Walked in circles

Our friends came to visit and they brought their twin GrandGirls. Those girls are just cute as little buttons. They fly out of their parents truck and head straight for our legs to give us hugs. Then they want to pet our faces. My horse, Pretty Boy, and I both gave them rides round and round. I had one pretty little twin riding me with two fists full of my mane hair so she was really riding! The other pretty little twin was riding the Pretty Boy holding just one hank of mane hair with both hands. I was very proud of my horse because at one point his rider got herself a little sideways, what I mean is she was sliding off the top of him, and he stopped. Yes he did. He felt her getting a little unseated and he stopped so her Daddy could straighten her back up. Now that is a good horse. My human man was very proud of me too because I was very very nice and walked very slowly. We went around and around and around and then I was done so I stopped under the trees where we started from. It was a lot of fun.

All the humans then went into my big red barn but they didn't let me and my horse go in with them. Nope. They closed the door. We waited for them to come back out. They did and then we made sure that all of them that went in there came out so no one got left behind. My human man then told me and my horse to follow him and he would give us a treat for being such very good horses.

We really had a wonderful weekend. The fireworks didn't even hardly bother us. My horse doesn't even care about fireworks he just cares about grazing so that made me be more calm than I thought I was going to be.

Well that's all for now except to tell you that since it is really and for sure Summer time out here it is really and for sure HOT!!!!!!!!!! I go swimming in my pond three or four times a day it is so hot.

Feeling much better today thank you

Yes I feel much better today than I did yesterday or the day before. It hasn't all been bad while I was sick I did have a good laugh yesterday evening at feeding time. Me and my horse, The Pretty Boy, were both in the barn to eat. The human girl put a short rope on my horse then picked up his bad foot to work on that hoof. Did you notice I said she 'put a short rope on my horse' ? Well that's all she did was put the short rope on him. When he finished his feed he was going to come over to my side and see what if anything I had left he might be able to push me out of the way and get. But he didn't make it to my side. Still holding his foot up in the air the human girl used the other hand to reach over and grab that short rope. She pulled his big ole head back to where he had no choice but to look directly at her. Then she said the most important words slowly, see she had already said HEY!, so now we were at the important part. Eye to eye, with his foot still in her hand she told him 'You pay attention to ME!'. That was all she said. She let go of his short rope and went back to work on his hoof. And he never moved a muscle or blinked an eye. He was paying attention to her. Finally she put his foot down and said she was done with him and he could go. But he stood there and watched her as she put up the short rope up and then hoof pick and then our feed cup. She went into the big red barn to do that and when she came back out he was still paying attention. She told him he was a good boy and that he could go. I had been standing there just outside the barn waiting to see what was going to happen next so I could hear what was being said. The human girl went back inside the barn and came out another door so we walked on over to the water tank. And there was that girl so my horse turned so he could pay attention to her.

She took the big drag harrow off of her 4X4 machine and hung it up on the wall. Then she got on her machine and started it up. Drove out into the pasture then backed it into our area of the big red barn but she puts it behind a gate so I can't play with it even though I like to. Then she came out and got in the cute little car and drove it out into our pasture then into the area where she just put that drag harrow. She went to close the south gate and my horse started toward her. She got the gate closed and told him to 'come on' so he did. And he got a big neck bear hug from her. Then she patted him on his shoulder and told him he was a good boy and he should go play now.

I think my horse, The Pretty Boy, might be the smartest horse I know.

I am Pretty Boy and I got in trouble

Hello my barn name is Pretty Boy and I have gotten into trouble. Oh yes. Nice horse that I am I got in big trouble this morning. You should have heard that little human girl. I am going to try very hard never to do that again. Here's what happened.......

It was a lovely morning. Perfect weather for grazing on tender young grass while waiting to get horse feed brought out to us. And then we saw her coming. She had the big white bucket. I know what that big white bucket is and I'm fine with it. Inside that big white bucket is warm epsom salts water for my foot to soak in. So she gets us our feed and puts it into our barrels for us. Then she gets my lead rope hooked onto my halter and sets the bucket on the ground in front of my bad foot. She picked my foot up, asking me real nicely, and put it into the bucket of water. I stood there eating while she rubbed my shoulder. Everything was fine until it wasn't fine anymore.

For some reason I decided I would step out of that bucket and go see what Precious had left in her barrel to eat. Only I didn't step cleanly out of the bucket. Oh noooo I didn't pick my big ole foot up high enough because I was looking over at her feed barrel and I knocked the bucket over.

'Bad horse! Why would you do that? I only just made that for you special and you go and knock it over!' That's what the human girl said to me as she sat that bucket back up. She looked in it and said 'Well I don't care how much is left in it you are going to put your foot right back in there mister and you aren't going to take it out until I say you can. I JUST made that for you special and you go and knock it over for pete's sake what were you thinking!' Of course she knew what I was thinking she knew I was thinking I'm going to go over there and see if can get me some extra feed but she had to say that anyway instead of exploding I guess.

