Wild Hearts, Willing Spirits

Herd Evolution & Ground Training

2009-06-06T11:17:00.001-07:00

Mio feeling at home on the mountain.

Mio has turned out to be a profoundly positive influence on the herd, primarily among the two would be bullies, Valeroso and Griton. In Valeroso's case, he no longer has anyone that he can push around. Mio actually likes Valeroso but when he gets aggressive, Mio has no problem putting him in his place quickly and decisively. The result is that with no horse to pump up his ego, Valeroso is becoming increasingly social, even with us. There are very few skirmishes anymore and not a single time out for Valeroso in weeks. Several weeks ago it looked like Valeroso might be colicking and even though he hadn't had a halter on in about two years, with little effort Mike and I were able to halter him and check him over. Fortunately he wasn't colicking but his sudden lack of aggression and increased security with us after living here for four years is amazing.

Mio offers friendly grooming to Valeroso but does not tolerate aggression from him.

For Griton's part, herd-wise Mio has figured out that making friends with him is his best course. It has been fascinating to watch Mio slowly courting Griton by following him to the water trough, standing increasingly closer during nap and drinking times and holding his ground at the hay bags. Even though I haven’t been able to get a photo yet, Mio has even been spotted standing right next to Griton and swishing flies. And something else amazing...sharing hay! No one ever shares hay with Griton because he is such a butthead about it.

Mio goes to water with Griton and slowly moves into his space.

The result is a much happier and mellower Griton who isn't harassing anyone or chasing them away from their food. It's just possible that he is learning to expand his sphere of friendship to include Mio instead of Corazon and only Corazon. The peace in the Star's Rest Band is expanding...can you feel it?

Mio moving his way into the Inner Circle of Corazon, Llego and Griton.

I also recently promised to talk about how we teach our horses to keep their feet still unless asked to move them. As it always seems, there aren't any simple answers to questions like those since so much of what we do is intuitive and instinctual. This behavior has been developed in me since I was a kid, running wild with the horses in Arkansas. We don't relate to our horses as 'bosses' or as being 'dominant'. We relate to them as trustworthy leaders and peaceful herd members. Just like they keep peace among their own ranks by sending away aggressors, we send them away when they get bossy or crowd us. When all is calm and body space is respected, we stay together. If we tell them a perceived danger is safe, they believe us because we have never lied to them.

Putting in our arena involved bringing backhoes, bulldozers and dump trucks in with formerly wild horses. I didn't want them to be frightened, so spent time touching each of the pieces of heavy equipment so that the horses would understand they were safe.

We listen to them and allow them to teach us as much as we teach them. We share affection and company and that happens all day long, not just at feeding times or when it's time for them to work. A happy social life is fundamental to a horse herd and we make the time to spend with them with no other agenda other than sharing company. As a result, our horses want to be with us, are happy to see us, and eager to find out what new thing we might do together.

Valeroso gets up close and personal with a backhoe after he was assured by me that it was safe.

On a more practical and explainable level, we use something similar to clicker training to teach each horse the basics of ground manners. I wrote a whole series about this at Life at Star's Rest and you can read those posts by selecting the 'clicker training' label in the right side bar at that blog. The difference from what most people do with clicker training is that we only use a food reward in the very beginning as a way to explain the concept of request and response to the horse, after that it is only voice and touch reward.

You can tell by Griton's expression how much he does not enjoy fly wipe, yet he stands without moving his feet because I have asked him to.

If there is a situation where we don't want a horse to move his feet, we give a previously taught request of 'stand' using a voice and hand cue. If he moves out of position, we don't punish him; we just move him back into position, wait a moment, give the hand and voice cue again and go on about what we were doing. When he holds the position, we praise and touch with a consistent word and stroke to reinforce that he is indeed doing what is wanted. Our horses want to please and cooperate so it doesn't take much to get the response we want.

Mio at peace in his world.

Mio is a case of a horse that was over round penned and as a result has some behaviors that are innocent but actually dangerous. He is one who was taught to ‘face up’ and ‘hook up’ no matter what. In the beginning, he was very anxious about having me on his left side and would constantly turn to keep facing me with his head at my shoulder. Or if I was working at his hind quarters, he would back up to try to keep his head in the position he thought was wanted of him.

