The Not-Spring

I sometimes over-schedule myself and regret it. Such was the last few weeks. Luckily the weather went cuckoo-bananas, so I didn't have to feel bad about not do much with Royal. We had ridiculous amounts of wet, sloppy, slushy, mushy snow/rain/sleet for a while and no one was happy. Even the horses would suddenly make nasty faces for no reason. They'd just be standing and all of sudden wrinkle their noses and pin their ears, and then go back to normal, all without anyone moving or doing anything. Everyone was just crabby.

So, obviously not a lot of playing or riding for Royal and me. We managed to get a few walks in, wherein I decided I was tired of Royal making bug eyes at the garbage cans every time we went past them. I politely pointed out to him that he has walked past them over a hundred times, and he is still alive to tell about the tale. So, now every time he gets snorty walking past them, I ask him to squeeze back and forth until he can touch them, and then he has to touch them at least 10 times without getting all bug eyed. So far, it seems to be working. He might get a little worried as we approach them, but then recognizes them, decides he would rather not bother with them, and walks calmly past.

He also got a nice gash on his left hind not too long ago. It must have happened not too long before I got there, as it seemed pretty fresh. So I cleaned it, dressed it, and wrapped in neon green Vetrap.

Notice all the snow. That was on April 15th.

He wasn't particularly happy, but it looked a lot better a couple days later.

So, we waited for the snow to go away. And waited. And waited some more.

And starting this weekend, Happy Summer!

No seriously. It went from snowing and cold at the beginning of the week to sunny and absolutely gorgeous this weekend. Apparently, we skipped spring and summer started just in time for the MN Horse Expo. Sweet. I was walking around the Fairgrounds all morning Saturday in just a t-shirt and jeans with my iced tea, all comfortable and happy-like. I got to see over my dream trailer ([Homer Simpson voice]Mmm, Hawk two horse straight load bumper pull with a ramp and a dressing room *drools*[/Homer Simpson voice]), try all sorts of food, stock up on Royal's joint supplement, and just have a good time. I was sort of disappointed in the demos and the lack of super fancy, over-the-top living quarter trailers, but the Expo is always fun.

So, yeah. Not much for a while, but now that the weather should stay (mostly) sane and I'm not trying to exhaust myself with my schedule, we should have lots of time to back on track and prepping for Carriage House! Bring on the nice days and fun times.

Winterspring

I realize I haven't been blogging much lately, mostly because I've been working evenings and that's when I prefer to blog. I've still had some time to play with Royal, although the weather is going crazier than usual. We had a brief reprieve with above-freezing temperatures... and it snowed yesterday.

Seriously? Will this winter EVER be over? I'm tired of suiting up with long johns, wool socks, and tons of upper layers just to be outside for more than a few minutes. Don't get me wrong, everything's been melting nicely and steadily, but slowly. There's lots of puddles everywhere, but quite a few still have ice at the bottom, so no wading. We did have some puddles in the road that were ice free that were wade-able, until Royal hears a loud noise, forgets he's in a puddle, suddenly remembers that he's wading in a puddle, and freezes until he remembers that his hooves still work underwater.

"Don't really know where to go from here."

Although he still tried to climb through the big snow banks while we still had them.

Mostly we've been hand walking, which ended up being a good idea when the ice started cracking. Royal is big on context. A person moving a barrel or a tarp is no big deal, but if they move by themselves, obviously a big horse-eating monster is the culprit. Obviously. So he proceeds to lose his mind and forget that he and I are on the same planet. The best way to get him back to Earth varies with the situation, but after a couple sessions, the best plan ended up encouraging him to circle at the fastest possible trot on the road away from the ice, and Squeeze Game close to the ice. Circling let him use up his adrenaline, and Squeeze kept him from getting too emotional near the ice..

We did get a ride in, and he powered away from home, until we got to the end of the property line, where he spooked at an empty soda bottle and wanted to go home. I kept his brain occupied with Partial Disengagement and back-ups. I think he's got as much spring fever as I do. And the never-ending winter is definitely not helping, even though he looks all handsome when he's windblown.

Supposedly it's going to warm up after this weekend, and we can hopefully continue our excursions, including going to the park down the road. But first spring needs to get here and stick around until summer arrives.