Horses are so cute!

I haven't posted about Panama in a while, so I thought it was time I did so. And I have the perfect story for my post, too!

On Saturday, my mom and I went to the stables to visit Panama in the late afternoon or early evening. The horses are turned out every day, but are usually returned to their stalls around mid-afternoon. So when we arrived, the horses were all "put away" for the night.

The weather is warming up considerably these days, and when we arrived Panama was lying down in his run, which faces west. He was facing into the sun, obviously very warm and relaxed. He didn't get up to greet me, so my mom and I let ourselves into the stall and walked over to him.

Panama was lying with his neck upright and his legs tucked up to one side, so I knelt beside his head. I started petting him and talking to him, and he leaned his head into me and "snuggled." It was so cute!

After a little while I went around his head and crouched on the other side. Before long he rolled all the way onto his side and laid with his head in the dirt and his legs stretched straight out. Where I was kneeling, I totally felt like he was a big dog that had just rolled over to have its belly rubbed!

I laughed and rubbed his belly — which is usually pretty ticklish, at least when I'm grooming him — and he half-closed his eyes and twitched his lips. It was obvious that he enjoyed it very much. I knelt there for a little while and alternated rubbing his belly with stroking his neck and shoulder.

Eventually, he sat up again. "Do you want some treats?" I asked, and his ears perked up. (He definitely knows that question!) He got up and shook off (again, just like a dog!), and I took him out to the cross ties to groom him.

I wish I had had my camera on me so that I could show you pictures of my horse lying there in his run while I petted him. Heck, I wish I'd had it so that I could see those pictures! It was a wonderful bonding moment with my horse, and definitely a moment worth remembering.