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I just spent the last six weeks down in Alabama for work. This was the longest I had been away from Soon, so it was sort of an experiment to see how we both did.  I had a good friend ride Bubba when she could, so he got done a couple times a week while I was gone, and got a little extra downtime. 

Final report card:  B-, both of us.

I was okay since I was busy with classes, and assignments, and all that professional development shit, but I think my attitude took a turn around week three.  I stuck it out and did well, but I would have preferred regular pony time.  I am spoiled.  Sue me.

Soonie made it a full seven days (the longest I've been away, coincidentally) before he got Time Out.  Apparently he started cribbing like a fiend, nonstop, after those seven days and could not be convinced otherwise, so they had to slap a cribbing collar on to get him to knock it off.  I've avoided those with him only because I put one on him for about a month back in 2013, and he WOULD. NOT. STOP. CRIBBING.  It's like the strap caused more anxiety and he would honestly ignore his food in order to sit there and hang on the wall.  He was seriously unhappy and lost weight.  So he's gone without the collar ever since and been ok, but they didn't want him cribbing that much with the fall weather and the increased risk of colic.  So Dunce Collar went on and apparently he was fine with it!  Great success!

Derpy Derp

It's a different design collar and I quite like it, actually.  It's effective and he seriously hardly attemps to crib with it on.  There's a big block under the throatlatch that engages well to prevent the actual sucking of air, and the collar itself is made of wide, thick leather that has yet to rub him at all, which is nice.  He's going to stay in it until he can prove that he's over the incessant cribbing phase now that mommy's home (if that was even the issue).  If he has to live in it for awhile, I'm fine with it.

Also, I got home after the long 13-hour drive, dumped my stuff in my house, got changed, and went to go ride Soonie (because priorities).  He's been spectacular and feels great!  We've had a couple of fun hacks out in the woods (he practically dragged me to the woods, he apparently likes crunching through leaves or something), galloping around the farm, and even a very polite and lovely dressage school yesterday.  He feels the good kind of fresh, so I think the mini vacay did him good.

Unfortunately I came back from the Deep South to find a furry yak in Soon's stead, and I may have overreacted slightly...

Literally me

So yesterday, my first full day back, I bathed, clipped, and pulled Soonie's mane...

...so Horse no longer looks feral and homeless.  Productivity, yeah!