26th May, 2013 Dynamics!

Today we put inoffensive Jack in the field next to Coco and Rose with the idea that he would keep Coco company when Rose went out. Instead it changed the whole dynamic so that not only did they have to practice their emergency procedures again, but we had to wait half an hour before we could attempt to catch either of them. Out of the field, Rose was distracted and full of energy but it gave us an opportunity to work with a horse with a bit more adrenalin flowing around and to see whether we could keep our leadership and boundaries within that environment. Arguably we could have just turned her out again and waited until another day when she was calmer but in reality we are bound to meet these sort of situations and adrenalin levels with all of our horses at sometime - perhaps at a show or out on a hack, and it gives us a chance to see what influence we can have on their behaviour and how we can keep ourselves safe. In any event, a bit of good groundwork and some concentrated work and Rose was much much calmer.

A day would not be the same without a glimpse of High Jack here standing in line with some of his now huge band of mares. The lack of rain over the last few days has brought him back to the local pond where he is king of all he surveys. However, he is so quiet and unobtrusive, none of the Bank Holiday tourists have a clue that they are looking at a stallion. I'm such a fan.