Besides being a frustrating issue, this was also a potentially dangerous one. As an example, while he was still wearing a blanket in the spring snow, I noticed that one of his blanket straps had come unfastened and I went up the grade to refasten it. He was on a narrow trail that fortunately didn’t have a drop off and each time I tried to move past him to catch the strap, he backed up in an effort to keep his head even with me. Had this been a trail riding situation where there was a steep drop off on one side or the other, his backing up would have put us both in possibly extreme danger.

Mio recently got a nail in his foot and I knew our lessons on not moving his feet until asked had been successful when he stood quietly the entire time his foot was soaking whether I was standing near or not.

When I first began working with Mio to teach him to not move his feet unless asked, he was very anxious about it. He has such a strong desire to please and ‘facing up’ was so deeply ingrained in him that he felt not moving was disobeying. Once he understood that all in the world I was asking him to do was keep his feet still and relax, he became a big believer in doing nothing! He was trimmed by our barefoot trimmer two days ago and the trimmer was amazed at what a different horse Mio is now as he stood quietly and almost went to sleep during the trim process.

Mike spending social time with Griton, Corazon and Llego.

Your horse needs just as much social time with you as work time. Being willing to listen to your horse and learn from him is as important to him as training is to you. Developing a relationship of cooperation instead of conflict will create a place of trust and safety for your horse who will then believe you when you say there isn’t anything to fear and who will eagerly work to please you.

2009-05-27T14:04:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty angry right now.

It has been brought to my attention that someone I know, someone within my own circle, has been taking my copyrighted horse photos and using them for their own personal gain. This isn't the first time this has happened and I don't quite know how the copyright notice in the right sidebar can be misunderstood. I guess I'm going to have to go back and embed a copyright symbol on every one of my photos that are print quality, and do the same with everything new I publish.

I don't know why this person thinks it won't get back to me. It's a small world thanks to the internet. I've even had people in other countries contact me to tell me when someone was selling a version of one of my designs on eBay. Things get back to me.

And it isn't just my photos or my designs. Someone else I once exchanged a series of trusting emails with is now paraphrasing my concepts on horse behavior and teaching and claiming them as her own, as well as publishing articles with phrases that came directly out of my emails. She even went so far as to contact my students after I was diagnosed with cancer last year to let them know her services were available as an instructor and unlike me, she would come directly to their houses. Geez.

Now one thing that cancer has done for me is to make me acutely aware of the value of every single day and that wasting a single minute being angry is pretty silly. But enough. You know who you are. I have software that tracks who visits my blogs and my websites so I know when you've been to one. If you aren't creative enough to take your own photos or do your own art, then stop taking mine. And if your knowledge of horses and teaching is so poor that you have to steal someone else's then you are a menace to the students who trust you. Stop it.

Play Bonding ~

2009-05-15T08:49:00.002-07:00

Life is good for the mustangs of Star's Rest.

Herd Smarts

2009-04-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

Mio's first two weeks on fulltime turnout with the herd reminded me of a socially savvy frat pledge working his way up the ladder. In Arizona, Mio was living in a fair sized dry lot situation with one other gelding, a paint quarterhorse. I was told by everyone that he was 'the boss' and I think that applied not only to his pen mate but to his humans. I was also told that he was constantly into everything, loved and needed toys and was a gate opener and rope untie-er.

Keeping a herd balanced is a lot like match making for a group marriage and you always walk a fine line when bringing in a new horse. I had already made two mistakes with the domestic horses we brought in, which is not to say they were bad horses, they just didn't fit in well with what we want to be a lifetime stable herd. From his description, I knew that Mio was very intelligent, easily bored, and not a submissive horse. The gamble was whether or not he was truly a bully or just frustrated. If he was a bully, which I didn't believe, then I hoped he would be slowly modified by the herd as Griton was.

His first stop was a Valeroso instigated confrontation. It didn't amount to much because while Valeroso may be unpredictably aggressive and constantly challenging, his small stature of just over 13 hands keeps him from being a true adversary to the big horses.

Next came Llego which resulted in several very, very mild skirmishes where they established themselves as equals in spite of a five year age difference, and they quickly settled into a friendly relationship. So friendly that Mio's constant following of Llego and offers of play seemed almost annoying at times. It's been good to see Llego with a more lively companion than Corazon and the two of them have done a great deal of running and playing together. I remarked to Mike recently that because of his quiet and reserved demeanor, many people might miss just how intelligent Llego is. He is a horse who is constantly thinking and learning.

