Sue-I Do Bond with You
At last, a chance to really play with my girl, Sue.
I groomed her while she was eating. She has a patches of dead skin on her tail. yeccha. One was an inch square. I got them off. Several times she turned and stared at me. I told her what she had. These spots where a little raw under the dead skin patch, but she didn’t flinch. I’ll treat it tomorrow with special salve. She was as calm as could be while I was grooming her.
I filled my pockets full of small peppermint tasting treats. My Sue will come to like me! I got the halter. She was done eating. She turned away from me to the stall door. I talked to her hind quarters and her front end turned towards me. She got a peppermint treats. aha!
Our goal tonight was to walk to the front gate and shut it. On the way back, we would play all 7 Games. I wondered if we would make it to the gate. It would be she and I with her horse buddies back in the pasture.
We started walking and all was fine. I stopped and backed up. She backed up. She got a peppermint.
We did that many times. At one stop, I gave her a “feel” on the top of her head. I told her head that is was OK to eat grass. It didn’t take long and the head obeyed. It ate grass. Up we went again and towards the gate.
We made it to the gate without going crazy being away from the other horses. We have started Pair-Bonding. This is when the little new born foal learns to stay close to mommy. Sue is learning to stay next to her “new Mommy” and feel safe.
On our way back, we played driving sideways. She is spectacular at this. She is spectacular because she is reactive. Of course, she was rewarded with peppermint treats.
We played the circle game. She whizzed around the circle and slowed down when she started to “go away” from the barn. When she made one complete circle in a semi relaxed manner, she got to stop, come into the center and get a peppermint. I want her to enjoy coming to me. When she starts to go fast on the circle game, she gets a little emotional. Note to self when I first ride her at …Go Slow.
We played the friendly game with the 12′ lead rope. I threw the rope over her..like I did in the trailer. She never flinched. In fact, she relaxed. She must like the rhythm. She got a few peppermints for this!
I played the porpupine game with her hindquarters. It took quite a while before that back foot would step over. When it did we stopped and got rewarded with a peppermint. It didn’t take her long to figure out stepping over would = peppermint. I could almost see her start to smile.
I “drove” her hindquarters. She stepped over almost immediately. She was just a smidgen reactive, but got over it quickly.
Then I played the porcupine game with her forequarters. She became almost an immovable object. She was completely relaxed by this time and had no idea what that touch meant. I had to lean all my weight on my finger and push her before she would barely take that cross over step with the foot closest to me. Her far foot stepped over without too much trouble, but she is like a stone building to move. huh She didn’t get many peppermint treats for this game!
We finished with some more circle games. Her job was to stay in gait and move around me while we walked back to the other horses. She did well enough that she earned peppermint treat. I took off the halter before letting the other horses out. She just stood their calmly and started eating.
The end of a perfect First Day of 7 Games. She went with me away from the other horses without fuss. She relaxed when she was with me. She came right into me to get the peppermints. Occasionally, she enjoyed herself. We ended on a perfect note…and a perfect night!