Dante had his shoes pulled the day after Fair Hill, and his feet are looking phenomenal. I gave him more time off than I had planned, mostly because the weather took a turn for the worse and stayed there right at the time I wanted to start bringing him back. Since there is no particular hurry, I just let sleeping dogs lie and only got on him for the first time this past week. The ring was frozen, but we just spent some time walking in the snow, which will probably be the menu for the next week. I won't put any shoes on until he indicates that the ground is too hard for him, I absolutely love that he doesn't snowball up when he is barefoot.
The downside of him having so much time off is that he has now gotten bored and begun playing games with himself. According to the barn owner, one of his favorites is to gallop once or twice around the field, stop at the gate, then crow hop in place, buck buck buck buck buck. Then he's done.
Another is to take his halter and lead rope if they are within reach of his field and just toss his head about holding them.
The final game is to grab a persons arm by the coat cuff (a favorite activity of his every winter) and to pull the person over to one side of him. Then he grabs the other coat cuff and pulls the person back to the original side.
So glad I exist for your entertainment, horse.
(Dante surveys his wintery kingdom.)
I'd be annoyed with his antics, but he's so obviously amused by himself that I can't really hold it against him.
I had a horse that loved to steal any shirt/jacket/whatever left hanging within reach and run around with it, keeping it just out of your reach until he could drop it in the water tank! Horse games might just be more fun than reindeer games! LOL
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