Barn, horses...

Driving Dande: The driver's
view from the cart.

It's hard to hold the camera when you're driving, but I managed to get this photo yesterday morning, of me sitting on the Meadowbrook cart driving Dande. Of course, if I had been lucky the photo would have captured our reflection in the mirror and you would see the cart as well.


Lusi came down to the barn with me; she travelled exceptionally well in her crate and waited patiently for me. I put her big knuckle bone and a chewy in her crate to keep her occupied but I think she hunkers down and has a nap for most of the time when I am not around.


After driving, I let her off leash and she ran around the paddocks. She is definitely getting quite comfortable around the barn now and ran in with me to get Dande so that we could walk him up the hill together and put him in his paddock. I had some liver treats which I used to get her to sit at the gate as I opened it up and walked the horse through. 


Cynthia and Carola got Lusi to sit with the treats I had bought to the barn; she sat on command surprisingly well but really wanted to give them both hugs and kisses. I do not think either of them are dog owners so they are a little apprehensive of her greetings.

Going to the barn

Beaverwood Farm

Sunshine and three degrees above freezing! Such beautiful weather for this time of year and now that we have got the whole issue of Lusi being safe from harm's way while in the truck both travelling and when she is waiting for me at the barn, we are all set for our barn trips together.


Dande is doing well too. Last week I drove him twice and on Sunday we went for a walk down the road on the longlines. I had not seen him so relaxed on the road before even when a car passed us by. I did use my rendition of "Speed Bonnie Boat," to keep him calm and relaxed which he likes; this was something that we discovered at one of the early horse shows! I am pleased with the progress that we are making both with Dande and with Lusi towards our carriage driving prepping.


After I was finished with Dande, I took Lusi up onto the hay fields on a longline. We had a little bit of difficulty getting to the fields up the slope where there was still ice but once we were up on the high ground the going was quite dry. She scampered about nose to ground in the sunshine. It was just lovely to be out together. I noticed that she was quite excited as she picked up different scents. I wondered if she was detecting the scent of voles in the ground because she was making chattering "snoffling" sounds as she inhaled rapidly in succession and then exhaled deeply and would then scratch at tufts of grass. This was a scenting behaviour I have not seen before with her.

Lusi asleep in her crate travelling home.

As we returned from our walk on the hay fields to the lower barn we passed all the ponies in the paddock who stopped to stare at Lusi. She didn't pay them much attention. We continued on our way down and I noticed that she had managed to get quite muddy and wet! 


I offered her some water and we packed up our things and headed back home with her all curled up in her crate. Another good day!

Lusi's trip to the vet. Nail clipping and getting more information about de-worming.

Lusi's nails need clipping. She needs what I call a "zoo routine"! Years ago, on a trip to the zoo with the children the animal keeper had explained how they maintain a regular daily training exercise of handling all the large animals. Touching all the body parts; inspect ears, open mouth, lift paws and so on! Well, we are a little remiss in our zoo routine at the moment. It wasn't that Lusi was afraid of the vet office; on the contrary, she bounded in like a jack-in -the -box, the ever wagging tail swishing across the small space between the chairs. What she didn't like was her paws being held very firmly and the fact that the vet tech would not let go of them until the job was done. I do hold her feet at the door for wiping when she comes in from outside but that is scarcely up to what we needed here for nail clipping. So one more routine to add to the daily list, the "zoo routine"!


Her weight is now 48 lbs, and Lusi is 71/2 months old.


We had a faecal test done at the end of November which was negative. I wanted to check how frequently we should be doing this since Lusi was going to be back down at the barn again, now that Dande had recovered from his injury and I was recovered from my foot injury and the several other ailments were now all behind us finally. Our vet recommended that we repeat the faecal tests every two months until the age of I year old, at which time a regular program of worming every 4 months could be established.

I had trained Lusi when she was first going down to the barn to "leave it" when she picked up horse poop up in her mouth and ran around with it, or worse still ate it. But a recent visit to the barn, as we maintain Lusi's equine socialization with our Morgan horse, showed that she had forgotten some of her earlier lessons! There she was ferreting through the shavings and hay in the stable to find pieces of poop. I have to admit I didn't realize what she was doing at first! I also caught her stealing a frozen dog "poopsicle" on our walk last week.