Jealous boy!

Okay, I'm pretty sure now that Solomon has jealousy issues.
Today I brought a friend over to meet him. He backed up nicely for me, and I was proud of him for that, but he didn't want to let me hold his feet to pick them today. I made him pick them up anyway.
After his brushing he went back to the stable and that's when the attitude really came out. He smacked me in the breast with his nose numerous times, and got my friend in the butt. Bad hoss! A little gentle nuzzling is fine, but slamming people isn't okay. He learned that smacking people does not make carrots come out- quite the opposite. Once he started acting up, he didn't get any more carrots for the day. I am NOT going to reward bad behavior!
He's dirty again, which happens with white horses, though he seems to be more adept at getting muddy than the other white horses there. That's okay, I like washing him, even though it is a lot of work.
The good news is that the senior feed and carrots are really helping his weight! He's filling out, and it shows. He looks better put-together, his chest and hips are a bit wider, his belly is bigger, and he has less of a greyhound look to him. His ribs don't show much any more either. His coat is certainly shinier, and he has more energy. This makes me quite happy, even if he was a bit of a butthead today.
A new LJ friend advised that I NOT start with bareback on Solomon because it would not distribute my weight as evenly as a saddle would. This is good to know. Next week, then, I'm going to try to find a light saddle at the barn and sit on Sol's back for a few moments. I'm not going to ride him around unless he acts like he wants to walk. I'm mostly going to test things out and see how he reacts to a large woman on his back. He's around 15.3 hands according to the barn owner, but he is still rather under muscled.

After I dropped my friend off, I had an encounter on the highway. Here's what I posted to Craigslist:

" You: African-American gentleman with a do-rag sort of thing and a really bright smile in a tan car with a squished corner.
Me: Disheveled curvy blond woman driving a beat up green Saturn, squinting in the sun with horse drool in her hair.
We were driving through Oakland on 580. You were honking at me, waving, grinning, and flashing your cell phone. I was flattered but confused. I have, many a time, driven down the road in some low-cut dress, face and hair made up, without garnering the least bit of attention. Today I was driving home after dropping a friend off from a visit to the stables. My hair was full of horse drool, and there was probably some hay and carrot bits in there as well, since I was feeding him treats before he slimed me.
Perhaps I should bottle the stuff!
Anyway, thank you for the attention, and if by some chance I know you and couldn't tell because the sun was so damned bright, I apologize for not recognizing you, but I'm afraid I'm rather taken at the moment. You are a handsome young man, and I wish you the best of luck- there's a girl out there with horse-drooled hair for you somewhere!"