Remember Me??

Lol, seemed like a great title since it has been a full 3 weeks since I was last able to post!! Thank goodness the mini-challenge was in May and not June! Our internet at home has been down all month so far. Right now I am using my parents. I was on the phone with 3 separate people last night for an hour. Turns out, we are permanently down...with that company anyway. Hopefully a new, more reliable service will be in place within the next week.

I addition to that I have also been sidelined by illness. I spent 2 days in hospital; one of them being my son's 2nd birthday. Not happy about that!! Diagnosis in place, though not really yet 100% convinced: severe migraines with or without headache. The symptoms that landed me in the hospital were very similar to that of stroke which I was I had loads of tests and felt like a lab monkey. So, now it's one day at a time while we figure it out.

Anyway, horsey stuff now! I was absolutely thrilled with an Honourable Mention for the Mini-Challenge. I did not expect to finish in the running for anything because of the age of Linus and that eliminating a lot of our tasks. We did what we could. I was grateful for the ideas and the timing of them too. I have a fantastic partner in Linus and I know he will one day make a fabulous mount. The thought of riding him excites and scares the crap out of me at the same time. Good thing I have a while to work up to it!!

Because of the above-mentioned setbacks we have had a pretty low key month. We have focused mainly on manners at the gate. Linus, who at one point got into bolting through gates, will now stop halfway through the gate and stand still. These are electric wire gates which may or may not be snapping while laying on the ground.

We have also been working on picking up the feet still too. He is more willing with it now and I have turned it into a daily routine.

And fly spray!!! Oh my boy is so fantastic with it now! When I first started with the spray bottle this year, as many of you know, Linus would basically freak out at the thoughts of being sprayed. Now, I'm very proud of him for this, I can spray him ALL over, both sides, without even haltering him.

This past weekend, I was FINALLY able to get the harness on him and get it adjusted. Saturday was an introduction to it and learning the feel of it. I briefly walked him around, he tried to shake it off, once he couldn't he just kept on like he was Nimue and not like he was wearing his very first harness!!

Sunday, I put it all back on him again and this time I walked him in one hand and pulled the light training cart with the other. Then I backed him into the cart a few times too. No issues. Before I actually hitch anything to him I am going to ground drive him up the road a few times. I'm still debating on what to have him pull first. It won't be a cart that's for sure. Maybe as Lynn suggested some bleach bottles filled with water. We'll see.

The house being built beside his pasture has now reached the foundation stages. I just love that Linus is grazing so close to all of that construction. I think its great for desensitizing him to all of that heavy machinery and noise.

Lynn and Brian (Linus' breeders and our very good friends) were able to make it up for Owen's 2nd Birthday party and they were finally able to see Linus. For Lynn it had been 6 months and for Brian, 7. It was awesome to have them here and see how their little boy is growing. Linus seemed to remember them and was immediately very affectionate, especially in nuzzling Brian's face.

Our last adventure to post about to bring us up to date (I think, I did have some memory loss) doesn't actually directly involve me. My Mom was home on the day I was in the hospital. She had Owen with her and he was napping at the time. Karalee and I share the same farrier. She had told me when she would be here and knowing I would be at work said she would look after having Linus done. I forgot to tell my Mom this and when they showed up she thought Linus was being stolen. She really panicked with me being in the hospital thinking "this is all I need, for her horse to get stolen in the middle of all this". We can laugh about it now, thank goodness!
Congratulations to ALL May mini-challenge participants. It was a fantastic month