Who's the boss?

Day 6. Sam wants to be the boss. Sam attempted to push us back when we became taller than him. While standing on a mounting block, Sam pushed us back, so we wouldn't be taller than him. He wanted to show us that he was going to be the leader. We just vamped up our energy, showing him that we would be the "lead horse." After a bit of a power struggle in this manner, he accepted, at least for now, that we were going to be the leader. I am sure more power struggles will ensue before our time is done. These are normal, it happens in nature, and with Sam being a true Mustang, he would have participated in many of these battles. The battles are the determining factors in setting the ranks of the herd. Despite the power struggle, Sam was still relatively respectful of us. This is nice, and not very common.

Besides this power struggle, Sam did some actual learning. We re-introduced the bareback pad to him with wonderful results. After a few minutes of rubbing the pad all over him, he accepted the fact that it would not hurt him. Sam then allowed us to set the bareback pad on top of his back for a few minutes. After the took a big sigh and started chewing, we removed the pad. The sigh and chewing are a sign that he has learned something new. These signs are an outward representation of the acceptance of something new.

Sam also got to learn a new game. The 'move your butt around and then your front' game. He is such a fast learner, he mastered this so quickly, it will be difficult to provide this amazing horse with something to challenge his mind. We like to use this "game" to draw their focus back to us, particularly if we are out someplace new or unfamiliar. 

Sam also further mastered a more challenging aspect of ground work. When we work them, we like to stand in one spot in the middle of the circle and face one direction. We do not move our feet to turn and look at the horse for the duration of the circle, when they go behind our backs, they know we can not see them. This is the opportunity they usually take advantage of by stopping or slowing down, but Sam did not do that today, he kept his pace all the way around the circle. Sam is great.

Sam, like most horses, is fearful of things with lots of energy being around him, so we jump up and down and try to keep the energy up until he accepts that we are not going to hurt him. At this point, he probably thinks we are crazy. Horses can also be timid when it comes to people leaning on them, Sam is no exception to this. He is now at the point in his training that he will need to adapt to these types of contact. Sam needs to acclimate himself to this type of contact, be cause the next step in his training his leaning over his back and applying a little weight.

The next post will be a detailed description of the therapies Sam has been enrolled in and a set of pictures, the results of week one. He is in color, crystal, aroma, and energy therapies. The aroma and energy therapy are utilized on an as needed bias.

Thank you Sam for being so accepting of all the strange things we are doing. Hopefully the next phase of your training will be more interesting to you.