Wet, Cold & Mud!

Ok, so it's been DAYS since my last update but the weather up here has been foul! After needing several changes of clothes just to muck out the yards each day, I couldn't deal with standing out there in the horizontal rain, working with the boys too. I don't want to spend all the fine days catching up on mountains of washing when I could be playing with horses! LOL

It's still been really good for them both just having me wandering around the yard behind them, in & out with the wheel barrow, throwing the rake & shovel over the rails, etc. They've also had a couple of visitors which has given them new challenges. Dealing with one person in the yard is one thing but dealing with two is just downright scary!

Whorl is starting to get quite bold & even took the initiative to have a wee taste of my hand yesterday without grass in it. I'm loving this boy more & more each day! He's going to be a FANTASTIC little horse! He's so sensible, confident  & curious; everything I adore in a horse.

The jury is still out on Mojo...he's coming ahead in leaps & bounds considering he's had almost no pressure at all put upon him. He still eyes me suspiciously from the other side of the yard but he's a LOT more relaxed & walks away from me rather than scooting past with his tail clamped to his backside. I've still been trying hard to get glimpses of his teeth so I can get a better idea of his age. What I thought looked like 4 yo corners, didn't look like that when I was having a better look last night. As a 4yo, he would have been very lucky to keep any mares in the wild & it's pretty obvious this boy has been successful in that area, so I'm now guessing his age somewhere between 4 & 7. Only time (& a good equine dentist) will tell but feel free to start the sweepstake. Hehehe. Whorl will need to see a dentist as soon as possible too as he seems to have a lot of difficulty eating. He looks to me like he has sharp edges that are causing him to bite his cheeks, poor little man!

I've managed to separate them briefly a couple of times now too. Whorl thinks that's GREAT as he has food to himself & doesn't have Mojo bullying & bossing him around the yards. Mojo on the other hand, thinks it's a BAD, BAD idea!!!! Lone horse = certain & most imminent death!! He's survived twice now so hopefully, he'll soon realise that the predictable outcome is quite different from his initial instinct! LOL

We managed a brief session last night before dark & I was really pleased with how the boys handled it. My husband was in the yard with us all, taking the photos which was a HUGE deal for Mojo & made Whorl more than a little uneasy too. It's something they really need to get used to though as it's far too easy for these horses to bond with just one person. Mojo & Whorl will need to be well socialised to cope with new homes at some stage, so they need to be comfortable with lots of different people. I've learned this the hard way in the past, when I've handled horses for other people. What is a quiet 'donkey' for me, reverts to a snorting, eye rolling wild horse when they meet their owner & it then takes a week of work to transition them off me & onto the new person. It's all VERY confusing & upsetting for the horse & demoralising for the owner so I don't want to have to go through that with these boys. I'm making sure that they get to meet LOTS of different people throughout the entire process so the only basket case when they leave will be ME!

Whorl is quite ok about being touched with the stick but we still have to work on that nearside. He's been an absolute STAR at 'protecting' big, brave (*cough*) Mojo & giving him confidence when I sneak in the odd stroke of the stick across his back too. I can get in two strokes & he's able to hold himself together, if I back off quickly straight after. Every day is progress in the right direction & I already know that Mojo will take some time & that's fine by me! I'm fortunate that I don't have to rush him & we can do everything in 'Mojo-time' which will get us to where we need to be with a much better result, I feel. His expression in the photos says it all! Just doing what he's doing & coping daily is about all he can manage right now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH0QJdVc9TY