Happy Birthday, Gus! Love, Wishes

Wishes' boyfriend, Gus, celebrated his 2nd birthday Saturday (actual b-day was today - Sunday), and Wishes was in a partying mood, kicking up her heels as usual, and even donning a birthday hat. Eric has spent many long hours gentling and training Gus, and all his hard work is paying off, as Gus is turning into a fine gentleman.

Colbert gave me a bit of a scare first thing this morning, as I noticed he was not eating with the other horses, but standing alone, behind the trees. I brought him out, and he seemed rather lethargic, so I tried him on a small amount of grain, but he didn't want to eat that either. Sabine listened for stomach sounds, but didn't hear anything on one side. We gave him a dose of Banamine, and before too long, he perked up and passed some manure. Within 2 hours he was back to his old self, galloping around the arena with his friends. Whew! Don't scare me like that, Colbert!

Wishes Goes on an Adventure

I got out at Shiloh at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, and it was already horribly hot! I can't wait 'til mid-September when the heat will finally break. Colbert had his first lesson with me and Sabine. He is fantastic at a walk, needs to learn to balance himself at the trot and relax, and we won't discuss the canter for now. Let's just say 'he don't like goin' right' - as in: to the right. So, we will concentrate on those issues for awhile.

Later, Eric and I took Gus and Wishes outside of Shiloh's gates. It was Wishes' first time, although Eric and Gus are old veterans. She was completely relaxed and just had a great time hanging out with her buddies. Eric took a couple pics of us walking along the air strip. We were a bit worried a plane might come in, but all was quiet. Hopefully, I'll get some more pictures soon. Colbert has changed so much in less than 2 months. He looks like a different horse.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Saturday, August 2nd, was my 43rd birthday, and what better way to start the day then spending time with my two favorite horses! When I arrived at Shiloh, they had both just gotten their breakfasts, so I took my bucket of brushes out to their new home (the boarder's pasture), and gave them both a good grooming while they ate. The flies out there were terrible! It was like being in the middle of a biblical plague, but a few squirts of fly spray and we were all a bit more comfortable. I had a riding lesson on Rachel's old horse, Storm Cloud. Then I took Colbert out and tried my bareback pad on him. He was so good. We walked all around Shiloh (away from the rocky areas) and he stayed calm and relaxed. It was so much fun. Afterwards, I gave him a nice bath and really washed out his mane and tail. He then promptly rolled in the sand, as horses love to do. That's okay, as soon as he was all dry, I brushed him again, and he looked very shiny and pretty. Wishes got a bath too, and enjoyed playing around with her favorite boyfriend, Gus, in the turnout.