moving RIGHT along!

as you can see, these are just some of the pictures describing what we accomplished today. there we are lifting feet while my stepdad hoses down the round pen, as well as pictures petting on tabasco's withers, and you can't forget the pictures of him chewing on my hair being playful.

sorry i haven't been posting as much as i'd like to, i've gotten extremely busy all of the sudden.

well anyways, let me catch y'all up! i FINALLY decided to name my little boy tabasco! :) thanks to my stepdad for suggesting the name, i'm in love with it. most of you probably don't know that on the other hand, i was the one that named my stepdad's 3 year old, medicine man, on pickup day. so, maybe he was just returning the favor. hahaha. well as exciting as finally naming tabasco was for me, i also achieved Join-Up with him on Father's Day! what a GREAT Father's Day present?! everyday since he "Joined-Up" with me, i go out to his pen several times a day just for a couple of minutes to lead him around and work on giving him a good rub down.. there's no such thing as OVER-desensitizing! haha. well anyways, i was working with tabasco just a little while ago when i took him into the round pen for a change. he allowed me to lead him in, pet on him, get him walking some.. and then my stepdad brought in a 5-gallon feed bucket and set it in the middle of the pen expecting me to lead tabasco around it in circles. now, being tabasco, immediately, he walks right up to it, starts to sniff it, paw at it, nudge it around, and investigate! he's such a curious little one! AND such a sweetheart! i was so impressed with his curiosity that i slipped the lead rope that he was wearing, through the handle of the 5-gallon bucket and let it slide down the lead rope until it met him at his muzzle. sniffing the bucket some more, and trying to put his head down the big interesting hole that made it a bucket, i began to lead him around and let the bucket dangle in between us on the rope. did he seem to mind the dangling bucket?? NOT AT ALL! he simply kept his attention on me and kept on truckin'! needless to say, i was more than content with his behavior. showering him with lots of rewards and "feel good" pets all over, he was LOVING THIS. lol so i took the bucket off his lead rope, put it back in the middle of the round pen upside down and began to lead him around it in circles like the original plan was supposed to go. 'twas a PIECE OF CAKE. he acted as if the bucket wasn't even there. while i was walking tabasco in the round pen some more, trying to improve his lead and in-hand skills, my stepdad had been pulling water hose out so that he could wet down all the dust in the round pen. now i'll admit, i was skeptical about him wetting down the round pen while little boy and i were still in there, since i'd tried spraying him down one afternoon in curiosity to how he'd respond. (which, wasn't bad.. he just didn't feel like being wet while he was trying to "de-weed" some of the round pen! hah) but my stepdad was insistant and was sure he'd do fine and also figured he could learn a lesson in keeping his attention towards me and not on what is going on around us. at first, when the water hose was turned on and my stepdad went to spraying, he wasnt so sure of that noise and all those droplets squirting out, so he tensed up some and put on a little alert, but he soon settled down and eventually didn't mind it at all. in fact, i was able to walk him in circles while passing my dad as he was wetting the dirt. ALSO, when i started to rub him down his neck and across to his withers, my mom suggested i try to rub all the way down his front leg to see what he would do if i tried lifting his leg. HE PRACTICALLY GAVE ME HIS LEG TO HOLD!!!!! :D i was so proud of him! i switched to the other side and got the same response! i can tell tabasco really really really trusts me or else he wouldnt be so open to all these new things. it's almost like, "i am his safety" as my mom puts it. after working on all that with him for about 45 minutes, i was able to lead him out of the round pen with ease. he is coming right along, and i'm so proud of how cooperative he is! tomorrow i'd like to work on getting his back feet up and maybe even introducing post formations or a tarp. sorry the entry was so long, if you read this far, i salute you. haha well i will try and post more frequently than this.

until next time,

kelsey.