First Touch

After we arrived Sat. morning I let Lindsay settle and made sure she was plenty hydrated and rejuvenated from our trip before we went to work...I must admit I did sit in the round pen and stare at her lots :) After her day of rest Sat. we started to work today, the 9th. My first session I went in the round pen with a soft rope and myself. I began to send her around the 40' pen at a trot and then at a canter. Her degree of strength, coordination and stride amazed me...I love a horse that covers ground and that she does. We practiced changing direction and even practiced turning into the rail as well as away from the rail (towards me) She picked up on that rather quickly. I then asked from her to stop mid-turn towards me, she obliged and licked and chewed which made me want to jump up and down...but I held back...After reiterating the turn towards me and stop I began to walk side to side requesting that her eyes follow mine, when they did not I would encourage them by a snap of my fingers....her first turn of the head to follow my energy made me want to jump again! Her intelligence astounded me. Before long her feet followed her gaze and she was actually mirroring my image with hers, turning her body to follow mine. Now, keep in mind this occurred in stages and when I would lose her focus I sent her back to the rail and ask her to face me again. She was very reactive in a positive way and she did everything in her power to understand my request. By the end of a 45 minute session she was rather consistently moving her feet with mine. As much as I craved to reach out and stroke her face I knew she was not ready, so I left her to digest our conversation.

After a few hours I went back in and asked her to turn to face me. I fully expected her to shot away and have to refresh her mind, but to my surprise she appeared to have analyzed my request and understood it even better as she not only turned to face me, but added a few steps in my direction! Again I wanted to jump up and down, but held in my joy and simply whispered "thank you" to her...after all, her real reward was the rest, the fact that when she sent her energy towards mine she was allowed to stop and relax....it is amazing how something as simple as that enlists such feats, if only people were so easy to reward...... After a bit more practice turning and facing and walking a bit towards me I felt Lindsay had become pretty relaxed with our dialog so I began to step further into her space closely watching her reaction and only going to the edge of her comfort zone. Once there I would remain until the edge moved continually closer in. After an hour or so I was literally 6 inches from her face, yet each time I actually stretched my fingers to make contact she wove tense and begin to flee...When she did I would quickly move my space back and invite her to face me again, which she would quickly. For quite a while we looked more like we were danced than training, with my step towards her, her step away, my step back, then her step towards me! We did this until I felt she was beginning to think I was a little boring and started to become less reactive, but still was not comfortable with me closer than 6 inches. I thought of giving her another break, but then thought if I could only make myself appear more interesting maybe she would explore me...so I stretched out on the ground in the round pen, like I would lay a saddle out for a baby to explore. ... I do also remember babies pawing and tumbling the play saddle around, so I was cautious as to continue to read Lindsay's body language. Well, apparently I was a bit more interesting, because she did make her way up to me and with an arched neck she stretched down to sniff me...I felt her muzzle make soft contact, then she shot away...I asked my husband if that counted as first touch and he said why not hehe.... After that I did give her another break...actually was planning to be finished till tomorrow.

After feeding and dusk was approached I stepped in one more time...I soooo wanted to touch her. I know I was asking a lot, but she seemed so close to being ready. So I stepped in and asked her to approach me again, she obliged getting pretty used to this routine now and I began moving into her space as close as she would allow. This time when she backed away I slowed walked with her...instead of me backing off when she backed away I continued to remain in her space until she stopped, then I stopped....This, of course, she would not have allowed earlier...at that point had I continued to push when she was backing she would have spun off, but again, it appeared she had studied our previous lesson and was now ready. I finally was able to let my fingers slide down a few inches of her neck. She initially jumped back at the touch, but as she jumped away I asked her to come back to me and face me. It was almost as if you could witness her energy being grabbed in mid-air from shying away to sending it back towards me. I am truly in awe that a 1000 pound animal with a brain the size of a pea can comprehend basically how to be lead, w/o any lead within one day...I am convinced they utilize every bit of their pea and we use about a sand-grain of ours...anyway, After the initial touch she still had the same reflex to jump away at the next and the next, but with each one the jump away became lessened and her magnet back to me became stronger...After 5 or 6 touches she allowed me to let my hand rest on her neck, then stroke her! (You said it...again I wanted to jump up and down, but did not) She allowed me to stroke her neck and barrel as well as the side of her face, but beyond those perimeters she lost comfort. That was more than fine by me, I was so thrilled to have made contact.

What a brilliant horse, she is truly unique from any other I have touched. It is as if her mind is wired differently, she has a degree of self-preservation and trust that is un-equaled. We certainly have a long way to go, but I must say I Know I will LOVE this ride :)