My Good Night Girl

So tonight I got out to the barn late because I had to wait for the traffic to die down, and it was almost dark when I arrived. There are plenty of lights, and there was plenty of action around but I still decided to wait on riding and just work my girl in the round pen. The grooming bays were all full, and a farrier was addressing two different horses with hoof abcesses, so the barn itself was crowded, and I couldn't be happier. I loved the pasture at the Greenway, but I love having so many people, and nice people at that, around. My whole attitude has changed, and so my whole relationship with Skye is so much better.

She was moved to yet a different pasture (still same herd), and this is the one with mini donkeys in the dry-ish lot adjoining it.  So I got to cut through their little lot. I love them so. I call them "the dinkies," and I could eat them up with a spoon. They are rescues and still putting weight on slowly and are getting more used to people. But they let me get pretty close to them so I could admire their little stripey legs and big liquid eyes. Here is a photo I took of one of them last week:

a dinky

So I brought Skye in through their lot, and they all stopped and looked up her big self and stopped chewing, reminding me of the way the toy green aliens looked up at Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story. I said "Hey Dinkies!" They then looked very bored with me and moved over to get out of our way.  I have a feeling getting upstaged by my girl will remain a pretty common occurrence.

I took her to the round pen and just stood with her for a moment, checking her feet and her body for any cuts. Once we were both relaxed, I sent her out to the end of long lead line (14 foot one I specially ordered) and just asked her to walk. She actually turned her head to look at me, surprised, if that's possible. My former trainer (as well as some of the books I've read) always told me to send her out with an energetic trot, but I wanted to try something different.  It occurred to me that under saddle in a ring I wanted her to walk nicely, but whenever I was on the ground in the ring, I was asking her for an energetic trot. If it seems inconsistent to me, it's probably downright confusing to her. And, I am always curious to see how much she knows, and I wondered did she know the voice commands for the gaits. Of course she does. She kept "earring" me as if she wasn't sure she was hearing me right, but I told her "good girl" in the same voice I do when I give her treat and she walked around at a perfect pace. She changed directions perfectly for me after a few circuits, then stopped when I told her and stayed out until I invited her in. Perfecto! I asked her to come in, and in she came and it occurred to me that I didn't have to cluck or pat my leg or anything.  Aagh! I did something right with my body language but have no idea what it was. Then I loved on her for a few minutes, rubbing her forehead. 

A nice lady at the barn asked to come into the pen to scoop some poop, so I invited her in while I stood there with Skye.  Dusk had fallen and the sky was all purple high up and periwinkle closer to the horizon, and a silvery crescent of moon was hanging just so. Skye let out a long exhale and leaned her head into me. Not pushy. Affectionate. And she just had me right there. Owned me.

When the poop was scooped, I sent her back out to practice going back and forth between walk and trot.  Almost perfect. She cut the corners a couple of times, and I had to use body language to send her back out, but her attitude was so alert and good, I couldn't let it bother me.  After another perfect stop, I rubbed on her for a while, then went to put her back as it was getting darker and darker. She got a little pushy with me about standing still when I stopped to talk but I just backed her up, and she did that perfectly too. I was just so pleased with her. 

And on top of all that she looks better than ever. That supplement the barn feeds makes her just gleam. Pretty and smart. Some girls have all the luck.