April Challenges : DONE!!

... and it's also April Fool's Day.... : )

I was not sure how much I was going to accomplish with Linus today considering we were supposed to be going to pick up the "Birthday Horse" but that got moved (again) until tomorrow afternoon. So, long story short my afternoon became freed up!! Then a 3 yr old cow of mine decided today was the day for her to calve so my Linus time was limited again but we managed to squeeze it in while the cow was in the early stages of labour. (she had a beautiful little heifer)

I have to admit I woke up unsure about this month's challenge. Then while at the farm the only thing I could even remember from it was the bouncy ball challenge. And that was only because there was a big red ball in my truck! On the way over to Linus I remembered about the apple bobbing so I ran inside and thankfully Mom had a few apples (sshhh!).

Linus was some surprised when I showed an apple to him then put it in a tub of water!! I think this is a great thing to try in the summer if your horse isn't drinking enough!! He drank while trying to get the apple. It was so funny to watch. Each time he got braver and braver about how far he would go to get the apple. Carrots are not a good idea to try..they sink right to the bottom! There were a few moments where I think in his own little way he was trying to convince me to get the apple for him. I was tempted! I felt mean making him work for it. Needless to say he got over and got the apple eventually! If I hadn't just filled the tub it might have been easier.

He got a bit full of himself afterwards so using my stick I drove him away and waited for him to ask to come back. He asked pretty rudely though so just got drove away again. Then he came back nice. When he comes back I always throw the rope all around him to make sure he is ok with us joining back up. It's a mutual kind of thing! Today I put the rope part behind his ears and pulled from side to side. He loved it since it hit both itchies at the same time! The expression was priceless! Then we did some yielding to pressure. I didn't even bother putting his halter on him today to work with him.

I showed him the big red ball and he sniffed and licked it. Eventually he did get a good grip on it too. My Dad yelled over that if it busted we wouldn't find him until we got to the next concession...but ahaa Dad, that's the whole point of these exercises!! I can't remember if it's on the list this year but we will be doing the balloon popping again.

Anyway, Linus was accepting of my throwing the ball but he did show a bit of nerves when I tossed it towards him. After a few bumps though it was no big deal so I started clapping it between my hands to make noise. That got a bit of response but he didn't bolt. He watched what I was doing then gave me a bored look. So I started throwing the ball between his legs and over his back. He was so accepting of it that I was kind of begging him to react so we could work through it!! Well, he reacted a bit for me when I started dribbling the ball off of his body. It didn't take us long to work through it though. It made me look forward to the more challenging tasks. I feel like I need to test my ability to work him through something he doesn't think he wants to do. So, in the end I was able to bounce the ball off of all parts of his body and kick it between his legs and underneath him. Success!

Above: really shows his current "raccoon" look! his beard too! maybe I should get the clippers out! I was able to roll the ball right up between his ears.

This was dribbling the ball off of him. I kept moving further and further away to "heighten the sensation"

He nearly crushed the ball!

Kicked it between all 4 legs, through and around. We did it in a slow, passing style too. Not just a rush kick to get it done and say it was done. Points are nice but Linus accepting it is worth more!

I think that's called "travelling" Mister!

Picking it up or checking out his smile in the reflection???

Apple bobbing!! What a laugh!

Donna & Linus

Lunenburg, On Canada