Well I can't belive where the time has gone either. It is almost the end of April and I have not reported on the great cuteness in my life for weeks. That is probably because although he looks cute he is not. He is one ornery critter as they say somewhere.
We are waiting for the equine dentist to visit again in May. When last here she advised on a new bit and let me have a really good look into the mouth of Sheltie. I have found a bit I think is ok but am waiting till she assesses it before doing any more rein work.
That is not to say he does nothing, but a few lunging times and a few walks up the track are quite bland now. He will follow on a loose line and he will walk, trot and even a canter on a lunge now, though I made him canter when he was being stubborn rather than let him avoid forward motion so even if he looked good doing it it wasn't being done under best conditions. One day I will ask him to go up the pace steadily rather than just chase after him like I did then. He was being a stubborn boy...
He has given a few rides again, only short, twice two weeks ago and twice this week. He stands to allow the riders to mount well enough and will walk and lunge with them on, but he would rather go to the paddock where his friends are and stuff his face. One of the riders is ready to try a rising trot on the lead, he is more ready to head for the field and has thrown in a couple of baby bucks, fortunately he is little and the rider thinks it funny so if he thought he was getting rid of her he was wrong. We just kept moving.I think it is more showing his frustration at being kept busy than out and out trying to getting rid as the jumps he did were very tiny and we have seen how he broncs around the paddock when he feels good- so if he tried those actions with a kid on board there would be a few nailbiting moments..but he doesn't so that ok then. He looks so sweet but is not at all.
He is still moulting like mad. It is white hairs all over me and you can see in the paddock where he has rolled leaving a white mist over the grass. It is a shame there is no use for a carrier bag full of white fluff..
He is still playing fetch with his glove and a brush and a bucket and anything he can carry which is really fun, he wants a reward and almosts asks me to throw my glove, trying to pull it off my hand. He steps back as if waiting to see which way it is going to go, it is a very deliberate movement and impressed the dentist and the farrier.Unfortunately he is not moving on much with riding pony skills. I am so short of a rider who can bring him on. I have not sat on him this side of the snow as I am too big and that is the trouble with his best friend Alysha, she is too tall now although she has had a good long ride around the hill on a lead so he has shown he is ok out and about...until he wants to sniff a pile of horse droppings on the path. He is like a dog, he cannot walk past someone elses business, perhaps because his nose is so low to the ground.
Morning are the same as ever, early out, feed and groom, work him, walk him or turn out and then the rest of the stable chores (except they are not chores). it does not matter what the day or the weather, he is a commitment and this has been over a year of blogs so far and he is only rising 5, his birthday is late June. There are years and years of life in him, probably more than I have left in me which is not a joke, it is a serious responsibility. Each day I see his face for the first time I get that gooey "isn't he gorgeous " moment and then the work begins. Mums out there - do not treat your child to a pony, little as they, are unless you truly want to live the life, it has to be what the grown up wants to do, never mind what the child wants. I am just so lucky to have my own MILKY BAR KID pony to enjoy, it doesn't matter if the rest of the family think I am bonkers. xx
I am off to my very best friend's tomorrow for a few days and the landowner is in charge of Sheltie, I am lucky there too, I can trust her with his life !!
