Visitors and rain

The lady brought another shorter lady with her to visit us the other day and we were very excited to see the new lady.  We all ran over to them and gathered around and everyone wanted to have the shorter lady pet us and give us carrots.  But she didn't have any carrots, so some of the ponies left. Me and Harley and Gypsy were all trying to get as close as possible to the shorter lady, but she kept moving away from us.  Harley was trying to put his head on her shoulder and she started to look around with her eyes all narrow like she thought there was something scary around, so we looked around to see if there were coyotes or wolves or scary pieces of flapping paper or rustling plastic, but there wasn't anything.  Our lady was trimming pieces off Billy's hooves so they were standing right by us and then Harley told me to back off and I pushed against the shorter lady as I stepped back.  Then the shorter lady got upset and said she didn't want to pet us at all and she went and sat in the green truck thing.  So they left and then we didn't see that shorter lady again, but our lady came back later and trimmed more pieces off Billy's hooves.  You know, we have lots of rain so our feet are pretty and clean and easy to cut pieces off of.  We like the rain because it makes a lot of nice grass.  Since we are in the new pastures, we have grass on hills and grass in low parts and water in the ruts.  But it is a long way to get back here for the lady to check on us.  Today she was walking back in the rain and she saw a fish in one of the ruts right in the middle of the field.  I guess the fish thinks that water is here to stay.   But we are never getting the chance to go to the White Hill.  The lady spends all her time riding those horses.  She rides that big goofy Jewel just about every day.  Yesterday she rode Jewel down the hill to the pond. Jewel thinks everything is scary, so she never wants to go anywhere away from her friends.  She was snorting the whole way down the hill like she was walking through a whole herd of coyotes.  And the lady sat on little Belle, but Belle got scared and pitched her on her head.  I blame that fancy Peaches for that.  Peaches started to run around and made Belle think that something was going to get her.  I would never trust that Peaches.               

new pastures

All us ponies moved to new pastures, so we are happy about all the grass, but we don't get much attention or entertainment from the lady.  We watched the lady put some sticks in the ground with the big orange machine and then a man we didn't know used the orange machine to pile up big dead trees and drag them around. We didn't really care tho.  And it was kind of interesting today when the Fuse and those goofy young horses were running around in the yard in the rain and then Fusion jumped over the fence tape so he could get back IN with the others.  That was kind of weird.  But they did have a lot of grass in there, so it wasn't a totally stupid move.    

So now the lady is saying that some of us ponies and horses are going to go live somewhere else.  She says she is going to advertise so that we can find perfect people to take care of us.  I think I should be the first one selected to live with a little girl who takes me to horse shows and gives me lots of carrots.  I like little girls if they understand how smart and important ponies are.  Obviously I would need a lot of brushing and I would carry the little girl around on my back.  I'll bet I could even jump over stuff and wear fancy shiny things.  I know  Harley and Billy think they should go first, because they are older and they already know how to jump over things, but I am littler and cuter, so I think little girls would like me better.  Besides, that Billy is a more of a boy's pony.  And Harley is so bossy, I am not sure that any little girls would like that.  Just because he gives kisses and puts his head on their shoulders and acts all adorable.  I can do that too. Just about ALL of us do that anyway.   Se we will have to see what happens.  Meanwhile we have lots of grass and we are all happy.  Even little Belle, who was always so shy, with her freckles, has moved up to live with Peaches and now she thinks she is the "big sister" of Peaches and is going around with her head and tail all up in the air.  So things are good!

