Carrot for a Kiss?

I like Mondays. Mondays are the horses' day off. We just eat and sleep and eat and sleep. Some of the lucky ones, like myself, have people visiting them, cos we're lurrrrved.

Mommy always visits me after my second meal, when all the syces are taking their lunch break and the club is really quiet. She lets me run in the paddock for a while, and that's when I get to roll in the grass (sometimes mud), stand on my hind legs, do big kicks, run really fast, and do a sudden break, basically things I'm not allowed to do when I have a person on me.

 


After I'm done running and showing off to my friends who are stuck in their rooms, mommy takes me out grazing. I'm not allowed to graze when I have a person on me either. So many rules! I like grazing. I can graze for hours. But mommy says she will get a heat stroke if she lets me graze for as long as I want, so most of the times I only get to graze for about one hour.

Sometimes mommy brings friends, and they always love to pet me and feed me carrots. They say I'm beautiful and mommy always add that I'm sweet too. One time she tried to bribe a kiss out of me with carrots. I don't mind giving kisses but it's so embarrassing in front of other people, but eventually I did give mommy a kiss and she laughed so hard cos she said it tickled.

I'm purple!

It all started with the purple bandages. My old dirty grey bandages lost their Velcro closures so the syce would have to use tape to secure them to my legs. Sometimes the syce got lazy and wouldn't put them on me, so mommy bought me new purple ones. She told me she also ordered purple stirrups for me but they're not here yet.

 

Last week auntie Clara, who used to lease me, bought me some glittery purple bell boots because she says I over-reach and now there's a sore on the back of my left front hoof.

 

Today mommy showed up with a purple whip! She said she'd get me a purple namnah and maybe purple ear covers next. Oh my god who do they think I am? Their Barbie doll? I'm a boy with dignity for crying out loud!

 

 

My Best Friend

When mommy started leasing me (that means she gets to ride me almost every morning) she started taking me for walks into the jungle after our lessons. I never used to go because I heard the syce told mommy that I spook easily. Well it's a jungle with monkeys and chickens and dogs and things I can only hear but can't see. Wouldn't you be on high alert too if you were me?  I'm glad mommy didn't listen to the syce and kept on bringing me there. At first I did get scared a lot. One time I started running when I heard a strange noise above me and mommy had to dodge a low hanging branch. She later told me she felt like she was in an Indiana Jones movie. Anyway, after a while I got used to all the smells and sounds in the jungle. I learned to walk down steep slopes nicely without running, and I can almost always resist the temptation of the yummy looking green leaves that are EVERYWHERE!

One day when we were walking back from the jungle I saw a handsome horse in the paddock that looked like me, but only bigger. I wanted to say hi, but mommy was afraid that horse might bite me so she didn't let me. But I kept on trying.  Everyday we go by the paddock I tried to stop and say hi. Finally one day mommy let me. Oh that was the best day of my life!  He whinnied softly and nuzzled my neck, and we groomed each other for as long as mommy would let me. We became instant friends.  From then on I looked forward to going to the jungle because I know when we come back I get to say hi to my friend.

 

A few weeks ago mommy found out from a syce that the big chestnut belongs to the stable manager and his name is Aramis. They say he is the alpha of the stables, but I don't care, I like him and he likes me. He's my best friend.   

We won double first

Today was a special day. Mommy came early in the morning and brushed me from head to toe. She then plaited my hair and tail while feeding me mints. She said I looked really handsome.

After she's done putting the saddle and bridle on me, we went into the arena and did the circles and lines that we practiced last week. Then I was allowed to have breakfast. Mmmmmm, breakfast...

Mommy then came back with two red ribbons and said I was a really good boy and the first ribbon was for beating everyone with a score of 66.7%. The second ribbon was apparently for just being my handsome self, with the best hair and tail-do that day. This confirms my suspicion all along, that I AM the fairest of them all. Mommy seems especially proud about the second ribbon. I guess she thinks I'm the most handsome too.

Mommy's friend took photos of mommy holding the ribbons with me. The ribbons were almost the same color as carrots, so I tried to eat it, but it tasted yucky. Blehhhh...

The Beginning

Tiger is a sixteen year old chestnut gelding with a blaze on is forehead and three white socks. He has a reputation of being a thug and a bully, but underneath that tough act is a sweet and goofy boy with a big heart and too much energy to burn. I started leasing him in Feb 2013. This is our journey together.