Herd Behaviour

I had a chance to duck out and see Sam this morning. I had to drop Jack off at the boarding kennel and Sam is kind of on the way. He is happy munching all day in his paddock. I have two small sections of hay left so I thought I would share it out with Sam, Ted and Georgie. Firstly I was a little worried about putting hay out as they don't get feed hay but I didn't need to worry. Georgie was the first to greet me so I gave her some then Ted came over and I gave him a small pile about 40m away from her. Sam finally came down and I fed him about 20m behind Ted. I waited around until they had all finished and it was interesting to watch who went where.

The pecking order is Ted, Sam and then Georgie. Georgie was the first to finish and she just walked off and started grazing again away from the others. Sam then finished and made a wide circle around Ted and went to where Georgie had been given hers. He hoovered around there for a bit. Ted finished so came to see what Sam was eating, Sam hen moved to where Ted had been.

It was like a lovely little dance. No ears back from anyone, no rushing. Everyone knew their place and they all moved around gracefully. It was just lovely to see. :o) Tomorrow is the last day I see Sam. I cried this morning. I am so sad :o) It will only be 11 days and I have been away from him longer before I think it is because of the move and I am worried about how he will travel on the truck. I hope he will load quietly for them. I hope he arrives in one peace and doesn't loose too much weight. I hope he doesn't get cold over night. They are predicting gale force winds and a blizzard near Wagga this weekend - what am I taking him too!!!!!!!!! At the moment he is living in a cotton combo and it is really warm during the day and still quite warm at night.

Poor Sam!!!!! :o)

Last Ride

I had my last ride of Sam today. Not the last ever but probably the last for a month or so. It was great to ride Sam back out where we first started out. The riding area is lovely big paddock about 3 ares and it has lots of toys - see-saw, logs to jump, tractor tyre to stand up on.
They have since filled up the tyre to the top with cement. There are new toys, huge witches hats, a drop fence, two tyres standing upright they can walk between.
This is Jayne - the owner of the property and her horse Ted. This is the first time he had a go at the see-saw.

Sam loved playing with the witches hats. He chewed on them, threw them around. He was a little unsure of the drop but he did stand up there quietly. We had a play on the ground first and then I jumped on. He was lovely and forward at the trot and we had a good trot around the whole area. He also had a good stretch down in the trot and accepted a light contact well. His canter was still very slow but he had his ears forward and we pretended to race in the derby. Poor Sam lucky they never asked him to race. :o)

We then went for a walk out around the paddocks came back hosed him off and let him have a pick of hay while I soaked his hooves and waited for him to dry.

His hooves are doing well out there. I just need his shoes to stay on for another 3 weeks. i think Sam is really enjoying his time back with his old mates and in a large paddock. He has only been back a week and I think he has already put on some weight. I was worried that he would loose weight as he is not getting an extra rug at night and he is only getting a hard feed morning and night. He is in a 15 acre paddock so doesn't need the hay. The grass really has no nutrient value as we are in the middle of the dry time and the whole of Townsville is brown, dry and dusty. I really am lucky because he is such a good doer for a thoroughbred. Sam is currently getting half the amount of hard feed that Jayne's thoroughbreds get. They aren't in work either.

I will get to see Sam for the rest of this week. Friday the 28th we head off on our big move. I am so excited. I have booked Sam on the truck and organised his agistment in Wagga. We just have to find a house for us to rent - hopefully on acreage so I can have him at our back door. We will also look at property to buy.

Have I told you recently how much I love my pony!!!!!!!!! :o)

I think Jayne sometimes wishes that she hadn't sold him. He is the quiet one compared to her two. You can leave him for months, drag his sorry butt out of the paddock, saddle him up and off you go if you needed too!!!!!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

I am only seeing Sam every second day now. He is a little further out and I don't need to feed him so I only go out every second day to say hi and to make sure everything is ok.

I have been seeing Sam everyday for the last 5 months so it was really weird to finish work and head straight home. I was home in daylight for starters!!!!!!! I didn't know what to do with my self so I got to weed the garden.

When I went and out and saw Sam yesterday it was like he had never left. Jayne said he went straight back to his old routine at feed time which was lovely to hear. I think he is really enjoying himself being back with his best mate. It will be really sad to break them up for good in 3 weeks.

I get to see him tomorrow and I bet the day will drag!!!!!!!!!!

New hooves, holiday and float loading nightmare

What a big week! Sorry about the lack of posts but we are starting to get very busy with the big move.

Sam had a visit from the farrier on Monday. HE HAS FOUR NORMAL HOOVES!!!!!!!! So the move was so worth it. The amount he was able to trim was amazing. Sam lost a lot of sole this time and also held onto his shoes for 8 weeks. They were still on strong but starting to really grow so they had to be done. The farrier was very impressed! :o)

Because Sam finally had his hooves done we were able to move him today back out to where I used to keep him. He has gone back out there because I wanted him to have a holiday - he is in a 15 acre paddock with his best mate. They have played, galloped, groomed and eaten together. It was wonderful to watch.

Getting Sam onto the float to get him out there was a different story. We had our usual dramas. This week Jayne is going to help me with some float training.

Poor little Sam

I had the day off work today so I went out to see and ride Sam. We had a nice ride. After the ride I left him down at the stables as he has found some hay to eat. I had left his lead rope swung over his back like I usually do and raced off to clean his paddock. He normally doesn't like being left alone down there so I left all the gates open so he could come and find me if he wanted to. I could still partly see his furry bum from the paddock anyway.

I had only been gone for about 2min when I hear him calling out. I yell back that I am coming but wondering why on earth he hasn't just come and found me. I wander back and there he is, standing there looking at me. The lead rope had slid off his back. Normally if he stands on it he has a little panic attack. He has slowly been teaching himself how to ground tie (I like this idea). So there is his little face, ears pricked forward looking expectantly at his mum to come and save him! It really was very cute.

Sam was due for worming today so after I had given him his paste - which he really didn't like - I tried to bribe him with a handful of pellets into liking me again. This is a horse who enjoys his food and just loves treats. Nope, he couldn't possibly eat those pellets. I took him back to his paddock and left him with his all time favorite - HAY!!!!! The look on his face was one of 'oh I guess I could eat the hay if you really wanted me too!' :o)

He really is a comical little fellow!!!!! Got to love him for that!

New Kid on the Block

We have a New Kid on the Block. Next door bought home a black and white paint stallion this afternoon. Well all the girls kept with Sam went crazy! Riding went out the window. All the horses on the property that the Stallion went to were going crazy as well. I was riding Sam and I probably should have taken the opportunity to work him through it - when we are at competitions he will have to deal with it - I just didn't have the energy today.

I will try and get a photo tomorrow of the Stallion. He is a chunky fellow!

Lovely Ride and Jack is bailed up by Mr Mittens

Our ride out was a lot calmer today. We turned left instead of right and we did a lot of turing back towards home and then turning around and heading away from home again. I also rode back home and walked straight past the driveway and did that a few times. Even managed short trots heading away from home which is great progress for us. He didn;t want to go home so I just did some work out on the road at the walk.

Finally he was happy to go home so we went and did some work in the riding area. He was soft and foward. We even got to have a canter both reins. I had to get up into a 2 point seat to drive him on but he was happy this way so I started to ask for a little bend, he gave me that! Called it a day.

Gave him a bath and ready to go to the beach tomorrow!!!!!

I went back out later with Scott and Jack to feed Sam. Poor little Jack was bailed up by Mr Mittens! This big dog beaten up by a little pussy cat! Mr Mittens has bobbed Sam on the nose before too. He is a bit of a bully!!!!!!
Jack

Mr Mittens