It was rainy and cool here today, and I'd been waiting for just this sort of break in the temps to do our last equine deworming until September.
Redford led the herd in getting his portion. He saw the tube of ivermectin and marched up, eager to take it. Rafer Johnson spied the action and was soon lined up for his. The pony finished off the tube (it works out perfectly for the pony and donkeys to share one) without a blink and on I went.
Salina is back in heat again, and had already been squealing this a.m. I had fussed at her for flinging her head up wildly in response to Keil Bay committing the gross offense of sticking his head over his own stall door. So I wasn't sure how the deworming would go with her in that kind of mood. She had a mouthful of hay, so I rubbed some circles on her temple while she finished chewing. She turned her head away when she saw the tube, but I went slowly, and when I reached to bring her head back to me, she was quite willing.
Keil Bay was his usual one-handed operation.
Cody has been difficult in the past, but the last few times he's been really easy to dose. Today, though, he saw the tube and when I allowed him to sniff it he walked away. My daughter came out with halter and lead rope and waited with him in the back field while I came out. He was fussing and then he pulled back pretty hard. We stopped and just stood with him, allowing him to smell the tube but not trying to put it in his mouth.
He was quite calm until I positioned the tube again - then he tensed up. Daughter said "why don't we try the tapping?"
Duh! I had completely forgotten about that. She tapped his star and I tapped his cheek, and the dewormer tube slid right into his mouth and it was all done in about 3 seconds. No fuss, no muss.
I'm incredibly fortunate to have such a brilliant young horsewoman keeping me on the right path!
The rest of the day has been very lazy. Daughter and pony are riding 3 dressage tests in a local show on Sunday, so she called the tests out to make sure she has them all straight. The pony is slick and shiny as a seal and assuming we can get that tangerine dream color out of his tail he will look gorgeous.
Tomorrow my husband and I are celebrating our anniversary with dinner and a movie in my favorite little horsey town. The theater is an old artsy place that still has the original seating. They sell refreshments but the soft drinks are poured by hand and the wine is uncorked while you stand there. There's a big bin full of seat cushions in assorted sizes, colors, and shapes that you can pick up on the way in. I love the movies they choose to screen, and that the theater has the old-fashioned amazing acoustics that make it a fabulous venue for live music. George Winston played there a few years back and I still regret missing the performance.
Lazy Friday, full weekend, and the Mystical-Kit had the best idea of all - big fat book and a bed!
2 comments:
Happy Anniversary! The theater sounds like a wonderful old place. It sounds as if you are going to have a delightful weekend, hope everything goes well at the show.
We've had the same kind of day here too, wet and cool. Leave it to the younger generation to remember how to get something done easier (after we've forgotten how well a different perspective works)!
Thank you, Arlene - I'm looking forward to the evening, and tomorrow's ride times are late in the day, so even though it will be hotter than I like, it's supposedly going to be cloudy and we don't have to leave at the crack of dawn, which is SO hard for us to do, given our feed routine and regular schedule.
They are riding in the "lakeside" arena, which will be the first for the girl AND the pony - it's known for bringing out the spook-monsters AND some really fancy rides, so hopefully the first test will go well and he can settle in and do the second two with brilliance. :)
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