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| Whinny, my new yearling filly |
I got Whinny from my neighbor. Her father is a papered Buckskin QH, and her mother was a papered paint. Both parents were around 16 hands tall. When Whinny was 3 months old, she lost her momma to colic. She's been raised in a 20x20 pen with very little human interaction. I've visited her a few times, and fell in love with her.
I decided that instead of trailering her to bring her to my house, I'd just walk her the 1/2 mile to her new pen at my place. My neighbor had gotten her in a 10x10 pen for me and she already had a bridle on. I was under the impression that she'd been worked with a bit, but I was told later that she had only been handled 2 times, and the second time was when the bridle got put on and left on. In a big pen, she would stay within 2 feet of you, but would not let you touch her.
I was shocked as can be when I led her out of her pen. She followed me perfectly. She was a little cautious as she experienced long grass for the first time, and saw normal pasture type stuff for the first time. I walked slow though, and reassured her. She was great. We had a small event when my 3 Belgians saw her. The came running over and wanted to establish the pecking order right away, but I didn't let it happen. I kept Whinny between me and the horses and got the Belgians to leave us alone. I was surprised it went as well as it did.
I have her in her own pen now, and she and Nellie (the lead Belgian mare) have bonded through the fence. She broke out today and was in with the Belgians. All was fine. I separated her tonight so that I can keep working with her.
I want to get her to where I can touch her. I really hate that she won't let me pet on her. Also, she does not know about food yet, (or that I am the bringer of good food) which means that if she gets out of her pen, I have to use pressure to move her around, instead of just persuading with a good meal. That can be a challenge.
I talked to my good friend Lynn today about her, and he told me that I needed to join up with her. I asked him what that meant, and he referred me to Monty Roberts. I've never heard of him, but I checked out a couple of youtube clips on him and I LOVED what I saw. This stuff is great, and a wonderful way to establish just who is the dominant one in the human/horse relationship. I have the links below that my friend sent me. One is a great overall view of joining up. The second is an actual clip of him using this technique on a yearling horse. Both are a great view.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
This also goes along with my thought process as of lately. I was reading Bob Skeldings blog (www.wagonteamster.com) and he posted an awesome blog about becoming a horseman. It's a great read about herd dynamics and how a good horseman should see the horses. I loved it. Check it out here (http://www.wagonteamster.com/html/the_making_of_a_horseman.html).
I love learning about this stuff. It's still very new to me, and I find myself absorbing it like a sponge. In Bob's blog, he gives a test you can use to see how your horses view you. The test is to walk out among your herd, and just stand among them. If you are the boss, each horse will come over to you and either put their nose into your armpit or do some other gesture of submission towards you (even if it's only grazing next to you). They don't do it at the same time, but they should each do this. I decided to test out myself with my Belgians and see how it goes.
My results were great. I walked out with them, and Pam walked right up to me. She pressed her nose right into my belly, and let me rub her all over her face. After a few minutes of that, I stepped a foot or so away from her. Nellie was close by, and she took a few steps towards me, and just stood next to me. I reached out, and she leaned into my hand for a rub. I then walked a few steps towards Rachael. She turned and walked right to me and buried her head into my armpit.
It was really cool to see this happen. I also don't think it's a coincidence that my team (the horses I worked hard all last fall and winter) both walked up and buried their noses into me. I think the 3 of us share a special bond from all our work. Nellie is still a bit new with us, so I'm sure we'll get there.
Anyway, that's enough ramblings for me. Looking forward to try "joining up" with my new filly. I'll post how it goes. I'm really excited to try it out.
I so enjoy reading your ramblings, they are great. I check almost every day to see what you and the horses are doing and what you are getting into. Hope you and your family have a Happy Easter. Enjoy your new filly.
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