After the ball is over

[altivo]

Gary spent most of the week working on a costume for a Civil War ball he's at tonight. Vest and frock coat, button fly trousers, and a top hat, 1860 style. He finished, just in time. The clothes look far less comfortable to me than a fursuit, actually, so I'll leave this amusement to him.

A couple of months ago I bought some different horse treats on a whim. I was ordering some practical stuff from a mail order catalog and noticed that they had "vanilla and flax" treats. It sounded good to me, so I tried a bag. The boys gobbled them but drooled on me so much that I needed a bath after. Tess spit hers out. After three tries with her, I put the sack away and forgot it. Today I went into the arena to clean and she was making a fuss at me as usual. I was standing next to the bag of vanilla treats, so I opened it and took two out. She took them one at a time and chewed with much head shaking and interest. I guess she's changed her mind. They made her drool too, but nothing like the way Archie did. He's a living showerbath sometimes.

Gary has gone to Bartlett for his ball, won't be back till after midnight. I'm home alone. Should be writing, but probably I'll go to sleep instead. ;p

Comments

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

Aw... of all the nights to be so far away. I would gladly offer (and accept, if offered) horsey snuggles :)

Maybe after a shower other than in horse drool, though!

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You wouldn't notice the horse drool except that it usually has bits of wet hay in it. ;p

I had to settle for plushie snuggles, which in the end, can be adequate.

[songcoyote.livejournal.com]

Mmmmmm... wet hay. :P

I'll accept that as the price for good snuggles.

Plushies are good to hold.

Short sentences is all you get today :)

Tired, but happy.

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[schnee.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* I'm getting the impression that Tess is a real character. ^.^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

They are all as individual as dogs. In general, though, mares are the more particular and moody, as you might guess. The boys are usually all "Oh, OK" with just about anything you suggest, while mares can be like anything from "That will mess up my hair" to "You male chauvinist pig, don't you touch me or I'll kick your teeth out" to "Oh honey, do that again!" XD

[schnee.livejournal.com]

Heh. ^.^ Yeah, I know they're all individuals and characters in THAT sense, actually, actually; what I meant was indeed that she's particularly... well, particular. ^^ It's really cute reading about it, and I can certainly see why you love your horses as much as you apparently do.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Mares are generally stronger personalities than stallions or geldings. That's typical, despite popular myth that always depicts the stallion as the strong leader and the "smart" one, herds are generally headed up by an older mare who even tells the stallion what he may and may not do. Strong willed as she is, Tess was not an alpha mare in her former living situation. Quite the opposite.

And yeah, she's particular about a lot of things. Feeding the sheep before feeding her, for instance, will evoke a tantrum. She loves company, whether horse or human, and will come and stand by me for hours if allowed to do so. Just stand there, with an occasional nudge as if to say "You still here? Good." She has very specific food tastes, and will even sort out one or two kinds of grass from her hay and refuse to eat them, unlike the boys who scarf up absolutely anything within reach. Mares are also very vocal, and she has a huge range of sounds she makes to express various interests and attitudes. The softer ones I find delightful. The loud angry or excited ones are very painful to the ear. By contrast, the boys rarely make any noise beyond a sneeze or a snort unless they are separated so they can't see one another. Then the shouting commences.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

*noddles* Yeah, I witnessed (so to speak) that once - when I visited quoting_mungo years ago, her horse had to be taken to the vet for a check-up at one point, and the other horse they had at that point was quite vocal in his disapproval of his friend being taken away.

Anyhow, Tess really sounds lovelier and lovelier the more I hear about her. ^^

[soanos.livejournal.com]

*Trots over to sniff the bag of treats* o.O

Heh, nothing wrong with a little bit of drool, it just means they like them a lot. :)
It is nice to hear about the other hooved familymembers, too. I hope they are all well.

And I hope Gary will have a good time at the ball. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I should try one of those treats myself. There's nothing in them that could be harmful. They look like tiny biscuits or cookies, and unlike the pressed alfalfa and peppermint treats we've used in the past, they are soft and crumbly. The peppermint treats smell good but are hard as rocks so I haven't risked my teeth on one.

Gary arrived home at midnight, quite pleased with the whole thing.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Maybe she was just not in the mood the first night.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Mares!

Yeah, something like that. You might have laid a hoof right on the issue, in fact. I thought a couple of days ago that she was coming to that time of the month when she wants to be all snuggly...

She likes carrots any time though, just tends to be suspicious of anything unfamiliar. It might be worming medicine after all. ;p

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Heh, mares can be moody, especially when "that time" of the month hits.
But I am stating the obvious again. :)

You were referring the treats being like biscuits? They sound so nice that even I want to try one now :)

And eww... I don't even want to think about worming medicine.
I can understand why she was suspicious.
Especially if the medicine has a vanilla smell...
Time to mask it with cinnamon! :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Vanilla wouldn't be strong enough to mask the worming medicine. I think they usually try peppermint or something of that sort. It's probably like toothpaste, actually. I haven't tasted it to see. One brand we use occasionally claims to taste like apples.

Come to think of it, Tess won't eat apples. Maybe that's why. She does eat the peppermint treats though, and likes them very much. The boys don't care, they still love apples, or just about anything else. Peas from the garden? Acorns? Old bird nests that fell out of the trees? All the same to them, down it goes.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Hehe.
Boys will be boys :)
But yes, girls can be more picky sometimes. Maybe it is time to find
something new so that you can make it her new favourite so you can give the meds with it. ;)

[saythename.livejournal.com]

My great grandfather fought on the Union side.

I've wondered if I should get myself hence to a Civil War
re-enactment. Of course, since my great grandfather lived I
couldn't be one of the Yanks that screams and falls down
and dies.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You could, actually. Or you could even be a rebel if you prefer. Gary goes as a civilian, and the civilian camps are often nearly as large as the military ones. Going to these events can be quite a lesson in living history.

I have family on both sides of the Civil War and on both sides in the American Revolution. Mostly I stay away from reenactments, though. I don't like cannon fire, even when it's blank charges.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Although its not on the same sort of level, the Goodwood revival festival is like a recreation on a town scale :)

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Ewww glass fangs as its often called. So they really like the treats?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Heh. I've never heard that expression before. Horses don't usually open their mouths wide enough for the fang look, though. Anyway, yes, they like these almost too much.