Shopping for New Clothes

Wilma here.

I have nice clothes to wear. My saddle is quite pretty, and mostly comfortable. Because I'm a Friesian, though, the straps that hold the saddle on are not in the right place for the way my body is built, so the saddle will sometimes end up too far forward on me. That doesn't feel real good, and it makes it hard to move my front legs.

The other day my partner put my saddle and bridle on, and then she fastened the driving reins to me and we went for a walk. I love doing this. I get to lead, but my partner is right there helping me find the way. We walked through the woods to the house of some of my Friesian friends. 

Hi, Friends! I say. They all said 'hi' back and what are you doing here and are you going to try on some new clothes too. What new clothes, I ask, and then my saddle comes off and a human man (I cannot tell if human males are stallions or geldings, so I call them all "man") with a different kind of talk starts looking at it, and saying why it doesn't fit me right. THEN comes another human, a mare this time, with a saddle, and they put it on me and fasten it up, and it feels pretty good. My partner gets on, and it still feels good. We go for a little walk, and feeling good continues. I can move my front legs, and the saddle stays where it belongs. Pretty nice! 

My partner has told me we are going to look for some new clothes for me. I liked that saddle from the human man with the different talk, but we will also look around and see what else might fit good. Too bad about my old clothes, but everybody needs something new now and then.

The Gate

Wilma here.

My partner is back! 

The other day we played together in the round pen, and then my partner got on and went for a ride. She asked me to walk, then stop, then walk, then trot, then walk, then trot, then stop, then TROT, then....well, you get the idea. I have to admit that when we were done with all this walking, trotting, walking, stopping, it was easier to carry my partner because I remembered where my back legs are. 

After all that activity, my partner swung open the gate. Hurrah, we were leaving the round pen  to go for a little walk, and maybe even get some grass. It turned out the gate wasn't open quite far enough and it spooked us both when we rode through. So my partner turned me around, opened the gate further, and we RODE BACK INTO THE ROUND PEN. 

Wait a minute. I was not prepared for more time in the round pen. We were done in there as far as I was concerned. I got very fussy and deMANDed to leave. My partner just chuckled and decided it would be a good idea if we circled the buckets she had put on the ground to play with, and do figure-of-eights around them, and step around the hula hoop (but no feet inside!). That was a lot to think about. Eventually I forgot about leaving the round pen, and pretty soon we were walking past the open gate and I barely slowed down for it. I did keep hoping, though.

After we went past the gate a couple of times, my partner stopped me, and stroked my neck. She told me how brilliant I am (of course), and then jumped down from the saddle. We were done!

I got a nice back rub and brushing while still in the round pen. It felt so good! My partner massaged my legs, too, mmmmm! Then she let me go. 

The gate was still wide open but I stuck with my partner until she left the round pen. Then I got to have my snack of grass before settling in with the other horses for the night. 

It was a fun time, and I'm glad my partner is back!

Where is my partner?

Wilma here.

For the past few days, Marieh's partner has been coming to the barn to feed us. That's all well and good for Marieh, but where is MY partner?

Marieh's partner says my partner is sick with a "coldandflu". That doesn't sound very good. I would like to be able to comfort her, but I am not allowed in the house. Instead, I'll send her love via Marieh's partner. I hope he remembers to tell her.

Hurry back, partner.