DixieMom
1059 posts
Jun 20, 2009
10:53 AM
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My son can do anything with horses/mules. He walks into the turnout and they all salute. He is a naturally gifted rider and has never had a problem with respect from any of them. Until.............. The background info is that he is always telling me to stop babying Dixie and Maggie - "They are mules, not puppies." Well, I think I can have it both ways - that I can "baby" them all I want as long as they respect me, move out of my space, etc. I demand respect at every encounter, but I also love on them a lot, and they eat it up! Well yesterday, it rained a little and the weather was cool and everyone was feeling very spunky. Dixie was trying to eat left over food from Maggie and my son was "shooing" her away, as she can't have the "good" stuff anymore. So in a big huff, Dixie whirled around (where is the laminitis now?) and as she ran off she aimed a big buck toward him. (When they do that, it is like a kid running away from you and sticking out their tongue as they go.) OOOOOHHHHHHH - Disrespect BIG time!!!!!!!! Well she came back for another sneak at the left overs and this time I told her that was not allowed and told her to beat it. (My son says, "Mom - she's not going to listen to that baby talk!") Well she whirled around to run off, but looked back at me out of the corner of her eye, then lowered her head and just trotted off. Ha ha ha!!!!!!!! So THIS now turned a competition. My son challenged me saying, "I bet you can't walk right up to Maggie without her taking at least 2 steps away from you." (Maggie was abused, and originally very hard to catch and still a little wary of men.) I said, "Just watch." (Little did he know how much I've been working on non threatening body language communication with them.) I walked toward Maggie who was eating hay. I turned a bit sideways, lowered my head and called her to me. She turned toward me and stopped. I stepped back and did the same, and I had my "puppy dog" follow me away from her food and up to the barn! Ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!! To add extra fuel to the fire, I stopped and she stopped with me. I backed up and she backed with me, and when I stepped forward, she stepped with me - hands free. Ha Ha, Ho Ho!!!!! I think I earned the right to baby them as much as I want!!!!
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Dixie Mom
"The art of riding:
Keeping a horse between you and the ground!"
Last Edited on 20-Jun-2009 10:03 PM
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