Quick Update

Sorry I haven’t been doing a better job of blogging… Board studying is really taking up most of my time right now.

Nico has been good. I had considered taking him on a trail ride this afternoon (solo!), but have decided to catch up on some studying instead. I’m on my way to visit the boyfriend this evening and then spend the day with my mom on Saturday. So Nico will get a few days off. I think he will be fine with some time off. My trainer is riding him tomorrow (Friday) and then I will be back to ride on Sunday. With gas prices being so high, I have a hard time driving to the barn every day. Sigh.

I went to ride yesterday, but it was pouring rain and the arena was soupy. I could have ridden in one of the pastures, but looking at muddy Nico galloping around the pasture with one of his buddies, I just decided to not bother. Instead, I cleaned some stalls for my trainer because she was sick.

I’ll try to write more next week! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Now THIS is the Pony I Bought!

Here is a picture of us taken last Friday before we left the “big” barn. This was before the lesson where we had to stop because Nico was ridiculously fast and difficult to control. Check out my mad braiding skills!

So I had been a little stressed out with Nico over the past couple of weeks. He was acting more and more forward and energetic and it was starting to concern me that maybe he was going to be too much horse for me. Part of the problem was that my trainer was really busy and we had trouble scheduling training rides, so she hadn’t ridden Nico in two weeks!

But when I got to the barn on Tuesday, my trainer said that she worked him fairly hard on Monday. He was quick and wanted to canter, so she just let him canter and canter. She wonders if maybe the last trainer cantered him a lot. But she said after cantering for awhile he settled down a lot and listened to her really well.

We had a lesson Tuesday afternoon and I could not believe how good my pony was. He was back to the nice quiet pony I bought last month. When I asked him to trot, he moved off without throwing his head in the air and bouncing along. He would get quick from time to time, but came back with a reasonable half-halt. Steering was majorly improved. We trotted serpentines and figure eights. He tracked along the rail without bulging or doing weird stuff.

When it was time to canter, my trainer hopped on and showed me how nicely he’s been cantering. I hadn’t slept in over 30 hours, so I decided to not canter on Tuesday. I almost fell down getting out of my car, so I think my balance was a little off The poor pony did not need to cart my floppy tired body around at the canter. When my trainer cantered him he looked like a broke pony! She did circles and he didn’t drop his shoulder in.

Then I got back on and trotted him a lot because he was starting to get wise about cantering at the end of a ride. He would get anxious to canter and then be ready to quit as soon as we were done cantering. I will take responsibility for reinforcing this pattern, so now I have to work to fix it. He settled after trotting for awhile, and was back to being a great pony within a few minutes. Then I got off again and took my saddle off so that I could cool him out bareback. He was super agreeable about standing at the mounting block for someone to get on him the FOURTH time in one lesson.

I went to the barn again on Wednesday and rode. Once again he was a really good boy. I was at the farm alone, which made me a little nervous, but everything went okay. One funny thing that happened, though, is that he moved completely laterally towards the inside when I asked him to canter one time. He moved so quick that I actually lost my balance and had to hang on! I guess all the work we’ve done to teach him to move off the leg is working! Haha.

Then I took him into the barn to untack and decided to not thoroughly groom him because it was raining and I knew that he was going to go roll in the mud as soon as I turned him loose. So I stood him where the crossties are and told him, “Stand,” and he did. I didn’t bother putting him in the crossties (the barn was closed, so don’t worry!) and he did not move his feet for the whole five minutes I spent untacking him and giving him a quick grooming. He would turn his head way around to see what I was doing, which was really cute. He’s such a cute baby!

We got his registration in the mail yesterday, and it turns out his birthday is April 3rd. So he just turned three last month. Good to know!

And I passed my second year of medical school! Now I just have the boards in June and I’m headed for third year rotations in the hospital!

Aww… Darnit Again!

I was supposed to go watch my trainer ride Nico at 12:30 today. Then my friend called me at 9:30am crying because she had an ovarian cyst rupture and needed to go to the ER. So obviously I headed over to my friend’s apartment (and I happened to be in the bathtub when she called so it was a little crazy trying to get ready fast) and helped her limp out to my car. Fortunately we got into a room quickly and now she’s off at ultrasound. While waiting, we’ve been studying for our big exam tomorrow. Ironically, it’s over the male and female reproductive systems. I hope they ask the symptoms of an ovarian cyst rupture. I’ve got those down.

