George is Gentle(ish), and Bridget Experiments

Last night the moon was high again, and I went out late to be with the horses.

George was in the mood for a quiet nap standing next to me.  He was indulgent toward Chloe and allowed her to stand close enough for me to scratch her while he dozed.  Rose and Bridget, on the other hand, were kept at a distance with glares and ear pinning.  At one point, he left to shoo them off further and then came back. When he was done with his rest, he drove Chloe off and followed her.  Methinks I ought to have my wits about me and prevent this behaviour in my vicinity.  I reckon me and my radius ought to be a Safe Zone, whence nobody is chased without my say-so.

After George left, he stayed away for the rest of the time I was in the field and didn't interfere with my interactions with the others.

Rose came up to say hello, but I spent most of the time with Bridget.  As I've said before, Bridget is only two, but she is rather careful and thoughtful (if goofy).  She knows I'm not a horse; I think she's trying to figure out just what kind of a creature I am.  She appears to be trying various things out on me to see what will happen. Last night, as well as doing a huge amount of "yawning" for some reason, she experimented with biting me.  I don't mean a sudden "Ha, now I've bitten you!" kind of bite.  Not at all, more like:

"Ok, I'm opening my mouth now.  Oh look, here comes my mouth.  Whaddya know, my mouth is on your arm.  Ok, now I'm closing my teeth on your arm..."

At which point I say (ok, maybe I squawk a little bit), "No!" It doesn't actually hurt.  It's just that horse teeth clamping on one's person never seems like such a great idea.

After we'd established that teeth clamping was verboten, Bridget spent a few moments nosing and licking my arm.  Then she had a nap. However, later on, as I was leaving, she did another couple of "bites," this time more quickly.

Last night I also tried the tapping-on-the-opposite-point-of-hip thing which we'd done earlier.  This time, however, Bridget had a better idea.  She went, "Ok, how about I do this?"  and she picked up the hind leg closest to me.  It was a very deft, sudden movement, placing her hoof right under her belly.  It startled me - one has an instinctive (although possibly inappropriate in this case) reaction against horse hind legs making sudden movements. I couldn't argue with it, though - she was freestyling, which is fine, because after all, we're not doing "training" here.