Wonderful times

I have been having such wonderful fun with the horses. So much so that I have been very remiss with my blogging. So here is a catch up.

I have now moved the horses back down to Brisbane as they will be staying with my friend whilst I am in the USA. They all travelled brilliantly and were so thrilled to be back again. The property had flourished during the time we were away and they now have over 40 acres of native grasses to keep them busy and happy for the time I am away.

I was unprepared for the amount of rain that the Sunshine Coast gets and the paddock the girls were in turned very muddy so I am also pleased to have them back on the shale mountain paddock to give their hooves a good workout again. They have been galloping up and around the mountain announcing to the neighbouring geldings that they are back again. The boys are as thrilled as they are it seems!

Since coming back I have started some work with Scout again. I had just left her be for the past couple of months. She seemed like she wanted some mental stimulation again so I asked her into the round yard and we played with some groundwork all of which she performed at liberty perfectly so I hopped on her bareback and was amazed at how soft she was to my aids now. I know I keep saying it but she has taught me more than I could have ever imagined. She is a soft and gentle teacher and she makes a very willing student of me!

Both Scout and Lacey started growing their winter coats in ernest about a month ago. I kept reminding them that they live in Queensland now and not Minnesota and perhaps that amount of hair was not necessary yet. The poor girls have been sweating through the heat of the day but I am sure with time their bodies will adjust.

Today I decided it might be nice to take Lacey out for a walk on her own. She has been following me around the property again so I figured she may like the change of scenery. She was understandably a little anxious at first walking close beside me and calling out a couple of times. She was very intrigued by all the signs on the road and the school bus that passed us. She walked on a loose line and followed my body language beautifully. She is such a smart little filly and although she has a very strong lead mare personality, she is a joy to work with as long as I stay soft and non-reactive with her.

I am really going to miss them all during my 6 weeks away. They are such an integral part of my daily existence and I am so grateful to have them share this time with me.

Gypsy Lifestyle

Yet again I have moved house. I am now living up the coast for a little while until I can find the career path I want to pursue. I moved the girls up here and had to do it in two shifts which was not ideal. These mares are a very tight herd and get quite upset when one is away. I moved Sienna and Kiowa up first on a Tuesday. They were reluctant to load and I always find transporting horses traumatic and I am sure they must pick up on that. Once loaded they always travel well and I must annoy every other driver on the road by taking the corners very slowly.

Once we arrived, I unloaded the girls and put them in their new paddock. They were not happy! I know these horses so closely that it is extremely apparent to me when they are not 100%. Sienna was terribly distraught. She stood in the furthest corner of the paddock facing the direction of home which was 2 hours South. She is not used to traffic noise and there is a highway closeby to the paddock as well as a fairly busy road out front. I spent along time with them before going to my new temporary home just up the road.

Everytime I went back Sienna was stood on the same bare patch of dirt staring and whinnying in the direction of home. Sienna has huge expressive eyes unlike any I have seen before on a horse. She lost the spark that is usually visible to me in her eyes. She loses weight at a rapid rate when she is unhappy as well. I was frantically trying to get hold of a transport company to bring Scout and Lacey up as I figured that was the main issue for Sienna. I left 5 messages for the transport company I usually use, the last one begging for them to at least call me back and tell me they didn't want to do it. No response so needless to say they will no longer be my transport company of choice! I then found another lady that could do it but no time frame of when.

By Thursday I was desperate as I couldn't bare to see Sienna like that anymore so I drove back with the float and decided to attempt to transport Scout and Lacey myself. I was reluctant to move Lacey in a float when she was still so young (6 months). Some of these transport companies have a stall where the foal can travel loose with the mare and nurse or lay down when they get tired. As I was having no success organising this I thought I would get up early Friday and just see what happened.

When I arrived back to Brisbane on Thursday afternoon, Scout and Lacey bolted up to the float craning their necks to see if the other mares were still in there. I opened the float and let them investigate at will. They circled around it a number of times and then Scout stood whinnying for Sienna.

I got up at 5:30am Friday morning and loaded the haynets full of hay. Scout and Lacey were eagerly following me. I wanted to load Scout first but Lacey had other ideas and ran on feasting at the hay waiting for her. Well that was far easier than anticipated! Scout loaded nicely and I had them on faster than the other mares!

