observations and lessons from the herd

This morning I was out in the back field with the horses and the donkeys. We have Keil Bay, who is the acknowledged herd leader; Salina, the only mare and the boss mare; Apache Moon, the pony, who seems to always be on the move to move up in the herd; Cody, who is the lowest status herd member in most ways but a very good friend to Keil Bay and also showing a few signs of moving up in status lately; Rafer Johnson, our miniature donkey who seems almost neutral in his status (he seems to enjoy the benefits of higher status but at the same time doesn't push anyone around); and Redford, miniature donkey with what I would call Total Spunk.

After breakfast tubs the equines filed out to the back field where their hay piles were spread in a long swath. The three horse geldings clustered closely together to eat, while Salina and her donkey guardians went further down and spread out a little.

I was in and out between the two groupings, moving the muck barrow and generally just enjoying the sunshine. It was a quiet, peaceful time.

Suddenly, out of the blue, the pony charged Cody with no warning, moving Cody away from that area of hay. The sounds of the scuffle were loud and intense, but I noticed that Keil Bay, who was right in the midst of all that movement, didn't even lift his head from eating hay. The donkeys looked, much further away, but Salina didn't lift her head either.

Keil Bay gave enough time for things to settle down, i.e. Cody resumed eating hay in a new location, and the pony resumed eating the hay he'd moved Cody off of, and at that point Keil Bay sauntered over, very quietly and with absolutely no fanfare, and moved the pony off the hay he'd just stolen from Cody.

We read and hear a lot about ourselves as humans becoming the "herd leader" for our horses. And although to some degree I think we are in that role, and should always feel our personal space is being respected, I like to think of myself as the kind, easy-going, benevolent leader that I see in Keil Bay. He didn't try to surprise the pony - he lifted his head, looked at the pony, and then casually walked over. His ears were not back at all, he didn't flag with his head, and there was absolutely nothing but good will in his demeanor. However, somewhere in his demeanor there was the message: move away. But the communication was done quietly, with no malice or harshness, and with a very quiet confidence.

The most interesting thing happened next: the pony went and joined Cody, making it very clear as he approached that this time he was NOT trying to take over, but simply wanted to be close and eat hay side by side. This even though there was more than enough hay and more than enough space to steer completely clear of any other equine.

By that time I had moved up to clean the water tub, and the pony decided it was time for a drink. He walked up and in every way revealed himself to be a pony with only good will in mind. He drank for a long time, periodically lifting his head to stand with me (I was filling as he drank) and when Rafer Johnson approached the tub made no claim on the space at all.

Then, Salina decided SHE wanted a drink, and my expectation was that she would approach and flag the pony away. But she decided to take the much longer walk to the main tub in the paddock, leaving Apache free to finish his drink. She was immediately flanked by her donkey boys, who accompanied her to the big tub and stood with her while she had her drink. On the way back out to the field, they went ahead of her, showing her that if she walked along the edge of the very muddy paddock, the footing was firm and easier to manage. She followed right behind them.

This morning's observations came on the heels of my reading a thread about dressage riders and the "volume" of the aids. I've realized over the past six years that every equine here responds best to quiet aids, both on the ground and in the saddle. But the surprising thing is that the "loudest" equines seem to truly need the quiet aids to form a partnership. The tendency is so often to get louder than they are - and I'm thinking specifically of the pony here, but what works the best is to get very very quiet.

Today I saw Keil Bay do that very thing, and in one graceful and well-timed move, he seemed to set ripples of peace and good will through the entire herd. There's no question in my mind that we humans have so much to learn from our horses.

The Magical Pony School, Book One: Jane's Transformation

It's finally here!  The first book in my middle grade fiction series is up on Amazon as an e-book - you can see the cover and click over to Amazon from the sidebar to your right.

The product description is not up yet - that usually takes a little longer to go up, but I'll give it to you here.

Jane loves ponies and riding, and after a lesson one day in which she rides a circle and suddenly feels total harmony with her sometimes difficult pony, she goes home to discover that she has been invited to attend the Magical Pony School. The book opens as Jane and her fellow first-year students are getting ready for the Winter Solstice ceremony - a very special event at the Magical Pony School.

Things don't quite go as planned - and Jane soon finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime, where she encounters wild pigs, shapeshifting creatures, bugganes, dwarves, an odd bitter woman, and finally, a black mare with one eye and two donkey guardians who lead her to the most important part of her journey: saying goodbye to her father and letting go of the need to be perfect.

The Magical Pony School series is a good read-aloud for younger children, an "advanced" chapter book for early middle graders, a quick read for older middle graders or avid readers, and will appeal to both girls and boys - there is magic, adventure, and a fair amount of Celtic lore. For readers who ride, there is classical riding and a focus on partnership, not domination, over our equine friends.

This is also likely to be one of those books horsey moms and grandmoms will enjoy.

Fiona and the Waterhorse, book two in the series, should be out before summer.

If you read this and enjoy it, I encourage you to review it, talk about it, and spread the word!

nearly a week without a post? unprecedented!

Well, except for when I go on hiatus.

It's just been really busy here. Cody is completely recovered from his abscess. We had a ton of rain. The local weather station posted a story that our area is still in severe drought. I invite anyone needing water to come siphon off our excess.

Friday the wonderful H. came to massage Salina, with even better response this time. Although we were having light rain that morning, I put the geldings out of their stalls and opened up the arena so they could experience footing without mud. Within minutes the three of them were trotting and cantering around, including Cody. Keil Bay looked ready for at least a second level test. Meanwhile Salina nuzzled my hand with her lips and alternated between closing her eye and chewing as H worked. Rafer Johnson was highly indignant that while he earns the massage money, someone else gets the massage!

