Late nite walk

I made it out twice today to work with the four amigos....once early in the morning (early for me anyway;) just as the sun was rising (yep in my jammies) and again late this evening.

When I got out there, the youngest, Dovea (8 months) and oldest, Matte (3 1/2) were snoozing together and one of our dogs, Koozo was busy checking on them and cleaning them up. I took advantage of this to lay down with them. It was great. Neither moved, other than to give me a kiss and that look--"massage please". I obliged as we lay there together.

Eventually the other two, Eivissa (28 months) and Bombay (2 next month) came over to stir the pot and get their share of attention. So with that each of the youngsters got their grooming session in the pasture. It was interesting to see how everyone reacted to having to wait for 'their' turn. All in all it was a great way to greet the sun and everyone was good....Eivissa still makes ugly faces when she doesn't get her way, but I don't really expect that to change too much.

By late this evening I had to go out to check waters, throw some more hay and do my general well being check. It had been a very long day tending to a sick hubby (for all you gals with a man in your life you know what I am talking about!:~) and a very ill dog. Plus working on brochures and business cards for our ranch for a big fundraiser this weekend that our mini stallion will be performing in. Then just before sunset our sick dobe, Chewbacca, took his last breath.....but at 13 he had lived a good, long life....just got into some dead animal on New Years Day, swallow a huge bone and the rest is history. He will be greatly missed by me....

So I needed some down time and decided to take some ideas from fellow RACers and take the four amigos for a walk...not all at once tonight, as I stated, I needed down time!:~)

It is a beautiful night. The temps had risen again today to just above freezing, and it was 30 when I went out. The skies were relatively clear and it began to snow....that really shimmery, light and wet snow. Not something that will accumulate, but filled the air with shiny crystals.

I began with Dovea. I wasn't sure how she would appreciate being taken from the group, but she was a trooper....until we passed her dam along the driveway. I believe Hatu (Warriors Tahlequah, her dam) made more of a fuss than she did. Dovea hasn't done a lot of leading, so we didn't leave the property. We worked on walk, back, whoa some in hand rein-backs and tried some flexion exercises. She needs a lot more consistent work, but seems to catch on very quickly and was a trooper for all the new experiences.

Bombay can be a stubborn gal, but she too seemed to enjoy the one on one. She did well down the drive as the entire herd was now leaving their dinner to see what was going on! She was fine leaving the property, and didn't flinch when I opened the entrance gates. We startled a couple of deer who were bedded in along the drive and she was very alert to them, but not concerned.

Eivissa....oh my Eivissa. She is a pistol. She thinks she should be the leader and choose the direction. So it was a long, long, long mile walk down the drive to the black top and back. At the black top we stopped to pick up the mail. She was very interested in the mail box, but not afraid....not like her mother, Kwis, who freaked one day when some flyers fell from my hands as I pulled them from the mail box--I was in the saddle and she took out the mailbox and my shoes and left me in the gravel!:~)

Matte was ready to go. We had a fabulous walk. She was very upbeat and has such a gorgeous gait that I attempted a bit of a jog with her. The snow was really flying now. We walked thru the woods and around the open meadow. We tried some in hand flexing, range of motion exercises such as hind leg stretches and lots of go and whoas. She was a trooper.

Hopefully I will get some photos of our work tomorrow....or some at the stables if I go to work my stallions.