Meh

That pretty much describes today, though, thankfully, it ended on a decent note. I was going to ride Snickers pretty good today and also spray down Flash. However, when I got to my parents' house, first thing I did was look out the back window to check on the horses (you can see Jill's whole pasture, and there Flash was in the people's back yard in between the two pastures! Two men were out there walking around with him obviously not able to catch him. I grabbed my halter out of the car and ran over there, dress shoes and pants from work and all. It kinda sucked, because he didn't want me to catch him and I had to chase him a round a little, but eventually he turned to face me and let me catch him. Maybe it's cuz he finally got a good look at me to see who I was? I don't know, but it was kind of the pits. It turned out he jumped the fence - he cleared the bottom two rails and knocked out the top (good thing too because there's goat wire up to the second rail and an electric fence wire - not on - that he could have gotten caught in). The rails were fine but he busted the post in half. great. So then I led him back to the pasture and turned him loose. He really didn't feel like following me :( I think he feels neglected and ignored. I'll have to make sure I take time to work with him. He didn't look injured or anything, just his attitude was off :(

I think that the other horses chased him out and he tried to jump the fence to get away from them. There was still quite a bit of hay - it was scattered, yes, but I doubt Flash of all horses would try to jump the fence, especially when he can just reach through it. Plus, there were a lot of scuff marks in the ground in that area and, most concerning, Flash was pretty sweaty and all warm. That did make it a lot easier to see the ticks, though, for when I sprayed him - and there are so many! Gah, at least I'm taking care of them now. By the time I left, he wasn't warm anymore, though his hair was decently matted, especially since he's in his nice fluffly white winter coat. He's actually a LOT fluffier than anyone else - my little fluff ball!

After that I got changed and got ready to spray him down. I had to read the VERY long label for instructions for mixing the tick stuff. It said 8 fl oz for 50 gallons of water. Fantastic. Ugh. I finally figured out that 1/3 tsp would be good for my little 48 oz sprayer, then used a plastic spoon to measure it out (alongside an identical spoon that I'd measured 1/3 tsp water and poured it into lol). I took Flash out of the pasture so at least I didn't have to deal with Snickers getting into the middle of things, but Flash really didn't like the sprayer. Every time I tried to spray it, he moved away and even pulled back - He was pulling back hard enough and moving around enough I didn't feel safe tying him up. I didn't want a second broken post! He still wasn't acting like himself. I got him ok ish but not as well as I wanted to, but I had to let it go.

Finally, I put on my new stirrups and just rode Snickers in the pasture because I didn't really have time to bring him all the way over to my parents' house. The saddle and stirrups felt really comfortable! I used Flash's bride, but I think the bit may be too small. He didn't seem to like it at least. And maybe the leather works better with him than the nylon. Or maybe it was just because we were in the pasture. Oh well - tomorrow I'll get another good ride on him. We tried trotting but I didn't feel like I was sitting in the saddle well enough and didn't really have the time or environment to work on that right then and there.

Then it was time for lessons, but it turns out my lesson at that time is going to have to quit for a while due to schedule changes :( So we talked a while and she's interested in coming to a few endurance rides so I'll have to email her. I used the rest of the time to go back over and spray Flash again, this time with the clicker, which worked wonders. He still didn't like it too much, especially close to his head, but he stood for it. Good boy :) Of course, Snickers was right there wanting treats too, so I gave him a few. After spraying him down REALLY well, I brushed him over just to give him a chance to relax and take care of the matted sweaty hair. Flash got back to his old self, too, so that felt good. He seemed to want to move with me and work for me a little more. I'll have to be consistent with him and bring along the clicker more haha.

Then I had my other lesson, which was nice and easy because they decided they're going to take the rest of the school year off and then pick it back up in summer, so we just did a fun ride and review. When I got done and all cleaned up, Trevor was there to help me fix the post. What an awesome husband :D He'd had a rough day at work, but there he was :) We got started digging, and eventually my dad came and we got it all done just before dark. It was kind of nice to have us all working together :) The horses didn't come over - and Trevor never went in the pasture either. When we were cleaning up, I ran over and gave Snickers some of the peppermint cookies I'd grabbed before I came over, and decided to offer Flash some too. He sniffed and I think he was watching Snickers eat some, and he finally took a bite! Turns out he really likes them and ate as many as I would give him after that. It was neat getting to feed my two boys at the same time and having them be nice to one another :) When I was out, I jogged back to Trevor at the other end of the pasture - I guess Flash isn't mad at me anymore because here he came trotting along right behind me! Snickers was just behind him as well haha. Yay, my boys love me :) I dug around and found a cookie or two more for each of them :)

So at least the night ended on a good note. I feel a lot better that Flash isn't upset with me anymore, or at least seems to be back to normal. Hopefully things will settle down and no more fiascos for a while.