Some little man love

It has been a crazy last 2.5 weeks for me which has meant that the little man has been put on the back burner. I was horse sitting about 40 minutes away for 2 weeks then have been gone at the state fair for the last 5 days. All that meant no extra Mylo time besides our quick morning/night snuggles before feeding time. He is a very social dude and I always feel bad leaving him as he tries following me out!

I headed out to Wilco this afternoon to pick him up a new fly mask (his other one was a little small) along with getting Mystic his hair supplies (aka: vet wrap and zip ties) and ended up looking around, To my surprise I found a nice fleece lined lungeing surcingle for only like $35 bucks. In the past I have always borrowed one from a friend while starting my horses or just used a saddle but I don't want to introduce a saddle just yet so I went ahead and bought the surcingle. I was worried it would be too big but it seemed pretty adjustable, luckily it just barely fits on the top holes. He also now has a horse sized fly mask. Yes, my 13.2 hh 2 year old wears a horse sized mask, crazy! We measured him tonight as it looked to me like he has sprouted a little but he hasnt grown at all. All the weight he has gained just makes him look much bigger. Here I was thinking he has grown and evened out but his butt remains a whole 2 inches higher than his front, lets hope thats a baby phase ;) Good news is that if he does even out like he should he will at least make 14 hands!

Taken tonight

Comparison picture: 2 moths ago

Not the best comparison pictures as they are different angle/sides but you can still see the difference! He has bulked up a lot! I am really happy with how he looks right now, but now we need to find a happy medium for his food intake so he doesnt get too heavy, especially since he isnt in real exercise to help keep him looking good. Tonight he did get to work though! I ground drove him for the first time with the surcingle and he was amazing. How many 2 year olds would you even try ground driving for the first time alone? Not only that but he has no concept of the "rein" pressure because he has not been lunged first. Since I have never had a 2 year old I have always first started my horses lungeing and working my way to long lining then ground driving. With him being so young I don't want to put him on circles and dont feel the need to start lungeing him so early but think ground driving would be great for him to learn now. So I threw on the surcingle and off we went! Not only did he pick up on it pretty fast but he did it all in a halter also. By the end he was turning, stopping, backing, and even did a little trotting! Have I said lately how much I LOVE this breed?!

And this is why he didnt get to go to the fair... hello awkward stage! Although he doesnt look this bad in person, promise!

Handsome dude

September is going to be a big growing up month for him. Labor day a friend and I are heading to the beach with both our riding horses and our babies. It is so nice having a friend that also has a baby, we are going to sit down and make a plan as to what are plans are and outing we want to take them to. We plan on just having a nice stroll down the beach while ponying our babies. I had an after thought that I have never ponyed Mylo before so that could be fun :) Luckily both our riding horses are super solid mounts so we are not worried. Then that next weekend there is a local schooling show we might take just the babies too. The following weekend we are scheduled to haul them down Perrydale Trails to go school some outdoor obstacles and the last two weekends are also potential schooling shows. Operation show pony is in effect! I told him he has big shoes to fill and he needs to learn to go be a big boy at shows/new places. No screaming, no dropping (ahem...), no trying to roll in the arena, learning to stand patiently, and overall being a solid baby citizen. Big brother may have spoiled me but I intend on having 2 boys that spoil me :)