Mud

You could definitely tell who was itchy tonight, and also who had a nap. There were a few fastidious faces in the herd, but almost every one of them was sporting either a full or half coat of dried on, cement-like mud. We had an hour long downpour this afternoon, and although the sun came back up and baked almost everything (including the horses) fairly dry, the combination of shedding winter coats and dirt made riding completely out of the question.

That'll teach me to set a goal!

At any rate, once everyone was fed I de-mudded as best I could while new thunderheads stacked up to the south. I'm afraid that by morning they're going to be a sorry sight again, but they sure don't seem to mind.

In the interests of actually accomplishing something, I played touch-it with Star for a bit. Don't know exactly where she got her stand-offish streak from, but of all of them she's having the hardest time being handled. It's no problem to catch her, do feet, give shots, worm, load, etc., but simple things like brushing don't seem to have sunk in with her like they did with her year-mates. Since she's for sale, time spent getting her a bit more confident and comfortable about being handled is to everyone's benefit, and to give her credit, she wants to be fussed over, she's just not sure what's going to happen next.

Anyway, 10 minutes well spent with her -- just loose with me and the clicker to get the "good things happen when you stick around" planted firmly in her mind, and I walked away while she was still interested. Another five spent waving & flapping my sweatshirt (it was handy) at Sunny & Pinto-Boy & clicking for planted feet. (Note to self: find something scarier; they don't care about flapping coats any longer.)

After that, the sky was dark enough it was time to get everything put away before the heavens opened. I'd begrudge the rain, but the grass needs the moisture, and as long as we don't get such puddles that the mosquitoes arrive, I'm not going to complain too much!