Two Weeks

Siesta has been with me for two whole weeks now.  It isn't a very long time, but it has been long enough to get to know each other's habits and preferences a little bit.  She is such a sweet filly, and so pretty too.  She's met the whole herd through the panel rails, and not once has there been any squealing, striking, or ear-pinning.  I feel confident that one day soon she'll be a gentle horse with a lot to offer her adopter.

I played with Siesta tonight in the same way that I did yesterday.  My plan was to repeat the first success and not ask for any more from her.  I just wanted the lesson to sink in a couple more times before I pushed her any harder.  The session started out the same, but tonight she challenged me a bit.  I had her going around the pen in a nice, easy trot without getting stuck in the corners, but her eyes didn't look as soft as they did last night.  After a few laps in each direction she decided that she didn't want to play anymore and hid her face in a corner with her hiney pointed right at me.  I was at a safe distance (well, relatively safe) and she wasn't doing the bucking and kicking thing that she used to do, but was just standing with her ears pinned and the rear hoof nearest to me cocked.  It was clearly a belligerent posture.  I held my ground and used the lunge whip to ask her to move.  Watching her body language closely, I kept it up until she gave in and resumed forward motion.  This happened several times, and once or twice she tapped her cocked hoof on the ground in warning, but never did she try to back up to me or kick.

After two good laps in each direction, she was ready to join me.  I relaxed, exhaled audibly, put the whip in my hand farthest from her, turned my body at an angle to her, and invited her into my space.  She approached, while licking and chewing, and touched my hand that was extended to her.  I wanted to see if she would come closer, so I turned my body a little bit more and she took another step towards me while touching my hand.  I was feeling greedy (and a little bit giddy) so I turned just a little bit more and she took one more step closer.  Her head was almost beside me now, so I offered lots of verbal praise and decided to quit.  When I was out of the pen, she gave me a "Hey, we were having fun here" kind of look, so I kept talking to her and letting her touch my hand through the rails.  I tickled her chin and touched her halter, then said goodnight.  I wonder what she'll give me tomorrow?