Pony Thought Processes

 I realized a couple of weeks ago I've been at my main job long enough that I've accrued an extra week of vacation I needed to take before year end. I would have been good if I figured that out earlier in the year, but hey time off is time off!

Spoiler, I had a very wet week of November vacation

As is the way, I have/had a ton of property maintenance and to do list items waiting for just such a gap in my calendar. The one huge con of having the horses at home - the care and maintenance part can overwhelm the 'fun' part if you let it. There are days I miss being able to show up with no plans other than to ride, but I am a sucker for a good project. So this isn't me complaining, more just acknowledging I'm dropping the ball as a riding blogger right now. If you love a good property improvement update or general life-with-ponies-in-the-backyard thoughts though, I'm your girl :)

This week's 'adventure' was replacing the fence that divides our backyard and the horses. Eventually I want all the perimeter fencing to match, but that's a work in progress.

6x6 posts and new cedar boards replacing the old fence, hoping for another 20 years before it needs looking at again.

Because replacing fence posts is easier when the ground is this wet. It's clay and basically concrete all summer. If I had been thinking I would have used this situation for my leather cleaner review!

All the horses are well on board for company. They love when I spend a day off with them. Company in the form of me + power tools or G + mowers and Things Happening is even better. They're actually a bit of a nuisance. I think I may own the friendliest horses ever. Or, they are playing the long game by thoroughly studying my construction techniques and cataloging potential weaknesses for their future advantage.

Is mad because wants scratches, not a new fence

inspecting post holes

King of his castle. Does not go outside in the rain.

I'm not sure that is a joke in Reggie's case. He learns things very quickly by watching closely and since day one I've been aware of how I open the gate latches, taps, etc in front of him. He cracked the code on safety knots and the latch on the hay stall door pretty much immediately. More recently, he's taken to stealing the hose so he can chase his friends. That's really on brand for him, but also a little scary that there was no trial and error with that, he just immediately picked up the sprayer end of the hose and pointed it away from himself. Honestly that's better than I do some early mornings ;) If you're around him, you have to keep in mind he basically considers himself an honorary dog.  I was in the truck the other day to grab some tools and he got a foot up on the passenger floor before I realized he was considering climbing in with me.

Not quality pictures, but I think he's really starting to fill out.

I trimmed his tail for the first time (he was stepping on it and it's muddy so I went really short). It's not Welsh standard, but I think the look suits him.

Someone loves mud

Sophie is very observant and opinionated on all things, but she's less likely to actually slow down and figure things out on her own. For example, she knows she wants out (or in - she's like a cat and whichever option is not on offer is the one she wants), she knows the latch opens the door but she just gets mad and kicks or paws at it or throws nearby objects around with no real planning. Everything with her comes with bonus drama. Sometimes it's frustrating, but normally it's kind of amusing.

It kind of fits

Open.The.Door

Buck is fun because he's just as smart as everyone else, but he's the one lacking a little confidence and rarely will do anything you don't expressly approve. As noted above, Reggie can open the barn door latches and Reggie proofing the hay stall door with extra clips on the latches is required before he's allowed in the vicinity. The times he's got in there have been chaos, because he thinks it's totally reasonable to climb on top of the hay stack or drag the tools or wheelbarrow around. He basically creates a giant maze of pony hazards with him in the middle. So, last weekend when I let Buck out and a half hour later said "Oh no I left the hay stall door open!!" G and I were ready for anything. However, when G walked over (and sure enough Buck was in there) he said "hey, you're not supposed to be in there!" and Buck was basically "yeah you're right, sorry, the door was open and I guess I just assumed" and calmly backed himself out. No chaos. No drama. No halter required. I walked over later to clean up the imagined mess, but there was none. The only thing I could see he touched was his dinner feed bucket. He left Sophie's and Reggie's alone. I can't even with how cute he is. He's rapidly becoming an all time favorite.

New post inspection

I just love him