I brought Oliver home two days ago, on Friday! It was so much fun to drive up and pick him up. I took Zorro along so Oliver didn't have to trailer by himself for nearly 5 hours. Zorro did great on the trip up and the trip back. I think he is going to be a wonderful big brother!
Today Oliver definitely is missing his mama. He is showing this in two ways.
One, he is putting everything in his mouth, obsessively. Trying to chew on the wall of my hay shed, trying to chew on the trim, chewing on me and the chair when I sit in his pen with him. He is chewing on himself a little bit as well.
And two, earlier he had a bit of a tummy upset. Laying down, getting right back up. Then laying down again. Then coming to bite at me, then biting at himself. I put some DiGize (let me know if you are interested in learning a little more about the Young Living Oils and how I use them on my animals!) on his tummy and a little on his back and have been watching him closely. (Hubby asked if the pony needs to see me every 5 minutes. Yes Hubby he DOES! LOL!) and just a little bit ago I gave him more hay as he had several new poop piles around the water bucket in his area.
Weaning is so hard for everyone!
And before you ask... I don’t hit him or even acknowledge the nips and bites at this point as they are not about him being bossy or even about me. They are simply him being mouthy because he is looking for that sensation of nursing. I even saw him eye Sky’s teat area longingly. Something she shut down immediately even with a fence between them. LOL! There will be no disciplining for his mouthiness at this point.
And when it does come time, I will not hit him. Ever. Period. At that point I will play with his mouth until he moves his feet, every time he puts his mouth on me (link to video showing this method - https://youtu.be/nqaG5WjRla4), or I’ll leave the area he is in and he will lose whatever interaction we were involved in - scratching, grooming, playing liberty games, etc.
Hitting only makes for sneaky biters who can also be head shy. OR just plain spooky babies.
He is such a sweet baby. So incredibly friendly and sociable. He is always happy to see me and loves it when I sit in his area with him. Several times a day I go out there and either sit in my chair with my book and read while he eats, or I groom him with the grooming glove, or I spend a little time with Zorro and Sky right beside Oliver’s pen. All the ponies look forward to me showing up. My other two are used to seeing me every 5 minutes as well. LOL!
(sorry and also not sorry for all the baby photos! LOL!)
I am going to gather all the posts about Oliver and label them Oliver's Journal up at the top of the blog. That way anyone can easily find the posts following his growing up, no matter how much time has gone by. Posts have a way of getting lost here and they definitely get lost on Facebook so I think this will be a good way for people to find the posts about him later!