Hot

So, lately Red has gotten a little attitude! As you guys know, Red is normally very calm and just a lazy guy, but now, he's been getting hot. Yesterday we saddled him up and he started throwing his head back and forth, mom, being the horse expert, told me, the amateur, to step back. She grabbed his reins and started running with him, he literally broke out in a run with her. Red never runs! Also, when I tried to get his halter on one day so I could brush him, he ran from me. This was normal, but lately he's been doing tons better, but the moment he saw it this time, he was insistent on not being good for me!

Don't get me wrong, he still has his loving personality. Just yesterday I walked up to him in the pasture and brushed his mane out, and the whole time he had his head laid on my shoulder. Every time he see's you through the window he neighs, and every time you get close to him he's content with snuggling while you pet him or whatever. We have him on Omelene 400 and the Healthy Coat oil, but we're thinking it's all the oil that is making him hot, so we are taking him off of the oil. We only put him on the Healthy Coat because of the skin issues, and now that Fall is almost here and his skin is getting a lot better, we decided it wouldn't hurt him to take it away. We're not going to switch feed unless taking away the oil doesn't help, especially because the feed has made him gain a lot of weight. He wasn't skinny or anything when we got him, but he's gotten fatter for sure. Haha! He's getting what we like to call a "Bubble butt" and we love it! :))

Normally, Red is about the calmest horse I've ever met and will just stand there when being saddled. No need for two people to saddle him! He is a gentleman! But yesterday, he kept trying to run and shake his head, and he kept making "fish faces" I have no clue what he was doing, we thought he had something in his teeth or something so we checked and nothing! We decided he probably wanted to graze and we wouldn't let him graze while we saddled him. We don't allow him to graze while we ride or are saddling up unless we are going on a long ride and we think he might need a snack. :) 

And he is so smart! He knows when it's time for food, and he will watch in the window, and the moment he see's us with an orange bowl (He put his grain in an orange bowl) and neighs and runs up to his stall, then looks out the little window we have in his stall so we can dump his grain in easier and waits.  I'm teaching him how to give "hugs" and after barely a week he already is doing really good and pretty much knows the command. (If you don't know what this trick is, it's where the horse wraps his or her head around your waist or rests it on your shoulder.) 

I'm in no way experienced enough to ride a hot horse, which is why we got Red, the lazy, calm, lesson horse, so I can't just "Ride out the energy" so we are going to try any way to get him calmer. Thankfully we're positive it's just because of the oil and what-not, so we can fix it. :)