Mio moved on to Corazon where he quickly learned that he could move Corazon, but it was only with Corazon's complete distain at his rude behavior. There seems to be no satisfaction in challenging a horse who doesn't fight back and walks slowly away as if you don't even exist. It didn't take Mio long at all to realize that Corazon is the only horse who Griton will not move from food and further, that Griton is the only horse Corazon will not allow to eat with him. Now as soon as he is released from his pen to eat hay, Mio goes straight to whatever feeder Corazon is eating at for a completely peaceful meal.

There was no question of Mio attempting an approach to Griton since Griton had already made his position of Enforcer perfectly clear over the fence. The horse who was supposed to be 'the boss', kept his distance, stayed polite, and made sure he didn't put himself in a position of being cornered.

Mio's offers of friendship and play quickly wooed Llego into his court, and his polite behavior with Corazon won him over as well. Now Griton must face and adapt to the idea that his former Inner Circle of three, has added another calm and balanced horse. Griton has seemed pleased that while Llego and Mio play he has Corazon to himself, but he isn't so happy that Mio is accepted into the afternoon nap space.

With the balance turned further against him in the form of another peace seeking herd member, it will be interesting to see if Griton further modifies his behavior in order to hold the approval and acceptance of Corazon. His role of Enforcer is important to the herd for keeping the peace and maintaining good manners in Valeroso. He is also the one who most often acts as lookout, being the first to notice a squirrel, fox or coyote. As a herd stallion, Griton would probably have ruled as a bully, but his herd would have been safe due to his constant vigilance and order keeping skills. I am hoping that he will become even less assertive to his herd members but maintain his alert protectiveness.

Valeroso has also changed since Besol left in that he has become increasingly less aggressive. With Besol, he had a submissive horse that he could constantly bully and challenge. This caused a steady escalation of his bad behavior and a lot of time spent on time out up the mountain. Mio made it immediately clear that challenges would not be tolerated, and yet he shows a clear liking for Valeroso. On the rare occasions that Valeroso lies down, Mio will stand guard over him, often so close that his hooves are touching Valeroso's body. In the last month, Valeroso has slowly become more calm within the herd and even more interactive with us.

As for Mio, I think his former owners might see what they think is a completely different horse. He doesn't feel the need to 'boss' anyone, especially not the other horses. With so much room for activity and an interesting environment, he has not bothered with available toys and like the others, spends much of his time eating, napping, rolling and playing, or climbing the mountain with the rest of the boys. He quickly figured out the feeding process and like each of the other horses, quietly goes to his feeder to wait for his bucket without fighting or chasing. And his relationship with us humans has become one of quiet and friendly respect. He has actually become pretty much my shadow, following me around whenever I am out in the group, his head at my shoulder and greatly interested in whatever I am doing.

Any change in the herd affects each member of the herd and I am increasingly pleased to see the balance that is happening from the introduction of Mio. There have been no conflicts and so far, many benefits and positive changes in the herd dynamics. It will be fascinating to watch the continuing evolution of this small herd of bachelors as they continue to incorporate the strengths and weaknesses of their newest member. My next post about Mio will focus on his previous training and how he is learning to relate to the human part of his herd.

El es Mio! (He is Mine!)

2009-04-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

Mio is an eleven year old reservation mustang from the Navajo Nation in Arizona. He is a desert horse and in that, very different from our other mustangs. He is so different in appearance that I began to do research on the origins of these southern horses. What I found is that they genetically test high for old Spanish markers, the Barbs, the Criollos, and the Andalusians.

After we placed Besol in a new and domestic situation better suited to his temperament, we specifically looked for another mustang, or herd raised horse, to replace him. The other mustangs we had brought into the band had been quickly assimilated and added to the structure in a positive way and we hoped that would continue to be the case. Mio was a good and interesting choice in that he is a herd raised mustang, but from a completely different part of the country from our other mustangs, and also from genetically different stock.

He looks to me like an Anglo Arab, a cross between an Arabian and a Thoroughbred. He has the thin skin and fine coat of both breeds and also the refined head with both a dish and a convex rise above his nose like the old Spanish horses. His legs are long with low set knees and hocks, giving him lots of elevation and suspension in his movement. He is tight through the barrel with that water heater shape we look for in endurance horses. His withers and hip are well defined with easy, fluid movement through his shoulders and good reach from behind.

