Braid...Re-do Do

Either Danny or his brothers made a mess out of his braid overnight. I'm thinking maybe the brothers considering where the biggest mess was located. It really doesn't matter who was to blame or whether the cause was play or jealousy, we had a do-over this morning and I think I did a much better job on the braid this time around. :) 

Burrs and Braids

Spent the first part of the afternoon de-burring and braiding Mouse and Danny. Django is covered with them and he grew impatient, I grew tired and my fingers sore before we were done so his proper grooming will wait until another time. Riley was just being uncooperative today but he's not as burr covered as the others. Neither is Old Brandy but her mane is much shorter and easier to keep clean.

Sensory Experiences

I've neglected this blog lately. I've had a lot going on personally for the last two months and I'm afraid that I've neglected my horses, too. They are still cared for, fed and watered, but the neglect has come from how little time I have to spend with them. They are fine but I know they miss me as much as I miss them. When I do have a few minutes to spend with them, they fight over my attention as if it was a sweet delectable treat. They do need that attention now. The cockle burrs are out and clinging to every bit of mane and tail. I spent hours one day last week picking them out but it was a futile effort. They seemed to have acquired twice as many the next day. But I will keep trying and hopefully Steve will get his bushhog back on the farm and cut those demon weed down, ha.

Danny is growing ever taller and it does seem, ever sweeter. He is the gentlest, calmest little guy and he ran with me yesterday, me huffing along with my overweight body and him, doing the smoothest, sharpest fox trot you'd ever want to see. I need new photos of him. I also need to start working with him, preparing him to go under saddle by Spring I hope. Also,hopefully, I can film a lot along the way of that training so that I can share this with my friend, Huston Jenkins, in Missouri.

I was reminded today of a small part of why I love horses so much. The DHC challenge for today was to use your 5 senses to describe a memory involving nature. Not surprising is the fact that my memory involved horses. What is surprising is how my earliest tactile memory is of a horse but it took me 49 years to get one of my own. I don't know how I lived so long without a horse in my life. There's so much to remember and cherish, the sweet aroma of burying your nose in the horse's mane and taking in an odor that is a mix of sweet hay, flowers and sunshine, the coarse feel of the mane against your face and in your hand as you mount, the squeak of the leather and smell of saddle soap and leather, the soft nicker of the horse and its even softer nuzzle, the feel of a tender breeze caressing your skin and the gentle rays of sunshine warming it, feeling the horse move underneath you, connecting with the horse and appreciating how it responds to even subtle cues and soft hands, looking around at this beautiful country we live in and seeing so much green, so green that you can actually smell it, almost feel it and a blue sky above that dazzles, and finally, looking into those soft brown eyes and having them look back at you, whispering softly and knowing as a child or an adult and, even when others scoff, that the horse understands, on some level, it always understands.

And now, I think I'll take the time or make the time to go and visit for a while with my horses. I'll breath in their sweet odor, caress those gentle muzzles, and obediently scratch the itchy spots they point out.....they have me so well trained. :)