Being the lead

I had an interesting experience that I figured I'd tell about.

There are sections of my fencing that have 2 strands of hotwire.  The horses know what these are, and they stay away from them.  We feed on one stretch of such fencing.  I got a call from my wife, telling me that Nellie (the lead mare), had somehow gotten out.  She explained that somehow she went over the low strand, and under the top strand.  She was leaving, and I wouldn't be home till late, so I had her just shut our front gate, and I'd take care of it when I got home.

Later that night, when it was dark, I arrived home to find a very content Nelly grazing down on the green grass, with 3 other horses very jealous of her freedom.  the fence was still intact, but the bottom line was stretched a good bit.  I figure Nellie decided to grace through it, and then when she got popped on the whithers from the top line, she jumped forward through the fence.

Now, when I arrived, and saw Nellie, she held her head high, and trotted away from me 5 feet due to the sound of my motorcycle engine.  Any one who has had horses knows how getting horses back inside their fence can cometimes be an ordeal, especially when the horse is a moody, pregnant, lead mare.  I suddenly had images of me chasing her down, or trying to use feed to sweet talk her back into her enclosure.  It was already late, and I sure didn't want to spend my time out chasing a horse.

What I experienced was completely different.  As the motorcycle was shut off, I walked towards Nellie and talked to her.  She turned her head to me, and I pet on her a bit.  We were near the gate, so I walked over to it, and to my surprise, Nelly followed.  I continued to talk to her.  I opened the gate, and had to get Pam out of that area.  Pam wanted out, and I wasn't about to let her.  I was careful not to clap or anything with her, as I didn't want Nellie to back off.  I simply talked in my firm voice, and walked forcefully towards Pam.  She reacted by trotting off and out of the area.

I then opened the gate, said sweetly, "Come on Nellie, let's come inside".  She walked right in and spun around for me to pet on her again.  How easy is that?

It's times like this that I am so grateful for the horses I have.  I feel like I know them, and they know me.  Being able to control a horse using vocal and body language is something that is amazing to me, and I am so greatful for what I know of it.  When it comes to me and my herd, I am the lead, they know it, and they respect it.  When you develope this kind of relationship with your horses, it makes all the other things so much easier to handle.