The effects of desert genetics are clear in Mio's more refined appearance with the lean, slow twitch muscle mass of a distance horse. Our northern mustangs are heavy boned with bulky draft or quarterhorse type muscling. This makes sense when you consider the long distances and open spaces desert horses travel over to get to water and food. The bulky muscles and dense bone of our northern horses would better allow them to negotiate rugged moutain terrain and sprint short distances from predators.

He is also more expressive with his face and body than our other more placid and stoic mustangs are. He scrunches his nose, twists his ears, cocks his head and tenses and curves his body to express what he is feeling. More than once I have thought this desert mustang sign language was an indication of colic, only to find he was just making a statement of some sort with his flexible body.

Mio has two brands, one on his right shoulder and one on his left hip. They are 'running' brands, drawn on roughly with a hot metal wand. The brand on his right shoulder appears to be a 'D' along with the '- N' that indicates he is property of the Navajo Nation. On his left hip is a large 'S U E'. My research told me the first letter, S, indicates the grazing district he was in and the next two letters, U E, indicate the grazing permittee who owned him. These are not attractive brands, being rough and deep, and they must have caused him a great deal of pain, along with being gelded at the same time. Some horses would not have come back mentally from that kind of treatment at an early age. Corazon is one of those who would never have trusted again. But Mio clearly likes people and wants to connect with them which says much for his temperament.

As a desert horse, Mio is used to open vistas, dry rocky terrain and heat. We have asked him to adjust to a nearly 6,000 foot change in altitude and to live in a forest with limited sight range and nothing that smells familiar. Based on his reactions, I don't think he had ever seen snow before and he was clearly disturbed by the white, wet stuff falling from the sky. He had already lost most of his winter coat and making a change to snow and temperatures in the teens, we had no choice but to blanket him, and sometimes even add extra blankets. A layer of white over a familiar trail left him anxious and he would wait for one of the other horses to break trail and then would follow them.

We kept Mio penned for the first week so that he could meet and become familiar to the rest of the herd over a fence. Griton can still be a jealous bully when it comes to new horses and I wanted to be sure there would be no injuries to a horse adjusting to both a big altitude and climate change. And, we wanted to personally make it clear to Griton that this horse was under our protection. This week would also let Mio know that this pen and feeding station are his and no one else's.

As the end of the week approached, I first brought Llego into the pen to spend the day with Mio and become acquainted without a fence to separate them. This turned out to be a non-event and they calmly spent the day together sharing food and getting to know each other. The next step was to introduce Mio to Corazon, the group's leader. To achieve that, I moved Mio into Corazon's pen where Corazon is fed due to his constant diet. They spent the night together sharing hay without incident. My intent with this was to have Mio first directly connected to the two horses who would neither attack nor bully him, and with their acceptance Griton would have to accept him as well.

On the day we decided it was time to turn him out and let him join the herd, there was much joyful running and exploration by Mio, but almost no aggression from the herd, and limited rejection from Griton. My next post will explore Mio's efforts to become familiar to his new surroundings, to understand the individual herd members and us, and to establish his place within the bachelor band. This is a slow process and it will take six months to a year to clearly see his final position, even though the foundations are being established now.

Our Balanced Herd

2009-04-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

As I was beginning to organize my thoughts around Mio's introduction to the herd, it occurred to me that I should probably start with what makes our herd balanced and healthy. We have been blessed to have the opportunity of living with a stable and natural herd of feral origin, which has helped us to understand so much more about the social lives and relationships of horses. Out of necessity, modern horses are usually boarded with little control over social structure or stability, or the space for free fulltime movement in turnout. Plus, the average domestic horse was not born into a natural environment with a stable herd group to provide his education in being a horse true to the actual nature of horses.

One of the first and most important aspects of the Star's Rest band is that they live in a completely natural environment. They have room to roam over greatly varied terrain and even though there is little to no grazing available here, they have access to quality grass hay on a nearly free choice basis. We do not interfere with their social structure or their daily wanderings other than during work time. We interact with them on their terms and use their language as much as possible. Aggression and crowding are not allowed and will quickly cause a horse to be sent away from the group, just as they would do themselves with an unruly member. As a result, visitors can safely stand in the middle of a group of formerly feral mustangs without worrying about being run over, pushed, bit or kicked.

