Pony vs. Lytha

The nastly little bastage tried to kick me tonight! As I went to give him his medicine for his poor busted up leg. He turned his butt toward me and kicked both back hooves up at me. I couldn't believe my eyes, and it was dark out, so I tried again. He swerved his butt toward me, and kicked me again. WHAT!! I did the math, he's a tiny baby pony, and can't really hurt me, so I flew at him and shoved him away and made him leave my vicinity. Then I kept him at bay as he kept trying to come back to his mother, who I stood over. Thank God his mother has a very strong respect for people, she gives me a huge personal space buffer every time I'm out there. Mean as she is to horses, she is the opposite with people. Except for her devil child. Good grief. How do I get the medicine in him, if he's kicking both back feet at me?

I hated to do it, but I had no choice. I smeared the medicine on an apple, and put it on the ground in front of him (I'd never hand-feed the jerk). Done. Now, next time, I'll have a whip in my back pocket, and if he ever turns his butt toward me and tries to take out my knees, I'll be ready.

Baasha is still not where I want him in the heirarchy. I think it's just a matter of time before he's comfortable enough, and hungry enough, to move up the ladder. I'm not sure what Elke and Petra are doing when they feed, but he hangs way back, as if he won't even enter the feedzone. I have to go way over to him and give him his grain. He acts as if this is normal, he's used to being separated.

So funny, the other day it wasn't feed time, I was just there cleaning up poop, and I walked over and gave him a carrot unexpectedly. He chewed it slowly, as is his way now, and both pony mare and pony baby heard him, and had to approach. Pony mare went all aggressive. Ears back into her fluffy blond mane, she walked her stout little self over and supplanted him. He walked nonchalantly away (no running off in fear anymore, yay!). She stood there wondering what it was that he had that was so good that she couldn't find. The tiny jerk went to Baasha and used his baby wiles on him, trying to get him to drop a bit of carrot. Tja, right.

Anyway, as a reminder to myself, always, always cut the fetlock hair before applying Desitin. Applying Desitin on scratches to a hairy pastern just means a lot of Desitin is coating the hair, and thus, wasted. Cut the hair, even if your American clippers don't work on European current (wrong wattage? voltage?). Just get out the scissors. Once I had cut away the hair from his tiny little scratches wounds, I could actually get the Desitin on the sores. Nothing wasted. Nothing wicking away with movement. I knew this, I'd only forgotten. Hair is only useful on fetlocks before scratches sets in. Therefore I only cut the hair on the precise areas he's got sores. We'll see what happens, and if I need to call up my family and call for an emergency shipment of more Desitin. (My sister told me that it's really important that it's Desitin, and not just random german Zinc Oxide cream, cuz Desitin has Cod Liver Oil in it, and that is the good stuff.)