Trust.

Despite needing to re-learn some discipline in a few areas, Solomon is a very, very KIND horse. He is a very forgiving horse. And while it would be foolish to entirely trust any being that is not entirely in control of themselves (instincts can and do take over, especially with a prey animal that is wired to flee from danger) I trust him a lot. Up there? He closed his lips around two fingers and drooled on them, but did not bite or threaten to bite.
Every day I show him how I trust him. I pick up his feet and clean them out, though he could easily kill me with a single kick. I walk behind him, though I always let him know that I am there with sound and touch. I brush his massive body that's so tall I can't see the top of his back.
And every day he shows me how he trusts me. He follows me. He lets me touch him. He listens to what I say, and when I am clear and consistent, he obeys me. He lets me lead him by a rope, even though he could easily run off and just drag me along with him. He lets me take him around corners, show him new things, go past big scary cars and even scarier deer. Sometimes he spooks, but always he stops and defers to me. And even when he panicked on Saturday because he was confined, and really REALLY wanted to run free, though he reared he did not strike, though he pranced he did not step on me, and though he bucked, he did not kick, nor did he drag me away. He was overcome, and he begged and screamed, but he did not fight when he couldn't easily flee.
Every day I'm awed by him.

Before I get too sappy, heh, he got turned out (now that he has gotten the ants out of his pants and is nice and calm) next to the old mares. He tried to impress Pica Aloha. Here's the old girl giving her opinion of him:

Follow the leader!

Zomgz an update!

Sorry to keep y'all in suspense.
Solomon and I are okay, some other people are having drama and one party wants to bring us into it I think. It's a complicated situation that I would rather just stay away from to be honest. Don't worry, everyone is safe. There are a lot of good people where we are.

So Solly is doing a lot better! He has now gotten two turn-outs. Okay, his first turn out day wasn't so great, because he had decided he was FED UP with stall rest and was rearing and bucking away. He bit his lip a little, I got a bloody finger, but we survived the incident, he did not get loose and run away, no one else was touched, and he was not actively trying to harm me. A horse whinnied and it set him off, then he wouldn't calm down. But once I put him in the wood-paneled round pen, he worked the ants out of his pants.

Today went a lot better. I made my own stud chain for him, which worked splendidly. He still sticks his nose right into the halter when I hold it up, and does not complain. But he knows he's working when the chain is on. There was a little bit of unplanned halting that we worked through, but otherwise it was okay. I went in the round pen with him this time, and he was nice and relaxed, considering. He still did a little giraffe-necking and a bit of calling, but the first thing he did after sniffing around a bit was roll.



Haha, he always rolls all the way over! Apparently a lot of horses don't do this. they do one side, then the other. Except perhaps Icelandics. The Icey at our barn, who will soon be moving off to Oregon, sadly, rolls onto his back and sticks his legs in the air, then STAYS like that. Heh.

Okay, it's an odd point in his trot, and bear in mind that he's turning a bit, but he's trottig here!


Yes, he does extend way more. And yes, he was a little stiff on the wounded leg. But it is holding together- no bleeding, no split skin. And I think that he will end up sound. He still has at least two more weeks before he can go out to his pasture, but at least now he can have turn-out! After I took these pictures we did some walking and trotting together- no halter, so he only had to do what he felt up to doing, which was more than my ankles were up to, as it happened. But we did some walking and trotting, and then he went into a big turn-out pen, where we did more walking and trotting.

He has gotten rather herd-bound to me though. If I am out of his sight for a moment he calls for me, and if I leave the pen he's in he charges back and forth until he can see that I'm not leaving him there. I sat on a picnic bench for a while while he wandered around sniffing poo (a favorite activity of his) and then got up to take the apple-picker into the round pen. You would have thought his tail was on fire, he ran to the gate of the turn-out pen so fast. I was worried he'd go through the fence a little, but he's good at charging around and then coming to a dead stop.

Not so good at that when it's slippery and muddy though, which apparently is a bit of a difficult concept for him. Sigh.

Anyway, he's healing really well, and the BO loaned me a book of horse tricks to teach Solly. Right now we're working on "kiss me," which I am positive he will get down very quickly. Next will be "put your head on my shoulder," which he likes to do anyway. Of course I must be consistent and only give him a carrot bit when he does it on COMMAND. Not jsut any time. Heh.

But yes, we're okay, Solly is healing well, and overall life is good.