Clean Boy Parts....

Remember my last blog? Snow in October? Well, fast forward to today. Sunday, November 8th. It was 70 degrees. Sunny. Nice warm southernly breeze. Same as yesterday. September in November? Why not? We had December in October.

Since it was a beautiful day, and Ollie has been rubbing his gorgeous tail off by molesting his feed bucket, I decided today was the day to clean his Boy Parts. Yes. His Boy Parts. And yes, you do have to do that. How else do they get clean? He does not have opposable thumbs. Or fingers for that matter. And trust me, his boy parts get nasty, dirty, smelly, grungy, argh! Just gross.

So I loaded up with KY Jelly. Okay, it was the Shopko brand, but I honestly think The Boy didn't really care. That left over glove from my hair coloring (I only use one) and I got The Girl to give me an old pair of knee socks that she no longer wears, since I guess knee socks are no longer cool.
I set to work. Olliver kept giving this look. You know the look. Your significant other may have given it to you at some point in your relationship. That "what in the hell do you think you are doing down there." Followed by the, " step away from Mr. Winkie and I will forget you were down there" look. Followed by the, "Oh my, Mommy...whatever it is you are doing, it's ALL GOOD!"... I felt like I was molesting my son. He got the cross-eyed, lop-eared, goofy grin look. Okay....I think Mr. Winkie is clean and my mission is complete.

Anyway, I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad that this is a twice-a-year job. Not a weekly, monthly or even quarterly task. While far from being the worst thing I've ever done....well, let's just say there are other things I'd like to spend my time with The Boy doing.

And no, there are no pictures of my arm up to my elbow in Olliver's nether regions. Sorry to disappoint.

Snow...in October???

Okay. I think it has already been established, but I. Hate. Winter. I hate it. I hate being cold. I hate being housebound. I hate waking up in the dark, driving to work in the dark, and coming home from work in the dark. It severely limits my barn time. I have to put the fishing gear away. I get cranky (just ask the girls at work). I hate to whine about stuff that I have no control over, and do choose to live in Minnesota, the god forsaken country of 5 months of winter...but seriously....

As much as I hate winter - I love fall. Crisp days. Sweatshirt weather. Pretty trees and trout streams. Trail rides where the ponies don't get hot, sweaty and lazy.

October usually means the good stuff. Fishing. Trail rides. Snuggly sweatshirts and hot toddies in the evenings. Apples.

This was scene from my front door yesterday afternoon:

Uh huh. Yup. That would snow. On October 23rd. Almost 4 inches of the white crap by the time it was done snowing last night. It is all melting today. Sun is shining today. Not that it makes me feel any better. 'Cuz it's just a bitch slap of reality from Mother Nature that I really don't need right now. I've got enough other crap going on in my life - between TWFMC shtuff and ex-asshat sperm donor harrassing my daughter, I just didn't need a freakin' October blizzard.

Breathing deep....putting on boots...heading to The Barn...

J.

Christmas in October....

Monday Night Football...

I love it.

And when it's Vikings vs. Packers on Monday Night Football, it's almost like Christmas for me.

Please, please, please let the Vikings win. It's almost halftime and the score is tied...

I love my Vikings...

Sunday, Perfect Sunday...

I spent 4 hours at The Barn today. Perfect day. The Boy was perfect. Completely, absolutely perfect. Well, except for the session with the spray bottle, but everyone can have bad moments.

Olliver was WAY OUT BACK in the pasture. Which meant I had to hike halfway out to get him. Once he can see/hear me, he'll come right in, but with the wind and traffic, he can't hear me when he's WAY OUT BACK. He was taking his sweet old time coming though, so I told him to pick it up and turned around and started walking back in. Next thing I knew - hoofbeats....he was running to catch up with. Good Boy, Olliver.

Olliver worked today. I haven't been able to really work with him in several weeks. We have had small groundwork ("good boy") lessons...but no lunging or anything. Today, he got the whole shebang. I told him during his prework groom that he was gonna work today. I think he knew what I meant, cuz he got real serious. He likes to work.

We started out with some groundwork....flexing, backing, moving fronts and backs....just to loosen up and get focused. Then on went the lunge line. He was perfect. He worked completely off of verbal commands. Well, except for "whoa". He understands "whoa". Just not a lunge line. It's way too much fun to keep going in a circle around Mom to stop. When he does "whoa" - he thinks that means it's time to come to me for love. We're working on it. I was just really pleased that he actually walked on verbal command and transitioned between walk and trot on verbal command. Lunging time is short. As much as he loves it.....he's got soft bones and growing joints. No more than 5 minutes in each direction for my Boy.

Then I got out the spray bottle. That evil, horse-eating monster. Not fun. He was sure that thing was going to get him....BUT....as freaked out as he gets by the spray bottle - jumping around, running around me in circles, impersonating Lippizzaner Stallions, he never runs me over, bumps into me or anything. He's oh so careful not to hurt his Mom. Good Boy, Olliver.

I threw his saddle pad all over him....very little reaction. Much, much better than the last time. (YEA!!!!)

After that it was time for fun. I always end work sessions on a good note. I got out his big rubber ball...and the barrels....and we ran around them....he admired himself in the mirrors....he got to run, and buck and fart. Then he pooped. Poor Olliver. He hates to poop inside. He doesn't even poop in his "house" (his run in shelter in his pasture). He hates to be dirty (only rolls in his sand pit). He's very fastidious. Almost snobby about being clean. And he pooped inside. He got the most disgusted look on his face. I got the fork and cleaned up....and followed me around and then trotted off happy as could be once the poop was gone. An odd one, my Boy is.

Once the work and play were done and he had a second grooming, I hand walked/grazed him around the lanes between the pastures. Just quiet bonding with The Boy. Ahhhhhh.....perfect - so perfect that I will not think about my return to TWFMC in the morning...

October? No way!

It's October? Seriously? Not possible. What happened to summer? Where did it go? Have I seriously not blogged since May? I really suck at this blogging thing...

Summer was okay. Just okay. Work was insane. The economy, along with the healthcare "crisis" created by the Nobama administration has made my life at TWFMC a living hell. Every free moment I have is spent either at The Barn or fishing. But now that fall has set in, I'm starting to wonder how I'm going to keep my sanity. Thank God for The Barn. With its indoor arena. I can work with The Boy as much as I want to (or the roads are clear enough for me to get out there)...

The Boy, which is what I have begun to call Olliver on a regular basis, is amazingly wonderful. He is growing up to be monster-huge. He's now over 15 hands. I did some measurements with my farrier and we've estimated him to end up being around 17 hands when he's done growing - and probably 1300-1400 lbs. Holy crap.

His training this summer went really well. He's so smart. And honest. And willing. I couldn't ask for anything more. Well. Let me put a modifier on that. He seems to think that fly spray and velcro are horse-eating monsters in disguise. But you can throw barrels, big rubber balls, chairs, etc at him and he doesn't even bat an eyelash. He's an odd one, my Boy is.

Olliver is exceeding all of my hopes, dreams and expectations. And I suck as a blogger. But I promise to try to do better. Seriously.