So I ran out and called my trainer who said she will still ride Nico and call me tonight to let me know how it went. And then I have a lesson tomorrow at 2. Once again - an all-nighter followed by an exam and a riding lesson. I survived last time, so this time should work too.

And I just heard one of the nurses say that an “Arm verses chainsaw” is on the way in to the ER. Holy cow.

The Good and the.. Uh… Not So Good

Yesterday was COMPLETELY full of horses. Oh my. I didn’t study at all yesterday, which is really bad since I have an exam on Tuesday.

The boyfriend and I got to the barn at 8:30 and got Nico ready for my lesson. My trainer had trailered in a couple of her mares to see the vet who was visiting the barn. So everyone in the barn was whinnying and acting stupid. Nico wasn’t too bad, though, and stood okay in the crossties. I was even able to manage a running braid in his mane to see how it would stay in during the lesson (I’m not a super skilled braider). But everyone said it looked great, so that made me happy. And it only took about five minutes, so I’m sure with some practice it will be easy to do before riding.

The lesson was in the indoor, and my trainer opened the big doors on the end of the arena to let some air in. Unfortunately, there was just too much going on for Nico. There were four other horses in the lesson. There were three (yes, three) bulldozers moving around outside. I have no idea why a horse farm would need three bulldozers, but whatever. A storm front was moving in. And I think this was the first time I grabbed Nico out of his stall to ride before he went outside.

So Nico wouldn’t stand at the mounting block (he’s usually very good at this). Finally I just got him lined up at the mounting block and just slid on as he walked around it without putting my left foot in the stirrup first. Yeah, kind of stupid, but whatever.

So we walked around and Nico wasn’t spooky, but I could tell he was quite anxious. There were jumps all over the arena, which added to the confusion of such a large lesson. And to make matters worse, somehow a very beginner rider had been told the wrong lesson time, and she was in our lesson. She had only trotted a couple of times before yesterday! Ack!

After walking for awhile, we were supposed to pick up the trot. Nico and I were headed down the long side towards the open door (where he could see the other horses playing in their pastures) and we were off to the races. Holy cow, that pony trotted so fast I couldn’t believe it! We went a lap around the arena, dodging horses and jumps, before heading down that long side again. And once again, we trotted at a gazillion miles per hour. That was the point where I told my trainer I was uncomfortable with the situation and she told me that she wasn’t comfortable either and I should just walk him around for awhile to settle him.

So we walked and bended, did some baby steps towards leg yielding at the walk, halted, etc. Once again I tried trotting him with similar results. We did a small circle, and I did get a few moments of relaxation, but I had to work for every second of it. And he would NOT steer. We almost ran into the wall twice. So that was it. I got off and took him back to the crossties. I was holding back tears the best I could. At that moment I strongly questioned my decision to buy a young horse. Maybe I am just not a good enough horsewoman to deal with this kind of stuff.

I stuck Nico back in his stall because he was scheduled with the vet, and went to breakfast with the boyfriend. We had a nice breakfast, and then I went back to the barn. I decided that I would take Nico back into the arena and lunge him after the lesson was over. At least then he could deal with the scary stuff and settle down. So I put on my helmet and took him into the arena to lunge. I couldn’t find a lunging whip, so I just sent him out with and asked him to trot (we had already hand walked around the arena for awhile before that). And of course he had absolutely no energy and just wanted to cut in and stand beside me. Without a whip, I was completely unable to keep him away from me. Twirling the end of the lunge line at him has zero effect. So finally I just unclipped the lunge line and tried chasing him around for awhile. That didn’t work too well either. He made it quite obvious that he wanted to go OUTSIDE by galloping towards the open door and then stopping and hanging his head over the gate. I tried chasing him off of the gate, but he wasn’t moving. Ugh. It was really frustrating. I really need a lunging whip.

So I took the pony back to his stall and went to watch the other horses get their teeth floated. It was quite interesting. About three hours later, it was Nico’s turn to see the vet. It was storming really badly, but he wasn’t scared at all. He was only getting his sheath cleaned (finally!). The vet at the prepurchase exam said his teeth were smooth, and this vet agreed. Yay! That saved me a lot of money! And then the vet asked me how calm Nico is and I said he’s pretty quiet. So he decided to try the sheath cleaning without sedation. And what do you know - Nico stood like a champ! No kicking or tail swishing. The vet said this is as good as they stand drugged. So that made me happy. And the vet showed me how to clean his sheath so that next time I can just do it myself. My trainer laughed and said now she can pay me to do all of her horses sheaths. She said she’d have to make up another waiver for me to sign, though.

