Ahh... A peaceful moment with the girls... Willow and Shasta have bonded. Willow stands nearby when Shasta lays down, being protective of the youngster, yet when she gets into mischief, Willow still stands nearby making sure we know she's totally innocent. She loves snitching Shasta off if she can! Just a few months have shown me what totally different "horsenalities" (thank you, Pat Parelli!) they have. Willow is more aloof...content to be her own woman. Boss mare. We'll do it on my clock, thank you... She's patient; willful; full of spunk; and if I treat her like a mustang, she'll cooperate with me fully. Shasta, on the other hand, is in your back pocket almost all the time. She's full of mischief...trying to play with EVERY thing...way too smart for her own good...but easy to work with...willing and wanting to please all the time.
Shasta has settled in really nicely. Our first ride was a bit of a debacle, but that was mostly my fault. What was I thinking of...getting on her bareback? She turned so tight, she kicked the mounting block and bolted...leaving me in mid-air. See those gray hairs? I don't do mid-air so well these years! And yes... I know she shouldn't have a halter on. If your horse was an escape artist you'd keep a halter on her too. It makes shorter work of the "You gotta catch me!!" game.
This is how we spend time together... It's important that they spend time with humans who aren't hurting them, or constantly demanding "something" of them. Willow has trust back, but she's a bit high headed still. Yet, when her "working" halter goes on, she becomes a sweet, workable lady. Shasta...what a love-bug. She still shows a lot of distrust, mainly in key areas. Her hindquarters are particularly touchy...and she steps away from just about any touch (at liberty), except for her face. She loves having her ears scratched and her face loved. Over the next months we'll be getting more into our Parelli lessons again...even if the weather sux. We're getting our standard fog now...not so great for me, but makes the girls all spunky! Bruce will either be working Parelli along side me, or photographing our lessons. We'll see how this goes! You're welcome to join us on the ride!
I really love just "hanging out" with my horse sometimes. Just so every time she sees me she doesn't have to work her tail off. Sometimes I just groom her, or we'll go for a nice walk in the woods, side by side. Maybe she doesn't care if I am on her back or not, but I like the idea of just being easy and lazy with her. Sometimes I even just like watching her nibble hay!
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