And this was writing group weekend. D. arrived and we hit the ground running. On Saturday we went into town and ended up discovering a steampunk gallery and coffee house that has been there for 9 months and I didn't even know it!  The young woman who owns and runs it turns out to be a home schooler who moved down here and is following her dream. And while I know not very much at all about the steampunk genre, I admit I was intrigued by the artwork and the toys and the ambiance.

Even with all the exploring we did on Saturday, the weekend was wildly productive. I finished my final edit on The Magical Pony School: Jane's Transformation. It's the first book in my middle grade series, and at any moment it will be available on Amazon!

I'll do a big announcement when it's live there, but for now, I'm just thrilled that this book is so close to being out in the world. A secret: although it's aimed at early middle grade, I suspect moms and grandmoms of middle graders and younger pony girls and boys might also enjoy the story.... :)

We're back in the 50s as we begin the week and once again I am in hopes of major drying out happening. Between grooming the mud and walking in it, I am just plain tired of soggy, wet earth. The donkeys have nowhere to take their dust baths, and I think even the most deeply-rooted trees have had their fill.

And that is all I can say because I swore after seeing some fellow bloggers' photos recently that I would never complain again!

I hope we all start the sweet shift to spring, soon.

finally - some progress!

We left the hoof alone yesterday - and I switched to my other homeopathic "abscess" remedy yesterday afternoon since the first one didn't seem to be acting. This morning things with Cody were holding steady, but by mid-day I noticed he was not moving as much as he had been. I picked the hoof and flushed it with hot epsom salt water, and gave him another dose of the new remedy. Within moments he began to act very strangely - licking the arena footing, pawing with the off hoof, and then simply refusing to move.

I got his halter and lead rope and brought him into the grassy barnyard, and although he really didn't want to move, he walked out with me. But then resumed the licking on the grass! He was also jerking his hoof up periodically, as though it was hurting him. And then he seemed a bit wobbly. I gave him water, and he took a long drink. I'm really not sure what was going on - I came inside and called husband and we talked it through while I watched Cody from the back deck. After only a few minutes he stopped the licking, dropped a nice, normal pile of manure, and turned himself to face me!

I went back out and did some chores, keeping an eye on him. He was not moving as much still but had stopped the odd licking and jerking and went back to eating hay. In retrospect, I think the remedy might have "kicked in" - I usually give 3 doses total and sometimes the action doesn't start with the first dose. I've had the human equivalent of an abscess before and was given this same remedy - within minutes of taking it, I could feel the infection drawing tighter and getting more painful, and with the second dose, the "abscess" burst. Cody is fairly sensitive to physical things - although laid back in many ways. I wonder if today's dose, the second, triggered a drawing action that just plain felt weird.

In any case, late this afternoon he asked to go out with his herd and since I was out mucking I decided to trust his judgment. He walked carefully to the back field and stood with his best buddies, relaxing and clearly feeling good about being with them again. I decided to go ahead and give the third dose before I had to leave to take son to his class. Only a few minutes after we left, my husband called to say that the abscess had opened and was draining, and that Cody was moving almost normally again.

Thank goodness!

cody update and a new friendship in the herd

When I went out to feed tubs this morning, Cody was playing tag over the fence with Keil Bay, and then with Little Man, so it was good to see that his spirits are still high.

I noticed when he came into the barn for breakfast that he seems even more tender on the hoof, but when he went out after breakfast, he headed straight for the firm (but with some give) footing of the arena, and while when moving he seems more tender, when he is standing he is very purposefully putting himself square and then easing his full weight down onto that heel.

I'm thinking he's getting to that point that Salina gets to when the abscess is close to blowing and there is a need to 'push' on it. I've seen Salina prop her near to blowing abscessed hoof on a tree root and then shift her weight onto it to increase the pressure. And of course she will soak her own hoof in the water buckets on the ground when she feels that's what she needs to get the thing out. 

With Cody today, it appears he is doing a similar thing by squaring up so his full weight goes down onto that heel - but he's definitely easing into that.

He was tossing his head when some herd play started up, and again, I'm heartened to see that even though he's dealing with this abscess, his spirit is still strong.

Which segues me to the second part of the post.

A week or two ago I began to notice that a new dynamic was forming in the herd. The relationships are fairly stable - they all get along well enough in terms of all turning out together. Keil Bay is the benevolent leader, Salina is the not always so benevolent boss mare, and the major play has always been between Keil and Cody, Keil and the pony, Cody and the pony, and Cody and Redford donkey, and of course between the two little donkeys.

Rafer has never really "played" with the big horses or the pony. Redford has been quite the playmate for Cody though, and the two of them frequently have a game going at some point in every day.

Over the last couple of weeks though, I've noticed that the pony has been playing with Redford. It's very interesting, as the size difference is of course not as dramatic as Cody and Redford. Because the Little Man is so much smaller than Cody, the play with Redford can get much more ... fast.

This morning he and Redford were trotting around together, then cantering, then at a dead gallop. And they were prancing, lifting tails, doing the side-to-side head thing, and just generally having a blast. The first clue that major play was in the air though was Salina, who headed in from the back field at a very big walk - she wisely gets herself out of the way when that kind of action starts up.

Rafer was standing in the arena with Cody, and when Cody started tossing his head Rafer joined in the play but inside the arena, running around the rail keeping his eye on the pony and Redford, but also being very careful not to bother Cody. It was very sweet.

It's so much fun seeing a new friendship blossom, especially right now when Redford's main playmate is not exactly able to run with him!