Honey, I'm Hoooome!

I'm back! Not that I'm happy about it. I definitely didn't miss my horse at all. Not even a little. Nope. Why would I do that? Why would I get homesick for the barn? I don't even like horses.

"There you are Jenna. Where have you been?"

Grumpy ears.

Hiding from the camera.

More grumpy ears.

This one's cute!

Even more grumpiness. 

And more grumpy ears.

When Mom and I let Kezi and Gambler into the barn Gambler tried to follow Kez into her stall. Such a snot! I guess he decided to welcome me back by causing trouble. If these two don't shape up we're gonna have to start leading them into the barn again, which is more of an inconvenience for us than for them. Can't you just walk into your stall like a good little horsie Gambler?

I was glad to get to the barn early today, because artificial lighting after dark doesn't do Gambler justice. He is one of the prettiest horses I have ever seen (Kezi is definitely up there as well) and I'm not saying that just because he's mine. I have always loved dapple greys. When I first got Gambler he was a boring mouse grey. I've always said that I didn't want a "boring" colored horse, no bays or chestnuts; I wanted a horse that would stand out color-wise. When I was offered Gambler, I didn't care for his color; but he was sweet, adorable, and he was mine. Since then he has become a gorgeous dapple grey. I couldn't be happier!

My gorgeous little horse was so good today. He was a tad spooky due to the cold and the wind (those Arabs love cold and wind sooooo much if ya know what I mean). Even so, he let me pick out all four hooves. He kicked out with the front right hoof a couple times, but never kicked free. I focused on picking up his feet over and over and holding them up for longer. I also tapped on them with the hoof pick (although Gambler is barefoot and doesn't need to deal with hammers). I pulled his front feet forward like the farrier does to put them on the hoof stand. Gambler was uncertain, but I think with time he'll learn to accept it. 

I put the bareback pad on him again. He put up more of a fuss than he did a week ago, but didn't grunt or move around much. While the bareback pad was sitting on his back (before I tightened the girth/cinch thing) he suddenly became tense. His head flew up. The whites of his eyes showed. He started pulling on the cross-ties. I glanced out the barn door to find whatever it was that had spooked him, but I couldn't see anything. So I braced myself for the spook. I took the bareback pad off again, unclipped the cross-ties, and held him in the aisle while continuing to search for the offending object. Gambler stood stock-still, ears and eyes quivering. And then I saw it.

Gambler loves little furry creatures. Trees scare him to death, but he will chase dogs. At his old barn he would chase the barn cats. The offending creature was, indeed, a cat. What I had mistakenly identified as a spook was excitement. Gambler wanted to go chase the cat. 

The cat.

Gambler watching the cat.

Once I realized that Gambler just wanted to play I put him back in the cross-ties and took pictures. What else could I do? The story was too cute to keep to myself. Eventually the cat wandered out of sight and I finished putting the bareback pad on Gambler. 

When we let the horses out to eat their hay, the wind was already picking up. We're supposed to get a big storm tonight.