They got some strange-looking ponies around here...

Tama met Podge the kunekune pig for the first time today.

If he thought Honey and Hokey Pokey were a bit weird-looking compared to his Kaimanawa herd-mates, he must have really been confused when Podge came up to say hello.  As with everything else though, he took it completely in his stride and didn't even blink an eye.

I am so very, very impressed at how level-headed he is.  When I opened the gate to a new paddock today the other two went for a hoon around, as they usually do, but he just stood and watched them and then carefully picked his way downhill to the gate and trotted sedately over to join them once they'd settled down.  I never thought the 9-month old wild colt would be more sensible than my pregnant brood-mare!

"Oh, it's that camera again."

I gave him a good brush yesterday (not that you can tell in these photos!), almost everywhere except his legs.  He still only tolerates it for a few minutes at a time, but he's getting a lot better.  He's also letting me touch him all over when he's loose out in the paddock, which is pretty great, as before that had only occurred in the yards where he's a bit more confined.

He's also had his Equest-plus wormer yesterday, so hopefully that will get rid of the last of them.  Maybe that funny pot-belly will start to recede and he can put some healthy weight on!

He has started learning some food manners, and I was astonished at how quickly he picked up on what I was wanting.  I was asking him to stand politely and look away from the food with ears pricked, and after only a handful of 3-minute sessions he was clearly understanding what I was asking of him, and was giving me near-perfect responses much of the time.