Then, after all of the horses had their teeth done, the trailer arrived to move Nico and my trainer’s horses back to her barn for the summer. My trainer had borrowed a six horse trailer from a friend since we were moving five horses. The first horse on was Bailey, who has taken HOURS to get on the trailer in the past. But yesterday, just some gentle encouragement was all that was necessary and he loaded right up. Nico went on second and I was worried about how he would handle it, but he followed me right up the ramp with no hesitation. I could almost see him thinking, “Hey guys! There’s hay on here!” as he found the manger. In fact, he liked his hay so much, my trainer said when she went to lead him off the trailer he didn’t want to leave! He is very motivated by food.

I had unloaded a different horse and was putting it away as they were getting Nico unloaded. I walked out of the barn to see Nico walking, cool as can be, down the ramp. But then, his back feet slipped and he slid down the trailer on his butt! He didn’t really seem to care, though. He just sort of gathered himself up and kept slowly walking along. We laughed about it for a long time. Poor Nico! What an entrance! So I lead him into the barn and put him in his stall. This pony is really good in new situations. I walked him around the farm later and he wasn’t worried about anything. You would have thought he had lived there forever. I think I have a future show pony! That is, if I ever get him to relax and not trot at 500 miles per hour!

The trainer is riding him Sunday and Monday and then I have a lesson on Tuesday. Hopefully things will get sorted out eventually

Fun With Nico!

Tuesday’s lesson was a lot of fun. We were in the indoor arena because it was cold outside. Nico doesn’t have much spunk indoors, but he didn’t protest too much when I asked him to trot. He kept bulging into the middle of the arena, though, and was very resistant to my inside leg. So my trainer had me do some bending exercises that I had never heard of before, and then the bulging was completely fixed! Wow, I’m glad I have access to a trainer!

Then, we stood in the middle of the arena while the other student cantered. Her horse spooked and she fell off. After she fell, her horse came tearing across the arena bucking. Fortunately, Nico stood nicely for me to jump off. The girl was totally fine and she got back on and jumped a couple of courses.

After the other student was done jumping, I asked my trainer if I could walk Nico over the super low crossrails that were set up. She said it would be fine. So I walked him over, expecting him to be concerned, but he simply walked over it without hesitation. Granted, he hit it with ALL FOUR feet, but he wasn’t concerned in the slightest. In fact, I think he enjoyed the change of routine. I headed him towards another crossrail and this time he picked up his feet better and happily walked over it. Then we trotted over some poles, and once again the pony was a superstar. New things just don’t seem to bother him at all.

Then, yesterday, my trainer was supposed to ride Nico at 3 or 3:15. I got to the barn and got him all brushed and ready to go by 3. Then it was 3:15. No trainer. Then 3:30 rolled around and a girl showed up for the lesson at 4. I realized then that my pony would not get a training ride.

So I took him outside to graze, and just as we were leaving the barn, my trainer showed up. She was super apologetic and said she could go ahead and squeeze in a quick ride, but I told her to just not worry about it. I don’t want my guy rushed and stressed out. So I took him outside and let him graze on a nice clover patch. After fifteen minutes or so, I took him into the smaller outdoor arena and practiced some showmanship moves. We’re working right now on backing up, and crossing over the front legs in a rough version of a pivot. He was quite responsive, and by the end was backing up with very little pressure.

Unfortunately, since I thought my trainer would be riding, I wasn’t wearing riding clothes. So I thought it might be fun to attempt a little “round-penning” in the arena. I have done some basic natural horsemanship stuff in the past using a round pen. Mostly just driving the horse away and then inviting them back. I wasn’t expecting much from Nico in the giant arena, but thought it would be fun to try. All I had was a lead rope and a jumping bat, so I had to work hard to get Nico moving. He was quite good, and cantered several times for me when I kissed to him. I had to sprint down the arena to keep pressure on him, but it was kind of fun to run at the same speed as my cantering horse.

