrue things (he's not underweight, you can see the ribs on all TB's...no, of course you don't need to feed him every day, just throw him a feed every 2 or 3 days...yes, off the track TB's are perfect for learning to ride on...) I got told that Cappy had also done heaps of beach riding.
Quite obviously untrue, because today he was sniffing and doing all sorts of weird things with his hooves, peppered with, What the fuck is this? No, really, what the fuckity fuck fuck...
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So far, hooves crossed, the sand is working amazingly and everyone loves the hanging hay nets.
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Jezus, Boo can hoof it when he gets his game on.
I watched him tonight and first he was having a little nap on the sand and then, Hello! he was hooning it up and down the paddocks.
I now understand how the gate got munted but honestly, I love watching him run, he's poetry in motion.
And talking about poetry in motion, Belle starts her second training soon.
Watch this space.
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So Nana and I went to the baby races today, to see Belle's baby Daddy's colt.
He's a real cutie and did some good time at 242.5
What surprised me though, is that I relaized that his person has been working just as hard as me. I'm not going to say harder, because you've walked this journey with us and you know that we've put everything we have into this. But I hadn't realized exactly how much effort he too had put in.
Until today when I saw him. It was kind of weird.
I truly hope for you, that you get the success that you want out of your colt xx
Then I had that lightbulb moment, when I realized that there are a lot of peeps waiting to see whether Belle succeeds.
And the following nasty thought, that there might be a few that might secretly hope that she doesn't.
That the herbs and non-soy food, Touch/play and all the other, Not quite the way we do things ways, don't work.
That was super weird, because I don't think like that. I put everything I have into something, then go, Ok, let the cards fall where they will.
Anyway, Belle will be racing, we think, around Christmas time, but it depends on how she grows. She'll race when she's ready.
Oh wait...another of Belle's baby Daddy colts raced down South and came 3rd today. Nice work, hunny!
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Belle's baby Daddy colt (the same one who raced the other day) just came 2nd. Whoooooo!!
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And the cows have to go.
The little one wants to play with Fenny, who I swear is at least twice the size of him. Fenny is up for the challenge, because even though she is not quite as tall, the horns give her an advantage.
Boo doesn't care. He's like, Bring it on!!
And then they're going at it hammer and tongs, or should I say hoofs and horns through the bloody fence. With Fenny having the advantage, of that it is easier to get horns poking through fence to gouge ribs or eyes than it is to get a decent hoof kick in.
Then I'm out there yelling at them to cut it out, or Mumma's is dragged away from her Zen existence to break it up.
Got. To. Go.
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And the sand's a real win. Everyone loves it. And at multiple times of the day you will find either Mumma or Cappy or the little one sunning themselves on the sand.
And they love love love their hanging on the wall, haynets.
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So that's been our week:
It's been scary in it's intensity in some parts, and other times I have had a huge feeling of satisfaction, achievement and, I actually did this!
Big hugs and horsey kisses from us here, to you there.
Caps, me, Spirit, Az, Ralph, Chew, Suz, and of course, my beautiful Mumma Bear, Belle and Little Boo, Fenny, Flash, Pat, Chuck and Lightning and 4 little chickadees.
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