Weight Loss

Dirty boots, clean boot on left not yet finished, clean boot on right finished!

Phebes dropped weight significantly from her ride yesterday. I don't have a scale, but the difference visually is stunning, and the ride yesterday was a pretty easy ride. Since she more or less fasted, fretted (as in could not stand still for one second), most of the effect was due to her emotion. Prior to loading her in the trailer she was shaking all over in anticipation of trailering. I worried most of the drive to Brown County if she would wet from stressing and sweating in the cold trailer, however when I unloaded her she was warm and her blankets were warm and only slightly damp on the liner, and the trembling had stopped. When I tied her to the trailer she assumed her three legged stance, with the fourth hoof pawing the air, and so it went for the rest of the day. The difference was we were outside of her comfort zone of just one other horse. She was a single mare in a herd of geldings all of which she hated with the exception of Doc. I find her behavior in a herd (under saddle) very perplexing. She has to be with the front horse, as in next to, but not one single step ahead of the lead horse. If I force the issue she will stop, refuse to go forward until that horse catches up. Now when we ride with just one other horse buddy we can usually play leap frog most of the day and she is fine. When we are riding alone she trots slower, but she goes forward. My Phebes needs a horse psychologist, she is definitely a mental mystery to me.

Today's job was cleaning the hoofboots, and they do look pretty. ~E.G.