First I put his halter on in a business like fashion and then gave him a real serious cuddle.
I showed Brad how well he leads and had him lead him about so I could watch. Wildairo was a bit stubborn and didn't want to leave me behind. He looks like a little pony when Brad leads him.
I ended up leading Wildairo around because he's really happy to be with me.
He acts like he's been doing this all his life. I wonder what he'll be like when he's going for a walk outside of his familiar corral. Today before I went in his corral, he was banging on the gate with his hoof and throwing his body sideways up against the gate wanting me to rub his neck. As soon I was in his corral he was a perfect gentleman.
I gave him all his baby carrots and apple before I started his lesson. I'm a big believer of hand feeding a horse treats and have been doing since 1963. I was a bit shocked to read that some people think it leads to biting! My horses don't frisk me looking for treats because I don't keep treats in my pockets and Wildairo knows better to grab at me or my clothes. Maybe some people just do it all wrong and let the horse rough them up looking for treats and nip at them. One of the first thing's I taught Wildario was the meaning of the word 'no'. I bought a pony who was a very fast and vicious biter and it had nothing to do with hand feeding. I bite his ear till he squealed and he never bite anyone again.
Before I went to work with Wildairo I went to see Foxsun and his old cow wife. I took a brush and gave then both a good brushing. They love it. They crowd me wanting their turn. When Foxsun wants his belly scratched he holds his leg up like a little dog peeing. I jumped back the first time he did it (20 years ago) because I thought I was about to get hoofed. They are such a sweet old couple. The cow is called Dandylyons, she's 17 and as gentle as a kitten. She and I used to walk for miles together when she was a calf. Her real mother was the founding cow of our herd and was very old when she gave birth to Dandylyons. She never got up again after calving because she had a dislocated hip and also a prolapsed uterus. We were amazed she made it through the winter and thought she'd die before she calved. The vet came out to put her to sleep and I took her last calf home with me and raised her like she was one of the family.
2 comments:
That's an amazing story about Dandylyons, the Cow Wife. I love it!! That could easily be a children's book!!
Maybe I should write down all her adventures over the years.
She's only had about three calves because she hates bulls. I don't think she's had a calf for about ten years or more. We had to hold her still one year for the bull and boy was she mad. We only have a small herd of about 20 cows so we rent a yearling bull every year to prevent inbreeding. Dandylyons attacks the bull's as soon as they show up in the pasture so they keep away from her. She doesn't think she's a cow. She moo's for Foxsun when she looses sight of him and he runs all over the place calling her in a right frenzy. I've seen him galloping down the side of the bluff over loose rocks looking for her and it really worries me the old fool live injure himself. They have been in about 300acres of hills and sagebrush all summer and they loose each other often and it's mayhem for awhile.
Foxsun doesn't want anything to do Wildairo because he wants to be only with Dandylyons. When she dies he'll be heart broken and so I dread that day. She's very gentle with people and just a big loveable pet.
Post a Comment