Nate's Journey

I’ve started playing more with Nate and Phoenix together at the same time just to challenge myself and giving the boys more time spent playing.  Sometimes I’ll ride Phoenix and have Nate on a 12′ or 22′ rope at the same time, and sometimes they are both on 22′ lines doing synchronized tasks.  It’s a lot of fun for us all, and Nate has picked up the skill of copying what Phoenix does.

I discovered this early this week when I was practicing leading Phoenix backwards by his tail.  I was focused on Phoenix and his straightness/lightness, and I had left Nate in “neutral” to the side several feet away.  All of a sudden I felt something against my shoulder.  Nate had turned around and backed all of the way up to me and into me, waiting for me to tell him he was good enough for a cookie!

I didn’t reward him for bumping into me, but I did then ask Nate to lead by the tail and he did it with a little more lightness than Phoenix was offering!  Wow!  So then I took it one step further and asked him to draw to me backwards without me touching him, and he did that, too.  Well, we were on a roll, so I asked for sideways to me, and he did that, too!  Clearly, I have not been challenging Nate enough. 

He can watch Phoenix do just about anything and repeat it when I ask as long as his confidence is up.  There are just a few things that he needs more confidence in.  One of those is getting all four feet on the pedestal.  He will offer 3 feet right away and he will walk(stumble) across it like a bridge about 1 out of every 20 times.  He is getting more and more confident, though.  I let him retreat whenever he needs to, and we don’t drill it.  It will come.

Not only is he a pretty confident barrel jumper these days, he can quite easily go sideways over a barrel at liberty.  He likes things that are easy for him and yield cookies.  I asked him to do a 360* spin at liberty a couple of weeks ago just for kicks, and he did it.  I’m not sure I even repeated it twice.  It was two weeks before he quit offering that as a default answer to many requests. 

Nate is developing at warp speed now, but yesterday he got tangled up in a swing-set and got some bruises and muscle strain.  He’s apparently made of rubber and will be fine in a week or so.  But he’s taking it easy for the coming week.  I’ll post back with Nate’s latest fave tasks then.

Since my last post, I was able to jump up on Nate two or three times just long enough to sit on him and rub him and jump back off.  He was totally relaxed every time.  I just want to introduce the idea to him with no pressure on him to do anything except relax, and he has no issues what so ever. 

We’ve been playing on line almost every day for the last few days.  Sometimes on the 22′ by himself, and sometimes with he and Phoenix both on 22′ lines at the same time.  They are very good together, and Nate seems to pick up on what Phoenix is doing for new things.  He gets that he’s supposed to do the same as brother Phoenix.  I used that opportunity to have Nate go sideways over a barrel right after Phoenix, and he tried right away.  I followed up on that task two more times, and he’s almost a pro.  He even saw Phoenix offering to come to me sideways and tried it himself.  What a brilliant guy!

He jumps barrels pretty well now.  It taked him a minute to size it up, but when he does it’s nice and soft with no emotional issues.  The next obstacle that we are playing with a lot is the pedestal.  He will put two feet on with no problem, and he will sometimes offer to put a rear foot on just to get a cookie.  But he isn’t confident enought to put all four feet on yet.  Last night was a breakthrough in that he crossed the pedestal like a bridge, and came off the far side.  That was a first for him.  It was a little clumsy, but showed a tremendous amount of try.

It was a very impromptu session with Nate today, and I wound up getting on him for his first official ride!  We are off to a great start, and there will be many more to follow very soon.

A couple of days ago, I went out to the pasture where Nate was turned out to play with him on the 22′ line and do some frolicking.  He, on the other hand, had in mind a nice afternoon of grazing and not much moving.  He was cuddly, though, and he seemed to enjoy me being there with him.  So, the logical thing to do was to do something that utilized what he was offering.  So I started doing a bunch of desensitizing that would prepare him for me getting on him.  I rubbed him in all zones head to tail.  I swung the stick and string all over and around him.  I threw my coils of rope across his back and neck.  Then I started jumping up and down next to him in different tempos and heights.  He didn’t care about any of that.  He kept one eye on me, but never missed a bite of grass. Finally, I tried to jump up on him, but I was so tired from all of the hopping around, that I couldn’t make it all of the way up!   He didn’t even mind me jumping, missing and sliding off of him.   I knew then that the next session would be fine for getting on.