So we stood there. Me with my foot in a bucket of warm epsom salt water that was only about an inch deep instead of a 12 inches deep and the human girl with her hand on my lead rope just in case I got stupid on her again. That's what she told me. She said 'Why'd you get all stupid like that?' We stood there so long that my horse, Precious, left the big red barn. And I still wasn't allowed to go look in her feed barrel. Oh I wanted to and I made a move to do just that but that little human girl said very quietly 'Do not move. Do not jerk your head or pull on this rope.' I hung my head down because I knew I was in trouble and not going to be going anywhere anytime soon.

When I hung my head down she was able to talk straight into my ear. Very very quietly she told me that she loved me and she was sorry if she had sounded mean but that she was very upset that I would step out of that bucket without being told I could. And knocking it over was just unacceptable. She told me quietly into my ear that we were not going to be standing there all day but that in just a little bit of time we were going to be walking out into the pasture and that I was going to follow along with her giving no trouble. And we did just that in a little while.

She told me 'Pick your foot up' and I did. She got the bucket and told me 'Come on.' We walked out of the big red barn into the horse pasture. I thought maybe we were going to go over where Precious was getting a drink of water but I was wrong. We walked straight ahead until she said 'Whoa' and I did. Then she put the bucket down, picked up my foot and put it back into that bucket that didn't have but an inch of water in the bottom of it. My head dropped because I knew there was no telling how long this was going to last. She rubbed on my forehead and said into my ear that I was a very good horse. She said I was very pretty and well mannered. She said she knew I didn't knock that bucket over on purpose. She was just talking and talking and talking to me. My horse, Precious, came over to see what was going on and when she got there she saw me still with my lead rope on and my foot still in that bucket and she put her head up to mine to tell me she understood. Then she went back over to stand by the water to wait.

It was not a long time after that that the girl took the lead rope off of my halter. I knew not to move. Then a few minutes later she picked my foot up out of the bucket and set it on the ground. She set the bucket off to the side. Still I didn't move. She hadn't said anything since before she took the lead rope off of my halter. She was just standing there in front of me looking at me. She backed up a few steps and then came back up to me. Then she stepped to the side and said 'You can go now. You have been a very good boy and I thank you.' She patted me gently as she walked away.

I didn't move. I wanted to make sure she wasn't tricking me. When she got back to the barn she said 'You can go now!' whew. That's exactly what I did. I will try hard in the future not to take my foot out of that bucket till she says it's time to take it out.

Is that you clicking?

For several days now we have hearing a clicking noise when we are walking around out here. Odd to hear a clicking noise when you are walking in a grassy pasture but there is was click click click. What could it be. Then the human girl said one day 'Are you clicking?' No it wasn't me clicking it was my horse The Pretty Boy. She looked at him and asked him nicely to hand her his leg which he did because he is learning he will not win with her. She did a little this and that then put his foot down. 'Yes that is you clicking Pretty Boy but you will be fine'. And then today it happened. No more clicking. His shoe fell off. We knew it was going to it was only a matter of time before it happened. It is not a horrible thing for this to happen like it used to be before his hoof got so much better. This time he is walking just fine. Yes Just Fine. You would not know he was hurt at all he is just walking smooth as I do. Randall should be here one of these days to check on all our hooves and give us our Spring trimming. In the mean time I think my horse is just going to enjoy going barefoot on all but one foot. HAHAHA! That's funny he has no shoes on three out of four hooves. Someone ought to take that last shoe off of him and let him feel the soft spring grass on his feet. Well sure we can feel it. Our hooves look very hard and they are very hard but we can still feel stuff just like you can fell stuff when you tap your fingernails on your hands. That's sort of like what our hooves are just big ole toenails.

We are getting fresh water in our drinking tank right now because the silly tree frogs or whatever kind of frogs those are laid eggs in our tank and it didn't take any time at all before there were a lot of little tadpoles swimming around in there. Pretty funny to watch them swim and I didn't mind them being in there at all but there is just some certain schedule that the human girl keeps about cleaning our tank out and today was the day. I think we should have let all the little tadpoles grow legs but then again it already is very noisy here with the frogs we have that already have four legs so I guess she did the right thing.

We eat less and less feed every week as the grass comes up thicker. Not because we don't want it but because we don't need it so much now as we did when we had nothing to graze on and just hay to eat.

OH! I forgot to tell you we saw a Coyote down at my old barn by the big tree in the cow pasture. He was a big coyote too. Don't know where he came from but he was heading South. Must have been a long journey he was on because he sat down under the big tree and took a rest before heading out again.

Getting close to my favorite time of day when we put the sun to bed for the night. The sky gets very pretty this time of day and everything just seems to sigh with happiness.