The test would be how Lacey coped with the movement. I started down the road very slowly and she put her head up, had a look around then continued eating. Scout was a little more stressed and kicked out once at the door and whinnied a little before returning to eating. Once we got on to the highway, Lacey stopped eating and looked wide eyed at all the trucks and cars passing by. She seemed more curious than frightened though and quickly returned to the task of eating. Once we were about three quarters of the way up to their new paddock, I noticed Lacey was getting tired. Her little eyes were shutting and her head was dropping. There was only another 30 minutes to go and she made it just fine.

I unloaded them at the entrance to the trails, across the road from the paddock. Sienna and Kiowa were still stood in the corner, heads bowed. They had not noticed our arrival yet. I got Scout and Lacey unloaded and then walked across the road with them both together. When we got closer to the paddock, Scout called out and it was like a lightening bolt to Sienna. She threw her head up and spun around breaking into an instant canter towards the fenceline, neighing constantly. Lacey locked onto Kiowa and whinnied to her 5 times in a row. Kiowa also came bolting over to the fence and I stood laughing at the chorus of neighing that proceeded. I took the halters off Scout and Lacey. Lacey immediately ran to Kiowa whilst Sienna came and greeted Scout in their usual, more serious manner. Then Sienna quickly got to the task of establishing her place as the lead mare and all is well again in their world and mine. They are perfectly happy if not a little bored sometimes as this paddock is small compared to the 40 acres they were on. It is directly across the road from a network of beautiful trails and they seem quite willing and keen to explore these.


Lacey loves the stable block. They have free access to it whenever they please. She is often seen in a guarding position at the front doorway









I fenced off an area that allows them to access the fresh, running water of the creek. This was there first time down there checking it all out




































Heading up the track back to the paddock






























Sienna relaxing and having a good roll

After the storm

Here is a link to a video I took of the girls enjoying life after a storm just passed over

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMbj4boTuXo

Lacey is growing up fast and is maturing into a stunning horse. She is still as outgoing as ever however is a dream to handle. I can trim her at liberty in the paddock now and she leads beautifully and ties up well. I am hoping to get her out of the paddock on some adventures soon as she craves stimulation of new things.

Finding the Magic of the Spanish Mustang

Since my last post where I finally understood what Scout needed from me and what I needed for myself, our relationship has changed out of sight. I could try all the methods in the world but I still would have missed the point and that is to build the bond between us, trust her and myself and the rest just comes easily.

Since January I have ridden Scout a number of times at complete liberty in the paddock. Since that day I have had no problem at all with her moving out. She has an enormous walk and is a very smooth ride.

I have started taking her out walking each afternoon. Before when I would do this she would get very upset, calling for the herd and refusing to move sometimes. Since my epiphany in January, all that has disappeared. She will walk right beside me at my shoulder now matching my stride. Most horses I have walked have to trot to keep up with my walk however Scouts huge stride matches mine perfectly.

Another change that has occurred is since I have been spending more of this time with her she makes a point of leaving the herd wherever they may be and coming down to the front paddock each morning and night to stand near my caravan. If I don't come out she will call to me and she is satisfied to go back to the herd again once she sees me.

I was attracted to this breed due to all the stories I have read over the years from Spanish Mustang owners about the depth of the connection that is formed once they let you in. Well I feel like I am finally getting to know Scout and I am overwhelmed by all that she brings to my life. It is hard to adequately put into words the experience of sharing time with a Spanish Mustang. Scout demands I be honest with myself and with her. She will never be a push button horse and that is another point that drew me to this breed. She is confident about her place in the world and expects the same from me. When I realise that and find that place in myself she is soft and willing. She has an enormous amount of power in her which can only be felt once in her presence. I have seen her open up to a flat out gallop around the paddock and I am always gobsmacked to watch her on the occasion that she does this. She is a solid build horse however she has the endurance to go all day long and incredible cat like agility. What a journey we are having together!