So then today a bunch of horses were turned loose in the indoor arena waiting for their turn with the farrier.  I usually play with Nate right before his trims, so that he is in a cooperative frame of mind.  We had a great time playing.  I had Nate in a halter and lead and Phoenix was at liberty playing with us.  I played “follow me” with my boys on either side of me at the same time.  That was fun!  We did walk, trot, canter, stop and back up transitions with some turns.  When Phoenix would take too many steps after a fast halt transition, he would back himself into the spot where he should have been so that he could get a treat.  I’m a sucker.  I gave it to him anyway for the extra effort.

Nate also played on the pedestal.  We are up to getting three feet on, but he is still nervous about standing with all four feet up there.  Phoenix is a showoff.  When Nate has to get down, Phoenix jumps up with all four feet and waits for his cookie.  He always does whatever I’m asking Nate to do, even when I’m not addressing him.  But I figure it couldn’t hurt for Nate to see it being done, so I give Phoenix the treat.  Phoenix also stood guard for Nate when he was trying to do something and the other h0rses tried to cut in.  Phoenix chased them off while we waited for Nate.  He’s a good big brother!

Nate went sideways over a hard plastic ball that we have in the arena that’s about 18″ tall.  It was the first time I had asked, and he did great with that.  That was new, and we did very little prep for it, but I knew that he had the foundation to know what I was asking.  That’s really the theme for Nate and I right now.  He has a wonderful foundaiton of language, and we have a great relationship.  I have come to the realization that we should be doing fun, challenging things that strengthen our relationship.  Going down a list of tasks and checking boxes is not what we need.  I’ve already done that, and Nate never has to.  To take a note from a mentor, I’m going to start at the end and fill in the gaps as I go.   I’m capable of teaching in that way, and Nate will never have to be limited by a curriculum.  He is an affectionate, clever, playful and curious horse.  From now on we will be playing at his level on his timeline, always putting our relationship first.  But, I digress…

So, after playing with Nate and having so much fun with him, I went over to the pedestal and stood on it.  Nate lined up next to me for a rub.  I jumped up and down a little, and he drifted away a couple of step a time or two.  Then he lined up and I laid across his back, rubbing his ribs on the off side with my free hand.  The next time up, I swung my legs as I rubbed him in all zones.  the third time I just slid up on him and right back off.  He never moved.  Of course, each time I did something different and he stood relaxed, he got a cookie.  He knew the drill by this time.  The next logical step was to get all of the way on, and I did about 4 or 5 times. 

After the second time, I asked my friend, Cat, to snap a pic for us.  Nate was very good, and didn’t seem worried at all by then.  The first time I jumped all of the way on him, the momentum of my jump rocked him and he drifted a couple of steps.  But it was very unlike any other young horse I’d gotten on.  He wasn’t tight and moving to find comfort.  It was as if he followed the direction of the momentum of my jump.  Like blowing a paper boat across the water.  He was actually asking if he should yield with the energy.  I rubbed him to a stop, and he stood relaxed, but still asking what he should do.  I waited for a moment until he got that he didn’t need to do anything but stand there, and then I jumped off and loved on him.  He was so good. 

I’m used to starting colts that haven’t had much handling and getting some very impressive responsiveness to pressure.  But I was both surprised and honored by Nate’s willingness to follow a new feel with an intelligent question, and then accept the answer that I gave.  He is so soft and willing, as to take all physical pressure literally.  I have heard of horses laying down during their first ride as a yield to the pressure of the rider on their backs.  …not as a means of avoidance, but trying with every ounce of problem solving ability that they have to figure out what that kind of pressure might mean. 

How many of us really TRULY appreciate the fact that the horse demonstrates all of the power, grace and peace of his being and allows us to do the things we do with him.  …”allows” being the operative word.  The horse will always look for the path of least resistance to harmony.   And he will try his guts out to find a way to keep the peace and get along up until the point that people leave him no other choice.  Too often the horse is blamed and labelled when things don’t go right, and STILL he offers chances for humans to improve and try again.  Every moment with a horse is the gift of a fresh start.  People who learn to accept those gifts evolve into horsemen.

When I found Nate, I envisioned us learning tasks in an orderly way, progressing through levels of training, and me expanding my education in technical areas of riding.  I have not been able to bring myself to follow any task lists or keep any kind of schedule with Nate.  It just doesn’t seem to be in the cards for us, and for awhile I felt behind schedule.  Then recently it occurred to me that I am learning so much more.  The best lessons for both of us occur when we aren’t trying.  We discover new ways to learn old things.  We listen to each other’s feedback.  We build a language on true understanding and trust, not horse training cues.  The truth is that our relationship is unique to us, and there is not another being on this planet who could steer us any better than we are doing ourselves.  I’m sure we will learn skills from others on our journey, but nothing will ever replace our own cooperative inner guidance and judgement.  That’s my biggest lesson yet.  Nate said that he could have told me that a lot earlier, if I had been listening.   Good thing he gave me another chance!