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Jealousy

Well, so last week you know those horses that lived in the paddock next to ours, that handsome gray guy Mak and his buddy Ferris?  So Mak started chasing Ferris around and biting him.  At first we didn't pay that much attention to it because they are always screwing around and biting each other and jumping and playing  But that time, Mak was biting Ferris hard and he wouldn't let go.  Ferris was looking scared and he got tired from Mak chasing him and he had red marks all over him.  So the lady came out and she made Mak and Ferris move to separate pastures.  That made them both really unhappy so they yelled a lot and we could hear them even when they were in the barn.  So then after a couple of days they weren't yelling so much and here came the lady up the hill with that big white mare and her colt and then Taca and her colt and Peaches.  They all went in the barn and it was really fun to watch them go by.  It was like we had our own little parade so we all ran to the fence and  some of the ponies called out to their Mom when they saw Taca.  But Taca didn't want to talk to them, she was only interested in her new baby.  Then the next day a man came to the barns and when Mak came out of the barn, he was walking funny and he had red spots on his legs.  And Taca's colt did too!  So now they are walking fine and the mares and foals are back in their pasture, but little Peaches is still stuck up in the barn. She has my dad Bob for company, but I don't think he is very good company because he mostly just likes grown up mares.  So anyway, Peaches learned to wear a halter and have her hooves trimmed and to walk around with the lady at the end of a rope.  She gets lots of grain and carrots to do the stuff, so she is very lucky.  But I am kind of worried because she is super cute and I am afraid she is going to think she is more glamorous than me and Fiesta.  (Fiesta is still fuzzy, so no real competition there....)  That Peach'es winter coat is just about all shed and since she roaned out she is this shiny golden peachy color.  It almost makes your eyes hurt to look at her, she is so bright.  Even her mane is golden-colored.  I am thinking I might not like that Peaches too much....        

Fun morning!

Finally, some excitement!  All us ponies got to go in the field behind our regular pasture a few days ago so we have had much fun out there eating all the grass.  And I mean ALL the grass.  You know, that field looks really green from a distance, but when you get  your nose down in it, there are lots of places with dirt with cracks in it.  Our other pasture is just brown, so it was good that we at least got to go out and eat some of this nice grass.  But it was not enough.  I mean, sure, the lady says we don't need that much grass and says we will get sick and too chubby, but I prefer to think of it as pleasingly plump.  So anyway, this morning the lady came driving back in the little green truck thing to feed Taca and Mixta and their colts.  She looked for us ponies and we were not to be seen.  She thought  maybe we were in the woods, so she got out of the truck thing and came walking around the bend of the fence tape.  And the fence tape was just lying on the ground and all us ponies were having a grand time in the hay fields and eating LOTS of nice grass.  We were way in the back and  we were walking right next to those big round old bales of hay and the grass was as high as our knees! It was glorious.  We were all so happy!  The lady came running back to see us and she could see how happy we were.  Harley and Billy ran up to her to tell her how great it was.   She gave them some of the grain that she brought for those mares and so Harley and Billy followed her back over to the fence tape and we all ran after them.  I even got some grain too!  We were eating grass and grain and it was really a fun morning.  But then the lady came around behind us and made that clicking noise like she makes when we are supposed to move.  Suddenly, we were funneled in between the mares' fence and the tape that was still up and we had to cross the white line on the ground and run back into our field that has hardly any grass in it at all.  Then the fence tape went back up behind us and we were stuck.  We ran back to where we knew the tape used to be on the ground but it was high again and dangerous.  Little Krissy was more upset than anyone. You know  how short she is and she looked at that tape and she made a run for it and ducked under it.  We thought about following her, but we are not short like Krissy and we didn't want to get shocked.  Then the lady drove up the hill and called us and was throwing hay out by our boxes so we ran back into our regular pasture for the hay.  So now we are really stuck in this dirt pasture, watching Krissy eat grass by our pond.  It is so unfair.        

