You know what’s really annoying? TWO YEAR OLDS.

 

Good lord this thing is mouthy. I’ve had other people tell me that their Mighty Magic’s are really mouthy, and I’m starting to think they aren’t joking. Presto isn’t happy unless there’s something in his mouth. Preferably food, but anything will do really. He’s such a BUSY horse, he’s always got to be engaged with something. I’ve had my fair share of busy, mouthy babies, but none quite as extreme as this one. He is kind of a pest. If he was a human kid the doctors would be trying to put him on Ritalin. And apparently the other horses feel the same way, because:

His level of pest seems to get higher when I don’t interact with him as much. Like he was ignored for most of July and the barn owner has about had it with his antics by now. He also destroyed two buckets just for funsies. So I’ve secured a few things to try to make toys for him (maybe he can destroy those instead?) and his ass is officially Back to School.

He’s ponying a couple times a week, and lunging once or twice. The timing kind of works out anyway, because we’re about 7 weeks out from Championships, and it would be nice to get him a little stronger. I ponied him a lot last year before FEH Championships and it seemed to help (a little strength is never bad for their gaits or topline…) so he can do it this year too.

Ponying is admittedly not as easy as it used to be either. He knows the rules, and he knows how he’s supposed to act, but… two. Did I mention he’s two? Because he’s two. His favorite thing is to randomly slam on the brakes and yank his head down so hard that I can’t stop him, grabbing as much grass as he can get before I wrestle him back. He’s a turd, guys. Too smart and conniving for his own good. I’ve already started to imagine all the ways I’m gonna end up falling off this thing. I think I’m going to have to be very crafty about keeping him occupied so he can’t use his powers for evil. As soon as he gets too bored with something, out come the tricks.

Also, he’s big.

Luckily he’s still rightfully terrified of Henry (who is probably the one that gave him that swift kick in the ass) so I get a little bit of assistance keeping him in line when we’re ponying, at least. Granted, Henry is the one that taught him the sneaky grazing trick.

We’ll be going back to the round pen a little bit too, so he remembers that manners aren’t optional. When he’s good, he’s really good. He knows “whoa”, “walk on”, and “trot” really well from voice commands. He wears a saddle and bridle happily. He steers and stops on the long lines… mostly. He loads and trailers well. You can tie him up and leave him alone. But when he gets the devil inside him, he’s got a naughty streak that rivals that of a Thelwell, and he can turn himself into quite the pest.

I have to be honest though, don’t tell Presto but I secretly am pretty amused by his cheekiness. It reminds me of Henry, and what’s not to love about Henry? They both know where their boundaries are, even if they quite enjoy toeing the line and driving me crazy. There’s something that I admire about that, even when it’s really really really really annoying.

So if you want to know what it’s like to own a baby horse you’re welcome to come over and spend a day with Pest-o any time. He is the babiest horse that has ever baby horsed. At this point I’m just counting down the months until I can actually ride this creature. I think having a job and purpose and something more mentally and physically difficult to do will help him a lot. Also… not being two… that would be greeeaaaat.