This morning I spent some time playing with Nate on the 22′ line on the horsey playground.  He has been turned out on the pasture there for a few days, but we haven’t played with those obstacles for months.  It was great to see what he remembered, where his thresholds were, and all of the progress that he’s made since then.  The biggest objective I had going in was to keep it playful and put ourrelationship first.  I looked for Nate to be interested, curious, exuberant and still be able to relax at any time.  I know better than to think that goals need to be pushed in order to make progress.  However, there is still the human tendency to want more for another so much that you actually become blind to their real needs.   Having good intentions is not enough, nor is love.  Nate already knows well-being, even without me in the picture.  My contribution to our relationship is the capacity for creating interesting experiences that neither of us would have without the other.  My imagination, strength and clarity of leadership and creativity is what keeps him wanting more.  Yes, he is loved, and that’s what seals the deal,  but we share SO much more.   Anyone with a left brain extrovert knows that they want a “partner in crime”, not a nanny.

So, I did just what I wanted to do, and we meandered from obstacle to obstacle, child-like and spontaneous.  I asked him to play challenging games, but helped him to find solutions and skipped on to the next obstacle just as he was thinking hard about the last.  It had a very free flowing feel to it, and I liked that I was able to not be attached to how he did each time.   The first suggestion I would make was for him to try something that I though would make him think.  The second ask was based around how I could help him find more success.  And perhaps there was a follow up, if he offered, but sometimes not.  It was really more about the exchange.  

Sometimes I would ask things of him that pushed the limit of his confidence, but only to the point that he was willing to still try.  In almost every case, he succeeded in doing what I suggested.  But because it got his blood up a bit, he would end with a little scurry and jump before he came back to check in.  I didn’t try to stop him from making himself feel better and letting a little adrenaline out.  It wasn’t about being obedient or correct.  I wanted him to see that he was free to explore ways to find comfort, and in every case he came right back to me. 

Some of the things we had fun with were:

• Swinging the stick and string over and around him while standing behind him. 
• Jumping the small log jump on a circle both directions
• Trotting through the squeeze chute
• Backing through the squeeze chute
• Standing on and walking across the tire pedestal 
• Jumping the big log
• Falling leaf pattern
• Jumping on and off of the hillside jump
• Going through the string Car Wash
• Lining up next to the big tires for a back rub
• Backing through the Tires
• Walking across the bridge
• And lots of dwell time in between where I rubbed loads of loose hair out with my gloves while he ate clover

The last thing I did was stand on the big tires and rub his back until he got sleepy eyed and nibbled grass.  Then I sat on the tire, removed his halter and kissed him on the nose before I left.  As I looked back going out the gate, he was still standing there by the tire where I left him.  …relaxed and happy!

I had yet another wonderful trail walk with Nate this afternoon!  He was happy to go as always, and was such a good boy.  He was of course, interested in eating quite a bit, but once we were in the woods, he was having fun investigating things.  There is one particular type of plant that has tall skinny stems and five leaves at the top.  I have no idea what they are, but every chance he got, Nate stopped and put his nose on them for a second.  He didn’t want to eat them, but they got his attention.  It was funny.

He would be happy if I let him lead the way the entire time, but  I try to have him in all different positions within the herd.  I also switched up constantly which side I was leading on and which zone I was in (at his head, ribs or behind him).  He actually stays quite confident with me on the end of the rope right behind him.  He does tend to choose his own path, instead of listening for directions when I’m back there, but over all he’s great.  I don’t think he had a threshold the entire walk.  We did come across a flat box of some sort in the middle of the field that he snorted over.  But after a few seconds he put his nose on it and we moved on. 

I have him put his nose on anything unusual or unique as we are walking.  …things like stray bags, stumps, etc.  They make great “touch it” games and it keeps things interesting.  We also played with some transitions.  I wanted to work on him stopping when I stop from a trot.  He tends to keep going once he gets some steam up.  So I used the fact that he wanted to eat alphalpha to get better stops.  Every time he stopped well, he got a minute to eat.  If he missed the stop, I backed him up and trotted again.  He caught on after a few times that it was a game.  I’ll bet he remembers next time.  He’s so good about trying hard, once he understands the point of it all.

