Special horse

Had a really interesting playtime with Maverick yesterday. He seemed to be in a very playful, punky mood, so I decided to play with him at liberty to start. We began with some friendly game, but it was obvious he needed to move, so since we were next to the fence I asked him to squeeze past me to the left, which he did very nicely.  But when I asked him to disengage, he kept going in a circle and squeezed by me again before he listened to my ask for a disengage. He did such a nice circle that I thought to myself, what if I ask him to circle here at liberty? And he did, but not just one, two, and I again asked for the disengage, brought him in and let him lick my hands for a minute or two. He loves to lick on me and Wendy after he has done a task, we both agree, it is a good way for him to access and think and feel right about what we are doing together. It took me 5 years to get a liberty circle game with Walker, and with Maverick, a very green horse, we got it in 3 months. I always imagined what it might have been like for Walker if he hadn't been such an emotional wreck when he came into my life. And what it might have been like for him if I hadn't been so green in natural horsemanship myself when we started together. I think I have my answer now in Maverick. The great news is that Walker is becoming the horse he was meant to be, all be it late.  Because of what I have learned with Walker, I can appreciate and value this chance I have with Maverick, a physically, mentally and emotionally talented young horse.

So, I wanted to test whether Maverick really understood I was asking for the circle game, so we moved to another part of the arena. I yo-yoed him backwards for a few steps, then asked him to move into a left circle, and not only did he do two circles, he did four! I disengaged him, brought him in and fed him cookies. When I asked him for a right circle, he could not do it, he moved back into a left circle again. Liberty tells you the truth, so it was obvious to me that he was not confident about the right hand circle, probably because he had not been played with much on his right side. So I put the halter and 22 ft line on him and asked him to start a right circle, disengage, rest, start, disengage, rest and start again. Each time, it became easier and easier for him to move in the right hand direction. When he moved right easily, probably the fourth or fifth time, I disengaged him, asked him in and fed him cookies, let him lick my hand for about five minutes, just hung out with him, down time. 

What a great play session! We had great energy, willingness to please, truth and a the seeking of a path to greater achievement together. I am blessed to have this chance to play with and develop this horse.