When we brought Besol into the group two years ago, it was our second attempt at integrating a domestic horse into a formerly feral herd group. The first was a complete failure as we tried to bring a pen raised and overly human imprinted horse into a completely natural environment with feral born horses. The mustangs reacted as if this horse was from Mars and made no attempt at all to accept him. When we found a home for him in a more civilized situation, not one horse even raised his head as he was led away.

Besol did much better and he clearly was born into a more natural environment and grew up with other horses. The only real problem with Besol was his neurotic behaviors. The herd attempted to take him in, but Besol's constant return to cribbing in stressful situations left the others unsettled and uncertain. They would have accepted him; but Besol's own internal conflicts kept him continually on the outside. Once again, when Besol left not a single horse raised his head or called out.

When we decided to find a new situation for Besol, it was after careful consideration. We would have allowed him to stay on the fringes of the group and live his life out, except that his unpredictable behavior had become dangerous for me following my last surgery. It may seem odd to those who have never been around mustangs; but I was and am far more safe with them than with the average domestic horse. The mustangs understand body space and body respect and even in high stress situations, they will do everything in their power to run around us rather than over us. That wasn't the case with Besol and after yet another near miss, we decided it was in everyone's best interest to find him another home. We didn't realize until he was gone just how much his high stress behavior had impacted the herd.

The group that Besol came into consisted of the Inner Circle of the Quiet Leader, Corazon, his best friend, Llego, and Griton, whom we call the Mustang Police for his order keeping role. On the outside of the group is Valeroso, the little New Mexico mustang who is unpredictable and seldom able to maintain the peace required by the herd. Valeroso is always allowed to come into the Inner Circle, but only if he remains calm and unchallenging. If he begins to disrupt things, Griton will put him on what we call 'time out', sending him up the mountain and keeping him outside the group until he settles again.

Besol was welcomed by the entire group, yet more often than not, he maintained his own 'time out' by staying outside of the group. His only real companion was the always unpredictable Valeroso, and much of his time was spent with his two stress relievers of excess water drinking and cribbing. Contrary to the popular myth, none of the other horses picked up his cribbing habit. The first few times they saw him cribbing on a tree, they came over to investigate, thinking he had something to eat. Once they established he did not, they would often move away and avoid his behavior that was so foreign to them, or even send him away in frustration.

Once Besol was gone, it was like a collective sigh went through the herd as they all relaxed again. When Mike and I talked about it, we compared it to a friend or co-worker that you don't really realize creates tension in a room until they finally leave. The core and heart of our herd is Corazon, whose name ironically translates as 'Heart'. Corazon does not want conflict and will only fight if given no other choice. He does not lead by force, instead the rest of the herd follows because he is wise, fair and generous in spirit. Every other horse is allowed to share food with Corazon as long as they are being polite and well behaved. If they become disruptive, he will walk away, denying them his company.

Llego is the youngster of the group and yet he was immediately chosen by Corazon to be his closest companion. I feel this is mostly because Llego is much like Corazon in his desire for peace and calm. Even though he is the youngest and was the fourth of the group to arrive, he still has taken his place as favored by Corazon. Llego will share food with everyone but Griton, who still jealously reinforces his position of second in power.

We know from the person who had Griton before us, that he was one of what I refer to as the 'Bully Faction', constantly sparing for position and pushing around less strong horses. Griton was one of those horses many people mistakenly think of as the 'Boss' of a group primarily because of his constantly harassing nature. Had anyone suggested to me that a Bully could modify his behavior as much as Griton has, I wouldn't have believed it. It took many months, possibly several years, before we really noticed how different Griton was from the horse who first arrived here. The reason for his gradual change was to stay close to Corazon. Griton could have remained an outsider like Valeroso, but instead he learned to moderate his behavior.

All horses eventually gravitate to Corazon and in order to stay in his grace, they must be calm and non-aggressive. In order to maintain acceptance and a place next to Corazon, Griton became an enforcer rather than an aggressor. These days, unless he is feeling challenged by a new horse, Griton is only a bully to the extent necessary for keeping the peace by sending away a disruptive Valeroso. He is not 'friends' with Llego but knows the only way to stay close to Corazon is to not harass Llego. As a result, the three are constantly together and almost always standing one on either side of Corazon. Griton will not share food with Llego and will move him from his food, yet without any serious show of force.

