Just trying to catch up a little on the blog. I started it a bit late, but thats ok.
After Tia came home Thursday night, I left her in the capable hands of my students, Becca and Gabbi, and two other good friends at the barn, Nikki and Emily. Before evening knowing about Tia, my husband and I had planned a weekend getaway for our 6th Anniversary!
Of course I was a worry wart, but all of the girls handled my insanity quite well with frequent updates and lots of love for the new pony!
My husband and I decided to leave the hotel early to get home and see Tia and do midday chores. She was happily munching on hay in her room when we arrived. I pulled the other two horses in from the field so that Tia could go out for the afternoon. She was extremely polite and respectful, finished all of her lunch and was led outside to graze in the sunshine. I cleaned her stall and made sure everyone was good for the evening before heading home.
Monday, 9/24, was the first night of taking my daughter with me to the barn for chores. When we got to the barn, Tia was grazing in the riding ring while the other two were inside waiting for dinner. Here she is enjoying the sunshine...
After feeding the horses inside and placing her feed in her room, Gwen and I headed down to get Tia.
Gwen helped me walk her up to the barn and into her stall for dinner. While she ate, we let the other two out and did evening chores. Then we pulled her out and put her on cross ties to do some much needed brushing...
She wasnt to thrilled about the cross ties. She def seems to be a panicky little thing and when she feels trapped with go backwards. Although, I am not really sure if it was that she felt trapped or if it was because there was a pile of hay in the aisle way right next to the cross ties. So, just to be sure no one got hurt, I left her on one cross tie and let her eat hay while I brushed. And brushed. And brushed some more. The rainrot on her back seems to be healing nicely. She really needs a bath to get all of the dirt and gunk out of her coat, but I am waiting on the temp to rise a bit above 80.
So we brushed and combed and cut her mane. It was terrible. I couldnt handle the stringy mess of it anymore and chopped the entire thing off. There had to have been small woodland creatures living in there at some point! Ugh! She stood quietly eating hay while I accosted her with brushes and combs and scissors. At one point, she gave me a tail swish with an ears laid back attitude, which at first I was excited about and then I told her to cut it out. If horses could shrug I believe she would have at the moment. She had that look of "Oh. Sorry mom. My bad!"
After working on her coat and mane, I moved onto her feet. Knowing that she has had to be aced every time she has had her feet done does not thrill me in the least and it most certainly is not a safe practice. So, to her feet we went. Gwen was the keeper of the treats. Each time Tia picked up her feet and let me play with them, Gwen would bring me a treat for me to give Tia. On the fourth foot, when I asked for a treat, instead of coming to me, she went straight to Tia. Now I know I should have said No and stopped her, but quite frankly, she has to learn sometime and Tia was being exceptionally well behaved. I reminded her to keep her fingers flat, which they werent and before I could get to her hand, Tia had accidentally pinched the tip of Gwens finger between her teeth. Once she realized she had Gwen and not the treat she immediately let go and backed away. I checked to make sure she still had a finger, poor kid. We cleaned it up. No stitches needed. Only broke a little of the skin. Im sure it hurts like the Dickens, but I doubt she will forget about flat fingers again. (Yep, enroll me for Mother of the Year - I am that guy!)
Tia went back into her stall for the night to get some much needed rest and hay. Stay Tuned...Farrier appointment at 6:30pm on 9/25!
And just because, here is my little helper cleaning stalls with me!
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