Glamour shots

You know, my Mom, Tudi moved in with the Red mare and her ponies last year after she had my baby sister.  The lady hasn't even named that filly yet and just calls her Tif, which is short for "Tudi's Filly."  So the filly is chunky and taller now and Tudi was thinking she was pretty hot stuff out there with those young ponies and she got really insufferable.  She was pushing the ponies around and she would bite little Mat when he went to eat his special breakfast, so sometimes he was scared to even come over to the Bistro with Tudi lurking around the corner and ready to lunge out at him.  So the lady got fed up with her and she put my mom back out with us.  Well, you know, for the past year, Tudi has been living a pretty comfy life bossing those ponies around and having the most choice eating spots.  So she had become, shall we say, somewhat complacent about her appearance. She was perhaps a bit rotund, and you know, the rest of us ponies have been out here on the winter-slow-feeder, hated-boxes diet so we didn't appreciate her strolling in here looking all portly and pleased with herself.   So mostly the boys took it upon themselves to encourage her to exercise by chasing her around the field and of course, we put her on a strict "one strand of hay a day" diet.  The lady tried to circumvent her imposed diet program by feeding her in the shed, but we figured that out after a couple of days, so we would watch for her to sneak off into the shed and then we would all run down there really fast and take that hay away from her.  Of course, there is only so much you can do for someone else, so most everyone got really tired of helping her slim down and were mostly just ignoring her.  Except for Krissy.   Man, that Krissy took the whole thing really seriously.  I don't know if it's because she's a Vermonter or what, but she has made it her mission in life to ensure that Tudi gets her exercise and sticks to her diet. So now Tudi is looking really svelte and all us elegant daughters are really proud of our mom.   She is definitely part of our glamorous family. 

Taca's new colt

Peaches

Well, you know, the lady was asking those chubby mares when they were going to foal and they were just not being very forthcoming at all.   Aunt Taca is not exactly a ray of sunshine under the best of circumstances, so you can imagine, being very pregnant and dealing with the mud and snow didn't have her in the best humor.  Even tho my dad Bob thinks she is like, super gorgeous, regardless of her girth, and goes prancing up to her telling her so at the drop of a piece of hay, she was just not feeling the love and mostly walked around with her ears back and kind of snarling at everyone. Her filly from last year, Peaches, is kind of goofy and outgoing, but Taca didn't want anything to do with her and her frivolity.  So anyway, the morning before yesterday, the lady showed up to feed and there was a new baby with Taca.  Two hours earlier when she checked, Taca said nothing about having a baby and here he was, up and running all around.  As soon as he saw the lady he ran over to her and asked if she was his mother, so of course, that pissed Taca off, since she had done a great deal of work to get him out and she didn't need that lady showing up and taking the credit.  But the lady just walked over to Taca so the colt followed and then he got something to drink.  He looks just like Peaches, the foal Taca had last year when she was a baby, except of course, he is a boy.

Taca's new colt

So I am posting a pic of what Peaches looks like now and one of the new colt.     Now my dad Bob had to move up to the barn.  He likes foals and is good with them, but he likes mares even more and the lady says she is not coming out in the snow next year to be checking on foaling mares. 
   

Grass?

So every morning, us ponies go down to the gate at the end of our pasture and wait there for the lady to come and open that gate.  The lady goes by us all the time, either with that bossy dog leading her on a lead rope or else in the little green truck thing.  She goes to look at those fat grumpy mares that live with my dad Bob.  Sometimes she goes when it is dark out and she has a shiny light on top of her head.  She looks at the fat mares and asks when they are going to have babies.  Then she looks under their bellies.   The mares don't say anything.  At any rate, she doesn't stop and open the gate for us.  It is obvious we want to have her open the gate so we can go out into that field and eat nice grass.  Every time she opened that gate in the past, there has been nice green grass in that field, so we are sure there would be nice grass now too.  We don't see any nice grass over there, but that doesn't mean it won't be green when we get there.  So we don't know why the lady is being mean to us and not opening the gate. Yesterday she brought us carrots and had the shiny thing that sounds like a bee.  She tickled us under our heads with the shiny thing and then our faces looked skinnier.  We are all very fuzzy and have wonderful thick coats that are good for when the white cold stuff falls on our backs.  After she did that, she went over to those younger ponies that live with the big red mare. They wanted the carrots but they did not like to have the buzzy thing under their faces.  So they still have long hairs on their heads.  We are much more glamorous ponies than they are with our skinnier faces.