Signs of Harmony

Here are some recent signs of teamwork and fellowship in the horse (and human) tribe:

* All four horses can often now be seen standing together in the shed - even Chloe,
   who stands nearest the exit, has all four feet squarely inside. Originally, George took
   solitary possession of the shed. As time went by, Rose and Bridget started to join him,
   while Chloe still stood outside. Now there is room for Chloe too.

* The other day as I was returning Chloe to the pasture, Rose was blocking the path.
   George came over and - fairly politely - told Rose to budge out of the way. They
   both moved far enough that Chloe was willing to enter the gate.

* There has been an increase in mutual grooming. Rose even started to groom me the
   other day, which was a little unnerving, as she's not used to grooming humans and has
   Big Teeth.

* Team RoseGeorge split up this morning, leaving George and Bridget dozing together in
   the shed, while Rose and Chloe (an unusual combination) came over to camp out by
   the trough for a while, Chloe taking advantage of Rose's tail to keep the flies off her
   face.

* George finally wandered over as I was talking to Rose over the fence, but she didn't
   move away, and he didn't make faces, and they stood together peacefully.

It has taken a full year for the horses, living together 24/7, to reach this level of comfort with each other. Many horses are not given the opportunity to forge long-term relationships like this - pasture mates are shuffled and re-shuffled according to the convenience of the barn owners, and friendships are not always taken into account when assigning turnout.

I feel I must guarantee these horses' physical and psychological welfare for the rest of their natural lives. How do I do this? Can I take out a life insurance policy which would ensure that they will be taken care of, no matter what happens to me? Are there horse retirement homes where they could go if, say, I die when they too are old? Could I make such a place the beneficiary of a life insurance policy payout, to cover their care indefinitely? Or if my children take over their care, could I keep funds in trust for the horses so that the money could not be spent for other purposes?

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions about this kind of thing?


p.s. My grandfather, who was a doctor, had a hobby farm. One of his patients left provision in his will for his carriage horses to be cared for at my grandfather's farm until their death. The old man's children were a bit put out at such a substantial portion of their father's estate being set aside for this purpose, and they kept circling like vultures, hoping for the horses' early demise. My grandfather took great pleasure in providing first-class care and veterinary attention for these horses. Legend does not relate how long they lived, but I have seen home movies of these horses galloping round the pasture, looking very sprightly.

Together at Last!

Yes, the day has finally arrived! Today my husband rode Rose for the very first time!

After a certain initial stickiness (described in the previous post), we got Rose tacked up and positioned next to the kitchen steps, and up went husband, groaning loudly at the required contortions (yoga notwithstanding).

I kept a leadrope clipped to Rose's bridle, and off we went down the road, Rose stepping out nicely and looking relaxed. She stopped frequently to look around, and I waited a few moments each time before asking her if she was ready to proceed. She remembered the horses over at the neighbors' and whinnied off into the distance. I couldn't hear any replies, but maybe she could.

After a few hundred yards, she no longer wanted to continue, so we headed home. When we reached the bottom of our drive, however, Rose said, "No, I don't want to go home just yet." I let her pick our next move, which was to set off down the road in the opposite direction.

When a large vehicle went by, I lead her into the alfalfa field, and at that point it seemed to make sense to keep going up the side of the field and home via the back circuit of the property.

Rose continued very happily, and my husband said something like, "It's very big of her to be a good sport and keep going like this." Which I thought was very nice and showed a proper appreciation.

When we arrived home in the back yard, my husband dismounted onto the picnic table. After we'd untacked Rose, I told her she could go back to join the others now and started to lead her off, but she planted her feet, half-closed her eyes and indicated that she planned to stay in the back yard with us. So I gave the rope to my husband and let her stay a bit longer.

Here are two photos - one from near the start of the ride and one from near the end. You can see the confidence in both horse and rider has grown over the course of the ride. Also I fancy I see more of a horse/rider connection in the second photo.

(Made more holes in that new bridle, but it still ain't right.)

Later as the horses were milling around the trough while it was filling, my husband stood leaning on the fence beside them - I think maybe he started to feel the magic just a teeny bit.

