Excuses, Excuses

It's cold. Okay, so right now it's like 40 degrees, which isn't that cold, but the overall general trend right now is that it's cold.

For those of you who work with horses, you know that it's not terribly fun to work with horses when it's cold. Either it's so cold that everything freezes the moment you walk out the door, or it's just warm enough that everything starts to melt and then it's also cold and muddy. Eeewwww!

Fortunately, I have the perfect excuse to not go out and play extensively with my horse this winter: I'm pregnant! Woohoo! What? I don't have to go ride my horse? What if it's a warmish day and I want to? Too bad! It's not a good idea for me to ride right now! I don't have to feel guilty because I don't want to go outside and freeze!

Okay, here's the thing, though. I do want to keep playing with my horse throughout the winter. I need to, both for his sanity and for mine.

So, the other day as I was filling up his water bucket, I went out with my halter, lead rope, and carrot stick, and we played. I never even caught him, and the session only lasted the 15 minutes or so that it took to fill the trough, but in those few minutes, I got him thinking. I love it when he does that. It makes me feel like I'm making progress with him. Plus, he's cute when he thinks.

So there's my goal: At least once a week (at this point, though I'd like to make it more often) I'll go out for just a few minutes and do something that makes Cruise think. If I can get him to think, I will have been a success for that session. The hope is that by doing this throughout the winter, he and I will have much more trust for each other in the Spring when (after Wooble is born) I can do more playing with him. Here's hoping!

Okay, pop quiz time:

How do you know when a horse is thinking? 12 points if you get the answer right!