How the Tail began

The first post was Titled 'And so the Tail Begins.....' and I like it so much I am going to post it again. I may even make it a regular thing that tell the house mouse to do for me. OK I will not 'tell' her to do it I will 'ask' her to do it for me. Asking is so much nicer. And when done properly will be more likely to get you what you want or at least what you need even if you didn't know you needed it. So here goes a repeat of the first post....


He was kind enough to adopt her a horse of her own.........

Fun fun day

Now THAT was Fun!

My horse, Pretty Boy, and I had big fun with our human girl this afternoon. You see when she brought the bucket out to soak his foot this morning he went over to her thinking she was bringing him some more feed so when she went back in the big house we made a plan for the next time she came out with that white bucket. And by golly it worked like a charm. We had FUN FUN FUN!!!

She got my Pretty Boy and put a lead rope on him. Then she lead him over to a fence post where she had her white bucket of water. As she started tying him to the fence post I made noise on the pipe fence with my hoof which got our dog, Mudfoot, to barking. She told me to ‘stop that’ and finished tying up my horse. Then she bent over to pick his big ole foot up and put it in that bucket so I banged my foot on the big gate. Yes you know it that dog went to howling again and the human girl said again ‘stop that Precious’. So I just stood over there by the gate looking like I didn’t know what she was talking about while my horse pulled his foot out of the bucket! Mercy me it was funny. She said 'Put your foot back in that bucket boy! Pick it up pick it up pick it up bend your leg bend your leg bend your leg Thank You now leave it in there.' It looked like he might be going to do what she said so I had to step in. I walked over there and asked her to please pet me. I needed her to scratch my nose. So of course she did because I am a nice horse. This time the boy pulled his foot out but didn't pick it up far enough and over the bucket went. She just threw her hands up in the air and said 'I give up but I will be back!!'

Medical update on the Pretty Boy

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Pretty Boy is doing GREAT! We have just about gotten all the infection out of his leg!!!!!!!!! Today he stood in his bucket of epsom salts for a very very long time just out there in his pasture. He was not alone the whole time. I was there and the human girl too for a very long time. Then she took the lead rope off of him and told him he could go if he wanted to anytime. I went on and started grazing. He just kept standing there. The human man came home with some cattle panels to reinforce the fence I have been working on taking down and still my Pretty Boy just stood there with that one foot in the bucket of water. They had just about finished putting up two panels when he decided he was done standing in the water. The house mouse went into my part of the barn to look at his foot while he was having his supper later and said that she is very happy for him not be all swelled up anymore.

We are all very grateful to everyone who kept him in their thoughts as he fought this infection. Thank You for your love. -Precious-

It's me again the 'Pretty Boy'!

..........That felt just wonderful that she was wanting to know where I was and she was walking all over the place trying to find me. She found the big paint horse and asked her ‘Where is that pretty boy?’ and that was what she was calling out as she walked around too. She kept calling out ‘Pretty Boy! Where are you Pretty Boy!’

She was very nice to me. She brushed me and rubbed on me and hugged me a lot telling me the whole time what a pretty boy I was.................

Yes. I repeat myself but that is a most wonderful part of my story. She said I was a Pretty Boy! I heard her call that out many times before I realized she was talking to me. You see I was not very pretty at that point in my life. I was better but I was sure I wasn’t pretty. I had not gained all my weight back. Since I got hurt I had not hardly walked at all. For maybe five months I mostly just stood in one place. And it was my front foot that was so badly injured so I stood with my two back legs sort of up under me to take some of the weight off my front leg. I could feel when people were rubbing on me that I had developed a hump on my back towards my back end from standing there with my feet up under me. The human lady knows what it is called but it doesn't matter really because that time has passed. Anyway I thought I looked funny not pretty but she said I was a Pretty Boy. Now I can stand proper, walk, trot and even run sometimes. I have been here on the farm since last March and it is February now so I am well accustomed to life here now.

And it is a wonderful life. There is fresh water, grass to graze on and hay to eat. Every morning we get a bucket of feed and every afternoon, twice, we each get a large cup of feed. I am very grateful to the pet of Precious. She really does keep very good care of me. She has decided it is time for me to get into shape so she takes me for walks or she wanders off then calls me to catch up with her. I am strong enough to carry big people now. At first I could have too but the human girl said NO don't do that to him he needs to heal. So I only give babies and small children rides. They are not afraid of me even though I am very very tall. I am taller than my big Paint horse even but those babies don't care. The big humans just throw them up on me, tell them to grab some hair and off we go. It is very exciting for those babies. I think that is pretty funny since we never go more than maybe ten steps then the human man says "That's enough for now". He is so funny. Such a worrier. The human girl not so much. She wants me to try to do things. She says I will not know if I can do it if I don't try. So I try to do something different or more everyday.

I am very happy to live here on the farm with the big red barn.

The Pretty Boy 'Trouper' March of 2007