It was a morning for the boys this morning. Sunny was quite a strong minded character when he first arrived. Early on, I made the decision to step back from any handling other than just spending time with him, until he was a little older and the herd could teach him about life. He is now at a stage where he is ready for interaction and training. I have been shedding out his old foal coat which he loves. He is like his sister Kihela in that he must return the favour and groom my back while I groom him. He started learning about a halter yesterday. I just put the halter over his nose a few times and give him lots of scratches while it is there. I take it off his nose and wait. If he wants more scratches, he puts his nose into the halter. He picked this up almost immediately. Since I have started handling him, I get the very enthusiastic whinny that all Scouts foals give when they see me. Yesterday Sunny would call and call until I came over and hung out with him for a bit. I just love how interactive these horses are. This big colt is super smart. He has such a sense of nobility about him as well. Today Falcon and Star also had some training time with their first walk off the property. Falcon was first and Star and Neosho supervised us until we got to the front gate. They were a little worried about sweet Falcon leaving the herd. Neosho stood transfixed watching everything we did until eventually he was content that Falcon was okay and he relaxed a little. Falcon was very sensitive and a little reluctant at first but then he decided to follow and we walked up the road as far as he felt comfortable and he grazed. A couple of cars and a truck went by. He is probably the most sensitive of all the Spanish Mustangs but he handled this wonderfully. I was so proud of him. Then Star insisted on his turn. I absolutely adore working with him. He is so bossy and bold but also comes back down to earth very quickly when asked. I put the halter on and he took the rope into his mouth wanting control of the situation. I smiled and walked on. He followed and did his usual two strikes out with his front legs. This is something he has always done since he was a tiny colt. The reach and flexibility he has is astounding. I said ah ah to signal him that it isnt appropriate to do that when on the lead. I have to be much stronger and have a lot more rules in place for Star. Once he decides that he will follow my lead then he is an absolute gentleman. As we walked down the drive, he did ask a few more times if I had control of the situation or did I need him to take over. Soon he was satisifed to walk on a loose lead right beside me. We got to the road and he watched the cattle in the distance. We wandered up as far as he felt comfortable. Falcon was pretty distressed that his buddy was not in the paddock. Interestingly Neosho couldnt care less. He kept a close eye on Falcon while we were out but wasnt phased about Star leaving. He probably welcomed the break from him lol. When we came home, I practised whoa and back with Star while we walked up the driveway. He said a definite no to backing. I asked again and he struck his leg out and then backed. There is a fine line with Star between keeping those boundaries in place to stay safe which is necessary due to him being entire and so strong minded however I also want him to have freedom of expression and to retain his gorgeous, fun personality. I am really pleased with our relationship thus far. I know there will plenty more lessons for me and him as he matures. It is an exciting and wonderful journey :)
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 00:29:39 +0000
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