Believe it or not, when I turned away from Nico, he walked the twenty or so feet over to me and stood behind me. I was quite happy. As far as I know, he has never done any kind of natural horsemanship stuff. He followed me around for awhile before he became interested in the tractor dragging the other arena. So I sent him back out and chased him around some more. The second time I released the pressure, he simply turned and faced me. He didn’t walk over, but that was fine. I was just happy that he didn’t completely ignore me.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Nico. We have a riding lesson at 9am. Then he’s (hopefully - cross your fingers!) getting his horrifyingly grungy sheath cleaned if the vet has time. Then, in the afternoon we’re moving to my trainer’s farm about fifteen minutes away. Fortunately, he’s moving with a couple of his pasture mates, so I think he’ll settle in well at the new farm. The barn where we are at now has a significant amount of drama, so I’m looking forward to moving someplace smaller and more cheerful!

Today’s Ride (In Pictures)

First of all, thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions on my last post. I was just a little frustrated that evening, and forgot about all the good things Nico is doing. And don’t worry - I’m not trying to get him in a “frame” yet, just trying to get away from the “riding a giraffe” feeling.

Today, my boyfriend was visiting, so I dragged him to the barn to take pictures! Nico was a good boy as always, but he has been playing rough in the pasture and has quite a few bumps and scrapes (aka teeth marks) on him. I’ve seen him dish it out to his pasturemates, though, so I don’t think he’s being picked on. They’re still just sorting things out. He only had one mark that cut deep enough to bleed.

So I tacked him up and we went outside. Here we are, with Nico waiting patiently for me to put my gloves on. You can clearly see in this picture just how spirited my pony is. As soon as this picture was taken, he ran off bucking around the arena Haha. More like I had to wake him up…

And here is why the boyfriend needs specific instructions for what to take pictures of. This is not even slightly flattering, but you can see how well Nico stands at the mounting block:

After mounting, I’ve been having him stand for 15-30 seconds or so until I ask him to walk off. Movement isn’t his favorite thing, so he’s pretty good at this exercise:

Then we walked around for awhile, and I showed the boyfriend how we’ve been practicing bending and moving off my legs. The boyfriend knows nothing about horses, so he wasn’t too impressed. I’ve been working a lot with getting Nico to move off leg pressure, and he has recently started to cross over his front legs in a small circle at the walk. The Haflinger trainer I worked for last summer spent lots of time on these kind of exercises with her horses. We haven’t done much of it at the trot yet, but that’s our next step.

My trainer wants me to start working on picking up some contact with the reins at the walk. Contact still makes him a little nervous, so I’m just doing it a little at a time and making sure he stays relaxed.

Then we started trotting and Nico was a very good boy today! He was really relaxed and responded to my half-halts very willingly. And looking at the pictures, I see that he’s not as giraffe-like as I thought, so I’ll not pick at him too much about his head for awhile.

Here is the corner of the arena where we sometimes run into the fence at the trot. If I’m not paying attention, we literally might not make it through the corner. My trainer said she’s had a few horses that will run into the fence if you don’t steer them well enough. Hmm… Seems like Nico is lacking some self-preservation skills…

And here is a picture right after we trotted over the pole. Yes, Nico trots over poles. I know you are impressed. During a lesson, my trainer told me to trot over the pole and I asked her what the chances were that he might leap over it. She said he would not leap over it. She was right.

Then, after trotting for awhile, I showed the boyfriend Nico’s lateral bending skills. Again, he was unimpressed.

And then, because I’m a big dork, I decided to cool Nico out riding bareback. That’s one of the perks of owning my own horse. I can do whatever I want with it!

After riding, I got some betadine from the barn manager and took Nico out to the wash rack to clean out his cut. It was on the top of his butt, near his tail. I started the water on his back foot and he picked it up and kicked behind him several times. I was up by his shoulder, but kicking is still highly undesirable, so I yelled at him and he quit. Then, this kid drove by at like 100 miles per hour on a riding mower and Nico almost passed out. He got really nervous and did the most impressive “spook in place” that I have ever seen.

So far, I have only found one thing that really scares this pony, and it’s the sound of something dragging on concrete. Someone dragging a muck bucket can make him perk up and stare at it in horror. Last week, someone dragged a big plastic trash can down the barn aisle and he got fairly nervous. The riding mower today was going across the gravel parking lot, and something was dragging in the gravel, creating a similar noise to the muck bucket and the trash can. It was just a little too much for Nico. He didn’t do anything stupid, but was obviously scared. I took him out of the crossties and had my boyfriend hold him while I finished up with the wound treatment. He was fine after that.

