Sunny's 2nd visit

J's sister came over today to help me with Mag. She had just completed a three-day Horsemanship clinic, where she worked with several unruly Warmbloods. Since Horsemanship means something different to everyone, I asked her to explain what she learned. She learned roundpenning and join up and learned to fine-tune her body language to control horses' movements and orientation.

One thing I found interesting, that I'd never heard of in my life, everyone who boards at that stable must keep their horse barefoot at all times, and no one is allowed to use a bit. 15 boarders all agreed to that! Wow.

I told her with no round pen we can't do much of what she learned, but I was excited for her to come again and give me her impression of Mag after she learned so much.

She asked what I preferred to do today and I said the donkey shoved her face in Mag's halter this morning so if it's not too much to ask, it would be a real treat for the donkey to accompany us on a walk. To be honest we have not done this since Mag arrived, because I've never had the opportunity and I cannot control both of them at once.

Bellis was pushing against the gate anxious to go go go! 

I'd only seen Mag out with another animal once, the time we walked 5.5 hours with Bintu. I was curious if he'd behave himself with such a distraction, a best friend, in front or behind him. But he was fine. Certainly he kept his ear on wherever the donkey was, but didn't react poorly if I dragged my feet with Bellis and let her get quite far behind. I know, that was kind of a risk to put Sunny in such a position, to make things less easy, but I have to know what he'll do.

On the way to the woods a man had a loose black lab and let the dog with all its back hair standing on end run right up to our animals. We stopped and I gave my deadliest look and said DON'T YOU DARE in English. Finally the owner caught the dog and I just shook my head. My hands were shaking, I didn't know what would happen. A nice neighbor had witnessed it and I said, "Who is that guy and that dog?" He told me they live there, and that the dog chases cats. I described my cat to him and he said, "Your cat, the little one, never comes this far!" Good, I hope! Anyway I don't think Sunny realized how much improved Mag is for just standing in the street talking to neighbors. I'm so proud of him, he really has learned some self control! As we talked, she did some backing and ground work with him right there in the street. Mag kept putting his nose on her, she likes to lead him very close, and he was taking full advantage of the "touchable human."

She worked on leading him and stopping and backing and using hand signals. Now that I've never seen before. They were literally the same hand signals I learned in dog obedience class when I was a kid! I had told her already that Mag is clever enough to learn several different ways of doing the same things, so no worries. I realized that this was the 3rd strange/new person to work with him in the last 2 weeks! Did we blow his mind? Only time will tell. JK.

I tied the donkey to a huge tree in the woods and sat on a bench and asked Sunny if she'd be so kind to try trotting Mag in hand. I said he's not very good at that yet. Truly, she had to use a lot of encouragement to get him to understand he was supposed to trot beside her. But she did it over and over and over again, even leaving us for a long time.

Bellis started to vocalize and I went to her and said, "Everything is fine Bellis." Then I thought, where the heck are they and said, "I mean, I hope." If she lost him, where would he go?

No need to panic, eventually she came back, with him trotting energetically by her side. I said, "Can he also trot *away* from the donkey?" She assured me he could. Then I wanted to try. How nice that she did all the work - he trotted immediately when I clucked to him and walked when I said walk and stopped with me and then backed, we did it both directions, perfect!

Then I explained the trouble I have with lunging/circling him, how he quits before I can make it to 5 circles. She said that he probably doesn't understand and needs to be rewarded after 2 or 3 circles.

But then she took the rope and saw him think about resisting (stopping and changing directions or backing up) and she encouraged him forward nonstop for countless circles! I have never seen him go so many times compliantly. Both directions! Anyway she agreed that he understands and told me he needs to be pushed when he resists until he complies. My thoughts exactly, but it's nice to hear it from two others now! When she was done all thoughts of resistance had vanished from his mind.

I took him far from the donkey off trail into the thickest underbrush I could find. I did some ground work to be sure I had his attention even though Bellis was way back there. Then I found some fallen trees and asked him to put his forelegs over but not his hind legs. No problem. Then I asked him to back up his front legs over the logs to get back to the other side. He had absolutely no idea how to do this. I was laughing so loud as he would try to back up, and then run into the log with his hoof, and then he'd rest the hoof on the log, not trusting himself to step *over* it backwards. Repeatedly he kept standing ON it, then scooting back off, never quite grasping that he could step over it in reverse. He would do little hops, he would stand on it completely with both front hooves, every variation he could think of because he has no body awareness. I couldn't stop laughing. I took him back up to Sunny and found another log and demonstrated for her. She said, "What did you think? He's FIVE, and has no balance." *lol* I can't wait to go back into the woods and practice this again, because I'm sure Mag thinks me falling down laughing is funny too.

