Otto Turns Two!

Otto turned two yesterday. He looks older. doesn't he??. He is maturing and has filled out in his body but he has a long ways to go. I really want those legs to put on a lot more bone , but that usually tends to be more noticeable after 3 years old.  He is tall and those canon bones.. good grief... I sure hope he grows into them.  He must be pushing 15.1 hands maybe?? I suppose I should stick him and get an accurate height one of these days. I am a little afraid to know...but I would like him to stop getting taller anytime..

Unfortunately, my plans to celebrate his birthday didn't quite work out like I had hoped. I had grandiose ideas of making some kind of carrot cake for him and and a horse sized birthday hat and taking some photos. The weather was nice enough Saturday morning so instead of being a good horse mom, I chose to be a good dog mom instead. I took advantage of the decent weather window that I knew wouldn't last , and loaded up  the dogs and hubby for a hike. I felt motivated to climb some hills and get an outdoor workout .  All of the Spartan racers were out hill training as well. Been there , done that.. One Spartan race was enough for me!

By the time we finished our hike and then our errands, it was late afternoon when we finally made it home. We talked about loading up the horses for a quick trail ride since we have not been out once yet this spring,  but with the wind the way it was, we opted against it.  This time of year, there is still a lot of blow-down occurring in the forested trails we ride in. Not worth the risk of a tree coming down on us! So, riding plans went bust.

Sunday came, Otto's big day  and in the end , Otto had to settle for a quick grooming session during the 10 minute window between snow storms when the wind actually settled to 20 mph gusts instead of 35 and the sun sort of popped out for a few moments.  He got a few peppermint snacks and seemed perfectly content with the abbreviated celebration. Mostly he just wanted to be turned out to his pasture. Fine with me.. it was damn cold and miserable out...

During the process of getting him turned out, we had one eventful moment to commemorate his 2 year old birthday.  When my hubby was leading him through a gate ,the wind gusted, jerking it out his hand and sent the gate  swinging so that it smacked Otto right in the butt. Otto let out a big double barrel kick, clearly pissed... Oops.The hubby lead Otto back through the gate a couple of times , to let him see that the gate wasn't going to always do that scary thing from now on, every time he was led through a gate. Otto was fine and walked back through the gate with no issues .  It's the first of many "unplanned" experiences he will have to learn to deal with I guess and I was glad it didn't fluster him.

We spent the rest of the day visiting with my parents who stopped by , which was treat because my mom just got back from Seattle earlier last week. She is healing from her last , and hopefully final surgery.  I just hope that I am half as strong and mentally tough as her , considering what she has been through. It has been hard to see her go through all of this.

Considering the weather was awful, it was a good day to finish up some indoor projects . We decided to use up the remaining elk meat in the freezer to make more fresh sausage. The process took about 6 hours of trimming, mixing, measuring, grinding, stuffing and packaging but in the end , we have over 30 lbs of fresh sausage packed and in the freezer.

It was a full weekend, in spite of no riding. Next weekend.. riding will be priority!

Happy Trails!