We took the opportunity to play in the water at the creek.  Nate went right in this time.  He remembered the succulent plants growing on the opposite bank, and went right for them.  I had planned to have him turn around in the water after he took a few bites and come back out.  But as I put a little feel on the rope to turn him, he headed upstream instead of turning all of the way around.  I walked with him as he head through the creek, but I kept getting tangled in the bushes on the bank, so I asked him to turn back.  I think he would have stayed in there if I let him.  On the way out, he splashed in the water and took a drink.  That was fun!

When we got out of the woods, we stopped in the shade so the horses could eat clover.  I sat on a mounting block there, and he came over and put his nose on my face when I sat down.  He was very sweet.  He was checking in before he went back to eating.  I kiss him on the nose every time I greet him and when I tuck him in at night.  He looks for it now, and he puts his nose up to my face.  …what a sweetheart.

I kind of felt like I should be doing more to directly prepare him to ride, but I think our walks are doing wonders for his confidence and our relationship.  I have a feeling that putting the relationship first is going to ensure that our first ride will be wonderful.

I had a wonderful trail walk with Nate this afternoon.  This was the second time that I got to take Nate out on the trails in about a week’s time.  He hadn’t been out in a very long time, but he loved it, as usual.  Nate loves eating and exploring, so trails are just about his favorite thing to do.  

He was good about the water crossings, considering he hasn’t done much of that since last fall.  It’s funny how he can slog through 8 inches of slop after the winter melt and spring rain, but crossing a creek is very different.  He’s such a trooper, though, and he always tries hard.  I’ve been pretty good about not pushing Nate through any thresholds.  We always wait, approach and retreat, or just go do something else entirely to get his confidence up.  It has paid off a hundred fold in the amount of confidence that he has in me and the lightness and quality of him following a feel.  …my little diamond in the rough.

I did play with Nate on line in the indoor arena a couple of weeks ago, and he did very well.  We did some jumping of barrels, which he is mastering nicely.  He is able to do it on a circle now and start to relax while jumping.  We are working on getting him to put all four feet on the pedestal, now.  He will put the two front feet up very easily, and he will lift a rear hoof as if to put it up, but he is not confident yet.  We’ll keep playing with that.

I am also starting to take opportunities to stand on the pedestal while I rub his back and lay over him.  Just a few minutes here and there.  I’ll start finding new ways to play Friendly game with him in preparation for his first ride.  He will be two on June 26th, and he is about 15.3 right now.  His bum and his withers are not growing together, so there’s no telling how tall he’ll end up.  My best guess right now is 16.1 or 16.2 hands as a four year old.  A lot of Saddlebreds tend to grow into their  four year old year.  I think he can handle me sitting on him bareback for a few minutes here and there as a two year old.  I just want to introduce him to the idea of a rider a little at a time.  No rush to start any serious riding for another year, but I don’t want to wait that long to get him accustomed to the idea. 

Ove all I am very pleased with our relationship and how trusting and affectionate he is.  We have all kinds of time for building n and good technique before we put it to purpose under saddle.  Now is the time to build the bond that will take us to excellence in the very near future.  Time to stop and smell the roses.  …or eat them.  …depending on whom you ask.

I wanted to follow up right away after the first session playing with Nate from on board Phoenix.  I got the feeling during parts of the first sessions that Nate didn’t quite understand the purpose of the whole thing and was starting to feel more pressure than curiosity.  I wanted to make sure that this session started and stayed playful. 

So, I started out with both boys at liberty and a clicker bag full of grain.  We did some jumping barrels, standing on the pedestal, and practiced turns on the forehand and haunches among other little things.  It’s amazing the way their faces light up and they try their guts out when there’s a prize at the end.   Phoenix started chasing Nate away from the jump and pedestal, so that he could get all of the treats for playing on them.  He was good, however, once I sent him away and focused on Nate.

Nate had confidence issues with jumping the barrels for a long time, and then we got him pretty comfortable with it.  I didn’t keep practicing it, though, and it had been a good month or so since he jumped one.  He was a little hesitant, but he kept looking to me and asking questions until he just closed his eyes and went for it!  As soon as I clicked, he came trotting over for his victory treat.  He is SO cute!

