Dealing With Stress, Equine Style....



Fuzzy Dice - The Latest Equine Accessory!

The past couple weeks have been a bit insane, between trying to suck water out of the basement rug (thank you, Hurricanes Irene & Lee),  my dad's recent heart attack, surgery, subsequent doctoring, and back-to-school craziness. 

Frankly, it's a miracle we've gotten through the past few weeks without anyone killing each other.

Here's how we added some horse fun to alleviate stress build-up:

One day recently Noah's buddy Will joined us at the barn.  He'd come with us once before, and as a confirmed animal lover, wanted to spend some more time with the horses, donkey, and dogs.  Noah showed Will how to groom Sug, and after Noah was done riding her we put Will up on her on the longe line.  Noah had indicated Will was hoping to try a trot, and after doing some basic prep work with Will I signaled Sug to move into a slow trot.  Let's just say that Will was incredibly game, but Sug's a lot bouncier the coin operated pony in front of the Walgreen's! Will had a blast, but noted that "this riding thing is a lot harder than it looks!"

We also watched our favorite Cairn Terrier in his very first Agility Match.  Kudos to Perzival for doing such a spectacular job, and to all  the amazing dogs and their handlers. 

After agility we headed off to the barn to hack the girls.  It was such a nice day we decided to cool them out on the trails, so off we tromped through the neighboring fields. We must've been a sight: A horse, a pony, a boy, and a donkey.  Sug and I took point, Cookie tried to keep up, and Noah did his best to let us know when the donkey was doing a dive bomb run from behind. A little chaotic to say the least, but good fun.

Another day we just relaxed and hacked the girls, with no agenda other than relaxation for horse and rider.  Sophie and her buddy Bella also did some pony/girl bonding.  Really, not much is cuter than two little girls and their adored ponies.  Unless it's a much-loved and infinitely patient mare putting up with a little adornment from her kids.

And of course, (unfortunately for the cats) a lot of horsie time whetted the kid's appetite for cat jumping, so the poor cats were shanghaied into a little cat steeplechasing.