The Star's Rest band has found a solid balance formed by the triangle of Corazon at the top with Llego and Griton as the base. They keep peace and support each other, taking turns as lookouts, at leading and as constant companions. Valeroso is a satellite member of the herd due primarily to his roguish and disruptive behavior. Any new horse that attempts to join the herd will first deal with being aggressively challenged by Valeroso, then by being cut out and separated from the group by Griton. If they can stay humble and calm and achieve the acceptance of Corazon, then acceptance by the entire band will follow.

I have not had an opportunity to experiment with this outside of our own herd; but I believe if we each aspire to be the kind of leader that Corazon is with our horses, then we can provide them with the stability and balance that exists in the Star's Rest band. This group of bachelors is the most peaceful group of horses I've been blessed to work and live with. There are seldom conflicts at feeding time with each horse going to his own feeder and patiently waiting for meals to be served instead of fighting to be first. Turns are taken at the water trough and mountain trails are kept safe by horses who do not challenge each other on dangerous terrain. I will continue to talk about this in future posts and would love to hear of anyone else's experiences and efforts at being the Quiet Leader for their own herd.

Finding my voice again.

2009-04-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

I've been visiting this Wild Hearts, Willing Spirits © blog and the website that I started just over a year ago, trying to figure out how to get this project going again. The problem, or blessing, is that I'm just not that person anymore and it feels almost like someone else wrote it. In a way, someone else did because dealing with a cancer diagnosis and everything that followed really did change me, and all for the better.

My dear friend, Susan Gueaneau Mishal, who now lives in Israel, told me she has been enjoying the updates on Mio I've been sending her and that perhaps I should begin a diary of his reintroduction into a well balanced herd. Susan is not only my dear friend, she was my riding instructor for many years and it was from her I learned the best of my skills as a teacher. She will also be my fellow collaborator in creating the 'From Thinking to Feeling ~ a mind, body and spirit path to riding in unity.' © program.

I just emailed Susan that I think that is an excellent idea as a way to get my mind back on horses, riding and teaching. Observing Mio as he settles back into a safe and stable herd has been fascinating, in that he is our second mustang to make this journey (Griton was the first) and in Mio's case, he is undamaged by abuse.

So be forewarned that I am restarting the Wild Hearts, Willing Spirits © program with a first Mio entry that I am writing now. I added a 'followers' gadget to this blog so that you can sign up if you want to come along for the ride!

Just Catching Up

2009-02-18T14:12:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe it has been almost a year since I started this website. In early September 2008 I was diagnosed with Stage 3b Malignant Melanoma and the next six months were filled with fear and restructuring of my life as I hoped for the best, yet prepared for the worst. I have had several serious surgeries, the last on January 15th, and I am currently recovering as well as can be expected. The most excellent news is that the last surgery found no additional cancer cells, officially making me No Evidence of Disease. For the next several years I will need to have PET/CT scans and a physical exam by an oncology dermatologist every three months and we hope to find no recurrance of cancer.

For more information about my personal journey with melanoma, I have been posting regularly to my other blog, Life at Star's Rest. As soon as I feel more healed and spring gets a bit closer, I intend to get back to following around the Wild Boys in their mountain adventures, and to get back to work on the 'From Thinking to Feeling' riding program. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has sent me kind words of support...Carmon

Hiatus

2008-08-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

I am officially surrendering to the need to allow my body the time necessary to recover from an emergency appendectomy on June 12th. I have been trying to force myself back into my normal routines, one of which is writing, and it just isn't happening. The posts I put here require a good bit of time and I'm usually tramping around the mountain with the Wild Boys, taking photos and observing. I just can't do that right now and chastising myself for not getting writing done isn't helpful.

I will continue to post to the Life at Star's Rest blog on a regular basis and will announce there when I have begun posting on this blog again, as well as when I get back to writing on the Wild Hearts, Willing Spirits website. I am hoping that will happen by early fall.

Thanks so much for your patience, and here is a very brief video of the boys having a bit of a morning play following a rainstorm...

Uncontrollable Behavior

2008-06-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

Since it will be several more weeks before I can get back to trekking around the mountain with the Wild Boys, I thought I would write about a recent development with our Domestic Newcomer, Besol. Besol is an eight year old Rocky Mountain Horse who had been trained for and used extensively as a high altitude hunting horse. We purchased him in February 2007 to be a horse Mike could ride as we continued to train his young mustang, Llego.

