The Meeting of Two Strong Minds

I finally got the yard at my place approved for quarantine and Scout came home. I was unsure about how she would go float loading as she had been through so much to get to Australia. I need not have worried though. I led her up to the float and she said no once to going on. I stood with her comforting her, centered myself and then walked on and she followed without hesitation. She travelled beautifully for the short trip home.

I unloaded her and put her in her new yard. She was fine whilst I was with her but when I would leave she would panic, call out and canter around the pen (which says alot about her stress level as she rarely expends this much energy unless absolutely necessary). It was a restless night for both her and I. I could hear her throughout the night and my heart went out to her.

I contacted AQIS - quarantine services and asked for permission to put another horse in with her. A few emails later and permission for my brumby mare to join her was granted. Sienna, a brumby mare I rescued a couple of years ago, is a sensitive horse with people however she is a lead mare and she can be very expressive in her dominance at times. She is an extremely special horse that holds a strong place in my heart. She would be who I would turn Scout out with eventually anyway so I decided that she may also be the best one to help her calm down.

Here is a video of the introduction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSWDJQ6M2x4

As you may notice in the video Scout has developed a skin reaction. This area of Queensland is terrible for Queensland itch and I thought that she may have developed it already despite the fact that it is not really the right time of year for the biting insects to be bothering horses. I sat with this for awhile and looking at the hives appearing on her body I decided to contact my homeopath. I would consider my homeopath to be one of the best. She is an incredible woman with a wonderful gift. I wrote her a three page story on Scout's symptoms, emotional issues and journey so far and she is now receiving a remedy to help. I am already seeing improvements in her wellbeing. She is also scratching less and her skin seems a little better also.

I am so thrilled to have these two incredible mares right here with me. Scout is really settling in now and I am starting to see different sides to her personality as she continues to relax more due to having Sienna around and getting routinely fed 3 times per day. Whenever she sees me walk out of the house, I am greeted with a very enthusiastic neigh. She is far more affectionate now and I tend to have her and Sienna attached to my hip when I go into the yard with them.

Yesterday morning when I woke up, I wandered out to the yard and stood with the girls. The mist was still clinging to the nearby mountains and the air was crisp and clean. Sienna greeted me in her lovely way, sharing warm breath with me then placing her cheek against mine and sharing a loving gesture. Scout nickered to me and came over standing close and looking into me with those incredible eyes of hers that express so much. Time ceases to exist in these special moments. The simple joy at exchanging unconditional love through connection with these horses feel's like the most wonderful gift I could ever have dreamt of.

Learning to Communicate

After many ups and downs of late I am finally on a more comfortable path with Scout. The path we are on also seems to appeal to Scout. Although I am still reading a lot of materials such as Mark Rashid, Linda Kahonov and Carolyn Resnick, I have chosen to take aspects that appeal to me and move forward with my horses in my own style. This will be a style that allows me to feel pleased with whatever has happened when I leave the paddock each day. It is in no way conventional and I will be forever learning but I will be able to sleep soundly at night knowing I have in no way pushed my horses where they don't want to go.

All this came about after a long conversation with a long term friend of mine who also happens to be one of the best dog trainers in this country in my opinion. She has renewed my confidence enough to get started and so that's what I have been doing.

So on Wednesday I went to the paddock to see Scout and decided to work on asking her to pick up her hooves. She does not respond comfortably to the pressure/release way of training so I decided to use treats to train with. I have many years of previous conditioning with horses to unlearn and I found myself put my hand on her leg and when this did not elicit a response, I lightly squeezed her chestnut slowly adding more pressure to absolutely no avail. I stepped back and reassessed. One point in my personality that I am thankful for is that I have A LOT of patience when it comes to animals and at the moment I have a lot of time. I put these two points together and moved ahead with this in mind. I approached Scout again, this time lightly placing my hand on her leg and I waited. We stood like this for a little time until she started thinking and trying to work out what I was doing. Eventually she lifted her foot and I immediately rewarded her verbally and by giving her a treat. From then on things seemed to flow easily for a while. She knew what I was asking and as I was asking politely she was happy to oblige. Once she was comfortable with this then she started testing to see how lenient I would be when it came to earning the treat. I was asking for her offside front hoof which she gave me and then promptly started pulling away and pawing at the air. I stood back allowing the behaviour however not rewarding it. Next time round she stood nicely and gave me her hoof therefore earning her treat. I left that session there and intended to do the same the next day.

