Why is it that you never get the Kodak moments?Always the camera isn't there, or the pictures taken to late, to soon, no ones there to witness let alone photograph. Whatever the reason it seems to me that you never quite catch the exact moment you always get the after shots with none of the magic that you wish you could capture.......
When i envision wild horses or more specifically a wild stallion, a trembling, skinny and very lonely looking bay pony is not what i had in mind. But that's what i have, and don't get me wrong he is no push over or tame, but he looks at you with these big innocent eyes and all i can think of is a timid little church mouse .
Now the grey girls home it was the bay boy's turn to be caught and haltered. Again these pony's surprise me with how accepting they are. They don't panic and as soon as they figure out that they re not in physical danger they just seem to accept whatever happening and continue eating.. used the same method to catch the boys as i did with the girl. Just getting him used to the rope across his body then slipping it over his head....no problem, no panicking as he felt the rope around his neck he just kept eating hay.
Even when i pulled on the rope to get him a bit closer no big deal he leaned on the rope 4 a bit figured out he couldn't escape and stepped closer.......So i left him for an hour to get used to being tied and came back with a halter.....same process got him used to that and then just slipped it over his head and tied it up...it amazes me that they dont seem to mind you fiddling with knots behind their ears and just stand there. once the halter was on i tied it to a post and slipped the rope around his neck off....I now had a haltered relaxed wild pony...
But it wouldn't be horse training if you didn't have those moments where you think 'sh!t what the f%!k just happened' I knew it had been to easy, just as i was about to turn my back to go grab some more hay he pulled back felt the new pressure from the halter reared lost his footing (luckily he was tied up so couldn't go over backwards) and fell flat on his side in the mud with a huge splash, mud flying everywhere.....and lay there.. This is where i think 'o f%!k hes broken something! Ive killed my wild pony!'......i should have known he was made of tougher stuff despite his skinny fragile appearance. After lying there for a few seconds he hoped up stepped closer to the fence so there was no pressure from the rope and continued eating. nothing seems to upset theses ponies...
And now for the Kodak moment...after i had set him up with a hay net i returned with a water bucket...he must have been pretty thirsty, because he leaned over before id even tied it up rested his head against my hands, had a drink then just continued to lean his head against my hands ( i know he knew my hands were there because i could feel his eye lashes brushing my fingers). Just when i was thinking this was pretty cool, he looked up sniffed, then raised his head all the way to mine... Noses touching he just sniffed and breathed on my face as if to say 'hey I'm wild pony....and your really not that scary after all' . He just stood there for the longest time just breathing on my face then snuffeld along my neck and then went back to his hay....
Awesome! so so awesome this wild animal without any prompting, came and said hello and choose to interact with me....it felt so special to experience this.
Where is the damn camera when you need it!
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