Missing my boy

I have been on vacation this week in Maine. It has been fantastic but there is a severe lack of soft muzzles and morning rides for this horse crazy girl. While missing and longing my long maned unicorn pony, I looked back through pictures and found some of my favorites that capture Charlie's personality. Here we go: 

Nap time with sawdust on his nose

He gets his food laying down, spoiled brat.

"I found a child! Can we keep it?!"

"Gimme the cookies. Now. I can smell them"

Charlie the reindeer.

His ears were cold

It's cold. Mommy bundled Charlie up real good. He loves his blankies. And his hay....

"Did I win those? Shiney!!"

"Is the puppy for me? Thanks guys, he's cute and fluffy! And smells nice"

"Mom just got engaged. No one is petting me. No worries, I'll just stand here and look cute." 

He is perfect. In a very imperfect way. And I don't know what I would do without him. 

Let's learn to Bow

Last winter I decided Charlie needed to learn to bow. Why you ask? Why not!!! I have always wanted to teach one of my horses to bow but it has never worked. My pony was too smart to fall for it, Slipper was too lazy but Charlie is so easy to teach and he will do anything for a cookie so I thought he was a prime candidate! Sure enough- I was right, he was bowing in no time! 

I used the technique of putting a treat between his front legs and having him reach down and try to get it. He started out not reaching very far and he wouldn't bend his leg. He would finally stick his whole head between his legs but never bend a leg. I started picking up one leg and then bringing his head down and then he began to actually "bow". That's as far as we have gotten as of now. I plan to keep working on it and eventually get him to do it with not treats or picking his legs up. We will see how it goes! Here's a  picture of his progress: 

The beginning 

I will post another blog of him further along in his training to "bow". 

Charlie's expressions

Charlie has always had a variety if facial expressions. He is just a very expressive horse compared to many. Not only does he smile, he loves to get kisses on his nose, stick his tounge out and wiggles his lips like he is talking. 

A Charlie smile: 

A sassy Charlie tounge: 

Charlie loves kids

Charlie is super excited because a good family friend is in town. Savannah is 10 years old and has been coming to our place for a week in the summers with her grandma since she was a year old. She has always loved the horses and has moved up from my old pony Cookie to Slipper and now she gets to ride Charlie. Last year her and Charlie were the best of friends; she rode him all over by herself and did showmanship and spoiled him rotten. Keep in mind she rides once a year for a week.

 She got here this morning and wasted no time getting back in the saddle! Charlie and her picked right back up where they left off last summer and Charlie was pretty happy about the million treats he got afterward. He truly just loves kids and his whole demeanor changes around them. He just knows their little and he has to be careful and gentle. It's just another reason I love him ❤️ 

Here is Charlie and his buddy Savannah. 

Savannah even took another horse for a spin today after Charlie: my 2yo filly Ella (Slipper's first foal). I love having a 2yo quiet enough that I trust them with such precious cargo. And Charlie was kindly willing to share his little friend with Ella :) 

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July from Charlie and I. We are lucky to live in the greatest country on  earth and ride the greatest horses: AMERICAN Paint Horses 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 

How Charlie got the nickname "Porkchop" and his thoughts on dieting

Charlie has always been a cute, chubby little horse. He is a very easy keeper and loves his food. He especially loves Oreo's as a special treat. He will literally knock you over for one or steal it out of your hand. He can hear an Oreo wrapper from a mile away or smell it on your breath. He is crazy for cookies!!I had never really thought much of his chubbiness until I heard from a friend who was ring-stewarding one of my shows that a judge has literally nicknamed Charlie the long-maned "Porkchop" because of his rotund appearance. It became a running joke that even judges noticed the chubby long-maned horse and the nickname stuck. Last year at the world show, a good friend found this little stuffed pig at the Cheesecake Factory and got it for Charlie. It now accompanies him to horse shows as his little good luck charm.

 

Charlie has recently been on a bit of a diet and is looking a bit more slim and trim. He has even had his Oreo's limited to a horse show treat only... He is not a fan of his new diet however. This was how I found him after turning my back for a few seconds

He was trying to eat out of his neighbors K Finish bag. K Finish is specially designed to help a horse gain weight if they have a very fast metabolism and don't keep weight easily. The exact OPPOSITE of Charlie's problem LOL. Poor Charlie, he just doesn't diet well.

Charlie the model

Charlie LOVES cameras. So of course he was in heaven during our recent photoshoot. The photographer nicknamed him GQ lol. Here's some of my favorite shots: