Boo!

I had to work at the ice cream parlour today... definitely not what I was hired for, but it works. The only good part, however, about working at the ice cream parlour was that I could wear whatever I wanted. It was SO boring, even though I had J for company. I ate more stuff than I should have, too - spent too much money, because I was SO friggin' bored.

One thing that definitely made it worthwhile was seeing 4 adult Canadian Geese on our back lot along with about a dozen goslings in furry feather. They waddled down our green and into the river, and it definitely made my day. I am not cut out to be an ice cream scooper, but the sighting made things worthwhile.

While I was waiting for someone to come and unlock the parlour for me, I meandered over to chat with one of the teamsters. I inquired about the big Canadian mare that the security guard was telling me has some "personality" issues, then went over to visit her. She was not outwardly aggressive, but I found her very defensive when I reached across the fence to pet her. The smaller of the two mares was just soaking up the attention, loving on me and letting me love on her, and the bigger mare stood there, but was not interested in interaction. The teamster told me she was no good - she is okay to handle when you get your hands on her but not worth her weight in dogfood in the harness - she kicks and jigs and charges about when she's in gear. He said she was used for wagon rides before, and the site even went so far as to buy her wagon she was used with previously but she's no better.

I personally think she may have been used for pulling, based on what he describes. I think, just from the two interactions (limited as they were), that she is disrespectful and no one has taught her to be respectful, and have only used brute force to get their way, thus making her scared. She sure is defensive - I've never met a horse that I could truly say that about, but that's how I was reading her behaviour. I would sure love to get my hands on her. The teamster said he wanted to hook her with one of the big percherons that could hold her and then tire her out because he thinks she's just "too full of energy" - not the problem I suspect, but I think hooking her to someone that can hold her might be a good idea. Beyond that, I think she needs some trust.

Anyways, I kind of put my feelers out there, telling him if they got rid of her, I would like to know... I just love problematic horses. :P It's a hobby, anyways, and I just love succeeding.

Speaking of succeeding, I put Bronwyn in the pond yesterday and over a tarp and she never hesitated or blinked an eye, just blindly trusted that I was not putting her in any danger. She's so smart and levelheaded!