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That attachment from Patti's Place is nifty. I think I might email her with a few questions. The curved shafts I'm not too sure about, I have never used them.

I remember getting pulled on a sled by my neighbor and her pony. Kids have no sense of self preservation!
I am surprised my siblings and I survived childhood.
 
Our poor parents, if they had known of our collective antics they probably would have fainted.

How is DD doing?
He seems fine. My farrier thought I should turn him out into the small pasture so I did. With this bitter weather and the wind swirling around like crazy, I went ahead and allowed them into the large pasture so they could have better shelter and forage behind the pond. Hope it wasn't a mistake. Thanks for asking!
 
I emailed Patty's Place to see if she had any in stock and what size sled to get. We are "going for it" if she still has any. My husband is excited. Me too! And we can use it for chores too.

paintponylvr thanks for the links!
You're welcome. I can't wait to see what you do or get. Please SHARE pics!!
 
I contacted Rowdy's owner and she wants him back. She will come and get him in the spring. I asked her if I found an ideal home for him if she would let him go and she said she didn't want anyone but me to have him. I don't know how in the world she's going to work it out, but it's amazing how people can work things out if they want to badly enough. He'll go back to being a pen pet and never use any of the training he's learned again. But maybe that will be best for him.
 
That's good news about DD, Glad to hear that he is feeling better :). I'm happy for you that it all worked out with Rowdy and his other owner. If she'll be happy to have him come home as a pet it sounds like a win for everyone.

paintponylvr, I did order the shaft set and an otter sled. It will be here about the second week in Jan. It was quite the impulse buy, lol. I don't usually do things like that! Hubby will be test pilot! :)
 
That's good news about DD, Glad to hear that he is feeling better :). I'm happy for you that it all worked out with Rowdy and his other owner. If she'll be happy to have him come home as a pet it sounds like a win for everyone.

paintponylvr, I did order the shaft set and an otter sled. It will be here about the second week in Jan. It was quite the impulse buy, lol. I don't usually do things like that! Hubby will be test pilot! :)
The otter sled looks so useful! I might look into one of those, too.
 
I'm so anxious for snow and those videos just made it that much more desirable (and I hate the cold!)

I finally, despite an arguing migraine, got to drive for a little bit. Sierra attempted to kill me (well, not really) by deciding that it had been too long since I last drove and she conveniently "forgot" how to go slow... So a lecture while hand-walking her seemed to help. I did let her trot until she wore herself out and trotted a little further to prove the point lol. She's such a hard worker and she loves her job, hard to punish them for enjoying it, but listening is so important when driving.

Willow (formally Whiskey) got her first glimpse of a mini in a cart. She didn't react much, moreso fed off the other mini's feeling their oats in this lovely weather. She snorted at Sierra when I got her closer though, was kinda funny. Amazes me that the cart is such a scary monster to horses when the mini's themselves don't really react to it (or at least none of mine have reacted anywhere near the big guys)

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It's not often when I get them and I only recently realized that's what it was. I'd be miserable and nauseous and couldn't figure out why. Just thought it was an awful headache.

Willow is the newest addition to my folks place. She is nearly 3 y/o Gypsy Cob (Haflinger cross in this situation). They bought her with the intention to break to drive and go from there. She's a sassy little thing, but has come around nicely in the time she has been able to spend being a horse. Previous owner dumped 3 months of groundwork into her and made her a little sour to the working environment (crabby mare face and just a general ugly face when work was involved), so I chose to let her rest before trying to ask her for anything.

Magic is doing well. He's still being picked on and I mentioned this to a friend of mine. It would appear he may have a new forever home where a little girl gets to dote on him hand and hoof. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to let him go, but if I do it certainly would be a great home for him.
 
Glad to her Rowdy's owner is wanting to take him. Then you know he's going back to a place he's loved. And you never know, maybe she will find him a new home. She may just want to screen potential homes for him herself if it comes down to it. I'm sorry for you that he didn't work out but I'm happy for you that you will be able to move on and find a horse that is a better fit. Driving is too much fun to be fighting a relationship that isn't working. Takes all the joy out of it.

I am really excited to hear how the Otter sled setup works out. You need a good impulse buy every now and then. We all work so hard and it's nice to, once in a while, be able to buy something just because it makes you happy.

On the horses spooking at the cart... So interesting observation here because we had a theory. We pulled a mini cart by the big horse pasture and they hated it. Ran away snorting and kicking. Then next day we pulled a horse size cart by the big horses. They looked up with ears forward but didn't run away. So then we got the mini cart again and they freaked. Is it a size thing????
 
I have such a burden lifted since Rowdy will be leaving. I did not realize how I really felt. I was working so hard, trying different things, following trainers' advice, really committed to his training. Now that I have acknowledged that we can go no farther together I am so glad for the decision to move him along.
 
