Scouts First Ride

Today I woke up with a distinct feeling that I should finally start training with Scout. The past few days she has been calling out to me whenever she sees me and she is following me around more. I like to trust these instinctive feelings when it comes to Scout. She is a strong and very independent mare who knows full well that she does not need people in this world to survive. She is not a horse that seeks affection (unlike Lacey who thrives on it). She shows her bond and trust is much subtler ways. She will allow me to do whatever I need to with Lacey and often she will actually leave Lacey with me and wander off for a moments peace without her. She respectfully shifts her hindquarters away from me when I walk past her at feed time and she will not touch the feed until I give her the ok.

I started her on a different homeopathic last week and have seen some very significant changes in her. She has softened slightly and seems brighter and more willing.

So this morning I got up walked out to the yard and went to put the halter on. She kept walking forward and positioning her tail to me for a scratch. I stayed at her shoulder and she then turned and put her head in the halter. She walked quietly beside me and when I asked her to walk in a circle around me each direction she quietly complied. I have noticed with Scout that if you ask her to do something like the circle work to much she will stop and look at me as if to say 'what on earth is the point of this!'. She nicely yielded her hindquarters and forequarters, she backed up softly and then I stood on the milk crate and clicked my fingers. She stepped forward and I laid on her. She moved a little so I slid off and we went back to the milk crate. This time she stood nicely and I got on her and gave her withers a scratch. She had a look at my shoes and then stood quietly completely unperturbed. She eventually walked around a little with me on her and I slightly tipped my pelvis and she stopped straight away. I got off and gave her a good tail scratch and hopped up from the other side. She stood still again unfazed and I called it quits after that.

It is hard for me to adequately describe the feelings I get when I am around Scout. She is a very wise, old soul and her intelligence astounds me. I feel that she is craving stimulation at the moment and I am so looking forward to her release from quarantine so we can go out walking each day. I think she will love being out on the trails. Her personality is so different to Lacey's. Lacey is very extroverted and wants to be a part of everything I am doing. She is bold and loves affection. She is healing very well from her injury.

Tumultuous Times

Life has been a bit hectic of late to say the least. Many changes are in the air yet again. Scout was tested a couple of weeks ago for CEM which would then allow her final quarantine release. I got a phone call from AQIS a week later saying the test was transported in the wrong medium and despite the negative result Scout needed to be retested when she was in season again. I was very frustrated at this news as this whole process has taken over 12 months now and still Scout cannot run in a herd or leave the yard she is in. My partner and I were due to move that weekend up to our new house up North. All our stuff was already up there as well as 3 of the horses so we were keen to get up there. I had a whole truck booked to move Scout and Lacey but all that had to be postponed. Then a couple of days following poor Lacey fractured her nose. I think she was kicked by Sienna. She was extremely sore and that afternoon the vet came out to x-ray her which confirmed it was a break. A few hours later that evening I was sat with Lacey as she lay with her head in my lap. She was really struggling to breath so the vet came back out to give her a steroid injection. Whilst that was happening I was holding on to Scout and she was extremely agitated. This is not normal behaviour for her. She is more than happy to let people handle Lacey and will keep a eye on her from a distance. She was pulling me all over the place and would not cooperate at all. Then just as the vets were about to leave Scout dropped and coliced. So she was tubed with parrafin and I decided to put a mattress in the tray of my ute so I could sleep beside them and keep and eye on them. Despite how stressed I was, it was a truly beautiful night laying with my dog beside me and my horses layed down on the other side. I will remember that night always and the feeling of wholeness I felt at being so close to the 3 of them. It was during that night that my dream of living a truly simple life walking with my horses was rekindled. I thought what more could I possibly want other than this.

The next few days also saw me separating from Rich. I have decided to stay where I am now and therefore it means moving everything I own back to Brisbane again for the fourth time in 12 months. The word simplify seems to keep being repeated in my mind often!!! I fondly imagine what it will be like just living with the bare necessities when I finally am able to live a nomadic life with my horses.

In amongst the emotional upheaval of my personal life at present a gift has emerged in the form of Lacey. I can honestly say I have never experienced any horse quite like her. Our bond was instant from the time she was born. She follows me everywhere and likes to sleep beside me when we lay down in the afternoon sun. She is a gentle yet outgoing little soul. She has bounced back remarkably well from the trauma of late and within days was running around being her normal self again. It is hard to put into words what I feel when I am around her. I was told that the bond you can form with a Spanish Mustang is a deep, unique and very special one but nothing could have prepared me for Lacey! She is pure joy and I watch her often when she is unaware of my presence. She will spend along time watching a bird sitting on the rail near her. I also watched her staring for a long time at some tibetan prayer flags that were blowing in the wind nearby her. She has a serene and gentle way about her when she is in those places. Just quietly watching the beauty and wonder that is apparent in the world all the time, if only we just stopped long enough to notice.....