Theo and kitten videos

 I have been checking on the kittens over the last week. They are getting cute! In the interest of being able to handle them, I figured to start taking milk up to them- they are around 5 weeks old now.

Wait for it, wait for it.

When I went up this morning with milk I could only find one kitten. Uh-oh! I had noticed that one Siamese kitten was usually separate from the other two so I checked to see if it was just in a different spot- couldn't find the others anywhere in the barn loft. I called Ted to come and help me get down from the loft with the kitten then put it in the cat carrier while I went searching for the others. There are several places along the roof line where they could have fallen down to my cat feeding/horse area so I looked there- nope no visible kittens. Checked the other barn- nope no kittens there either. Looked in a couple of hidey spots but no luck.  When I got back to the "cat barn" (don't tell the mares I call it that!) guess what- Misty and the other two kittens were there, so I let kitten #1 out of the carrier to join her littermates. And discovered that their new dwelling place is under the pallet that the straw bales are on- a good place to keep them from the tom cats and the horses. Left the milk there for them, hopefully they will thrive there. Also hope they don't go back to the loft, so much easier for me if they are in the main area. 

Anyway, enough cat drama- on to Theo! 

I had Ted come and handle him for me so I could do some more training on lifting/rasping feet. Because, well, this is what he is doing now:

Jackets, clothing, arms, whatever - he has to chomp. Very typical foal behavior that I try to discourage. 

I don't swat at him for it as it quickly becomes a game, which you will see colts play with each other- nip, run, come back and nip again. All normal for them, but they do need to know that it isn't acceptable with people. So here is what I do:

I basically pester his face, and at the same time desensitize him for such things as worming syringes and bits. He certainly doesn't mind because every day he comes up and wants his face petted and even brushed without trying to nip. However, when I was picking up his feet he must have though my ample butt wasn't off limits- my remedy for that is to elbow him under his jaw while still working on his feet. He doesn't really see it coming as I'm under his neck, and it does work without him thinking it's a game. Hence having Ted come to help. Also it's good for him to be handled by someone other than myself. 

He is leading fairly well now. 

In this next video, he was thinking about going in for the nip but he didn't. 

I had to laugh here, at the end of this video you will hear Ted's phone  and it made Ted jump more than Theo!

We are making progress, Theo even let me rasp his left front (the one he was saying no to) when he was laying down, which is a big deal because up until a few days ago he would always jump up if I approached him when he was laying down. 

Good boy, Theo!

The horse flies are nasty right now, so the horses are spending their days hanging out in and around the barn, and grazing at night. I give them 24/7 access to the 15 acre pasture. 

Just chillin'

 

Theo looks funny with his baby hair still on his nose. I scrub him every day and a lot of it is coming off. 

That's a very cute little nose!