This morning, I let Chloe out to wander while I drank my tea sitting on the kitchen steps. She got to eat her breakfast on the lawn, while the other horses had theirs behind the fence.
George was insistent that he needed to come out too, so I put him with Chloe in the barn pasture across the drive. They ran around and checked everything out, paying especial attention to the run-in shed (half of which needs Serious Work) before settling down to eat some lush grass.
Bridget was trying to dismantle the fence by this time, so I put her halter on and brought her out. She kept circling away from Rose in the pasture and then circling back. She spent some time mowing the lawn, tried to eat some paint, chewed on and pawed at sundry objects, and viewed other interesting items, such as the picnic table, from a safe distance. At one point, in a daredevil mood (inspired by photos of Imke Spilker), I leaned onto her back and kind of sprung up a little. Astonished, but not at all alarmed, she backed up and stuck her head in my chest as if to say, "My goodness, what was that about?"
After I released Bridget back into her field, I practiced asking her to move her quarters toward me when I tap. Then I thought I'd try something really advanced - I reached over and tapped on the point of her opposite hip to ask her to move away. She kept coming toward me or going forward, until all of a sudden she stopped and moved away.
I tried asking Rose if she'd like to go out. Again, when she saw me coming with the halter, she walked off. I put the halter away and tried with just a rope. No thanks. So I put the rope away, and she was happy for me to approach and scratch her head.
By this time, I was hungry for breakfast, so I put Chloe and George back in with the others, and headed into the house in search of human food.
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