Growth

Otto has been in a new phase lately.

Last weekend, I had haltered him up and groomed on him a bit. He seems to really enjoy this time and is mostly well behaved and happy to stand there  with no nonsense mouthiness. Apparently his Pituitary gland is functioning as it should because he has begun the shedding process in earnest. Longer days generally trigger that response and we are slowing gaining daylight hours. Evening chores are no longer requiring lights and a a head lamp.  By the time I finished grooming on him ,  I was well  covered in a nice coat of horse hair. I do love that his hair is so fine and soft. I just love his silky mane hair.  So different than the coarse Morgan and Barb hair!  While grooming, I also noticed that his hooves had REALLY grown since he was trimmed up last .When I checked my calendar, it had only been a little over 3 weeks since T had last rasped on him. I was surprise at just how long his feet were. So long in fact , that he had started to break out on that damn right hind, on the inside. That right hind is going to be a thorn in my side ! That hoof is improving , but the shape of it still drives me batty. He is still turned out and so he wears it more on the inside. He gets alot of toe and it gets very pointy shaped as he gets longer. On the upside, his hooves are pretty concave .  T went ahead and trimmed him up , fixed the broken out quarter and made things a bit more balanced. The icing on the cake was that Otto was really really good.  He had one “colt” moment where he just couldn’t seem to get his legs sorted out to where he felt balanced and put up a bit of a stink. Eventually  we got it sorted out.  For the VERY first time, T was able to hold his Ottos feet between his knees so he could actually nip. Another first!  There was enough growth that he could nip without risking any soreness.  

By god, we might finally be making progress on those hooves, which reminds me that  I need to do a bunch of photos of his hooves. (put it on the weekend chore list, because it's going to hit 50 degrees..woo hoo!) I would like to track the changes over the next several months. I wish I had taken some already!! Keep meaning to.. but never quite get there.

Anyways, we are pretty sure that with all the hoof growth he has definitely hit another growth phase. T noticed he was able to be a lot more upright when trimming his feet as well. And…..

 Otto, maybe even more indicative of growth is that he has been doing an awful lot of this these days:

Can you see him??

Best napping spot,, under the old Larch tree.. 

I am not talking typical horse naps.. I am talking hour or more long flat out  deep sleeping.. The most  I have seen him stay down like this is for about 3 hours. I went out to check him a couple of times to make sure he was still breathing! Poor Kid is exhausted these days!

Often times, Otto and Cassidy will lay down together. Cassidy will only stay laying down for maybe 45 minutes to an hour at most, then gets up and leaves Otto on his own. Otto eventually wakes up , looks around to find himself all alone, and eventually gets up to go find his buddy and resume munching away at hay. Good thing we don’t have a predator problem. Otto would be in trouble. His buddy isn’t too good with the lookout duties. 

So, the weather is going to be improving over the next several days and the melting should resume around here. It won't be long and he will be rip roaring around the place once again.