Mellow day

Today was gorgeous, simply gorgeous.
Solomon came straight to the gate. Such a good boy. He has gotten over his bath, and gotten some nice thick clay in his hair as well.

He came in just fine, got groomed, and then I hand-grazed him a bit.


(Note that he does not at all look like he got a bath a couple of days ago, heh.)

He was actually resisting leaving the tasty green stuff. "Hey, that's a treat, not a privilege," I said, leaning into the lead rope. He gave in a few seconds before I was going to pull the stud chain out. I always give him a chance to correct himself and obey again.

So we went out to the pasture, and were greeted by Dragon. :D


Okay, I don't like how I look in this picture, but I love Solly in it and how much of a sweetie he's being.


Solomon didn't see Venus, who happened to be in, so it was Follow Mom Around time.



Mostly he walked beside me. I got some pretty good shots of how he moves while he walks, which I'll use for an upcoming painting of Sleipnir, the 8-legged horse who is Odin's steed and the child of Loki and a giant's horse.

He is being a bit careful with the mud here:


And on sturdier ground:




So we walked together, sometimes with him behind me, sometimes with his head rested on my shoulder, and sometimes side-by-side. We went all the way out to the water troughs, and when we got to the area there with unsure footing, he followed behind me.

First he scoped the scene:


Then he drank:



And THEN he let another horse know that he wasn't totally cool with said equine also coming up to drink. This horse is a little lower in the hierarchy than Solomon is:



Here Solomon is telling the old grey horse on the right (who has ringbone I think) that HE is going to eat the hay on the ground there, so the grey had better move. Look at their body language- they are saying a lot to each other. "Move it!" "Okay okay, I don't want any trouble and I'm yielding!"



Bobby is around 2 years old. The young ones like Solomon. He is in charge but I think they feel safe with him. Bobby and Solomon will graze together with Venus, though Venus will chase off Bobby if he gets too fresh. They are comfortable together, but there is also some respect being shown.



Solomon and Dragon are friends, and on pretty equal footing. Dragon is pretty much friends with everybody. Solly and Dragon can sometimes be seen grazing side by side, though not quite so often now that Solly has Venus.



This horse is higher up and will happily bite, chase, and squeal at horses who are lower down. Unfortunately I cut off the tail in this photo, but this horse is making a very "loud" statement. "GTFO!!!"



Ahh, but Solomon found some hay that he liked, and everyone had a place to hang out comfortably within the herd. Note the bands of cheek muscles that are working as he chews.



Mom is here and can keep watch, so it's okay to relax a bit.



OM NOM NOM NOM!



(he'll happily lift his head for nose kisses though! If I approach and come down to him a bit he'll lift his head up and blow in greeting, touching hoses with me.)

And now for a little bit of artsy photography.





Winter in California. Well, when the sun is out anyway!