After about 20 or 30 minutes of just playing around, I saddled Phoenix and put a 12′ line on Nate and away we went.  I was more organized with all of my ropes this sessions, and I knew more what to expect from Phoenix.  And this time, Phoenix knew what to expect from me and our purpose.   He asked more questions, and was more responsive over all. 

We just played follow me, trying to get Nate to synchronize with us.  …turning into him to get him to yield his forehand at a stop, walk and trot.  …turning away from him to have him lead up and go faster on the outside of the circle at a walk and trot.  We also played with all sorts of transitions and changes of direction at a walk and trot.  By the end of 15 or 20 minutes, Nate was stopping with us on his own and backing softly. 

It surprised me how much Nate was asking questions and trying really hard to grasp what we were doing.  It was challenging for him, but within his capabilities.  I was very pleased at how much he licked and chewed and processed through the whole thing.  This is exactly the kind of program I want to keep him on.  He gets bored very easily and he’s so smart.  I really have to watch doing things “by the number” with him.  The last couple of sessions have made me rethink my plans on taking Nate through the self-assessment lists item by item.  I think I will check them all off eventually, but I will be playing with whatever Nate offers and needs, not necessarily what’s on the list. 

The biggest reason for me not producing videos right away is a lack of a camera person, but Heather has graciously offered!  Perhaps I’ll take her up on that here and there and we’ll at least get something up.

I had a fantastic session with Nate and Phoenix today!  I decided that today was the day that I play with Nate from on top of Phoenix.  I attempted to do this about a year ago when Nate was around 7 months old.  He spent the entire time rearing up playfully, wondering why I was no fun.  Phoenix, at that time, was not confident with a lot of comotion on his blind side, so it was a wash.

Now, Nate is back to being the affectionate, curious guy that he was before the testosterone kicked in.  We got a lot done in one session, and I’m excited to do more as soon as possible.

I started the session with me riding Phoenix and Nate at liberty.  I used this time to get Phoenix more in tune with my seat and legs so that I’d have my hands free for more ropes later.  He started out dull and uninterested, but by the time we were done, he was feeling very responsive and asking questions.

The first thing we did was shadow Nate at he explored the arena.  We then moved to Nate’s side with Nate between the wall and us.  I was riding with a stick, so we did some transitions from a walk to stop to back up.  At first we would loose him at the trot.  Nate felt squeezed and tried to pass us, and Phoenix was a little reactive with Nate on his blind side.  As we progressed, Phoenix started to understand that I wouldn’t let Nate bite him and then he started to relax a little.

At one point, Nate got mad that we were controlling him, and he snuck around and bit my chaps and ran off.  I used that opportunity to play a little game of colt sorting with Phoenix.  We herded Nate into one end of the arena and put pressure on him until he faced up and licked and chewed.  We had to do some canter, halt, turn transitions to cut Nate off from escaping a few times.  That was the best thing in the world for Phoenix.  He got very interested when he felt the intensity of my focus and purpose.  It was awesome!

After that I put Nate on a 12′ line.  We did some walk, trot, stop, back transitions all over the arena.  Then I had Nate yield his hindquarters and swing his front end through for a pivot.  Nate knows those things well on the ground.  But you should’ve seen the look on his face when I asked him from up there.  He was asking questions and processing like crazy.  That was a totally different perspective of pressure and respect for him.  He licked and chewed quite a lot. 

We finished with me asking Nate to side up to Phoenix and I, so that I could rub him and be friendly for a minute.  He even reached up and let me kiss him on the nose.  I was very happy with both boys and myself.  I hadn’t had an opportunity to do that since Mo was helping me last.  We’ll be doing that again very soon!

As I have mentioned on Facebook, I have started a YouTube account just for Nate.  We are going to go through the entire checklist of self assessment tasks for the Parelli Program on video.  Because Nate is not even really 2 years old yet, we will start with the Online and Liberty Savvys and start riding after that.  I’ll probably get on Nate bareback for a few minutes here and there and have him play with a saddle on as we go along, but I want to wait until he is more mature to start riding for any length of time.

I did shoot some video of us playing with the L1 On Line tasks, but I didn’t quite judge where the camera range was, and we were off screen and too far off for most of the video.  Oh, well.  We’ll try again tomorrow.  It was a good session either way.  I discovered that Nate was a little rusty on yielding to steady pressure on his hindquarters and he was not into standing still while he was ready to play more. 

