What they do with free time

These horses are worse than a barrel of monkeys when it comes to getting into trouble. This is Reno, who is in to deal with his cut up leg and ouchy hind hoof. He needs to be walking around to keep the blood flowing, and everything healing, so I do not make him stay in a stall. I just shut the gates by the barns, and let him roam around. He stays pretty busy, stealing food from Playmate and flirting with Riot, and supervising babies, all of whom are in lots that are close to the barn. He is healing really well too--especially the puncture wound that we never did see, on his left hind. His gait is almost normal now--just a little limp every once in a while, and I am starting to think he is faking that.

Anyway, this is what he looked like after breakfast on Sunday. Normal--with a stringy mane, but every thing else on his head was as it should be.

And this is what he looked like after lunch....missing some hide on his forehead. It is a big ol chunk too--with a teeny tuft of hair left in the middle. Not a drop of blood anywhere and it does not hurt--he just knocked the hide off.

Evidently, he has some free time on his hands to find things to get into and tear himself up further. I may not be able to stop that, but I can for sure give him something else to think about.

So tonight, while the waters were running....and running....and running... I decided to see just what Reno would put up with. He was "helping" me get the feed buckets ready, with his head stuck in the deep freeze, so I tossed a saddle pad on him. He was not sure what he thought of that, but he was not horribly upset. He trotted off a bit, not in a panic, and not in enough to get it off---he just moseyed away and started grazing. Hmm, I thought....that was easy.

I decided to up the ante, and tied him to see what he would do if I put it back on there. He did nothing. Not a damn thing. Just stood there and looked bored. It cracked me up to see him with that big oversized cutting pad on him. He is a little bitty squirt, only about 13'2" so far, and just a little over two years old, so not even close to being ready to start. I get so used to how little they are at that age, I do not think about it. These pictures though, cracked me up--he looks like a little kid playing dress up.

I figured I might as well keep pushing him, since the waters were STILL running. I got out the barrel saddle, as it is the lightest, and I put it on him. I was not super easy about it, but I did not flop it up like I normally would do. He was a little tense, so I took it easy and obviously did not cinch it up tight. I left him there to think about it for a minute or two while I went to flip the hose. When I got back, he had relaxed a lot, and seemed fine with it, so I took it off. I put it on again a few times, and snugged it up a little more and waited for a reaction. Nothing came.

Fine, I says. Now what? The water was still running, and I had already mowed the yard. I did not feel like cleaning up all the junk in the barn from when the other marauders tore it all up, so I took Reno on a walk. We visisted the other pastures and flopped the stirrups on his sides, and wiggled the saddle. I never got much reaction out of him, but he seemed more in tune to seeing what I wanted from him than he normally does when I am just leading him somewhere. I almost think he had fun having some mental stimulation, processing all that was happening.

Interesting. That was pretty easy. I will keep at it, so that this little bit of business will be done by the time he goes to the trainer, whenever that may be.

It won't be tomorrow though, since Dad is having surgery for his bladder cancer and I have a board meeting after work, and am taking Rita out to dinner for her birthday.