More Remi Fun

The dog days of summer are well behind us and a crisp chill is now in the air. The cooler weather always brings growth to the horses coats and quite a bit more energy and spunky behavior. Ah yes more energy, oh my word, that means Remington will be into twice as much mischief as he is during the heat of summer. Look out!

He is busy romping around the pasture and stirring the other horses up to join him in Run Fest 2009. Let's go zooming around the round bale a dozen times and see how much dust we can stir up. C'mon let's go. Whee this is fun, get outta the way!

I've been able to get back to the barn to resume my chores and once again observe the big boy's antics. And trust me, he has plenty of them. One of the things you'll hear most frequently around the ole ranchette is "Remington now what did you do"? And we find out pretty quickly.

Let me take you back to a couple of days ago. The sun is shining, the weather is perfect and the horses have gone around the back of the barn for a change of scenery. All is calm, all is bright until KABOOM!! What the heck? Here come the horses running to the front of the barn like wild mustangs.

Stall cleaning has now been interrupted and the investigation must begin. The source of the sonic boom was discovered and I have a picture to prove it. You may remember that Remi has already cracked or broken 3 corner posts of the barn while using them to scratch. When either of us are at the barn, those become untouchable because he gets chased away the minute he even looks twice at using one. I mean he shakes the whole barn when he does it.

So, Mr. Sneaky found his other source to use. He went and started scratching on the 16 foot all steal gooseneck trailer we keep behind the barn and knocked it off it's blocks. Now I gotta tell ya, this is an old trailer that weighs about 2000 pounds. But it seemed like a toy to Remi who pushed it over an inch or two.

Thank goodness we have the Bobcat working so we could lift the foot up and put it back on the blocks or we couldn't have hooked it up to the truck and gone after their bedding yesterday. Good grief Remington, is it possible for you to leave anything alone for five minutes. The answer to that question is NO!

Well what can I say, he got a bath, it rained, he rolled in the mud and he had an itch or two to scratch, so he used what was available to do it. As always, he's found a way to get our attention, cause more work than necessary and still manage to act like he didn't do anything. We know better, don't we?

Thank goodness the horses weren't hurt and nothing was broken. Take a look at his handy work and see just what the big boy can do. The foot of the trailer was on the blocks before the big Remi scratch finale.



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Remi-Tude Part 2

Once again the rain returned in full force, setting the pasture to the huge mud pit and sending the horses to their stalls for two days. Now, we all know that Remington isn't fond of being in his stall for that long, but he will tolerate it and behave as long as the hay bag is full and attention is given to him. That is until you change his room temporarily and he lets you know that it is not acceptable to him.

We have a young Ag student helping us with the stalls for the busy holiday season and he is not used to cleaning them while the horses are in, so trainer mom put one of the little ones out in the back pasture so the horses could take turns in his stall while theirs was being cleaned.

When it came time for Remi to move to his temporary holding spot, trainer mom put him in there and he didn't like it one darn bit. He went to bucking all over the place and wanted out right then and there. She told him to cut it out and he settled down for a few minutes, but was shaking his head back and forth something fierce.

This stall is 16'x16' and is larger than the others, but looks smaller when Remi is in it. Wow, where is the surprise in that statement, right? Trainer mom went down to his stall and was talking to Hayden when all of a sudden there was a loud boom and the whole barn shook. It scared the bejeebies out of both of them and guess who was behind the action? Yup, you got it, Remipup bucked and kicked the stall wall and let out a loud bellow.

Oh for crying out loud Remington, you're not staying there forever, get over your extra large self, why don't you. Of course, he got a stern scolding for that hissy fit. He's already broken two support posts and we really don't want him putting windows in the walls where they don't need to be.

His room was cleaned pretty quickly so Mr. I don't like this room, could go back to his own and stop the spoiled act. I'm telling you, when he doesn't get his way, he isn't going to be quiet about it. Once back in his room, he returned to his laid back self like nothing ever happened.

Fortunately, the stall wall is hole free and the barn is still standing. But with a wet winter predicted, he might have to go in there again, so we'll have to make sure he's got plenty of hay and keep an eye on him so he doesn't cop his big ole attitude again. Yeah, uh huh, that's going to be fun...Not! So, it ought to be interesting to say the least.

From Remington, trainer mom and myself, may you all have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving. Enjoy your family and friends and be sure to say thanks for all your special critters.

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Spiffy Remi

Saturday was a nice weather day around the ole ranchette and a perfect time for Remington to start getting cleaned up for his big upcoming parade. Trainer mom gathered all the equipment necessary to clean the big boy and embarked on her 3 hour mission.

First, she had to remove all the mud balls stuck in his feathers and mane. You know the ones that magically jump on a horse after almost a month of rain and the fun of rolling in the mud happens? That in itself is a huge chore. He's quite good at collecting massive amounts of mud balls.

Once that was done, it was time to give the boy a shave. He had some pretty long whiskers for sure. He handles the clippers pretty well and thank goodness, because you sure don't want a 3000 pound temper tantrum going on while you're trying to shave his chin. Trust me, that wouldn't be fun at all.

Trainer mom swears he has had another growth spurt, because she had to use a brush with a long extension handle to scrub his back. Now, I'm talking about one of those big brushes you buy to scrub the top of your truck or high spots on a trailer. I thought it was pretty smart to use it myself. I didn't even think of that one.

Remi had some antsy moments where he decided he would break the boredom and start moving back and forth. Trainer mom did not find this amusing and I did hear "Remington, stand still" several times. Uh oh, he's a moving target and it's gonna take more time to wash him now.

Trainer mom did a great job. She even spent the time to blow dry his feathers which is like blow drying long thick hair on about 20 people. Oy, what a chore and backbreaking to boot.

I was down at the barn cleaning the fur kids rooms when she brought him down. Straight to his room he went so he wouldn't go rolling in the dirt. Nuh uh she said, he's not getting the chance to undo 3 hours of hard labor. And boy did he look handsome.

Of course the clean isn't going to last and he'll have to get another bath before the big parade, but for a few hours, he was the cleanest horse on the barn block :)

Today if the rain holds off, trainer mom is going to harness him up and drive him for a little while. She's a bit concerned that his harness might be a little tight since the big chunky monkey has put on a little more weight and she does think he shot up a little. Even the vet said he thought Remi looked taller. Oh my word, I guess we had better load him in the trailer and see if he still fits.

If he doesn't then I'll have to go get some heavy duty tie down straps and put him on the flatbed to get him to the parade. Or, maybe I could find some size 100 roller skates and tow him behind my truck :)

Now that would be a sight to see wouldn't it? With Remington there are always adjustments to be made and there is never a dull moment. So, we'll see what happens and let you know how it all turns out.

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