Horse Ball?

I went to go see Trigger today.  I wanted to check on his back, and needed to re-fill his feed baggies.  Plus he needed some exercise, since he's not getting turned out.  :-(

I let Nathan get him for the first time (he has some horse experience from our time at the membership place, but it's been a while).  I had to remind him how to put the halter on.  :-)  Trigger did great with Nathan at the helm, though, other than glancing back at me like, "you're coming too, right?"

Hmm...this is a smaller human than I'm used to.  I hope he knows what he's doing.  (Nathan's giving ME the side-eye, not Trigger--he doesn't like having his picture taken.)

Mom?  You're coming too, right?

I did go with them, of course...I didn't know what trigger would do when turned loose, so Nathan walked him TO the arena, but I walked him INto the arena and released him.  He did turn and "run" off (a fast animated trot), but wouldn't have hurt Nathan.  Still...better safe than sorry.

Even though he lives in a dust bowl, and clearly rolls there, rolling is obviously much better in the arena, and was his first order of business:

(Unfortunately, my phone doesn't zoom in video mode (either during the filming or prior to it), so this is really far away.  Either watch it on full screen, or just skip it.)

Nathan chose to join in the fun, too, but unfortunately, I didn't start recording until he was already standing back up.  You'll just have to trust me.  :-)

Then Nathan got the big horse ball out.  Trigger first acted concerned, but quickly became more curious than anything.  It was breezy enough that the ball sometimes moved apparently of its own accord, which Trigger found very interesting:

(It was windy out, so mute your speakers.)

How adorable is that?

We left him to his own devices for a bit while Nathan and I refilled his baggies of food, then we went to go fetch him.  I "caught" him (he walked right up to me and practically put his nose into the halter) while Nathan put the ball away.  Trigger did get a little concerned when the ball "flew" (Nathan lifted it up and over the fence), but other than turning to keep his eye on it, he was fine.  I gave the rope back to Nathan, and he walked him back to the paddock and turned him loose.  Trigger was thrilled to also get a serving of feed/supplements, then switched back to his hay when that ran out.  In the meantime, I pressed along his spine.  His lumbar area is definitely better than the other day when SweetPea came out to potentially ride him, but his withers still seemed sensitive.  He was eating off the ground, though, not standing normally, so I'll check again tomorrow--I'll take him for another trail walk if the weather's okay.

It was a good day, but I still haven't decided whether to call the chiropractor back out or not.