Clever, clever boy

Bandit and I (and most of the rest of the herd) spent the weekend shuttling lovely Girl Scouts around on trail rides that never ended in complete disaster, but occasionally came close. I kid, somewhat, but the most stressful part of my job is inevitably when the horses go "public" and parents are thrown into the mix. Having Tiff there absolutely helps control the chaos, and this weekend we also had one of the high ropes instructors from the summer, Justin, who did a great job for his first real go-around. He got to partake in the Bee Hive Fiasco of 2010 back in July, and works hard and keeps a very level head (much like Tiff) so really couldn't have asked for a better team.. But that said, it was still 120+ Scouts and moms, Daisies to Cadettes, and that, my friends, can be a crazy crazy time. I'm looking forward to my lesson kids coming back this week and enjoying real one-on-one teaching time.

This was also Indigo's "debut" as an educational piece / object of adoration by dozens of adorable little girls. I posted a little sign, talking about his origins and his color and please-don't-stick-your-fingers-in-here-because-I-innocently-like-to-munch-on-them, but really we can't see him very well from our vantage point at the barn. (His pen is behind the craft shed, using the back shade structure as a shelter.) Richard, however, did spend a good part of his weekend in the craft shed making bird houses with the Juniors, and he said Indy was on good behavior the whole time. The girls were thoroughly excited to meet him and thought he was the most beautiful thing in the universe. He didn't nibble on anyone and I'm sure got a few pets in there somewhere.

Pax also enjoyed some attention today. I think Richard grew weary of his last birdhouse-building group finishing their projects early and took them over to visit her. She was appropriately gracious about eating grass from everyone's little hands and enjoying lots of pats and ooh's and ahh's. If I'm not very diligent about getting my horses out to new places to see things, they are subjected to an enormous amount of handling from lay people and squealy kids. The rest of the time, she looked longingly at her best friends Karat and Dolly through the corral fence, or slept in the sun, sprawled out like a snoring, farting, oversized cat. I have never been around a horse that slept quite so thoroughly or voraciously all the time. I can't help but worry that there's something off about her, but it may also just be part of being so damn calm that firecrackers under the tail wouldn't set her off so much. I love that horse. I have no idea what made me buy that horse, but I love her.

Anyway, after an epic nap tonight post-Scout weekend, before it got completely dark, Richard and I headed to the barn to work on our respective crafts. While he picked hooves and trained his back, I caught Indigo and lead him out of his pen for the very first time since arriving a couple of weeks ago. He balked a little bit at the gate and stared at me rather wide-eyed, finally took a hesitant step out, then a few more, and then buried his nose in grass and grazed backwards until he was firmly back on the other side of his pen threshold. We tried again, and things were obviously easier, and it wasn't five minutes until we were easily leading around the round pen clearing, past the tacking area, and around the arena. He balked a bit at gates but doesn't act silly; he just wants a good sniff at everything before he takes it on.

After we lead around the arena, I let him loose and popped the lead at him until he was sent into a quick trot about half the length of the arena.. Promptly stopping to graze over visiting the rest of the herd, who were gathering at the far fence to check out the new kid. I grabbed a stock whip and drove him around a little bit— saw his lope for the first time, and some pretty silly crowhops (like, two of them) and the most trot since we first laid eyes on him. He's cute! Covers some ground. He came pretty easily, and ate his first horse cookie. Probably not the best idea on my behalf as he is certainly mouthy, but it's nice to have a quick food reward that he'll accept now instead of trying to feed him handfuls of alfalfa. (That said, I don't really believe in training based heavily on food reward, but I do use treats as a way to reward patience or a good ride or training session.)

After some grazing and more leading, I put him in the tacking area and tied him up again and gave him another good grooming. He was a little squirrely, but considering the circumstances, I was very impressed. Richard even handled his back legs a little bit. He tested the confines of his lead rope, but did not offer to set back or try to untie it again. I am thankful he is starting to look towards me for assurance whenever he's concerned about something.

Indigo's success hasn't made me overconfident in my gentling abilities, but he has made me feel like I don't entirely suck at choosing horses. Picking him out of that facility was one of the hardest non-life-endangering or family-related things I've ever had to do, and I felt like a lot rested on him. After we saw him and Eve dubbed him "Fugly," my mind immediately kept going back to him after every horse we pondered over certainly not because of his looks, but because of his temperament. I think he's a good match for us, and I'm entirely taken with him. There's so much left to teach him, but every day he shows an honesty and an openness to learn and to trust that is impossible to not get excited about. I do have to make a conscious effort to keep in mind his wildness and deeper-set instincts, but I think that also helps to keep me thinking on his level and at his speed.

I'm excited. He's a neat horse.