Bibbity bobberty hat

Today was a fun day!

The afternoon was gorgeous and warm so I decided to go play with my horses. I brought out a santa hat for some photos. At first, Annie, Scout, and Yalla were afraid of it. But, brave Nadia casually strolled up to me and I placed the hat right on her head. However, as you can see, she was really expecting more carrots, not to model a silly red hat! After Nadia's show of confidence, Scout and Yalla were curious and cautiously investigated.

Soon I had Yalla wearing it. She got so relaxed about wearing it I think she almost fell asleep!

I decided to ride, first Nadia, then Scout. Rather than a lengthy groom and saddle-up process, I opted for just a bridle and bareback. I am so please that my horses are behaved when I ride them bareback. I even loped both of them. I was so proud of them. Nadia was good, as always, and Scout kept his head down and was very relaxed and calm, even when we loped.

While I was riding Scout, Yalla played nearby, sometimes running with us or around us. When we stopped, she came over to chew on my boot.

After our ride, I put the hat on Scout
and Yalla made sure to hold his reins for me.

I also rode Annie. She is so much calmer than she was just a few years ago. I trust her completely now. she doesn't play her spook games nearly as much, and she will settle down to a walk after we trot or lope, whereas she used to just prancey dance, endlessly. Today, we only walked and trotted.

Here's a picture of me on Annie. Her poor tail is so short! I did try chili powder, cayenne pepper, and even shampoo on it, but I think Yalla likes all flavors. While I was riding Annie, a crow settled on the round pen fence.
Doesn't Annie's mane look nice though? It all falls on one side now and is really long, for my horses, anyway.
Earlier, Annie wanted nothing to do with the Santa hat. However, if I use any sort of head restraint on her, she is well behaved. Just having a bridle on, as you can see, she didn't mind wearing the hat. She gets that way with her blanket too. She'll leave and come back to me and leave and come back to me, until finally she'll just give up and accept me putting on her blanket unless I have a halter and lead rope on her. I don't need to tie her, I just throw the line over the stall wall. Then we do it all over again the next time.
And again, Yalla held the reins.

I need to figure out a trick for that little girl. She loves chewing and mouthing all things.

Then, I tried to take a picture of Yalla and I, hugging. She is the most loveable horse!



Not too bad for a self portrait. Only, I guess the lens got dusty or something. I sure wish I could fix the spots on Yalla's face.

Oh yeah, I put Annie in early to eat an extra flake of hay by herself. Yalla got frantic but when I put a flake of hay out in the field with the three of them, Yalla, Scout, and Nadia, she settled right down to eat. Did I tell you that she loves to eat? Earlier, she was biting off pieces of carrot along with the others. I broke the hay up into handfuls and scattered it around. Seeing how quickly she settled down, I made a decision.

I decided to wean Yalla, starting tonight. She was six months on the 14th. I expect it to be a windless night so I left the three of them outside. That way, she can nose right up to the fence with her mama, if Annie wants to. Yalla doesn't nurse so much anymore, anyway. Mostly for comfort, I think. It will get cold but they all have nice thick coats. They were even beginning to sweat this afternoon after they ran around, from their thick fur. Annie is the one I worry about most, she doesn't have much of a coat and she's a bit underweight. By weaning off Yalla, I hope to get Annie's weight up soon, with beet pulp mash daily for a while. While they were together, Yalla would eat everything her mother ate so it was hard to supplement Annie.

Bibbity bobberty hat - song: Queen Bitch, artist: David Bowie, album: Hunky Dory