I'm in my element!

This morning was my first 'official' morning of playing with the horses (although, admittedly, I couldn't keep my hands off the ropes over the weekend, and I did go down every evening to spend some undemanding time with the horses: watching their group dynamics, stroking the ones that came over to me, putting my headcollar on/off some of them, and playing a couple of the Parelli games).

I like what I see. The horses have had natural upbringings, and great foundations. The initial herd (of 4 horses) was brought out from Australia in the 1980's, and from there Vicky has bred her own herd of 19....and it is still growing! In order to avoid decreasing the gene-pool, she has brought in a couple of horses from Zimbabwe and Malawi over the years, although at the moment only 3 of the horses were not born here

I think I will be able to contribute to the staff's understanding of horse communication. They are very gentle with the horses; sometimes too gentle, and as a result the horses think humans are a wonderful wonderful thing, but they don't have the biggest amount of respect for us. They're obedient, but mostly only when it is convenient for them. I'd far rather have it this way, than have a fearful horse/dominant (predator-minded human!) situation. However, it would be good to see a slightly more balanced relationship...

As I said to Geoff, I'm happy to fit in with their routine, and see how life works here, before rushing in with changes. So the next few days will be spent getting to know the horses, the humans, and the area.

Today we had a play with Noita, the yearling. The staff, Dowdy and Gramsead, usually just (hap-hazardly) lunge her, so I got my Parelli equipment out, and started teaching her (and them) the 7 games. It was humbling to have people so ecstatic about what seem to me basic concepts; just shows how much they are willing to learn.

Anyway, after that, we went for a ride/hack/trek (pick the word you fancy!) which was absolutely amazing. We are on 2000 acres of farmland/tea estate so I'm sure that plenty of riding and hiking will be coming my way!