DAY 89, 90 & 91 - Temp Changes

Friday, "day 89," we ended up not riding. First of all, it was just too frigid! Plus, the wind was high, and all of this made for one very cranky Possum. He was a bitch all day! When I did go to approach him after barn chores to put on his halter, he pinned his ears back and turned his butt in my face.. walking away, shaking his head, "no!" So, what I do is cluck and wave the halter and lead line around, get him to "move his feet," as the Natural Horsemanship people say. It does seem to work.. the theory is that if the horse does not want you to catch him, then you make him move until they get tired out from that. Eventually, they realize that maybe it IS better to be haltered and groomed or whatever, instead of being forced to run around. It works quite well on Possum, anyway. After five minutes or so, where he ran back and forth, bucked a little, reared a little, squealed a little, he finally stopped and looked at me. I approach him softly, and with some regret, he allowed me to put on his halter and lead him up to the stall.

However, his rebellion did continue. He was so nutty, I decided to forgo grooming him. I just unplugged the electric fence, put the chain over his nose to remind him that I am human and not a fence to plow through, and off we went, up the driveway and towards the Dodge farm. He was jumpy and concerned.

We went around towards the paddock and to the back field, and I let him nose around and graze. The dog was out towards the tree line nosing around herself, and this was of great concern to Possum, at first. Finally, she came over to greet us, and Possum relaxed a bit more. We wandered over to Big Mack, who was standing by the fence waiting for us to come say hello. Possum was much more interested in the grass, though, so I chatted with and petted Big Mack as Possum worked on the grass. After about 20 minutes or so, I began to get pretty cold, so I started easing Possum closer to the road.. Allowing him another few bites here and there. By the time we got back to the road and started walking towards home, he seemed much happier then before. Funny little guy. I put a fresh layer of bedding and extra flakes of hay in his stall that night before heading off to my gig.

Chatting with Big Mack while Possum grazes on Friday afternoon

Saturday, "day 90," it had warmed up a little bit, plus the wind had died down. After barn chores in the morning, I was able to easily halter him and bring him to the stall. I gave him a good grooming, working through his little moments of bad behaviors. Nippy, pawing, moving around and what not. Once I put the saddle on him, he does seem to turn the corner. I led him out to the paddock to mount up from the stump. He walked off again. I need to remember to work on this with Ryan at some point.

We were able to take a left out of the driveway. Carefully, we walked down the hill. He seemed happy to get out again, plus it had been awhile since we've "made the rounds." All the way down to Dr. Doyle's old place.. and of course, he took a giant poop right in front of their driveway. He was fairly chill, which was nice. We just stuck to the walk because of the little patches of snow and ice.. all the way back up the hill, no breaks. We walked over to visit Big Mack, then trotted around the field a little bit, then down to the other field and around Lenny's. I didn't "work" him too hard. We got back to our barn and had been out for about 45 minutes. I brushed him off again and checked his hooves one more time, then let him go in the paddock with a giant pile of hay. He was satisfied.

Yapping with Big Mack on Saturday

Sunday morning, "day 91," it felt downright balmy at 35 degrees and climbing after the last few days. It was warm enough for me to put the big metal tub out for extra water, yea. Though I normally give him Sunday's off, it was just too nice out not to take him out for a spin. There won't be too many days left like that! Plus, the holiday's are approaching, and we are going to get very busy with all of that.

So, though I was tired from lack of sleep, I got him groomed and tacked up and we were out on the road by 11:45. Even though it was so warm, Possum started out a bit high and spooky. He was looking at this and craning his neck at that, sure that at any moment, he was going to be attacked! I marched him down the hill, down to Dr. Doyle's, then back to the corner again. The first part of New Road was looking very good, footing wise. So, I had him trot. We trotted for a while, then stopped, turned around, and trotted back. Then, to his dismay, we turned and did it all again. He finally started relaxing.

Rounding the corner at the bottom of the hill, I asked him to canter, and he popped right into that. We went about 20 strides at the canter up hill, then I slowed him to the walk (not a very difficult task), and we walked the rest of the way to the top. Then, we picked up a nice trot, past our house, past the barking Newfoundlands next door, and up the Dodge home. Then we walked over to visit Big Mack. They chatted for a bit, then I turned Possum back to the road, where we went right and down to the field across from Lenny's. We walked around there for while, and trotted a little bit. Then, we went around behind Lenny's, and I worked him at the trot in circles in the back yard. Back on the road, I had him pick up a canter, then we walked all the way home from there.

Riding on a warm Sunday

When I dismounted, he was breathing very hard. So weird. He was only a little damp, but it took him a while for his breathing to slow back to regular. He didn't dive for the water bucket. He is a strange boy. I brushed him off, checked his hooves, then let him back loose in the paddock. He was happy.

He got his "Sunday suppah" at 2:15, a couple of giant piles of hay, and plenty of fresh water before we went off to work for the afternoon.

Today, Monday, it is warm-ish, but raining, and I suspect there will be no riding today. Perhaps a hand walk and graze later.