Also, the awesome people with whom we plan to pasture board Halo have been having foal drama for a couple of weeks now. Starbuck, their Quarab baby, had a rough birth and isn't nursing. Now, apparently he's also come down with some kind of sickness, which is undoubtedly attributable to missing out on mom's milk during the first 24 hours. Poor little thing.
Also, Miss Halo has insisted on setting back when tied at least once every time I come out. She's very sensitive and giving to the leadrope in hand, and most of the time when she's tied. But every now and again she'll reach the end of the leadrope and decide her halter is going to eat her head. The resulting spaz is not good for her neck or her back, and she could severely injure herself. Sigh.
So in the meantime before she comes home we've been doing what we can by visiting her once a week. During each visit she gets treats, a good brushing, and work on hoof handling. This week she even got her first (front half only) bath, which she was less than thrilled about at first. Strangely she could have cared less when I stuck her tail in a bucket to wash it. Halo's mode of operation seems to be "ZOMG it's going to eat me!!!!!!!!!!!" whenever she is faced with a new experience. Backing up very quickly and hopping around on the end of her leadrope ensues. Then when she realizes it isn't in fact going to eat her, she stands quietly flicking her ears back and forth. Silly spastic filly.
When we visit her, we like to give her some time to play at liberty in the arena. She's at the bottom of the pecking order in a very small, crowded pasture, so she probably doesn't get much opportunity to run unless she's being chased by a crabby old pony. Her favorite game to play in the arena is, Arabian Princess. Apparently nobody has informed her that Quarter Horses should not run around with their tails straight up in the air.
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