Not Taking No for an Answer

Today I went out with halter and rope to fetch Rose in for a Certain Purpose.

She said, "No thanks" and turned away. I kept following her and kept asking, but she kept saying no. Finally I resorted to the old rope-around-the-neck ploy. After which she quite graciously accepted her halter.

And I think she was glad she did, because .... but that's in the next post.

Going Solo

Yesterday Chloe finagled her way into the big empty pasture again - actually it's two conjoined pastures.

Later, I saw her standing by one of the gates into the yard and walked over to see if she was wanting to come out.

No thanks, I'm good here.

I left her where she was, but as I was shutting the gate, she moved closer. So just to be sure, I opened the gate again.

No, really, I'm just going to stay right here.

She spent the rest of the day pottering about, enjoying her freedom from oppression I imagine.

But as darkness was beginning to fall, I saw her waiting by the gate closest to the other pasture. She readily consented to put her halter on and be lead out. As she was reluctant to enter by the gate where the other horses were clustered, we ran together (Quick! Before George gets there!) down to the small gate from the yard, where we succeeded in getting Chloe through and released before the arrival of the others.

Taking No for an Answer

The horses have been humoring me so kindly lately, that I've been getting a little cavalier about remembering to listen to them.

Chloe reminded me again yesterday that my way isn't necessarily the only, or even the best, way and that letting the horse take charge does not have to mean that anarchy will ensue.

Chloe had been loose on the lawn by her herself for a couple of hours when I went out around four o'clock to return her to the pasture. She saw me with the halter and leadrope and walked over to the gate which leads into the pasture across the drive from where the horses are currently residing - "I'll just go in here thanks." She sensed my disagreement with this plan and turned her head away every time I tried to put the halter on.

I explained to Chloe that we were going out for the evening and that she'd be left all alone in the dark if she didn't take this opportunity to be returned to her buddies. Still she refused to put on her halter and walked away.

I followed. She stopped, waited for me, and turned to touch the halter with her nose. This usually means she's ready to put it on, but when I tried to, she turned her head away again. A couple more tries - same result.

She walked off again. I followed. She stopped and touched the halter again but wouldn't put it on.

In this way, she lead me to the other gate which leads into the empty pasture. She stopped in front of the gate and allowed me to put the halter on. Sneakily, I thought I'd lead her in through this gate, through the pasture, and then out the other gate again. But once we were through the gate and into the pasture, Chloe flatly refused to budge.

So then a "practice-what-you-preach" realization kicked in, and I thought - What the heck, it doesn't matter if I leave her here. So I did.

Me heading back to the other gate without Chloe.

Chloe drifted down the field closer to where the other horses were, got herself a drink from a bucket I set out, and proceeded to graze happily.

What's she doing over there?

I gave the horses their supper, and Chloe contentedly ate in solitary spendor, no one forcing her to relinquish her plate before she was quite finished.

This is actually a picture of her water bucket.

We went out and returned late. When I climbed out of the car, I could dimly make out Chloe grazing a few yards off into the field. She whinnied to me, and when I met her at the gate, she was very glad to be haltered and lead back across the drive to the others.

George got right out of the way to let her come in, while Rose and Bridget crowded around to welcome her back. Chloe had no hesitation about entering, diving in between the other mares and turning around to let me remove the halter. She set off at a brisk walk with Rose and Bridget following after her, no doubt demanding to know what she'd been up to.

There was no harm in letting Chloe have a few hours to herself in the other pasture. She managed to tell me - clearly and politely - that this was what she wanted. I really had no reason to disagree.

Uh Oh

Well, I know I shouldn't have left that bridge there in such a state of disintegration. It used to be nice and sturdy, and both horses and humans could use it to traverse the little creek when the water was running high. Despite some emergency repairs last summer so the wedding guests could make their way from barn to bathroom, the bridge finally succumbed to old age, the boards rotting and crumbling.

I've been placing off-putting objects on it to discourage the horses from using it, but it didn't seem necessary as none of them were showing an interest in walking on such a dodgy looking surface anyway. So as time went by and the off-putting objects fell off or blew away, the bridge was left undefended.