Searching for forward & finding something far greater

What an incredible week this has been! From the lowest of lows to the highest of highs and the ecstasy that lies in all of that. I have been stuck in my life and therefore in my way with my horses. When I finally got on Scout for the first time with the saddle on, no matter what I did, I could not find forward. I tried everything I could think of and then called a friend for assistance. It was suggested I was being far to soft with all my horses and creating pushy, dis-respectful animals and I needed to be more assertive. So I used my energy and body language in the round yard at liberty to get Scout moving out. She ended up doing this well and I was instructed to jump on her and immediately use force to get her to move out. I was in a frazzle by this stage and following instruction's without thought. I jumped on Scout and put my leg on her hard numerous times and then used the rope forcefully to ask for forward. Needless to say, Scout was not at all impressed with this new change in my demeanour and nor was I. She told me in no uncertain terms by bucking me off (and who could blame her!). She was communicating with me on the same level with which I was communicating with her. The session continued with me jumping back on and asking again but getting nowhere other than feelings of immense pain, displeasure and total trauma that I could fail my horse in such a major way. I walked away bleeding and bruised on many levels.

The next morning for the first time since Scout joined me, she did not whinny to me when she saw me. At lunchtime as I sat outside she looked at me sideways, again without her usual whinny, instead turning her rump on me and walking away. I was shattered!!!

Through my greatest misery came my most important insight ever. I have often wondered what happens during the journey from childhood to adulthood. How do we lose that connection to nature that seems to happen without thought. No thought was given to jumping on my horse bareback and letting him gallop wildly across the paddocks, me whooping with joy without negative thought, just enjoying the moment.

I finally got that today and realised what I have been missing all this time. Reading endless books on what is right and wrong in how I should be with the horses, taking lessons from people to try to find my way again, begging the horses to accept me in a pitiful way as I pined once again to feel that boundless uninhibated joy that I felt as a child.

There is no right and wrong!!! There is only now and the celebration that lies in the moment. I realise how much horses respond to me when I am living in the moment instead of being stuck in my mind thinking about how to do this, what could go wrong etc. In that moment, I knew what to do! I ran into the paddock and down the hill to where the horses stood under a tree. The neighbours horses saw me first and startled slightly then quickly turned tails up snorting then joining me running along the fence beside me. When I got down to my horses, Lacey was already prancing around in circles tail up snorting. Scout calmly walked straight over to me and I leapt on to her back and she immediately moved forward up the hill. No tack to inhibit her, no halter to lean against, no saddle to restrict her, just the surging energy from my body to hers. I smiled as she walked out calmly, soon stopping under a shady tree. I sat on her back and groomed her mane, neck and tail with my fingers. She craned her head forward in pleasure dropping her ears to the side and then turned her head around to my foot and stood for sometime breathing on my toes till her eyes closed as if in relief that I finally understood what she was trying to tell me all this time. She is so sensitive to the energetic connection and needs me to be present in mind and body before she will happily work with me. When riding her at complete liberty like this she is extremely soft and will follow any slight direction from my body. She will try hard to understand what it is I am communicating to her as she has nothing to brace against. Without my usual uncertainty about how to ask her or what to ask everything just flows. No tack to inhibit us, just true connection and the ease that follows that.

Little Lacey

I let the horses into the house yard to have a pick of the grass. I sit out there under a tree to work on the computer sometimes. I had some music playing from my laptop and Lacey found it very fascinating, She is growing fast and is an absolute joy to be around. She still loves people and in the hope of more pats, has often chased visitors car's down the driveway as they leave. She is an incredibly agile and sure footed little filly. I was walking up the steep back paddock to check the fences and the horses all decided to follow. There are some steep parts and it is all loose rock so it gets slippery to. Lacey comes down there at a gallop effortlessly clearing fallen logs on the way down. It is a great paddock to raise foals in as it will ensure she is able to handle that sort of terrain barefoot in the future. Here is a video of her in the house yard. She is nearly 5 months old now - how time flies. Oh and as you can see her mane still has not dropped. She is doing a great impression of a przewalski horse!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwHyfJF9iu0

Scout's First Saddle

Today on an impulse, I decided to put a saddle on Scout for the first time. She handled the whole process in her usual calm way. I would have thought she had worn a saddle 100 times. I showed her the saddle before I put it on her. She sniffed it with mild interest then stood quietly. I had her standing free and she did not move off but just stood as I did the girth up. Here is a video of how it all went when I asked her to move out with the saddle on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJNzfQy7DT0

I am attempting to lift my energy when I work with her now and I am seeing more enthusiasm from her since I started to do that. She is becoming much lighter to work with and is very willing to learn new things. I cannot recommend this breed highly enough. Scout shows me such incredible intellect and she has fast become a very loyal friend.