Day In The Life

 (Less an actual day in the life recap, and more an excuse to post a million photos from the backlog I have)

Spring is well and truly here and with that, the ponies all get so much more time out on grass. We've had such a wet spring they can't even keep up with the vegetation growth, which is insane given there are three of them on just over one (very carefully managed) acre full time. Currently, they're out every morning until lunch, then again from late afternoon until 8-9ish (pony dinner/bedtime)

Correction: make that two grass consuming equines and one tree browsing giraffe

Their summer field around the corner from us looks like a wilderness - the property owners are like "send help now!" :) but gelding got delayed and of course we did not want any surprise foals next spring so group turnout had to wait. I've promised the mowing crew will be starting this weekend. I'm excited and hopeful for everyone to start sharing pasture space. They're been sharing fence lines forever and the current situation is that Sophie wants Buck's baby and thinks Reggie is gross, which Reggie is totally fine with. Both the boys think Sophie is weird and could care less about her company. She calls for them and tries to tell them to stay close to her but they completely ignore her lol. So I have hopes there won't be too much drama.

There are much more interesting things than Sophie, says Buck. Mowing crew training is going well.

Mostly they just chase each other in circles all day though. And I literally mean all day, this is the current game that never gets old. This is also why we need to use a lawnmower, they don't spend much time at all actually eating.

My daily spring projects have ranged from re staining fences to loading trucks of manure for removal to other people's gardens. I'm continuing to work on the riding ring area. Parts of it aren't compacting as I would have hoped but as always, we have a plan to better it and it's certainly rideable and usable as is and I remain grateful for it.

These two just like to use it as a litter box, of course. Also, they so different! It looks like I have a gypsy cob and a thoro-cob atm. It's fun watching them mature and I'm so curious to see what the future will bring. Buck is surprisingly sporty given how little he liked to show off as a foal, and Reggie was a very fancy baby but is definitely going through the world's longest awkward stage now  :).

The babies both get daily grooming and handling. Buck is feeling and looking so much better, but we needed to extend the antibiotics as he's not quite fully healed yet. Luckily he continues to be a good boy about it all - the silver lining to all this is that he's much more well handled now than he would have been if I didn't have to medicate and clean twice a day.

Reggie doing grown up things. Still hates being groomed, is only here for the snacks. Grateful it wasn't him needing twice daily inspections because while he's lovely and lots of fun, by nature he's not nearly as forgiving and patient. I'm confident he'll get there eventually and turn into a fabulous riding horse, but for now he's still part baby orangutan.

Pony kindergarten is going to resume next week. I guess I could have been taking Reggie the past couple of weeks, but it felt mean depriving Buck of his friend when he was feeling unwell (separating them goes OK, but there is room for improvement with Buck in particular missing his friend and worrying). Next week for sure.

Still with the baby face, and I am powerless against it. He gets what he wants.

Black Beauty incoming!

Buck currently wins tag games as he's far more maneuverable...will be interesting to see if that changes in the big field, Reggie has a ginormous stride length compared to compact little Buck.

Used to have a nice trot but now it seems like he only has canter or gallop installed.

I'm still 1000% happy with the decision to purchase the both of them, even though it leaves me with less space and time for riding age horses. I was apprehensive they'd be a lot of work, but despite them both being babies with the obvious crazy energy levels and minute attention spans, they are both really good guys and fairly straightforward personalities. Especially when we compare to the menace that was baby Sophie, lol! If she can turn into a good girl, there's hope for just about any young horse.

is a good girl

Baby Sophie for tax

Finally, I'm sure with me waffling over Sophie it might have crossed a few minds that I might regret leasing Bridget. The answer is a giant NO.

Bridget's little girl wrote a book! (About a girl that loves a pony named Bridget, obviously :D) I get regular updates of all their adventures together and it's about as cute as you'd expect. She gets more love than any pony could ever dream of. While I miss her and am sad sometimes, it's absolutely the best decision I've ever made for one of my horses (and I can see her whenever I like).