Small observations

I haven't had time to do much with the horses this week (story of my life) - just the ride on Jake earlier, but I have spent time at the end of each day to just go visit and spend some undemanding time with them before I let them back in the pasture for the night. So I've just been going through the herd and just taking time to scratch them all one at a time. What usually happens is that Gypsy tends to chase everyone away (except Jake, of course) and position herself in front of me where she needs to be scratched. I oblige her because this is really building our relationship. When I first started doing Parelli (see earlier blogs), one of the things she would not do is choose to come up to me. But she does that all the time now which is a HUGE change. So I make sure whenever she does come up to me, it's a positive experience.

IndyAnna used to always come up to me - almost to the point of being pushy, but lately has not been coming up to me as much. I suspect it's because I've not spent as much time with her as the others. Funny how that has happened. When I first got the fillies, I spent way more time with Indy simply because she let me and Skittles wouldn't. But now that Skittles has been transformed from the wild thing she used to be into a much more trusting, curious and confident "people" horse, I've spent more time with her than Indy. I think I've been "leaving Indy until later" because part of me thought she would always be the easier horse. But the less I work with her, the more difficult she is becoming. Well, difficult probably isn't the right term. Maybe just less responsive.

Skittles, on the other hand, continues to impress me. And again, that's probably because I interact with her more, so she's more responsive. What pulls at my heartstrings most is when I turn the horses out to pasture at the end of the day Skittles consistently chooses to stay with me rather than follow the herd. And as with Gypsy, I reward that by making it a positive experience: lots of scratches and love. I am absolutely falling in love with this little horse (she's the one looking at the camera in the photo above). If I ever do sell her (which was the original plan when I bought the fillies), it will have to be to someone pretty special.