Day 5 ~ No More Mustang Dread Locks!

It was a good day yesterday. Much more of the same, but Lindsay is gradually becoming more comfortable with me close to her. I was even able to curry her right side down her barrel and over her hip a bit. She is not crazy about me approaching her face quite yet, nor her left side at all...but I can tell she is trusting me more with each touch. She has become quite the pro at turning and facing me and we continue to work on her allowing me to remain in that left eye, she still much prefers the right, but is becoming more comfortable with the left. Each day she takes more steps towards me :) I was even able to pull her mane over her neck and work through her dreads with my fingers! I did cheat a bit and pull her mane to her right side...it hangs on her left naturally. She was not sure about the feel of me touching it at first, but relaxed the more I did. It is really interesting how it is not only how I approach her...or where I approach her, but also what I do with my fingers once they are on her that she is very reactive to. She is most comfortable with my hand simply resting on her... then I would say gently rubbing her with my fingers... actually stroking her bothers her much more...and any change in my actions she is aware of...even picking my hand up to scratch my ear (MY own ear lol) enlists a quick reaction. She is becoming less startled by those movements though.

Something I've really noticed about her is her level of self-sufficiency. I am a bit more accustomed to a horse that has a little more curiosity and inquisitive nature. It is not that she is not curious, but she is not going to explore something simply because it's there... ie me! I have to learn to make myself interesting and inviting yet secure and trustworthy. She just is much more "Mature" in disposition than most... especially a horse that has not been handled, you don't usually think of them being "Mature" .. but her maturity has nothing to do with me or people.. it has to do with her experiences and who she has been up until now ... I wonder if it has anything to do with her being a Mother. She was brought in of the range in 2007 and she was in foal! She had her baby in early summer of 2008. I do not know how long her foal stayed by her side, but her bags are huge and.. comparing her with others mares with one foal... they are much more sagged and stretched than usual. Maybe that is just her, or maybe the foal stayed by her a long time... or she very likely could have foaled another time before she was brought to the holding facilities. I am not certain that it has anything to do with that or not, but it seems likely... No doubt she is secure in her own skin and was a fabulous Mother! She is quite good at being the confident individual she is and was ... and me stepping in asking her to change who she is is not something she plans to just hand over. Fortunately, I do not want to change who she is, I would just like for the two of us to blend what we are together into an even more confident pair ... I feel that she will be ok with that, as she realizes what my true agenda is .... she gradually seems to understand I am by no means trying to change her, I am just trying to become a part of that world that she is so confident in. I look forward to the day when she lets me all the way into that secure world she inhabits, it appears to be a wonderful place to be...