Everyone Has a Turn

Bridget hasn't had a chance to get out of the field yet, so today I put her halter on and we ventured down to the road, where she led us hither and thither for a little while.  I let her pick our route, apart from  dissuading her from tromping over some freshly cut hay on the other side of the road. After coming back up the driveway, I opened the gate into another pasture opposite the horses' current abode, and we went in to explore and eat. Finally Bridget said it was time to go home.

George was waiting to be taken out.  We followed a similar route to Bridget's, and George wanted to stay out for a similar amount of time.

Then it was Chloe's turn.  When she saw me coming with her halter, she started to try and position herself so that we could get together, but George was pressuring her, and she kept moving.  When my "get-out-of-here-George" was finally convincing enough to both him and Chloe, she circled toward me, giving George a wide berth.

I think she was just happy to have the rope on, as it makes her feel secure.  But I had more elaborate plans and managed to coax her to come to the gate with me.  I find she doesn't take it amiss if I go to the end of the leadrope, turn my back to her and just lean away from her a little bit.  The pressure is mild enough that she can easily resist, but usually she'll follow me, which she did. As we neared the gate, George hove into view, making Chloe scurry forward to get through the gate before he could interfere.

When she first started coming out of the pasture in Mississippi, she needed to know that she could hurry back home any time she wanted.  Today, after being out of the field for a few minutes, she turned and trotted back to the gate.  And as before, when she saw that I was willing to let her back in if she wanted, she decided to continue her outing instead.

She ventured into the other pasture to check it out and graze and then led us out back onto the driveway.  I saw some enticing shade at the edge of the lawn and went towards it to the end of the leadrope and leaned away from her .  When she didn't budge, I looked back and saw her turn her head back toward the opening into the other pasture.  As her idea was as good as mine, I followed her back in for another look around.

Chloe stayed out, I would guess, about the same amount of time as George and Bridget before wanting to go home - maybe 15 or 20 minutes.

After Chloe was released, I took Rose's halter and walked over to her.  When she saw that I had the halter, she walked away from me.  So I hung the halter back on the fence and went over again.  When Rose saw I didn't have the halter, she came right up to me, and I scratched her for a while.