Yesterday we had a bunch of kids at the house, and Bridget took a shine to two of the teenage girls, following them about whenever they were in the field. So when they walked across the bridge, she followed.

One foot went right through a board. She got over safely, and I thought she would be scared to cross again soon. Not so. A few minutes later the two girls crossed again, and Bridget went after them. This time, I looked on in fright from across the yard as Bridget went right through with all four legs. She struggled for a few moments, as I ran over, and by the time I reached her, she had extricated herself relatively unscathed, with only a few superficial scratches.

I was full of contrition and sympathy. Bridget, however, seemed to think the whole endeavour had been a challenging experience, and that she could improve her technique with further practice. She turned around, placed her front feet on the bridge again, and said, "Let's see if we can't get it right this time."

So, while I appreciate Bridget's intrepid character, no more delays - the bridge had to go.

Dismantling

The remains

I was so impressed, as I have been before, by Bridget's calmness under fire. But it made me ponder what other dangers may be lurking, and I'm thinking I should finally get around to electrifying the top strand of fence to keep the horses from messing with it and getting their feet caught - something I've been loathe to do, as it would make the horses fearful of sticking their heads over the fence to check things out and say hello to passing humans.

After the incident, Bridget stood by the gate, trying to get our attention. She got hold of a piece of plastic pipe and waved it about, and then walked into the corner of the field where she could reach a piece of old gate and grabbed that with her teeth too. I really think she thought falling through the bridge and getting out again had been an interesting escapade and was looking for a fun follow-up activity. I'm signing her up for Outward Bound.

Meanwhile, sorry for being a bad horse owner and leaving a dangerous bridge in temptation's way.

More Walking

Yesterday Bridget and I had a nice walk together. We travelled over a mile before Bridget quite abruptly, but calmly, decided it was time to head back.

Before the turnaround point, although there had been several occasions when Bridget had to stop and look hard at what was ahead, each time she wanted to continue after the potential hazard had been duly inspected. We passed the sheep field with scarcely a glance, and when we reached the neighbour's horses, it was clear Bridget considered herself part of my team and not theirs.

The other horses, however, called loudly to her.

On the way home, a neighbour stopped to introduce himself. He got out of his car, and as we talked, Bridget acted exactly like a human three-year old: I'm bored, I thought we were going home, no I don't want to stand here and listen to you talking, I don't want to be polite to this person, COME ON let's go!

When we got home, Bridget's reunion with George was much less dramatic than after our last walk - if still heartfelt.

Today, George's girl decided to ride him bareback. He registered no objection to the bridle going on or to my daughter mounting up. However, once she was on board, he looked sour, fussed with his bit, and didn't want to go forward.

We talked about the Happy George that we've been seeing a lot of lately - the George who feels himself surrounded by companions who won't steal his food, who won't be mean to him, whom he can trust, and who will take care of him. I said we want the Happy George to be the one who accompanies us on rides.

My daughter was very patient. When he didn't want to move forward, she just let him to stand facing in the desired direction. If he backed up a few steps, she let him. Pretty soon, the sour face was gone, the ears were lopped again, and Happy George was back.

All of a sudden George decided to set off on a trail ride. He took himself and his rider down the road a ways, and then selected a tractor trail leading off from the road. I came following behind, leading Bridget. At a certain point, we steered the horses left into a large circle around the rear of our property, leading us back onto the road, and then home. George marched along, looking eager and relaxed.

And it was a special walk for Bridget, because today for the very first time .....

she wore a saddle!

I don't think the Wintec is going to fit Bridget, and it slipped forward during the course of our walk, but without a rider, I think it was ok. Half way along our route, I pulled the stirrups down so they'd flap against her sides and get her used to such things. She was not bothered by any of this.

The four of us had a very nice time. We had not been planning to leave the yard, and it was George who took the lead and decided we would go for a proper walk. I'm beginning to feel as if these horses are like the talking animals in Narnia.

And I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rose for all her good work with George!