I've been busy drawing when the weather is crummy, here are the latest pieces from Brain Damage Drawings!
"Raven Profile", 8x10", graphite, conte crayon, and charcoal on white paper, $200
"Gigi", 8x10" graphite, conte crayon, charcoal on grey paper, SOLD
Recently I've started walking around a little with Daisy to help with my core recovery. She is the shortest in my herd and also the laziest, so least likely to do anything unexpected, quick, or sideways. Her 14.3h height means she's the easiest to get on. I mount from an upside down water tank so it's more like rest my leg on her far side and then slide into a sitting position on the bareback pad. She also is perfectly content to walk a few laps in the arena and then go back to the barn.
I've been walking for some time now post-op, and it's interesting how differently I use my core when mounted versus walking on my own feet. My body just settles into straight and tall while on Daisy, versus having to frequently remind myself to look up and engage my core when I'm walking. We go around until odd nerve sensations begin in my left leg, then I dismount and put her away. Today I was able to stay mounted a while longer, so we went a little farther and did one lap in the back fields with the dogs.
There is something about my winter hats that is extremely appealing to the geldings. In the evenings Highboy gets mash, and so I often find myself sitting on the edge of his water tank waiting for him to finish dinner. His pen shares a fence line with Note's pen, so frequently Note will come over to visit with me. This nearly always involves furtive nuzzling of my knit hats, with the occasional attempt at snatching it in thievery.
I will usually ask him, "Oh silly horse, are you SURE you want to steal my hat...?" since I have rules about horse teeth being involved with our interactions. Generally I tolerate gentle nuzzling, but if the horse brings out his teeth he is quickly reprimanded, and I immediately walk away.
With some horses (for example Highboy when he was a mouthy youngster) reprimanding the gelding would simply initiate heavy duty horseplay as he thought I was agreeing to wrestle with him and interact like another horse would. In those situations the best way to handle it was to instantly walk away, totally and completely ignoring him. Being ignored was truly the worst punishment Highboy could imagine as a youngster. He always always wanted to wrestle and play with everyone, and saw any yelling, hand waving, or even smacking his face away as acceptance of his bid for attention.
In response to teeth I would go totally silent, turn, and walk away from Highboy with no reaction whatsoever. This made young Highboy jump up and down in his pen by the gate, waving his head and baring his teeth in frustration demanding I come back and play with him. We went through the scene repetitively for ages, and he did eventually make the connection that teeth equaled humans walking away. After he figured that out he realized if he was better behaved his playmates would hang around longer.
My suspicion is that the horses like the smell of my mango scented shampoo and conditioner. I wear these hats over all my hair mostly to keep it relatively clean when I have to spend some time in the dusty barn. These two just don't seem to be able to resist the giant ball of fruity smelling hair sequestered beneath the knit cap.
Everyone asked for pajamas tonight, so they all got blankets for the snowstorm.