On arriving at the paddock the following day, I thought to myself that I was still a bit uncomfortable with having a halter on her to do this training. It is a strong desire in me that my horses have free will to make a choice as to whether they feel like training or not. So I have decided to proceed for the time being at liberty. That way Scout chooses if and when she wants to be with me for training.

I approached her and asked for her leg which she gave me nicely. I had not yet worked on the hinds and I progressed to asking for this. She was not overly thrilled with the idea and walked away. I turned my back to her and allowed her to leave. Within seconds she was back again asking for a tail scratch. I again asked for her hind foot which she lifted and I rewarded her with the rub she had asked for.

There have been times during these sessions over the past few days where Scout would push on me at which I would respond by simply walking away and leaving her alone. I went for a walk around her paddock with her watching me very intently when I turned around to head back over to her she let out a little whinny and came to stand beside me.

We are also working on a cue where I raise my hand and she comes to it. My brumby has learnt this and I find it a wonderful way of asking my horses to come to me particularly at a distance. The difference in training this way with Scout as opposed to the way I trained my brumby Sienna, which would be considered by most to still be very gentle however she didn't have the absolute freedom of speech that I am allowing Scout. If Sienna decided she didn't want to do what I was asking, I would allow her to leave and circle me in the roundyard until she decided that what I was asking was the better option. This took away her free will and freedom of expression. I no longer feel comfortable with this method of training. I sometimes see the resentment that Sienna now has if I politely ask her to do something. I can only put this down to the fact that I have not been sensitive enough in our past training and I intend to attempt to change this with her also. I have a strong bond with Sienna but I know life could be even more comfortable for her.

Here is a link to a video my friends daughter kindly recorded for me yesterday. It was going to be a video of what we are doing training wise but a sudden unexpected rain shower came through. It shows some snippets of what we are doing anyway.

My goal is for Scout and I to create our own language which is comfortable for both of us to live by. I feel we are on our way.

Honesty Brings Connection

I was listening to the teleseminar series from 'The Path of the Horse' in my car all this week. It is full of so much wonderful information that I am finding very helpful. We have had a huge amount of rain this week and the roads were flooded preventing me from getting out to Scout till late afternoon. I thought I might not make it out there at all with how severe the flooding was. Whilst I was doing all this driving, I was also listening to the CD and letting it all sink in. When I finally made it out to Scout she was eager to be fed as always. I fed her then turned my back to her and leant on the stable looking out to the mountains in the distance and enjoying the sound of the river rushing just down below her paddock.

I began to think about the things that I had heard on the CD. I looked inside myself at the feelings I was having regarding Scout and my need for connection with her. Rather than trying to change these feelings or trying to act on them at all I merely went into a space where I looked at them without judgement. I watched what was going on for me from a meditative space and in that moment Scout left the stable walked around to where I was leaning and turned to face me and watched me. She moved close and positioned me at her shoulder and turned to look at me again. I started rubbing her and we stayed this way for sometime. I think I am learning how best to be with her which as it turns out is equally comfortable for both of us.

Reassessing Self, Life and Relationships

It has been a little while since I last posted. During that time I have been assessing a lot of things about myself and my path with horses. My journey with Scout has pointed out a number of things so far. The main one being that we have not truly bonded. She has only been here a few weeks so that is to be expected. The main epiphany in all this though is that I am always trying to get things right for the approval of everyone else in my life - horses included. This is off-putting for both people and horses and it sometimes makes me inauthentic.

