Update On Morse

[fairlady]

Wow I have had Morse for a month now, (where did that time go?). We are moving on, or at least thats what I keep telling myself. I can now just about manage to pick out all four feet without him being convinced he is going to fall over, I can tie him up, although he moves around a fair bit so that he can see everything. He has settled in really well on the farm with Coco being his best mate. He leaves the other horses quite happily and is quite happy out and about on the farm having a good old look at everything. Apparently he spent all day at the gate on Saturday watching the tractors and trailers going up and down as they were haymaking (thank goodness for that - Hay!!!) I was reliably informed that he didn't freak out at all and was genuinely interested in the comings and goings:) (Well, I already know that if he was human he would be a very nosey neighbour):D

Problems I am having however is that he has no clue about personal space, i.e. put him back in the field the other day and the horses were all playing, spotted him and came running over, he took one look at them, then at me, and came running towards me to save him, however I ended up sat in a very, very, prickly hedge:eek: He is also not too impressed with his stable, I have started to give him a very small feed/groom him etc. in there just to try and get him used to it. However if you are not within eyesight he trys to climb the stable door:eek:

He still makes this grunting sound if he is unsure of something and then trys to nip me, despite a firm no, so we are still ongoing on that, but he is improving. He will 'back up' when told. even in the stable and desperate to get out, so its not all bad.

I managed to get the hose on his feet without him totally panicking and he did hold the hose in his mouth for a couple of seconds today, so tomorrow my plan is to try and bath him, and boy does he need it:)

I still think I made the right decision not to take him to the show next Saturday, I really don't think either of us was ready. However I am hoping to take him off the farm and out and about abit by the end of the week.

If the weather is nice tomorrow and I manage to give the boy a bath, I will get some photos and post them:)

[NicP]

Glad to hear you are making progress and I am sure you will continue that.

I did giggle at the thought of him with the hose in his mouth, bless him!

[fairlady]

Agh I went down the yard today full of great intentions, (always full of great intentions) to be met by a very sad sight. Sonny, the 34 year old, was in the small yard by the stables, head down between his legs, looking awful, I rushed to find Carol to see what the matter was to hear that she had found him in the field with the others like that this morning and he had hardly been able to walk to the small yard. He had a nasty lump on his neck, which we could not tell if it was a bite or kick or something much much worse.

With that the vet arrived, checked him over, and said he thought it was a bite or kick or some severity and that Sonny had been extremely lucky because where he had been kicked could have broken his neck. Poor Carol was beside herself and I admit I had to wipe away more than a few tears myself. I had had Son on half loan many years ago when he was a 12 year old, and he had taught me so many things in the 4 years I rode him, mainly how to fall:)

Anyway the vet gave him the usual, bute, antibiotics and stated that although his heartbeat was extremely strong and he was a wilely old beast, he was not out of the woods for a while due to the shock factor. The vet was concerned that he may become 'impacted' so we were all on poo alert:)

We were all stood around trying to jolly Carol on with tales of Sonny, she has owned him since he was 2. But poor old Son was just stood there with absolutely no interest in anyone or anything and once or twice I really thought he was going down. We were all offering to sit with him, I was offering to do the night shift, cos I work a lot of nights anyway, am on annual leave, and all the others have to work or have young kids, and so the Rota was arranged. There was big discussions on how, who, why and we sort of formed the opinion that maybe Morse and Bailey had been playing, and Sonny had got between them as if to say 'thats enough now boys'.

Anyway I left the yard to catch a couple of hours kip so fast forward four hours and back down the yard. Sonny was still standing in the middle of the yard but did actually look at me when I arrived:) There was nobody around so I made up Morses feed and heard a little snicker from Sonny, I wandered over with a bit of apple and carrot and he practically ran over to the gate and snatched it out of my hand. If ever a horse could have 'laughed' he would have I swear:) He then proceeded to walk into the stable and started munching on his hay, with that lifted his tail and dumped the biggest pile of poo I had ever seen:) The others had arrived from the house by then and we all declared 'Sonny is back'. He then marched over to the gate and started pawing at it as if to say 'let me the hell out of here' but No, Son, is relagated to the yard/stable for a bit longer yet.

So 'The Old Schoolmaster' (WHO WAS ANYTHING BUT) lives to tell another tale. He is back to his old, ill mannered, bolshy self today and I love him for that:) He dumped me over the four years more times than I ever care to think about, and always chose where, the muddiest bit of the bridle path, the deepest puddle, etc. etc. and then he would look back at me over his shoulder as if to say 'boy you make this sooo sooo easy:)

So Morse was put a little on hold yesterday, in respect of an 'old soldier' who deserved all the love and attention and respect of all of us :)

So where did I put those 'good intentions' can't find em, must be my age:)

[NicP]

Bless him - I am so pleased that he is OK. Funny how we still love the really naughty ones so much isn't it. I have three Labradors and the eldest has a real "attitude" and only does what he wants when he wants to. And I adore him for it!

[fairlady]

He He It is true, he has always been naughty. I could tell a few tales about him, believe me. Anyway I have just had a txt from Carol to say he was creating so much she spoke with the vet and has turned him back out into the Orchard where he can see his 'herd'

Its about time he realised he is not getting any younger, like the rest of us :) I have known him jump two field fences and let himself into the stables before now cos he did'nt think he was being dealt with quickly enough. He is one of the characters of the horse world thats for sure:)

I had a german pointer, Tyson, like your lab. I had him and a german shepherd, Zac. Both lost in the last two years unfortunately at 13 and 12. However, he was naughty, cost me probably thousands over the 12 years with things he destroyed. He could open cupboard doors and linked with my cat who would put his paw underneath and initially open it the first inch or so to allow Tyson to get his nose in, then they would share the spoils:) My poor german shepherd, who was sooo good, used to nearly have a nervous breakdown. Tyson would jump up front feet on the kitchen unit and drop his shoulder so that he could reach anything at the back. The times I came home to find him with Sugar all round his mouth was unbelievable and when I used to say 'who did that' (as if I didn't know) he could reverse out of a room round any obstacles without taking his eyes off you, like Michael Jacksons moonwalk:) Everybody loved him, and my lads friends all up in their 20's still talk about him all the time, as if he is still here:) I even knew him empty a chip pan full of oil, without spilling a drop, and no ill effect:eek: I have two staffies now, eldest Harvey 2 is soo well behaved. Youngest, Lulu, 1, is Tyson re-incarnated:eek: Anyway, Sonny is obviously back to normal, just have to keep an eye on the 'old soldier':) Thank goodness for that:) Now to Morses Bath:)

[NicP]

Your dogs sound great! Our youngest (actually son of eldest) is another character - more obedient but way too intelligent to be a Lab! He can open doors towards him even with round door knobs and has knicked more food and chomped more shoes than I care to remember!

He is a real cutie though and does agility (has beaten Collies) and loves to play. I took him out last night and he was convinced that the cows were really big dogs and tried to play with them!