Happy Birthday Mozzie!- First Year Stats

Mozzie had a birthday last week.  He officially turned 1 year old on the 16th.

Just arrived.

11 days old

It's funny how you can remember your life through horses.

I was born in the Jet Era of my Mother's life.  She was a big bright sorrel with a star.  My mother bought her as a 2 year old and trained her from the beginning.  She was about 8 when I arrived and had my first ride on her at 3 months of age.

Well Mozzie marks the beginning of my "Having Horses with Children" Era because just 1 month and 1 day after his birth his human little sister was also born.  He joins in the Pie Era (since 2003) and barely over lapped the Charlie Era (2009-2013 (sold)).

Dec 2013

His first year has been quite an adventure to say the least.

Dec 2013

His first year stats as of 4/16/14 are:

Stands: 13.2 1/2
Weights: 750lb
Color: Chestnut
Status: Gelding (as of Feb 11)
Hauled: Over 10 times
Traveled: Over 1300 miles
Has been easily haltered: too many times to count
Has been tied up: too many times to count
Has been bathed with soap: 4 times
Has stabled away from home overnight: 8 nights
Hooves trimmed: 8 times
Has been to the vet: 3 times (for scheduled care)
Lived in: 2 different locations
Lived with: 5 different herds (horse combinations)
Clinics attended/participated in: 5
Wounds/injuries requiring care: 3
Trail rides attended: 1

And with that I must say.  Happy happy birthday to the most wonderful and handsome 4-legged son I could have ever asked for. I'm so happy that you're in my life and I so look forward to our future adventures. 

Love you Mozzie Man!

The problem with play

In my last post "How quickly things can unravel" I wrote about the sudden change in Mozzie's behavior after just few minutes of playful interaction.

I will admit to being totally taken a back at Mozzie's sudden nippy behavior (he has been perfect for months) until later than night when I couldn't sleep and I started replaying the incident in my head.  

It was then that I realized that I never offer to play with Mozzie like my brother in law had started to do.  

I do not play with my horses.  Never have and never will.

I love my horses, and freely give scratches and butt rubs, but I do not find any joy in a horse chasing/following me.  

In fact I hate it when horses are behind me.  I always catch them making ears at me.  I am the boss mare and I push them instead of the other way around.

I do not touch muzzles unless I am grooming, deworming, or checking teeth.  I do not allow noses any where around me and any attempts at nuzzling are punished immediately.

I am a person and people are not be played with. End of story.

Foals grow up and I do not want a 2 year old 800 lb Mozzie looking at myself or at his 2 year old 30 lb human sister thinking that he can play.

The problem with playing with your horse is that you can not sit them down and explain when it is okay to play.  That it is okay to play with the BIL but not with the baby.  

And since I can not explain when it is or is not appropriate to play I choose to not play with my horses.  

  

How quickly things can unravel

Awesome weekend with the horses.  I have really tried to set a side some Mommy/ horse time lately and I am so enjoying it.

I clipped Mozzie for the first time after he begged me to do so while I trimmed his mother.  They both ground tied side by side for their sessions. I cleaned up his jowls a bit and buzzed him everywhere else (I'm just not ready to for him to loose those fuzzy teddy bear ears).

Half way through I actually realized what I was doing.  That my 9 month old colt had asked to be clipped, was ground tying for the first time, and was clipping like a seasoned veteran.

All in all I walked away beyond proud of my little man.

Later the same day my sister and brother in law (BIL) stopped by to visit and on their way out to the car Mozzie came up. Both horsey people, my BIL started playing with Mozzie's nose, playfully boxing it side to side and in less than a minute of that happening Mozzie started wanting to nip.

BIL of course properly corrected Mozzie for trying to nip but it was amazing seeing how quickly his manners fell to the wayside when given the opportunity.

The take away.

It only takes a little bit of bad to undo a whole lot of good. Anytime you are around horses they are learning something.  You control what your horse is learning and whether it is good or bad.