Scout is always excited when I arrive at the paddock as I bring her food and this is her most favourite thing. When I sit somewhere else in the paddock that is not near the feed area, she will watch me intently for sometime but has chosen not to yet venture down and connect. If I am up by the shelter she will stand with me usually hinting to get her food or asking for a rub.

I have no doubt that I will bond with her and very strongly, however the last week has been such a learning experience for me through the realization that I was misreading the situation and that I was not worthy in Scouts eyes. This bought up a lot of old fears that I have not looked at deep inside myself. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of confrontation.

Yesterday was the turning point for me. I asked my trainer friend to come and do a lesson with her as I was severely blocked in my mind when it came to Scout. Number one: She is a dream come true for me and I am placing immeasurable value on getting everything right with her. Number two: She has cost me a years wages so I have placed a monetary value on her in my mind which also makes me treat her differently. Number three: I am focusing on the differences of the Spanish Mustang and the unfamiliarity on where to start with the relationship forming process that I keep doubting and questioning everything I do. The end result - Scout said you are not a worthy companion and has blocked me.

In my eyes - the horse is ALWAYS right. Scout is showing me all my insecurities smack bang right there in the forefront of my mind and I have to look at them and work through them before our relationship can become honest.

So anyway, my friend came and asked what I wanted to achieve and I was a bit blank as to why I had asked him to come. Eventually I said that I would like him to just work with her and I would stand back and watch but I did not want him to have to be hard on her. What happened throughout the lesson was extremely difficult for me. Gavin had to get extremely hard on Scout in order to get what he was asking for. He said she is a stoic mare and she will take a lot before she will give. Without going into detail, within 15 minutes he was sitting on her back with her not batting an eyelid. I was given a stern talking to for making her dull by allowing her to get away with too much and be pushy. I took this all on board and came home my mind working overtime. I understood all that he was saying however my heart was telling me (as it has for sometime now) that none of that way of training is right for me or my horses. There is a better way to achieve these things and in the end is that submission really what I want to achieve? I like my horses to maintain and grow their self esteem and personality not the other way around.

I then came home and talked to my good friend Carmen about all this and that night we sat down and watched the DVD 'The Path of the Horse' . I had watched it a couple of times previously and am always deeply affected by it as I am when I watch my Klaus Hempfling DVD's and Nevzerov also.

I made a decision to honour myself and my horses and to follow this path only. I have been wavering in and out of this thought process over the past year or more. The main reason for the inconsistency being - what will everyone else think? I have received some strange looks from friends when I discuss the way I want to be with horses - no pressure, no riding if they choose that, just a true mutual love and honouring of what is needed to give them a full and happy life.

I am going to be true to my heart and follow my instincts on this one. It will not be an easy road as it means re-learning everything and starting from scratch however I have had some amazing experiences with my horses, the type that I will remember for a lifetime. Interestingly all of these incredible experiences have not been riding but connecting with my horses from a childlike space.

I fondly remember taking my Arabian mare Jade to the beach for a few days in winter. I spent hours walking, sitting and being with her in the paradise that is the Noosa North Shore beach. It is quiet there in Winter and she was the only guest horse there. I took her down the beach this particular day and it was deserted. I took the lead off her and we walked together freely for 3 hours. She would never stray more than 10 metres from me and when we got to the river mouth where the river meets the ocean we ran together me laughing and then jumping into the water. Jade joined me in the play and splashed me, laid down in the water near me and then we walked back to our accommodation on a deserted beach lit by a full moon.

These are the experiences that make my life whole. Unplanned moments of pure love and joy - uncomplicated by fears and thoughts. This is the path I hope to continue on with my girls.

