Day 1 - Even though the horses were coming from the same place, they had not been together at all until the trailer ride to our house. That evening there were a few scirmishes - we're not entirely sure who came out on top but we think it's the little one, Coco. Tuesday evening was beautiful weather and everyone in the neighborhood was out walking. Frito and Coco aren't used to living in town - they stood at the fence on the street side and watched the "parade" of people with dogs and strollers. They even liked to watch all the cars driving down the street. Coco was very interested in Maggie - then he tried to stomp her. When they weren't looking, Maggie ran to the middle of the field and "marked her territory".
Day 2 - I woke up really early and walked out to check on the horses - Coco had a new "owie" on his back and Frito had a new scratch on his nose - not exactly sure what happened. They seemed to get things figured out because the kicking each other has stopped. Frito likes all sorts of treats: carrots, apples, celery, most anything. Coco doen't like treats at all so we didn't have anything we could hand feed him until.............we discovered sweet grain (grain with molassas). We went to Charlie's Farm Supply and met Jennifer (the horse girl who introduced us to sweet grain) and bought some general supplies. When we got home it was about 100 degrees out but we couldn't wait to try out the lunge line and see if they would listen to us. They did pretty good then we gave them a couple of handfulls of the sweet grain as a treat - Coco eats it out of our hands now and Frito if trying to get in the barn to find it. We think they might like us now. Later that afternoon Karryn and Emily (girl next door) played "beauty shop" with them. They opened the top half of the stall door and pulled a bail of straw over to stand on - the horses stuck there heads in there and the girls brushed and styled their manes.The horses were really enjoying it too! That evening we decided to saddle up Coco for the first time - he was so good that Brennan even got to ride him. Frito, on the other hand, was tied to a post (to keep him out of the way), got himself tangled up in the little bit of rope he had and fell to the ground - Jim was right there and pulled the rope free really quick and Frito got up just as fast. Now he has a new "owie" on his back too (not as bad as Coco's though) and is only allowed about 18 inches of rope (he can be a little naughty when he's tied up). When we were done we hosed them off - I'm not sure either one really enjoyed it but they stood there for us...................then they went and rolled around in the dirt like big dogs.
Day 3 - Cassidy, Karryn, Jim and I got up at 5:45 and went out to "play" with the horses. Cas went to the fence and whistled - both came right up to her (looking for more sweet grain, no doubt). We were all able to ride Coco. Cas and I worked with Frito on the ground (we still don't have a 2nd saddle for him). We were done by 8:00 - and gave them their treats in their own buckets. It;s supposed to be pretty hot again today and we're going to Hannibal to see the Gertners this evening, so other than a brushing from Cas, the horses are probably done for the day.
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