So I got out early enough today to be able to go to see Reina!
So I did:
I got there a little after 4, and found Chia and asked if she wanted to trail ride again! She said she'd love to, so I went to go get Rei. The adorable mare she is, as soon as I "caught" her (ie, had a lead rope around her neck), she pricked her ears and dropped her head into my hands to be loved on and snuggled. She's soooo cute! What an adorable habit she's picked up!! Now I just have to work on getting her to run up to me instead of letting me come to her...
So I bring her in and groom her a bit, and she's being grumpy mcgrumppants so I click her for putting her ears forward and worked on being able to touch her all over (read: her belly & mare parts) without getting grumped at. She learned fast! Soon she was fine with me touching all over her belly and quit making faces at me. :)
Chia got a call from Nick who needed to be picked up, so she had to go. She said she'd be back in about half an hour and that we could ride then, which was totally fine with me! Reina and I continued to work on manners and refining and backing up from a touch. She's starting to get really light and responsive, which is just fabulous.
So then I'm bored of grooming, and decide to hand graze her. And once we're out, I decide to walk her up to the left, to the clangy back gate. Our last trail ride, she was snorting at everything over there and not comfortable at all, and HATED that gate. So I figured now would be a great time to address this! So off we went:
I love my stylish boss mare! ;)
Sorry for the sunburst!
She was a little snorty, but we stopped frequently and I kept experiences very positive. If she got nervous, we stopped, waited, and went on when she was ready to follow me. We get up to the gate this way, with some stops for brand new shoots of delicious grass. (Well, I assume it was delicious, the way she was nosing around for it!)
We get to the gate and she immediately decides that this is a stupid idea, and that I'm crazy, and that we should go back:
Mom? I think you meant to go back that way.
But I was persistent, so she finally sniffed the gate. Click! Treat! She looked at me in shock like "really? I have to touch the scary thing?" So she tried again: click, treat! Suddenly she was very keen to be near the clangy gate of doom!
Unfortunately, it was windy out, so clangy gate of doom... well, clanged! Reina did NOT like this at all, and she started. She came back around easily though, barely pulled on me at all, and stood there afterwards, snorting up a storm. But she walked back up to the gate without too much effort and I continued reinforcing her being calm and sniffing it, and she ended up totally fine after a few more treats! (Yes, that was the spook I was talking about. If that's the best she can do, I am unconcerned! Haha)
I even hopped up on the gate and jumped around it and clanged it on purpose and she just stood there lookin' at me like "you're still stuck on that gate thing, huh? I'm over it!"
She really is looking better since I've had her!
So then I decided that we had done enough de-spooking, as she seemed 90-95% comfortable (depending on whether or not wind was blowing, haha). So we walked back to the barn, with plenty of grass stops inbetween.
I even stood and let her graze around me on her lead rope, and she kept walking up beside me and parking herself in leading position. It was so cute! And then she'd tuck her nose in and prick her ears in a pose, and look at me. And look at me. And wiggle her lip and move her head and neck into varying positions, waiting for me to notice what a good girl she was being. Naturally I had to click and give her a treat for being so polite! Then she'd wander off again, but she came back sooner the next time. And then the third time she came back, she didn't leave. She stayed parked next to me. Cuteness!!
This isn't "leading position" she was putting herself into; she stopped
then when I was next to her shoulder. I just think this is a cute picture!
So we chilled out for a while, and she alternated with eating grass and nosing me and letting me love on her. She was also parked next to the fence a bunch - sans collar, because I take it off first thing when I catch her (I hate it just as much as she does!) - and she didn't even try to crib! I didn't touch her because I wanted to see what she'd do without interference. She wiggled her lip and looked at the fence and almost touched it with her nose/lip but then she'd leave it alone. Like she really, really wanted to crib but either (a) was convinced that she can't anymore because the fence betrayed her (due to her collar), or (b) has somehow figured out that maybe, just maybe, if she stops the silliness, she won't have to wear her collar anymore! I hope it's b, but I know that's probably wishful thinking. She's a lot calmer now, though, and getting a lot more in the way of nutrition, so I'm crossing my fingers that she'll "forget" how to crib!
I got photographic evidence that my horsey loves me while all this was going on. Enjoy!
And no, I didn't have to hold her tight to take any of these pictures - she stayed of her own volition and posed happily! She's such a ham, I love it.
By the time we were done bonding, it was about 6, and Chia came back a bit after that. She and Nick were delayed so she didn't get back in time to ride, but it was okay 'cause Rei and I had a day to just enjoy one another and hang out. I let Reina have her dinner (she was very pleased about this), and some of the horses came to hang out and see if they could have grain too. I shooed them away, but one, Gabriel, a GIANT mule (I mean super giant - he's a little taller than Reina and fat and bulky, too! I think his head is like 18 inches long, no joke...!), wouldn't listen. He's too much of a pet and he just refused to be shooed! Rei saw me having trouble and was fed up with waiting to get back to her paddock so she reached out like she was going to touch noses with him, pinned her ears, and made like she was going to bite him if he didn't shape up. He moved real fast!
Having a boss mare as a partner is loads of fun. I love her attitude. After she scared the crap out of the mule that was at least twice as bulky as she is, she pricked her ears and strode off with me towards her field like everything was as it should be and other animals definitely should move out of our way when we wish to go somewhere.
I couldn't agree more!
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