030429 08 Lily looking for the treats. She knew there were peppermints in there. "I can smell them!" 030429 09 I've forgotten this part Arab's name, but he is such a cutie and always ready for some scritchies. he wanted me to come back and play with him some more. Lily didn't really care what he was doing as she was so relaxed. I had just finished massaging her ears inside and out and was working on her tail. I finally figured out how to get her to relax it so I could move her tailbone all around. 030429 10 The yawns take over. 030429 11 The yawns take over. 030429 12 Now let's DO something! I was trying to get a photo of her standing nicely all groomed, but Lily didn't want to cooperate! 030429 14 Not quite 030429 13 Almost 030429 15 Hmmmm... I did a bit of driving with her and wanted to get a photo of her standing, but alas, we don't have Stand quite down. My camera is just too slow! Those are my farrier's chaps over her back. I wore today to work while I cleaned her feet to get her used to the idea. She gets trimmed this Friday. All went well. She even let me bring her hind foot forward and hold it on my thigh. 030429 16 Any break is a good time to graze. I know this looks like a potential disaster with the lines all over the place. Lily is used to ropes all around her legs, stepping on them and is calm about it, otherwise I would not leave her like this. And certainly not something I would do with a horse I didn't know. 030429 17 The new baby sacked out and protected by her mom, Foxy. They are both Missouri Fox Trotters. 030429 18 Cute filly! 030429 19 She let me come right up. I said hello to her mom, Foxy, first though. This filly was imprinted by her owner and is incredibly friendly. 030429 20 Baby pooky lips! She loves having her neck scratched. 030429 21 More scritchies! 030429 22 She was going to get up... but thought the better of it and slept some more. 030429 23 So many itchy spots 030429 24 Lily heading off on her own. Today was a really nice day. I took all my stuff down to the round pen. I saw Lily and called out a “Hey, Lily!” to her. When I turned around after putting my stuff down, she was right there at my shoulder. Such a pleasant surprise! We started off with a short clicker session in the round pen. I used a sort of “come on” motion with my hand for her to come up and walk by my shoulder with the lead over her neck. It took one or two times of clicking her for taking one step before she got the idea. We went on doing walk and whoa voice commands. She did great. She really likes it and has learned to wait with her head about 18” from my elbow for her treat. Then it was on to a good grooming session in the sun. I only had to tie her up to do her hind feet. I found a few ticks and noticed that the scratch on the inside of her hind leg was healing over. So much dust in her coat! I could have brushed all day and still had clouds coming out. I really look forward to giving her a first bath. Next a little driving in the pen, doing turns through the middle at the walk. It was such a beautiful sunny day and she was doing so well, we went out through the pasture. There is a dirt road back to the barn that is a 10 minute walk. I drove her practicing whoa and walk voice commands. I left her surcingle at home, so I just looped the offside line over her back or walked next to her rump. It was good practice learning how to handle the excess lines for me. Lily had one spook when we cleared the blackberry hedge and she could see the horses in the pasture again. She just levitated sideways about 3 feet and spun 45 degrees to see them. I almost laughed! It was nice to have the long lines to just let her move and luckily, I was not in her path, but behind her several feet. She settled down and we had a nice walk down the lane. Her ears pricked forward at the shady spots, but she moved into them with a bit of encouragement. I let her graze a bit up by the barn. Long rich grass up there! Then we walked back to the pasture. Besides the one spook, she was willing, controlled and mellow.