I think we will revisit the wash rack tomorrow and relax. I was concerned that he was going to freak while crosstied, so I didn’t want to put him back in today while the kid was still driving around on the riding mower.

And out of curiosity, what would you all do with a horse that sometimes kicks his back leg when he’s annoyed? He’s only done it a few times, and never AT someone, but I was just wondering what you would do if it were your horse? My first instinct is to be very aggressive with him next time it happens. I did tell the boyfriend, who was standing near his head, “If he kicks at me, get out of the way, because I’m going to beat the snot out of him.” Not that I would go completely crazy, but that short window of opportunity would be FULL of punishment.

Slightly Frustrated

School has been really bad lately. We took a practice test for Step I (medical school boards taken after the first two years) and I basically did horribly. I got my results this afternoon and cried all the way to the barn. I need to relearn EVERYTHING about basic medical sciences in the next eight weeks. Nothing like a little pressure to make life more fun.

But visiting my boy was great for lifting my spirits this afternoon. I have ridden him every day this week, and he gets tomorrow completely off. When I got to the barn it was completely deserted. I told myself I shouldn’t ride when nobody else is there, but then I just couldn’t resist. There’s something not too smart about riding your new, young, slightly clumsy horse without anyone around to call 911. And it was also ridiculously windy today. But I couldn’t talk myself out of riding, so I did.

Nico was hanging out in the pasture and let me catch him (one day earlier in the week he walked away from me… Grrr…) and then I took him back to the completely deserted barn. He was soooo good. I think it was his nap time because he was almost comatose in the crossties. I pulled out my scissors and trimmed the worst of his whiskers, so now he doesn’t look like an old man anymore. He was really good and held really still. I know scissors are kind of dumb, but I can’t afford clippers anytime soon. So for now, safety scissors are my best friend.

And then I found a bite mark or something under his mane. It wasn’t bleeding, but it was a little swollen and missing some hair. I talked to the barn manager before I left and she said she would check it tomorrow and make sure it looks the same or better.

And then I had the nicest ride on my pony. We just walked and trotted. He has been extremely forward and bouncy with the trot lately. I think it’s because we’re riding outside now. But I was able to use half-halts effectively and get him trotting in a more pleasant manner. I worked for awhile to get him to soften a little and not trot with his head in the air, but he would just not give an inch. All I wanted was a slight give and we would have stopped, but he would just not budge. In the past I have worked with trainers who used draw reins to get the horse to round up a little, but I am not planning on using draw reins with Nico. So how do you guys do it without draw reins? Side reins and lunging? He flexes laterally very well, but we can’t seem to figure this one out.

I can’t help but think that his canter departures would be easier if I could round him up a little in the trot. After giving up on that today, I asked him to “Whoa” and it took like fifteen steps to get him to stop. So we worked on halting for awhile and that just got me really frustrated. I know he’s a baby, but come on! He stopped great a few weeks ago! Maybe I need to go buy a Tom Thumb bit like the seller used on him He’d probably stop if I hit him with that a few times.

So now I’m off to study all evening. I’ve got so much to learn. Ugh.

I’m Taking a Day Off!

Nico, on the other hand, is being ridden by my trainer.

Actually, I had planned to ride this afternoon, but my mom called last night and said they had decided to induce labor with my pregnant sister this morning at 6am. So then I tried to figure out how to go to mandatory classes AND ride this morning. I couldn’t work out the scheduling, so I called my trainer who said she would be able to squeeze a ride in on him this afternoon. I gave him yesterday off, then planned to ride him today in preparation for my lesson tomorrow. I didn’t really want to give him two days off before a lesson.

Since my mom doesn’t know I have a horse, I couldn’t come up with any excuse for staying in my current city of residence all afternoon. So I just have to drive a few hours to see my sister and the new bundle of joy.

Nico Has a Friend!

I got to the farm yesterday afternoon to see that Nico wasn’t in his usual individual turn out. I bumped into the barn manager and she said they turned him out with one of the gelding herds that morning. She said they chased him around for awhile, but then one of the horses, Bailey, eventually decided to protect him from the others.