Video is wonderful for confirming what is truly a consistant behavior.  It’s too easy to let little things slide, until you have to capture the real deal on screen.   This will be a great experience for us.  I haven’t assessed in years, and I had forgotten what a challenge it is to coordinate it all myself. 

We’ll try again and fill you in!

As some of you already know, little Natey Bug “Stallion Extraordinaire” had surgery on Wednesday afternoon and is now a gelding.  He is recovering nicely and should  be back to romping and  playing with the boys in a few days.  I’m very glad we got it done now, before fly season.  As a big strong healthy colt, his recovery will be fast, and he will have the rest of his life to live among other horses naturally.  It will also be easier to have a relationship with him where we do not need to have discussions about who is leader every day.  I get to enjoy the cuddly, playful Nate minus the testosterone.

So, Nate’s day Wednesday went something like this:

He loaded into the trailer nicely, but was very nervous the whole ride to the clinic (about 20 minutes).  He yelled and moved around in the trailer quite a bit all of the way there.  He was a little nervous still when we pulled into the clinic to unload him, but he calmed right down as soon as I stepped into the trailer with him to put his halter on.  He was scared to come out of the trailer head first, so I turned him around and gave him a moment to find his way out backwards.  When he was still very small we worked a lot on backing out, so that is where his comfort level is highest.  I will work on coming out forward when he feels better.

Once he got out of the trailer, I walked him around the grounds at the clinic and let him nibble some grass, which he hadn’t seen much of in months.  He was a very happy boy, then.  Within a couple of minutes he was walking around exploring and putting his nose on things in between bites of grass.  I walked with my arm over his back,  just following wherever he went.  We had a very good time for about 20 minutes doing that, which was the perfect amount of time to let him settle before going into the hospital.

By the way, Dr. Strosneider at Lebanon Equine Clinic did the procedure, and we are very thankful for his help and care in all of this, as well as that of his wonderful staff.   Their professionalism, skill and bedside manner were all very impressive.  And their facility was capable of supporting the needs of the more complex cryptorchid surgery, if Nate had needed that.  Fortunately, he did not.  But it was nice to not have to go to Lexington, KY or OH State to get it done.

Anyway, Nate finally made it into the exam room, where he was given muscle relaxers to see if that would allow him to drop the second testicle that was hiding.  It did not.  So Nate was taken to the second room where the surgery was done and was given more medication to tranquilize him.  At that point he still was showing no signs of the second testicle, so they prepared to lay him down for the surgery and go forward with whatever procedure he needed.

Once Nate was given the injection of the drug that would cause him to lay down, three of the staff push Nate over to the padded wall and held him against it until he sat down like a dog and then lay down with his head still up.  Then once he was safely down, they let go and rolled him over onto his back.  That was so much nicer than just letting him fall!  Then they worked very quickly, because they had a limited time for the anesthesia to stay in effect.  They were very efficient.  Cat straddled Nate to hold his front feet up ( I told her that she was lucky to have the first ride on Nate! ).  I just supported his ribs with my leg wedged under him.  The doctor and two women on his staff assisted, and the whole thing went very smoothly! 

It turns out that Nate was not a true cryptorchid.  His undescended testicle was not above the inguinal ring or even very far up in the canal.  It seemed to be just a little out of reach and very under-developed.  It was just a fraction of the size of the descended one.  Although Nate did not need the cryptorchid surgery, Dr. Strosneider commented that he was glad that we laid Nate out like we did, because it would have been extremely difficult to navigate under normal conditions on site at the stable. 

So, all’s well that ends well!  Nate was up and ready to go home about 30-40 minutes after the surgery, and bless his little heart, he was not too bad about trailer loading on the way home.  I think the reason that it took a few tries to get him all of the way in was because he was still groggy and it hurt to step his hind legs up.  He was a total trooper, though, and he rode better on the way home than he did getting there.

As I have seen in other cases where a horse is taken out of their element and exposed to something that takes a lot out of them emotionally and physically, they come away from it with a different attitude.  They appreciate the comfort of their herd and human a little more.  They don’t seem to be as worried about the little things any more.  And they seem to be more willing to look to their leader for support.  It’s almost like sending your kid away to camp for the first time.  They get a sense that the world is a little bigger than “home”, and that family not only offers unwanted boundaries at times, but also comfort and support.   It did them good to spread their wings and get a bigger view, but they always appreciate flying home.  It’s all the changing of perspective.

I’m excited to start the next phase of Nate’s and my relationship.  He’s graduated to the next stage in his life and training, and I need to do everything in my power to be ready for him.