later in the Day, 41 degrees

It was a good day meaning it wasn't raining or in the single digits.  Actually it was the warmest day I have been to the barn in a long time.  As I was coming around the bend in the Greenwood Rd I could see that there was not a soul in sight.  I heaven.  The horses are in the barn and it was still light out.  It was about 6pm. I pulled up, and was able to park in the area next to the barn w/o worrying about getting stuck or having a hard time getting out.  I parked and the horses were all in I could hear the goats through the window. I went in and brushed out Duke a little. I have the new cleaner, I saturated his tail and dry brushed it a bit.  I put on his halter and lead line and out of the frond door.  It had been closed up tight for the night.  He was happy to be out and to see me. 

We went directly out the barn door and out the driveway to the road.  We stayed on the edge where the soft dirt was exposed.  I'm so happy that there was so much for him to walk on.  I had the new snacks that I got from Tractor Supply in Merrimac.  Plus I had all of the cut up apples and one big green apple.   We walked all the way to Bonnie's driveway.  I asked him to stop and he did perfectly, I gave him the first snack.  He was so happy.  We turned crossed, I gave him another one.  He was the peppy walking, really feeling good. I'm not sure I saw him feel this up in a while.  We got all of the way back and at the end of the road near the barn, I pulled him into the snow and he was happy, he dug only for a moment and then we went down into the snow rolling. 

 

So happy.  He makes me so happy. I took off his blanket.  Then we went over to the trailers and search for more grass, it was just ok. We cut across the snow to the end I noticed that the barn had a huge gauge in the end of it.

We walked onto the road and over to the mares paddock and we played in the paddock.  Duke was exceptually quick in his step.  We went back an forth and it was beautiful.  He was so up beat.  The amount of energy he had was really good.  He usually wasn't that bouncy.

We moved around a lot and his activity level was great. I decided to keep going back and forth for a while and get his miles up.  We were very happy at one point as he was following me around for his "good boy" snack he turned and kicked up his hoofs, actually did a buck and I was too close to it.  This brings it home for me, I need to be more careful near him.

We decided to go back into the barn for some cleaning. I wanted to put in in the cross ties so that I could keep him more manageable. He needs to be listening. I got him facing his own stall.  I got out the new cleaning stuff and also a new clean rag that I had in the car. I soaked his face and scrubbed it. Then I brushed him out.  Hes shedding like crazy.  He tried to pull out of the ties, he broke one off of the small lines it was attached.  I loved brushing him out with the new brush.  He liked it too.  one of the mares was giving him dirty looks teeth on the bars and also pinned ears.  He didn't even notice.  Hes so funny how he cares about food more than any thing else.

Well I cleaned him up and then we went into arena, I talked to him and he was so coorperative.  Its nice we walked and he stepped up his pace again just like he did on the road. I had the 2 jumps in the center of the arena, I decided after a warm up Id see if he would pick up the pace.  He walked and I started trotting over to the jump and we both jumped over the bars on the ground. I gave him a huge hug and snack.  He loved it.  Againi, we did it again and he jumped even more.  The third time was alittle jump and then the last ime he stepped quickly over it.

I was very happy with him.
I brought him back to his stall, gave him his snacks, apple pieces and cookie treats.  I went along the stalls and gave then all treats, apples and cookies.  I was then ready to go home.  It was very nice almost 8pm.  I felt great.  There was a fabulous visit.