And she ran, she ran so far away

So after my wonderful weeks with Skye where she was following me around the pasture, then the week where she was questioning me a little after she was top of the heap o' mares in her pasture, I was ready for the other shoe to drop.  It did.

Lovely, huh? Not so fast . . . .

Yes, she looks beautiful there, doesn't she? So peaceful and happy with her new servant Caroline there beside her. This is how I found her when I went to get her on Tuesday evening. I walked up to her, and as I started to put the halter on her, she wheeled away and trotted off. So I then chased after her, and kept her feet moving for a good bit, figuring if she wanted to go, I should make her go. I'd also heard from several different sources that if they run from you, you need to take charge and chase them until they want to stop. The obvious problem with that scenario is 1) horses can run faster and further than people and 2) pastures are big.

So she and her minions, i.e. every horse in the pasture, cantered down to the gate, with me huffing and puffing behind.  When I got close to Skye, I just looked her and gave her my "are you kidding me?" look, which I swear she understands. We stood looking at each other for what felt like several long moments. Then she moved her left front leg almost imperceptibly in my direction. Good enough. I stepped forward and put the halter on her.

Leading her out of the pasture, I was diligent in my leading, not giving her any room for anything disrespectful but not in an angry way. At first I was amazed at my patience, but then I realized something - I thought it was funny. I had seen that this kind of something was coming, but I also knew that in reality it had very little to do with me, and everything with her new boss mare attitude. Yes, I am going to have to be more authoritative with her, as her respect is a little harder to come by, but I probably needed to do that anyway. Now it's not an option.

I took her directly to the round pen for what I call "listening lessons," ground work to get her remembering I'm the brains of the operation. She was a little resistant at first, but she came around pretty quickly, and was relaxed and rhythmic enough at the trot for me to have her canter a little as well.  In the past, she would get nervous at the canter, but as she gets in better shape, I need for her to canter to get used to doing it again. And she sure as hell had felt like cantering when she was running away from me.

While we were out there, Erin started spraying an insect fogger in the arena. Skye did not like this at all. She stopped stock still and stared at it, then glanced at me, then stared again. I put myself between her and evil fogger, grabbing at the opportunity to position myself as her protector.

"What the hell is that? I better get behind this woman that chased me around earlier."

She was funny because she was both interested and nervous. When Erin came around the other side of the round pen with the fogger, I crossed over to talk her.  A moment later, I felt breath on my neck. Skye had come up behind me to get a better look at the sprayer, trying to hide behind me as she did it. Now, I could certainly stand to lose weight, but I'm pretty sure a horse cannot truly hide behind me.

I lunged her a little in the arena over the cavalettis to work her back, then picked her feet, sprayed her for flies and put her back. As we approached the pasture gate, her attitude began to deteriorate again, so I backed her a couple of steps, then led her in and moved her around a little once inside the pasture. When I let her go, she let me pat her good-bye then she walked off. She moved up into a trot and headed back to her beloved herd.

This might seem like a small thing, but the fact that I just accepted it and dealt with it instead of taking it so personally is a huge step for me, and therefore for my Skye.

I'm heading out to the barn in a few minutes for a lesson with Sara. We'll see if I'm so content about it if she does it again.