LBE Playoffs, Round 2

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LBE Playoffs, Round 2

For those of you who read my last blog, think of this as a continuation of the interplay between Walker and Isabelle. If not, please enjoy it as an example of what you might think about doing when your LBE decides he can turn his backside to you.

First, it’s Mother’s Day. A day everyone plays nice with Mom, makes her breakfast in bed, let’s her sleep in late, take a long bath, maybe get a pedicure or visit her favorite restaurant. Flowers are a must.

Of course, for a horse loving Mom, a trip to the barn is a no brainer. However, Walker had no idea it was Mother’s Day. For Walker, it was just another day.

Wendy and I agreed to meet at the barn and just hang out with our horses, maybe groom them a bit, pick their feet and feed them cookies; chat about life and family. And that was a good choice: the horses seemed quite happy in their turnout, hanging out under the trees and mutually swatting flies off of one another. It was perfect, about 83 degrees with a soft breeze keeping the air from feeling still.

Walker had another plan. As I was picking the last back hoof, he deliberately pulled away, turned and walked away from me. I had not brought my stick, however, I did have my savvy string on me, so I sent him further than he had intended to go. Wendy and I looked at each other and knew: GAME ON. Wendy and I have been friends long enough for her to know how left brained Walker has become and how he now loves to try test my leadership.

Now it was time for laughter and consequences. Because of some torrential rains over the last couple of days, the horses were in smaller turnouts than usual, which was perfect for the game we were about to play. I went to get a couple of carrot sticks and headed in  Walker’s direction.

He had tucked himself into a corner, munching on a hay pile. I sent him off at a canter, and the horses around him went with him. Wow, what fun to watch! He took off like a bullet, head low, really stretched out and having fun. After several runs around the turnout, the other horses realized that this game had nothing to do with them, and they all either stayed under the trees watching us, or went back to eating hay.

Wendy was helping me, keeping Walker going if he broke down to a walk or stopped in a corner. He did this several times before realizing he wasn’t going to get to do anything slower than a trot. He trotted big and forward and then more and more slowly. Now we waited for Walker to start really looking to me for comfort. This game requires several looks in, begging to come to the middle.

Finally, he started to make the circles around me smaller and smaller, until I stood on a dirt pile where he made the circle as small as the pile (see video). His ear nearest me was glued to my position. He took several small looks in, wondering when I was finally going to bring him back. I waited just a bit longer. Finally, I brought him back, then asked him to put his zone 3 next to me so I could hop on bareback.

We walked together over to the area where Walker had originally walked away from me, and I hopped off. At this point, he was stuck to me like glue. The feeling between us was palpable, a bit like an electric current running between us. I made sure the other horses that came to join us kept a respectful distance. Two LBE’s had played a game, and it had been fun and good for both of us.