Scout's First Hoof Trim

I phoned my trainer and friend, Gavin yesterday and spoke to him about trimming Scout. I have trained in barefoot trimming and am a stickler when it comes to keeping horses hooves trimmed every 4 weeks. I was very keen to have Scout trained to stand for trimming so we could get started on realigning her hooves. There is only minimal work to be done but nevertheless sooner rather than later is better in my opinion.

I had started teaching her to pick up her legs. She wasn't overly thrilled with the idea and turned around a couple of times nipping at the air near my butt!! This only happened twice and then she would stand and give me her feet for a few seconds.

Gavin is also a very good barefoot trimmer so he played the farrier role for me yesterday. He can pick a horses personality within seconds of working with them. He came in picked up her foot and she stood nicely for him to trim that one. She played around and pulled a bit with the next foot. Gavin said that she was not reacting at all out of fear so I was not to let her take a single forward step. If she was fearful there was no way we would have blocked her like this.

She danced about and pulled a bit and then stood like a lamb for the rest of the trim. She learns so quickly that it astounds me. I have been playing a bit with her lately just backing, sidepassing that sort of thing and she picks things up immediately.

Golden Scout

Scout is now doing really well. The diet she is on has kicked in faster than I have seen with any horse and she is truly glowing a beautiful golden colour. Her coat is incredibly shiny now and she is loving her new diet. Here is what she is currently getting:

She starts with a small handful of Copra to disguise the third of a cup of slippery elm powder in. This has a couple of cups of freshly brewed chamomile tea added to it. This is her favourite thing now and she polishes it off.

She has to wait 20 minutes till she gets her next course to give the slippery elm a chance line her stomach. She is very funny to watch during this time as she strides up to the fence where her feed buckets are sitting on the other side and looks at them then looks at me. She will then walk over and stand beside me, touch me with her nose and walk back over to the feed buckets wondering why I just don't seem to be getting the message and how could she make it any clearer!

After 20 minutes she gets her chaff which is a mix of lucerne, barley and oaten chaff (a small handful of each) . To this I add 1 tablespoon of brewers yeast (to deter the biting insects prevalent in this area), 1 teaspoon of organic seaweed meal, 1 teaspoon of macrobiotic sea salt, 20 ml apple cider vinegar and finally a herbal tea made up of peppermint, dandelion leaf, rosehips and garlic. I brew this fresh each morning for her and add it to the chaff. She also gets a capful of a special herbal nervous rehabilitation mix which helps calm her insecurities about being alone.

She gets a biscuit of grass hay split between her morning and night feeds. I was kindly given a hay net made out of a tennis net which has slowed down Scouts eating somewhat. I put extra rhodes grass hay in this (which she is not overly impressed with) but it makes her work harder trying to pick all the lucerne out and separate the grass. She is such a smart girl though. When I first put the net in there it took her all of about 20 seconds to work out that if she grabbed it with her teeth and shook it or pawed at it with her hoof, then all the good lucerne bits would fall out and she could eat them first.

I am very surprised at her change in coat and temperament. I have seen amazing changes in horses after 3 months but never this quickly. She was very healthy before she came to me so that may be why she took so well to the herbs and they impacted her so quickly.

Here is a picture of Scout taken yesterday.

She is overweight so I have had to cut down her hay so she does not put anymore on. Due to her colour, it is hard to pick up in photos just how shiny she is at the moment.

I have started working with her a little on hoof trimming, ground work and that sort of thing. Within minutes she was yielding her hindquarters, her shoulders, backing up and circling with very little encouragement needed. The only thing I have noticed is that she is not happy when she sees the halter so we are working on that. Really though, everything with Scout is just so simple to work through. I have never yet come across an easier horse to train.

I have had a number of friends come and visit her lately. She prefers it when people just ignore her and she can approach them and sniff them all over. It doesn't take her long at all to come and investigate someone new. She is not keen on stranger touching her face though.

