Squeeze one, squeeze two

I've always found it interesting the trouble other horses get into. But my horses seemed rather incident free, all things considered. Other than the time Smokey got his foot stuck in the feed bag in the trailer (served him right for pawing, not that he stopped), our horses have stayed pretty content in stalls and pastures.

Until now. Our new stable has several chutes for doing lord knows what to cattle. Well, the other day I looked up to see a very large white horse squeezing through the rusted red door of the chute like toothpaste coming out of a tube. He poked his head out , looking at me with that expression that said "Whoa! Check it out! Did you know there was a door here?"

Picture a large, white horse coming out of this door...

Of course I had the gate to the street wide open, so I squealed in a panic and asked Sierra to try to get him back inside while I ran and shut the gate.

We found some twine and snugged up the little side gate to the chute on his run, locking it down.

Then this morning I went to let them out and Lily had gotten herself into the other chute and couldn't back herself back into her run. And first I didn't understand why she was stuck, until I realized she couldn't turn around or back up. Really? Horses really won't back up on their own? Lord knows how long she was stuck there, poor thing, feeling trapped by her own curiosity.

Girl, I know how you feel.

It took a minute, but working together we got her back in her run, where she went back to her remaining hay. I locked down her gate too.

See that far chute? That's where she was stuck...

Poor girl. Hopefully this is the last of the squeeze plays around here...

Quick shot

Doesn't she look happy? Or appalled?

What we know about Cotton

Cotton has a very distintict personality.He is a lover, comes right up for petting, but is not that enamored with being ridden. I'm not sure how much riding he has had in the last few months although one of his initial problems - moving while mounting - is gone. He was a terrible mover when I tried to mount him the first time a few months ago, but I worked on him in the round pen that day. No way I fixed him in that brief session, so I guess our friend K tuned up that part of things.

We had to work on horse catching 101 in one of our first sessions. Then Sierra had a round pen session. When we first met Cotton, he didn't know much about round penning. He is a fast learner, and sensitive to signals. He is also the most spook free horse I've met, short of Cody, the wonder horse.

He is my daughter and husband's horse, he will need me to clean up a few things, but we are just looking for a trail horse. So far it looks like he will fit that role very well. I could fall in love, but ... I am standing on the sidelines, making the room for the bond with Sierra. He was trained by a teenage girl, and I think he really gravitates to Sierra.


Then there is this "capable" thing. I was warned that he would 'service our mare.'. How is that possible, I asked. Isn't he gelded?

They shrugged. He's gelded. And yet he can fire blanks, apparently. Explanations, anyone?

Our barn is settling into a routine of sorts. Lily seems to like her gelding and has gone to second position in their herd of two. It's funny to see her go up and down in the hierarchy of different herds. I don't think she's ever happy being high in the herd, she always seems annoyed when she's in charge.

I hope to ride tomorrow. It's been busy at work, but everyday I hug my horse, every day I see her, everyday I catch a glimpse across the road or my copper girl, head down, grazing like there is no tomorrow.

Life is good.

Crib Notes (over on my other blog)

FYI, I'm posting on my crib notes blog again. In case you're interested, you can find the latest post  here.

I'm keeping this blog horsecentric, since I have so much horse news these days, but I'll let you know when I have a new post over yonder. :)