Bored, bored, bored...

Dublin's abscess is healing nicely but he is bored, bored, bored. He has taken to pacing up and down the paddock fence and occasionally charging it--like maybe he can chase it away and be free, or maybe he thinks he can jump it, although he never builds up quite that much of a head of steam. Cowboy has been confined to Dublin's end of the pasture to keep him company, making him unhappy as well.

I'm trying to carve out some time to keep him amused. Today I scattered items in his paddock--an old brush, a big square of plywood, and his feed tub with another smaller tub inside it, upside down, with cookies hidden beneath. Then I pulled the mounting block in the paddock and just sat there to see what he would do.

For a while, he studiously ignored me and all the new toys. Finally, he checked out the brush. It wasn't edible, so it was of limited interest. Next came the plywood. Turns out if you catch the edge just right, it actually is edible. But a diet of big splinters is not what I have in mind for him, so I had to cut that short. Then he came to visit me and chew on his rope for a while. Still not very interesting. He started over with the brush again. At long last, he checked out the feed tubs. Ah, now we're getting somewhere! He could smell the cookies and started trying to figure out the puzzle. It's amazing how smart and organized they can be about this. There's a lesson in there about success somewhere. Try one thing. If it doesn't work, try something else. Eventually, you figure out that if you pull the big tub toward you and then nudge the little tub really hard so it flips over, you get the cookies. Then if you pick up the little tub with your teeth, you can fling it a ways and get to the rest of the cookies.

I haltered him and we played a few more games. Mirror me. If I take a step forwards and then stop, you do the same. Ditto for backwards. Back up and stand still. Touch the brush. Put your foot on the plywood and keep it there until I tell you to move it. Can I get you to back up by pulling your tail? Yes I can.

After some time, I figured he was settled down enough to be left alone and headed back to the house. At just that moment, FedEx showed up with Dublin's Christmas present. So of course, back to the barn to try on his new burgundy Parelli halter and lead rope. Doesn't our boy look good in burgundy?