There is a very tame magpie that lives around the property Scout is on at the moment. When you call him he will fly in from a tree and come and sit in the stable or paddock with us. He is just a delight and it seems Scout has taken to him also. I saw her the other day following him for a bit whilst he was picking for worms in the paddock. Then today I noticed he stayed on the ground right beside her whilst me and my friends were lavishing our attention on her. He was tilting his little head and looking up into her face and she would step carefully so as not to trod on him. I will have to try to get some video of them together. It is very cute! Here is a picture of Billy the magpie

Joyfully Reaquainted with Sienna

Since moving into my friends place, I am also now living with my brumby mare Sienna again. I have been spending time reaquainting myself with her. She just blows my mind every minute I spend with her. I have not really had much at all to do with her over the past 6 months. She has been running in a 40 acre paddock with her favourite gelding. They have a true love affair going on - it is very sweet to see them together.

I decided it was about time to give Sienna a bath, dematt her mane and trim her feet. I put her in the roundyard and decided to see where our relationship was at. She has never been thrilled about me touching and pulling at her lovely mane and who could blame her. I hated it when I was a child too! So I was prepared to have to put some of the foundations back in place. I took her halter off and started by asking her to follow up which she did beautifully. Everything I do with her is so incredibly subtle as she is one of the most hyper-sensitive horses I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I started pulling, cutting, untwisting and brushing out her very long mane. A couple of times she flinched slightly but never tried to leave me. Then it was time for a wash with some water and apple cider vinegar (she had developed a bit of Queensland itch and this seems to help soothe it a little). This was her first ever wash and she was a unsure about it. She left me once and did half a lap around the yard before facing up and bringing herself straight back to me. The rest of the bath went without a hitch.

Now it was time for a good hoof trim. She has always been ok to trim but does overreact when her hoof is on the stand and has on a few occassions reefed it off sending the stand flying and further frightening herself. Today I trimmed her at liberty and she was better than ever before. I only have to look at the foot I want her to pick up and she will hover it in the air for me. She pulled a little when I started trimming the first hoof and I quietly asked her to leave. She did a lap of the round yard and then trotted back in positioning herself right near the stand. The rest of the trimming was a breeze.

She actually seemed grateful for the attention again. I decided it was time to take her out again. My friend rode bareback on Arnie the gelding and I walked Sienna along with her. We walked down to the trails with no icident. When we got to the creek, I decided to jump on Sienna as it was to deep to cross without getting very wet boots. I hopped on her and she stood still until I asked her to walk on with a forward tilt of my pelvis. I usually hop off once we have crossed the creek however today I felt so connected with Sienna that I decided to see how we went. Well she was amazing. She was listening to all that I asked of her and was not even feeling the need to stay at the speed Arnie was going. I forgot that she has been taught to stop when you place a hand on her neck and each time I put my hand on her mane to steady myself she would stop dead. What a gem! I quickly got used to her stride and narrow body and was able to find my balance centre and keep my hands off her body. That was the longest ride we had ever done together.

I got off and walked the last couple of kilometres home with her. My friend took Arnie for a canter up the driveway when we got home. I waited till she was well out of sight and then hopped back on Sienna and she happily trotted up the drive at exactly the speed asked of her. I am very conscious of how she will react to me after I have ridden her or any horse for that matter. It always feels like the greatest privelege to have such a noble creature allow me on their back that I want to make certain I am not overstepping any boundaries. Sienna has been more affectionate than ever this afternoon so I feel that perhaps we have renewed our connection stronger than ever before. This is not to say that I intend to ride her again, if the moment arises I may well do so however it is up to her in the end.

I feel so blessed to be able to spend time with these marvellous animals. Right now I feel like I may explode with the happiness I am feeling. I have a renewed and much stronger connection with Sienna, I am incredibly lucky to be able to spend time twice a day getting to know Scout who is turning out to be a deep and incredible horse and yesterday I found out that my beautiful arab mare Jade who is living with a friend of mine will be coming home in the next few months or so. My heart will be singing to see all my girls running together by the end of this year.