@Marsha - Sorry you had to make the tough choice to let Rowdy go, but sometimes our hardest decision is making it... However, the fact you feel better says without question it was the right thing to do in that situation. His purpose must be with someone else
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Just like Magic was.

@Peggy - Ahh! I love it! I thought about taking our guys through the neighborhood all dressed up. How cool is that!

Sqeaks, maybe Christmas will come early for Magic and the little girl? :)
It did... and I couldn't be happier with the new family. The Grandfather who wanted him ADORED him. I delivered him so that it could be a surprise and the new owner is so busy he had a hard time coming up North. Frankly I wouldn't want to come up my way either at this time of year. Had a pretty painless trip.

I loaded Magic up and like always he loaded like a champ. He was restless so I put Remi (who has never been trailed before) on there with him to keep him company. I'm still continued to be blown away by Remi's disposition to new things. He's unflappable. They trailered flawlessly together and Magic was quite happy to get off the trailer when we got there *chuckle*. I warned him that Magic knew how to use his weight to go where he wanted, he busted out laughing and said "Honey, I have donkeys, he will not be a problem." He was so easy to talk to and he was just elated with Magic.

So with a heavy heart, but knowing it was the right thing for the little guy, he went to his new home yesterday as Christmas present for one special little girl and two more on the way. I think his next purchase will be a school bus from the sound of it ;)! I think he'll be happier there where he won't be picked on (his pasture mate is a miniature cow...) and he can be doted on daily. It's hard to see him go, but I'm so happy I was able to pull him from that auction and give him a much happier life than the inside of a stock trailer going auction to auction or trading hands multiple times. One of the donkey's this guy has is 22 I believe, I don't doubt he'll keep Magic until his time comes.
 
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Squeaks, the story of Magic and his new home brought tears of happiness to my eyes (I am a softie). Through your posts and pictures of him he wormed his way into my heart a little bit. He is a lucky mini to have found you. I bet the little girl will be "over the moon" with her new friend! I would be :)!
 
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I haven't done much with Rowdy since deciding not to keep him. Took him for one walk with me, but otherwise not much. Christmas Eve when the grandchildren were here, he came up to the fence as though he were anxious to socialize. 5 of them crowded around him, handling him and getting in his face. No halter. He has barely tolerated children in the past, but it was as though some Christmas angel possessed him. 18 month old sat on him (pushing my hands away when I wanted to steady her), and the 6 year old grabbed hold of mane and pulled herself on him. He loved it all. They got tired of it before he did. He stood at the fence, hoping for more, for quite a while. So which is the Real Rowdy?
 
Sounds like Rowdy all of a sudden had a change of heart! Had he been around children more than just a few times? Maybe he just needed a little time to adjust to "wee people". I always wonder what they are thinking when they do something that surprises us.

I ground drove Cappy yesterday and today and he was bad. BAD! But to be fair he has had no work and his paddock is iced up (I had to work him in the big paddock) and he is full of beans. VERY full of BEANS!

He settled down yesterday after a bit of antics and we went for a nice walk using trees as markers to turn around. Lots of attitude and head tossing at the start, but like I said, It was to be expected.

Today my hubby was out with us and Cappy was very good. Until he wasn't! We were finished and husband headed towards the barn to get the halter and lead. Well Cappy had a huge fit and bolted. So I stopped him, backed him up and resarted and he bolted again, mouth wide open and evading the bit. So we regrouped and I tightened the noseband a little (which I usually keep too loose anyway) and then we went marching, lol. He was a mad little Cappy! But he settled down, went along and seemed to put his mind on working.

After talking about it with my husband we decided Cappy was raising heck because he saw him heading towards the barn and he could not go. He is very attached to my husband who spoils him.

So I guess we'll work on that! I'm going to have my husband ground drive him :) as it will be good for both of them!

And I am mulling over the bitting situation. Which will be another chapter...
 
Leave it to our horses to flummox us. Rowdy hates kids until he doesn't, go figure. But I'm thinking that may be making you wonder about him even more than if he was consistent with his personality. When he flat out hates kids you know to keep an eye on him. When he goes back and forth you let the kids interact with him then wonder and worry if he's going to change his mind. I think we've all had horses like that and it's almost harder than just having one with an attitude that you can predict. I'm with you on the Christmas miracle thing. Maybe he was feeling all joyful and bright... or maybe he was feeding off the children's joy and excitement?? Either way I'm glad they had such a good day with him. That's something the kids will remember.

I hate to think how Clementine is going to be when I finally get her out again. Yesterday was sunny and cold. Perfect sleighing conditions. Here comes the big "BUT"...but I had so many chores to do since we had a big storm Christmas day the dumped a ton of snow. By the time I was done the sun was setting and the already low temps dropped in a hurry. I did get my house and the barn plowed out and the chicken coop and rabbit pen cleaned at least.... The next nice day is reserved for driving. I'm having hubby put the runners on my cart tonight. The new snow is light and powdery so it'll be perfect.
 

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