On Friday Echo and I had a bit of a fight. It all started when I got him into the little pen for some 'hands on action' and he got spooked and exploded before I could get the gate closed. I made the mistake of carrying my long stick in with me and it freaked him out. He got a little scrape above his eye from the fence he bounced off and I hurt my leg when I got shoved back. That was a bad thing for him to discover he can escape like that. When I started moving him down the alley back towards the pen he turned to face me tossing his head in defiance. I decided to rush him (in my own way) to get him turned but he stood his ground and snorted at me which made me really mad. I yelled at him, beat the ground with my horse chasing stick and called him a bad boy. He was nothing but entertained and amused by my temper tantrum and as soon as I pulled a carrot out of my pocket he walked up and took it like nothing happened. I suppose everything humans do is madness as far as he's concerned. Later I did get him into the little pen and just had him stand there calmly before calling it a day.
Sunday we had a nice visit from Lea and Bob from 'Lea and her mustangs' blog. Echo wanted to impress Lea with his snorting skills but she'd heard it all before. Wildairo was remarkably well behaved compared to how he reacts with the farrier. He seemed to take a shining to Bob and took a carrot from Lea before running away like a little filly. He was nervous but I could tell it would take much for him to come around and interact with them. The one thing about Wildairo is that he knows a good thing when he see's it. He loves treats humans have and also being made a fuss of. Foxsun loves to have visitors because it means more chances of getting his belly rubbed.
Monday I took my lawn chair and relaxed in Echo's pen. He waited for the hand signal and eagerly came right up to me and stood over me and sort of fell asleep. His eyes were half closed and his bottom lip hung down a bit and I called him Bubba Gump. He let me tickle and stroke his lips and nose like when he first arrived... before he started playing games with me. I think he was relieved to have just me with him and not a herd of humans. Also the little stinker knows that generally people in lawn chairs are harmless to horses. When he woke up he kept rubbing my knee caps with his nose and top lip and I was going crazy squirming because it tickled and I expected his teeth to come into play at any moment. The funny thing is he bites the arm of the lawn chair really hard yet doesn't bit me.
Today I cleaned out the horses water tubs. Echo tried to get Bobby to play like a horse but she sniffed around like a dog instead. Echo is so sweet and gentle with her. Wildairo wanted a back rub and just a general cuddle session, which he got. Foxsun was acting like he didn't feel well again. He's been making progress but not as fast as I'd like. Today he didn't eat his grain and when I let him out he was walking aimlessly around stopping to paw the ground every now and again. I took him in to visit the cows and his old cow wife. The calves were glad to see him.
He hasn't been with dear old Dandylyons for weeks, although they visit through the fence. They gave each other a great big kiss. That's love! He's 23 and she's 18.
I went home to get him some bute and when I returned he was flat out on the ground. I had the rim of my hat down and almost tripped over him. His eyes were half closed and his body still. I thought he was dead, but no, he was just getting ready to roll about in the soft dirt and was having a think about it first. Remember Foxsun even fooled the vet into thinking he was dying out right in the examination chute so I don't feel so foolish. He's just a real good actor. He spent the rest of the day eating dried dead looking grass from around the stack yard even though he has his choice of excellent grass or alfalfa hay, grain or fresh grass down in the meadow. I don't know why he does that. Maybe he likes that anorexic look.
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