05.31.08
Herd of three visits HorseGal
In previous posts I mentioned that our friend HorseGal got to spend some extended time with the Moses Herd visiting in her OWN neighborhood. Emmie came to train and school them, HorseGal got to watch Emmie AND to ride too, and both of them worked hard to brush out the horses’ shedding winter coats!
HG observed a lot of horse herd behavior first hand, much of which she has not seen before since she has previously visited the Herd only on their home turf. Following (in a few installments) is HorseGal’s immediate diary of her (exuberant as always) feelings, observations, pictures and videos while having the Herd practically next door to her!
_____________________
HERD VISIT DAY 1 – They’re heeere!!!!!!!!!! As you can imagine, I was very excited. What a sight the Moses horses were as they were led, one by one, out of the trailer. You could see them, ears perked forward, sniffing the air, as they checked out this unfamiliar spot. They were put into a paddock to stretch their legs and enjoy some hay and unwind.
After unloading from trailer, Connie removes protective shipping wraps from young Glendale’s legs. Hubby holds Gilford and Nora assists with momma Willy.
Gilford watching Connie at the paddock gate
They were so funny as each of them rolled several times. Glendale took a few runs around this new-to-him paddock, bucking some really huge bucks! Then it was time to try out the new sleeping quarters! Momma mare and her boys are an extremely tight group with pretty intense separation anxiety, so it was important that they be able to see each other when they are stalled. After moving them around a bit, we found the setup that would keep all three horses happy. We tucked them in for the night and left them to settle in.
Willy mare and Glendale roll in their new paddock! Like momma like son!
HERD VISIT DAY 2 – Connie’s amazing horse expert daughter Emmie and I went to visit the horses during the evening on DAY 2 of their big adventure! Unfortunately, when the horses had been brought into their stalls after being out for the day, they were put into the wrong ones, so Momma mare was not happy. When we arrived she was pacing in her stall. You could tell she was agitated.
We thought maybe she’d settle down on her own, so Emmie spent some time grooming the two brothers. Then it was Momma’s turn for some TLC. Once Em put her on the cross ties, she was her old self!!! She was so relaxed and let Emmie brush her and clip her. I was Em’s assistant by keeping one of Momma’s neighbors, a resident lesson horse named Charlie Brown, distracted by petting him so he’d leave Momma alone (Charlie Brown loves to reach out and touch muzzles… Momma mare, not so much with a stranger).
I love helping Emmie… I cleaned out each of the Herd’s stalls and cleaned up the barn floor (Emmie had clipped their bridle paths and did some serious brushing!) Then Emmie thought Momma needed to get some stress relief, so we went out to the round pen and boy, did Momma mare let it out. She was worried about being separated from her boys and kept looking back at the barn and calling to them.
And they answered her back…. over and over. Momma was so frantic she galloped at full speed around that pen, bucking and whinnying. I’ve never seen her like that. I was really worried about her. Emmie was in the middle of the pen and I was worried for Em’s safety. Not that Momma would do something mean, but I was worried that in her frenzied state, she might accidently run over Em or that Em might be clipped by a bucking hoof (this was the first time I’d EVER seen Momma buck).
I quickly learned that Emmie had it all totally under control. I really can’t explain in words how AMAZING Em is. She was SO calm and as Momma raced around and around that pen, Em kept talking to her in a calm, quiet comforting and soothing voice (even I started to relax!!!). At one point, she got Momma to change direction with just a slight motion of her hand and lead rope, walking towards her and talking to her. Keep in mind, Momma never broke her pace, and while she was frantically racing around and constantly looking back at the barn and whinnying, she was, at the same time, also paying attention to Emmie.
Emmie said Momma would eventually tire herself out, and that’s exactly what happened. The poor animal worked herself up into such such a heated sweat after her frantic racing around the round pen and it was a cold evening. Eventually, we went back to the barn. Momma was still a little agitated as she saw we were getting closer to the barn and her boys, but Emmie kept a firm hold on her lead rope. We got her back inside (and into the correct stall!) and all of a sudden… it was quiet! It was like a switch was flipped! Once the 3 were back together and all could see each other clearly, it was like nothing had ever happened. They were so quiet and seemed very content! Even Momma, who proceeded to munch on hay.
This all being said, I’m a little nervous about riding Momma mare now because of these separation problems. I think if I ride her and Emmie is on Gilford where Momma mare can see him, she’ll be ok. I did want to take some lessons, which would require separating Momma from her boys so I could ride her in the ring. So right now, on DAY 2, it’s not looking good for me to take any lessons on her unless she can see both of her boys. Maybe I could bring Gilford or Glendale along for the lesson and put them in one of the pens that are in the ring, that might work. I’m leaving it up to Emmie. Whatever she thinks is best, is what I’ll do.
