A New Trick

The pedestals have been a favorite for the ponies. Put two feet on, Neat--put on four feet--GET A TREAT! That has been going on all summer and Cerra (in the photo) has been taking this all in. Unfortunately, she has taken it to the next level and has now been climbing into the feeder bid by the barn.

I went out to feed this morning and found her hoof droppings in the feeder bin. Hmmm.

I had an hour this afternoon with Cerra and we rode around in the pasture, playing patterns and having fun after our long break. She was really good on the weave pattern and was reading my body and responding well without reins. We went in the round pen for figure eights at liberty. She was all dressed up in her saddle and bridle while I tried directing her with the fragment of a slashed plastic grocery bag and one of my appendages. She was OK with it. But....

She is the most deliberate horse--her actions are like "and you want me to do this?.... because?" and then she will do it--in the slowest of terms and will question my sanity at every turn. The left brain introvert in it's most absolutely questioning state ----just like her mummy. She is insulted by the most basic of aids and thinks it is beneath her to have to do anything that is asked. Why should she be asked? She offers---when no one is looking.

Our horses are our mirrors.

Early this evening I heard this commotion out at the barn and she is STANDING in the feeder bin and pawing at the plywood covering. Then she moved to the other side and did the same thing. Then she went back to the original spot and tried AGAIN! This continued for several turns.

The feeder bin is a 4 x 8 box that Don built to push up against the outside of the barn where the water line travels. It was designed to be a buffer against the water line next to the workshop and we have always stuffed it full of straw on the back and underneath. Then we put plywood over the box and used it as a feeding station under the protection of the overhanging eve.

Cerra is putting this idea to the ultimate test by climbing it like the pedestal. I don't think it is a horse-proofed concept.

Look outside tonight. The Great Square of Pegasus is to be observed overhead in October. Look for a lopsided square. It is to inspire poets and heros. I'll tell you more about this later!