Today was farrier day… and I forgot to take a lot of photos, as usual. You see, Fernando is so funny and fun, I spend my entire time with him chatting and I forget to take pictures.
Anyway, the best part of today was the Pony rodeo.
Rocky Balboa, the one-eyed pony, has clearly had some bad experiences in his little pony life. This is evident because he has two brands… (I’m thinking he looks like a kids’ pony but he most definitely is NOT a kids’ pony so he was sold a few times…)… and then he had some sort of run in with someone or some thing which led to his one eye and… all of the above on top of his wild white/blue eye and huge ponytude… led him to the kill pen.
Rocky actually came to me with that warning. His rescuers (Rocky was in a straight to slaughter pen in Texas) told me that he was ‘a bit wild’ and ABSOLUTELY did not like to have his feet done.
Before I even had a chance to pick up his feet, on day one here, he backed his pony butt into me and tried to push me and kick me. Luckily, I have raised two Shetlands before and I knew the signs and had no fear.
Rocky and I are now friends.
AROUND HERE…
Around here, Rocky is fairly easy going. I can tend to his bad eye without a halter and he lets me put his fly mask on and off. He takes cookies and halters easily. But he does get his panties in a bunch every now and then – usually if he feels pressure.
It is my observation that he really doesn’t see well out of his good eye, either. He just doesn’t see well at all, which makes a little horse a bit skittish.
And he doesn’t like anyone on his blind side… or by his feet, AT ALL.
We saw some of that today.
THE GOOD NEWS
The good news is that Fernando is a saint, and he is bigger than I am and much bigger than Rocky. Fernando is also much stronger than both of us and has good, stable hips on our unstable ground.
Fernando spent a good half hour just stroking Rocky and asking him to move a bit to the right or left. No pressure, just a give and release.
At one point, Rocky decided to make his move… but Fernando stuck with him and didn’t let the Ponytude cause an accident.
By the end of the Rocky vs Fernando meetup, Rocky had picked up his front two feet – just enough – and let them be held for longer than he was comfortable… and we quit.
Much progress for a tiny, mostly blind, scared and setinhisways easytoblow pony that everyone gave up on – who landed in a kill pen. A great day!
PHOTOJOURNAL
Ethel Merdonk was first.
Gwen is ready… and Rocky stands behind, very interested.
I put on his halter… he knew something was up. (Princess Buttercup Pebbles is in the background.)
Fernando moved all around the pony, as you can see, Rocky was tense. (Norma looks on. She is very protective of her ponies.)
Fernando did both sides and under his tail, which Rocky found very confusing… Norma is curious, too.
After Rocky had his lesson, we moved onto Finn, BG, Wrigley and here is Missy Miss. (Mo is in the background.)
A GOOD DAY WAS HAD BY ALL! COOKIES ABOUNDED.
