Catchup and Mud

01/02/2010
Today is our day to go marching and exploring. This time Whisper got to share the fun with his pasture mates and I got to try something I’ve been putting off. My mother and I took all three horses and headed up the hill with them. I was leading Spice and Whisper and having visions of them tying me up in their leads and Spice deciding someone needed kicking. Surprisingly they behaved in an exemplary fashion. Whisper led beautifully, keeping his shoulder even with mine. Spice trailed behind at times looking for that elusive piece of green succulence. But there were times when Whisper was on my right shoulder and Spice was on my left and we were completely in synch. Everyone got to graze a bit and mom and I decided we’d have to continue doing this, trading off horses so they were all familiar with each other and the routine.

01/01/2010
It’s been really wet and mucky since the snow melted. Central Oregon mud is such that the further you walk in it the taller you get. Fortunately I got a pair of Muck boots for Christmas so I’ve been happily plodding around in whatever the environment throws at us. The horses don’t fare quite so well. Whisper, with his huge feet and massive size seems to have the most trouble with sliding around in mud. I had a terrible time convincing him to leave the pasture after the initial melt. We spent at least 10 minutes walking back and forth along the fence line – I thought the problem was the snapping electrical wire. Come to find out it was the slope to the road he was trying to avoid - with good reason. When he started sliding there wasn’t much he could do but ride it out – only a couple of feet but he was justifiably nervous. To top it off I took him down to the outdoor arena. Apparently the footing is good old CO mud. He sank to his fetlocks. He was incredibly good about it as we picked our way out and went searching for some decent footing. Along the way we made use of several mud puddles. Whisper believes the most direct route through a puddle is around it but after I explained to him that his hooves would be clean and shiny and I stomped thru in my new boots, he stomped right along with me. We were both soaked to the knees. We did finally find some firm ground and played around a little but after grooming we called it a day and I went to get Spice who, with her tiny feet , can practically walk on water. At least she’d like to think so.