Today was an absolutely beautiful day here in Eastern Ontario. It was mild and there was no wind. We are going to make up for it tomorrow in freezing rain but at least we had today!!
I started out by taking Linus out to the front pasture to play in the snow and let off some steam. Nessie has missed being able to get and play with him so as you can see in the pictures below, they had a good time together!
I love catching Linus in action. It is so much fun to watch!
Today was also the first time we fitted the new harness to Linus. We have had to modify it a little bit and use some pieces from the old so that it fits him for now but in the end, we had it all set. He was stellar while we made the adjustments. Dad even had the drill out and was drilling new holes with the harness on him. Linus didn't even flinch at the sound of the drill. What a good boy! While we were working on a piece of harness he somehow got his lead rope wrapped around his head behind his ears then pulled back and panicked and kept pulling until he had the gates making a round pen pulled into an oblong rectangular kind of shape. Thankfully when I "whoaed" him he stopped and froze and I kept talking to him while I cut the lead rope. I put him in the barn while we fixed the gates then brought him back out again...this time he didn't play with the rope except to try to untie it!
He stood remarkably well while we hitched him to the cart. This had been a very long time having to stand still while we fitted the harness and then hitched him. He showed a lot of patience and maturity while we worked around him. I think he was actually basking in the attention!! While standing at his head he started to play with my zipper. This isn't uncommon for him but the little bugger actually broke my zipper pull clean off my coat. After fishing the zipper pull out of his mouth, I took a look and saw that he broke the whole mechanism...thanks Linus!! Looks like I'll be with Susan and hope that Santa is listening.....
When we finally set off we had a very short but pleasant drive. Linus really enjoyed getting out and was so good when we met a walker with 3 aggressive dogs, some traffic and many more dogs. He was a superb boy. Not only did I have a fantastic 4 hours with Linus but had some really great quality time with my Dad too. I hope everyone else had as incredible of a day as we did!
Wow, 4 hours?? Donna you killed it! =] Good for you! what a good boy Linus is to stand still for so long..remarkable for a baby! I love his want to put things in his mouth...Reese was doing that alot yesterday too...more than usual. He grabbed the lead rope, the tote bag handles etc....I just had to laugh. They are so much fun, arent they?? Linus is going to be such an amazing mount for you by the time you ride. WOW. You are an inspiration!!! So glad you joined us!!! I think you get the award for longest time on the "ride with me!!" ha ha.
ReplyDeleteDonna, is Linus actually HITCHED IN HIS NEW HARNESS AND PULLING YOU IN A CART!!!!??? Congratulations!!!!! WOW!
ReplyDeleteThanks ladies. Yes Susan I was in the buggy for taking that picture. We were working with him for 4 hours in total but he wasn't hitched for that whole time. I spent time walking him before hand and other ground tasks. Learning to stand still was a great one for him! He was phenomenal. He loves the attention so much its really easy to lose track of time!
ReplyDeleteDonna your day sound fabulous! Isn't great to lose time with our horses?!?!? Linus is doing a stellar job with you at the helm!!!! Phenomenal is right!!!! Awesome to see your work in put to big test!!!
ReplyDeleteCurlies just bask in the attention...and we certainly love them for that....even with the occasional over zealous destruction of tack or our jackets. LOL! Sometimes Santa is a little hard of hearing, so an additional shout is required.