Rico the Escape Artist

Rico is 29 this year, almost 30 (in February) and is doing pretty well! This year is the first one where he's shown a little weight loss, so we're dealing with that. And because of his cushings, he's SUPER hairy and I'm having to give him a trace clip all the time. But outside of that, for a 29 year old horse, he's great!

Look at those dapples!!

Happy boy on a walk down the road
this spring

I did get on him this spring, he was 
totally happy about it and felt pretty
stable, but I cried the entire time and
on and off for the rest of the day lol
so I think it's best if we don't

The funniest thing he does on a regular basis is escape his stall. Now, TC has escaped his stall twice during his time at the ranch, and I regularly leave it open while I'm cleaning his paddock. Once, TC got out overnight when no one was around and he just ate his breakfast hay and then walked to his paddock gate (on the side of the barn) and stood there all night waiting to be let back in. Like, there were bales and bales of alfalfa on the other side of the barn but he ignored them. He could have also gone and ate the lawn, but no, he wanted back in (his stall door was wide open?). 

The other time he got loose was while we were feeding, he walked out into the aisle and then just froze and looked over at where we were working on the hay/grain and just waited patiently for me to come get him and put him back. TC is too pure and too sweet for this world (and okay I'll admit it, too dumb). 

He's hard to get pictures of because
he wants to be in my face all the time

Like he follows me around like this
when I try to step back to get a picture,
it's so sweet!

Rico on the other hand, is totally rude about escaping. But at this age, I kind of secretly let him escape. He likes to sneak out and eat some of the hay on the barn, but once he reaches a certain threshold, he zips out of the barn and out to the front of the barn to eat weeds. However, if you start to follow him, he trots off down to the lawn where he snatches at grass until you catch up to him, then he trots off again toward the gate. 

I think if the gate were open, either the gate to the tracks or the gate out the front of the property, he'd be long gone! 

He likes to stare at himself in the
sliding glass door

So feral

When I take him for walks down the road, he's equally as feral. He likes to go first... like in front of me. Which is fine I guess? And all he wants to do is trot down the road to the neighbor's pastures and stare at the horses and cows there. Then he wants to trot all the way back, diving aggressively for the weeds on the side of the road. This is maybe why he wants to go first because he has leverage against me. 

Oh and he (playfully) nips at me if I try to dissuade him from doing this. So obnoxious! He also likes to lick the dog and bother her too. 

Literally WHY Rico

Being so silly

She actually comes over and asks for
this attention

Anyway, he is completely feral, I'm not sure how much more feral he can get but I don't want him to think that's a challenge.