We stood for a while and talked, and Mag got very relaxed and picked up a little branch and was playing with it. Sunny said he's like a dog.

We proceeded to the Icelandic field and holy crap the neighbors' two Border Collies were loose, and they were literally herding the horses as they galloped up to say hello. I wished so much I'd remembered gloves at that moment. I told Sunny to keep going! As both dogs tried to decide whether to chase US, or the Icelandics! One of the dogs started to come to us and I whirled around with Mag and ran at the dog making loud clucking noises and that dog got so scared he ran all the way home. I was really shaking after that, and Mag was prancing in place, tail completely over his back, in excitement. That could have been very bad, and there is lots of barbed wire around there. I told Sunny I would be avoiding that area in the future. I also told her it works on bears, what I just did.

She looked at me like I'm nuts and I explained, "I couldn't live in fear, and needed to show my horse that bears will run from you, so I found the bear and chased it away. It worked." She said, "And if it hadn't?" Well, it did: ) And after that I wasn't scared of that bear anymore. (But one of these days I know I'm gonna encounter a dog who does not approve of my methods.)

On the way home I led Mag in the street because otherwise he tries to grab bites of grass the entire time because it's at mouth-level now on both sides of the sidewalk, and he is having trouble learning it's not cool to constantly take bites. I told her it's like me walking through a maze of Haribo. I couldn't do it either. She said, "Get out of the street! It's not even legal, what you're doing, and if I were a car driving by here at 100kph, I'd shout 'idiot' out the window!" I said, "I walk in this street often, and I'm careful!" But OK last week we did have a cow vs car incident where I really was stupid. I had taken Mag into the street to say hi to the baby cows, and both cows came cantering to us at once just as a car went behind Mag, and he skittered sideways across the pavement, probably scaring that driver a little. I told Sunny that horses pull carriages down this street every Sunday, why can't I use it? She said carriages are considered traffic. I promised her I would never do that at night.

Finally home Sunny said some very nice things about Mag, that it's obvious to her that I've put a lot of work into him. That felt very good. Also she said he has a very good mind, is very light and willing, and that he's gonna be great. I hope so, I think so too! She said, "You searched, and found the right horse."

Awwww.....: ): ) :)

I hope she gets her own horse soon. There is no comparison to having your own and making all the decisions yourself. For now she's continuing to read constantly and attend clinics and take lessons and make up for years away from horses.

Oh, and she said I look like I've lost about 8 kilos. *GASP* YAH. High-fat diet success! She's the first person to notice, besides J. *happy dance* Soon I'll need new clothes: ) (But in reality it's only 5 kg so far...)

I got a text from Lukas that he'll be here Saturday so I look forward to our first under-saddle lesson. I totally want to see him ride Mag cuz I never get to see other people ride him and I really want his evaluation. I'll even let him put his baroque saddle on him!

Looking forward (and saying a prayer of thankfulness that nothing bad happened today with those dogs).

And now some random month of May photos:



I have an infected tick bite on my thigh and it has been hurting for 3 days. I have a lesser one on my arm, from 2 of the 4 ticks I found on me the other day (the one was on me all night feeding, nice!). This photo is of one  *IN OUR HOUSE*  - can you tell the coffee bean from the tick? I'm telling you, there is nothing creepier than ticks. Even spiders *leave* if you chase them. Ticks love humans, we are their chosen disease vectors. Cofffee-bean tick met her end in my microwave, my chosen way of killing them.



This is J's foot on a sheet of bedrock on a trail near here. I remember the same bedrock-trails in Issaquah on the top of Squak mountain. Very treacherous to ride a horse across!





Therefore this sign. Which cracks me up with its honesty. If you ride over this bedrock, you may be flung from your horse and meet an early grave. (Vorsicht=caution)





Dangit Mercer that blanket is not for you! She sleeps not on her cat tree, but on any soft thing, and this blanket is precious to me (and my sister will remember me yelling at her when one day at a horse show she let her German Shepherd lay on it!). As Lisa Simpson would say, "This is why I cannot have nice things!"