Now Bailey is not my favorite horse on the planet. He bucked really big with me one time last year. He’s an off the track thoroughbred, and was a stallion until he was older (six or seven?) so he’s kind of a pain at times. He’s also the horse that falls asleep in the crossties and scares me to death every time I have to tack him up. But I was really happy to see him grazing with Nico away from the other horses. They were practically grazing on top of each other they were standing so close. Bailey usually runs away when you try to catch him, so I was hoping he wouldn’t run off (with Nico in tow) when I approached them. But they didn’t run off, and I caught Nico very easily, and Bailey came over for me to rub his face.

Then we rode by ourselves in the outdoor and Nico was full of energy. I figured with his exciting morning, it was okay for him to be a little “up”. Steering was really bad yesterday. Oh well. Two steps forward, one step back. After riding, I pulled off his saddle in the arena and got back on bareback to cool him out. I hadn’t ridden bareback in at least 8 years, so it was fun. We only walked, as I felt a little insecure without a saddle. He walked really slowly and carefully. Then one of the teenagers at the farm who is training her own young jumper at the moment asked if she could try him. So she hopped on bareback and trotted him around a little. He was really good for her.

The vet didn’t have time for him on Friday. So the poor guy has a grungy sheath for a couple more weeks. I ran over to the barn to check on him Friday evening and stumbled into a barn movie party. So I ended up staying and eating pizza and watching International Velvet. And then I went out and looked in Nico’s stall at 10:30pm and he was laying down sleeping. It was really cute!

He didn’t act like his back was sore at all yesterday. I’m kind of wondering if he just doesn’t like being surprised by someone suddenly touching his back. One of the times he swished his tail was when I was petting his face and my boyfriend touched his back while we were in his stall. So I think it surprised him. And if I’m grooming him, he never does it. My trainer said that my saddle wouldn’t be making his back sore, but we don’t know about the saddle that the previous trainer used on him. So I’ll just pay attention until the vet comes in a couple of weeks.

When I took Nico back out to his new field yesterday afternoon, three of the horses came galloping up to the gate. That made me a little nervous, and I tried to shoo them away from the gate. The last thing I need is a hoof to my head. Finally they backed up a few steps and I was able to walk my pony through the gate and let him go. Two of the horses started chasing him. I felt bad for him, but then Bailey came galloping from the other side of the pasture and chased off the other two horses! Then he and Nico walked off together to graze. I suddenly have a newfound love for Bailey.  He’s taking care of my baby!

Friday Lesson

This morning I had a riding lesson.

The workers kept the morning lesson horses in, so I got Nico out of his stall and took him to the grooming area. He was like, “Hey! We’re supposed to go outside to my pasture now!” I had to convince him that we were going for a ride first. He got over it fairly quickly and then stood still. I had my trainer check my saddle fit (like five people have told me the saddle is fine - but I still like some reassurance). She said it’s good, but if he fills out over the next couple of years I might need to get a new one.

So we all tacked up and headed outside to the big outdoor arena. I rode in the smaller outdoor arena the other night, so I was a little nervous about riding in the gigantic arena. Nico could have cared less, though. He was peppy and responsive, but nothing worried him. He acted like a big boy at the mounting block and stood perfectly for me to get on. He did walk off before I asked him, but we can work on that. There were four other horses in the lesson and he did a good job not paying attention to them today.

And the best part of the whole lesson was when my trainer told us to turn early onto the long side and leg yield back to the rail. I figured I was excluded from the exercise, but then she yelled to me that I should at least give it a try and if it made him nervous I could just walk him around a bit. Well, let’s just say my pony is a superstar. He didn’t do some amazing leg yield or anything, but his body stayed straight and we had some definite lateral movement all the way back to the rail. My trainer was quite impressed. I was so proud of my pony!

And then I cantered him both ways in the arena. We were exceptionally fast and strung out, but we cantered and he was very willing to pick it up.

I put him back in his stall after my lesson and crossed my fingers that the vet has time to clean his sheath today and check if his back is sore. His “boy part” looks really nasty at the moment and every now and then he will swish his tail and raise his head if I touch his back. So I want to know if something is going on with that, or if he’s just being a weirdo. If the vet can’t get to him today, he will be back in two weeks. Poor boy. I hope the vet has time today.

And Nico is getting introduced to the “calmer” gelding herd today (if his drugs wear off in time - if he even gets to see the vet today). So I’m a little worried about my baby out in a herd situation. The girls at the barn assured me that these geldings are super quiet and not aggressive to other horses. I hope so. I don’t want my cute little pony to get bite marks on him.