Let's Trade

You can see all the media, even visit your foal in person and think you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Then, boom, they're weaned, they come home and...things might not play out exactly as you thought. 

After a few weeks of being suspiciously quiet, it feels like all they ever do now is run and play and roughhouse with each other. Best decision getting two.

Don't get me wrong, it's all good here! It's just fun how as humans we tend to want to write a narrative about how it's all going to play out, but also it's real life and we're not actually able to predict the future, plus there's the whole nature/nurture thing and you'd better to be ready for it.

Our quiet, easy, friendly little foal we got to be Reggie's buddy (and husband G's (driving?hiking?) pony) Buck. He is all those things, or should I say could be all those things. Currently he also takes things very personally and is no stranger to holding a grudge for days. He's not the type to be dramatic about it, he just internalizes it and then opts out for next time (and who can blame him - it's been an eventful couple of months being weaned and moving across country). He's absolutely super and I'm his number one fan, but he does come with a healthy dose of that Welsh Cob sense of fairness and self preservation.

Is also rapidly becoming a tank

Reggie is incredibly brave and bold and curious about everything. He's maybe not the sharpest tool in the shed, but the flip side to that is that he is just happy to be busy, and never takes anything to heart. He's always just moving on to the next thing. He loves having human buddies to hang out with. Like really, people can do no wrong in his books...we're on day 7 of gastroguard and he's still running up to me like "Oh hi, hey what is that tube thing? Yes let's put this halter on! Oh wait why is the tube in my mouth...oh no...it tastes GROSS...why does this keep happening to me? :("

Incoming!

Buck got dewormed once and has been wary of tubes of things or hands near his mouth ever since, like he needs to inspect what you've got (or in this case don't have) before the hands and halter get near his face :) 

So, it's evolved that if we’re both around, G does most of the things with Reggie and I do most of the things with Buck. Reggie is easy for G because G assumes he'll do the thing and so he does. Simple, just get on with it, exactly how little Reggie's brain wants it to be. G's also super unflappable with baby horse shenanigans and is decent at setting boundaries (thanks for that, Sophie). Reggie is fine with me, but G and him just seem to have some kind of mutual understanding going on. I get a whole guys doing guy things, drinking beer and watching the game vibe from those two. I’m the mean mom and not nearly as fun. 

This about sums it up...we had a tarp laid out to dry and I was so  proud of this little guy for thinking a little, then calmly putting two feet on it when I asked

Meanwhile this guy was already fully invested in trying to pick it up and take it with him and then contemplated rolling himself into a burrito, much to Buck's dismay. (please excuse his filthiness...and continuing general state of awkwardness. This shall pass (we hope;)

Buck needs a bit more encouragement and needs to time to think and process. He's a fun mix because yes, he's quiet, but also he's not forgiving if pushed beyond his happy place. So you know if you messed it up, but maybe not til later when he's processed it and judged you wanting. So, for now he's 'mine'. Because maybe you guessed it, but he's not G's hugest fan (yet). I'm smaller, I'm quieter, I'm more patient, so he's gravitated to me (and me to him, really). We're the two overthinking introverts in the room.

The mud and winter fur situation is real, maybe I'll have 'nice' photos again next summer.

So they've chosen their people and it's not gone the way we'd planned. It's going to be really interesting to see how this plays out long term, I feel like Buck is only going to gain confidence and once there is a stronger baseline of trust between him and G it will be fine. Reggie has the perfect temperament for what I want in my future sport pony, we'll just have to be careful to keep it fun and interesting for him.