Babies are Dramatic and Yellow Jackets Suck

Trask got to go real cross country schooling for the first time about a week ago. It was interesting of course. We went with KP and her horse Rogue, who is Trask's half brother. They definitely remembered eachother on the trailer ride over and since Trask is already pre-disposed to being herd bound, he was attached at the hip.

It is very interesting the differences between the two horses. They look pretty similar to each other, though Trask has a bit more bone, different hind end conformation, and completely different personalities. They are both very sweet on the ground, but Rogue is a little lazy under saddle, while I've never been able to say that about Trask. Rogue is definitely much more brave too, he ended up having to lead us through all the scary places and while KP hasn't ever jumped him undersaddle, he jumped everything first because Trask refused to do it by himself.

At least we're having really great dressage rides!

It was a good outing, though I was frustrated. Especially after how much he loved jumping the logs at the derby we did, I thought he'd do well schooling. But sometimes his baby brain just short circuits and I think having his brother there was just too exciting for him to handle. Eventually I got off and lunged him over a little jump and he came back to his senses a bit and we were able to jump a few things. He definitely can do banks easily! That's the one thing he didn't hesitate on was the little BN bank, he did it by himself, both up and down!

I was really excited that we got him in the water at least. He absolutely refused last time I tried, even following a horse in. Both KP and I both had to get our feet wet, but Rogue eventually went in and then with a loooooot of persuasion, Trask finally got his feet wet and figured out it wasn't such a big deal. By the end we were trotting and cantering through the water like he'd always been doing it... you'd never know that we spent almost an hour trying to get him in in the first place.

KP said she was really pleased with him, though she missed his two big spooks where I almost came off. I was less pleased, but it wasn't that bad of an experience. He just needs lots more exposure!

I feel this. A lot.

Then the other day I decided to get a tarp out and see how he reacted to walking over it. I figured it would be a big deal so it'd be good for us to work through it. I carried it out to the pasture in a ball and put it on the ground... Trask instantly sniffed it, grabbed it in his mouth, and shook it. I've had many horses do that and they usually freak out once the tarp rustles. Nope, he didn't care. He dropped it and started pawing at it. I stretched it out and put some poles on it to hold it in place and he didn't even hesitate to walk and trot over it. Of course, while I was lunging him over it I got stung by a yellow jacket. Those things hurt!! I've never gotten stung by one before and holy smokes. I'm terrified of bees to begin with so that didn't help. We high-tailed it out of the pasture, making it probably the shortest training session Trask has ever had, but I was not about to get stung or have Trask stung either!

And more baby dramatics... Maisie is learning to lead a bit. I still have a butt rope and chest rope but she steers kind of and we can do circles in the paddock. She lifts and lets you hold all four of her hooves. She gets her first hoof trim soon! That'll be very interesting... I have forewarned my farrier, but hopefully things go smoothly!

I went for a fun ride though when my bf, who was taking pictures, decided to make a funny noise to get Maisie's ears up and she DID NOT LIKE. She took off with me holding on, thinking I could get her stopped. Nope, she kept on trucking and I fell to my knees and she dragged me about 15 feet. Babies are strong! I didn't want her to learn she could run away from me, but dang. My left calf swelled to almost twice it's size and I have a lovely bruise developing. We ended up making friends with my bf and the scary noise by the end with lots of scritches, but geez.

One day she'll grow into this saddle pad!

6 weeks difference! She's growing so fast