2007-2010 March 1st

March 1, 2007

Had the oil changed this morning and snow/freezing rain set in around noon, so I just groomed Phoenix and Onyx today.  Tried touching Phoenix's sheath again - he does not like that - lots of tail-swishing and foot-stamping.

Funny to go back and see this - it took a lot of work, but he came to tolerate it quite well.  It even became part of a nightly routine while he was eating his bucket of grain - I would clean him up while he was distracted.  He was always quite protective of his nether regions, though; even under sedation the vet had a tough time cleaning him thoroughly and removing "the bean" - he would retract that so far up inside the vet would spend most of their time trying to find it!

March 1, 2008

Another miserably cold, windy day today and more snow fell yesterday so the roads and fields are well-nigh impassable.  Phoenix was in a turn-out today so I got the opportunity to see if the stall work has helped (some, I think).  He walked right over to me at first but when I came back with the lead rope, he turned away, so I lavished attention on the others and ignored him until he got jealous.  Took him and Onyx for a short walk since the weather was so abysmal, then gave treats and headed home.

March 1, 2009

It looked nicer than it actually was today - beautiful sunshine, but bitterly cold and windy.  They had already cleaned out Onyx's stall due to flooding, so we got through that quicker, but spent longer on grooming since they're both shedding.  Phee actually clacked and ground his teeth together while I was grooming!  I did some quick lunging with Phee along with the basics, then we took both of them to the head of the trail and did yielding the forequarters and lunging with Onyx, but the footing wasn't great.  Ashley rode Onyx while Dave led them and I led Phoenix, but there was so much ice, we didn't go far.

March 1, 2010

Up early today to go to Mississauga for a "Violence in the Workplace" workshop.