Bye bye mohawk!

I banded Amber's mane today. It was way, way too cold to ride.

Amber, I have found, is a big food lover. Bigger than any other horse I've ever met. I tie her up, and she sits there and makes these adorable faces at me, and you can see that she's totally saying "Hey, I'm CUTE, please give me something yummy to snack on! Please?"

I banded her mane first. Despite the howling wind and cold, she was very patient with my fumbling, frozen fingers. I don't know if she's ever had her mane banded before, because one of the bands made a popping noise that spooked her once just a little, but she jumped back just for a second and got over it.

I don't know if I told you guys, but the mowhawk bridle path she sports was not lack of care on the barn's part, they were letting it grow out because the previous owners had it WAY too long. Almost Arabish long. Now it's long enough to start laying flat, so soon as I get my hands on some clippers I'm trimming her a proper bridle path.

What a great horse I have found. I know that no horse is ever perfect, but I can't find one thing about her that I don't like. I especially like how chilled and calm she is, even when the wind is blasting us and making all sorts of noises. She just stands quietly for me, making cute faces.

She also has an AMAZING tail. It's a little short. I'll probably put some MTG on it and bag it in the spring to get it 2-3 inches longer, so I can do the "traditional" dressage thing of doing a blunt cut on the end. I just like now neat and tidy that looks. But why it's so amazing is, it's so soft and silky! Almost like human hair. I saw her just before she got her full winter coat too, and she is a gorgeous vibrant red underneath all her fuzz. The picture I posted doesn't do it justice.

I think she likes me. She was in one of the shelter stalls that's open to her paddock, making cute faces at me, and another horse came in while I was petting her...she pins her ears at him, making these nasty faces. I think we have a little attention whore on our hands! Very people-oriented. And that's a good thing when the horse is also mannerly and respectful of their humans, because they enjoy being handled and ridden, meaning training is much easier.

It's kind of like when a person WANTS to do something, they learn it easier than if they don't want to or don't care. No different to horses.

My job is going well. I have learned a lot and fast, and the managers seem to like me. I've had plenty of time off, but still got plenty of hours in and the manager has been very understanding of my situation that I need at least 24 hours a week, and I need to be guaranteed that because of my upcoming purchase of a horse. I explained that my horse was going to cost me a certain amount each month, and I had to be certain I'd make that amount because I absolutely cannot skimp out on her care. I'm very thankful that the manager has understood and assured me of my hours.

If for some reason that turns out to not be true though, I do have another job as an option, with someone who can vouch for me and help me get the job who also works there.

So I am quite stable financially now. Amber's vet check is going to be scheduled for next Monday if I'm not mistaken. Cross your fingers guys that I have a healthy, sound horse ready to be purchased by her new owner!



By the way, is it incredibly lame, or just natural, that I want to show her off to all my old trainers? I definitely want to try to trailer in to Trish at least once. I was thinking of asking someone at the barn with a trailer if maybe they would want to do a lesson with Trish, and offering to pay for a lesson for them too if they give me and Amber a lift, or just paying for their gas and time. I'm just so proud of her already, and she hasn't even done anything at all really, except be her sweet self.