Great picture, Kirstin! Nine has finally let me start hugging him, so we're making progress there. Of course that means I'll be that much more heartbroken in September.

Speaking of Nine, he kicked me! I was working on picking up his hind right leg. He was doing great with a rope around his pastern, so I was picking it up with my hand. He was okay, but then when I tried again in yesterday afternoon, he started swinging his leg out at me, then finally exploded. He jumped in the air and struck out. His hoof caught my elbow. Pretty silly, to get kicked in the elbow! It's a bit sore today, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It could have been pretty bad, though - he was almost high enough to get my head! So, now, I am too terrified, which makes Nine terrified, which means I haven't gotten very far towards picking up his back feet again. He's still fine about his fronts though, so that's good.

I haven't tried with the saddle again yet - I was going to yesterday while I had help, but the kick made me give him a rest. But today I tried to get a rope around his belly to make sure he was okay with that sensation, but basically, he's not. My elbow got pretty sore, so I stopped trying...

Reno looks great! All of you are making me so jealous that you are riding your horses. I wanna ride, too!