When I went to try Besol, I found a rather high strung, overly sensitive horse being ridden by a novice in a long shank, high port bit with an ill fitting saddle. Add to that the fact he was carrying probably a hundred pounds too much weight and Besol was a wreck waiting to happen. He tried so hard to please me in that short trial ride that I attributed his nerves and hyper-reactions to a long history of pain and lack of rider skills. Even though he wasn't the ideal horse we wanted, I found it hard to leave him in those conditions and we bought him and brought him home to the mountain and the herd.

Besol is also a cribber (windsucker), which didn't overly bother me since I don't buy into the belief that it is a 'contagious' behavior, and I knew I was moving him from a high stress, isolated environment to a completely natural one with a stable herd. The first few times the Wild Boys saw Besol cribbing on a tree, they ran over to see what he had found to eat and when it turned out to be nothing, they would wander away in disappointment. Later, they figured out if they followed him around after breakfast or dinner, they could pick up the food he had dropped. Certainly none of the mustangs have shown any sign of picking up the behavior.

Early last summer after he had a good long period of time to adjust from being alone to being part of a herd, I began to work with Besol. I was very pleased with his progress and felt I had found a real diamond in a sensitive horse with a strong desire to be a trail partner. Unfortunately just as we were getting going, I fell from a mounting block and fractured my left wrist severely enough to require surgery, plates and screws to put it all back together. That ruined the entire summer for riding and I wasn't able to pick up work again until fall, with everything seeming to continue well until we retired things when winter set in.

During the winter I noticed periods of erratic behavior in Besol but attributed them to him still learning to be part of a stable herd. In between his fear driven reactions, he would go back to being a sweet and interested member of the band. The mustangs had taken him into the herd which is something they never do with a truly dysfunctional horse, so I put aside my concerns as being just part of adjustment to life on the mountain.

I was disappointed this spring when I began to work with Besol again, to find that he had regressed a bit from the progress we had made in the fall, something that never happens with the Wild Boys. He had also had dental work and two chiropractic treatments by then to adjust the many issues created by his former owners. He seemed to slowly settle down again though, and I decided he was ready for a short trail ride with several of my students and friends. I felt it was a best possible first time out situation, since they are quiet and respectful riders who I knew would follow whatever request I made to keep Besol feeling calm and secure. Unfortunately, in spite of our best efforts to keep him calm and relaxed, Besol exploded into reaction when a kid in a red sweatshirt suddenly appeared from behind some trees on the trail ahead, leaving me grateful for a lifetime's worth of rider reactions which kept me in the middle of him until I was able to get him back in control of himself, instead of finding myself injured on the ground.

Besol has seemed very much like a human person suffering from PTSD where situations trigger him into reactions of self protection. I came across a recent study done in the United Kingdom on horses who are cribbers. The study found that cribbers have a low number of dopamine receptors in their brains and that learning is difficult for them. They believe this is due to a combination of genetics and early environment. I began researching the effects of low dopamine and also discussed it with my scientist husband. In humans, low dopamine results in memory problems, difficulty learning and addictive behaviors, things shown in my rehab work with Besol.
This bit of information certainly explained a lot of our Domestic Newcomer's behavior, and it also made me feel both profoundly sad and compassionate towards him. Thanks to the Wild Boys, Besol is steadily learning how to be a 'real' horse and he is even learning from Llego and Griton how to substitute play behavior for cribbing to release stress. After Mike and I discussed it further, we decided to allow Besol another year of freedom, just being a horse, before we ask him to interact with humans again in a training environment.

And in keeping with my previous post, 'Intermission', Besol is an example of resistance due to history and now we also know, biochemistry. It is no fault of his, he does the best he can, and this knowledge allows us to look for solutions without blame or anger.

Update February 10, 2009 ~ several people recommended we try a supplement for Besol called Serene. It focuses on supporting the nervous system with B vitamins and minerals and it has made a huge difference in Besol's behavior and sense of calm. Even though I have been unable to work with him due to my own health issues, I feel Besol has turned a big corner in his own recovery.

Appendicitis ~

2008-06-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 5:00 am Thursday morning thinking I was coming down with a stomach virus. I should have known better because I haven't had a virus since 1989. A few hours later I knew it was something much more serious and a neighbor drove me to the hospital with severe abdominal pain and at 11:00 that night, I had an appendectomy.

At any rate...I'm home and so is Mike and it felt blessedly good to take a shower and brush my teeth. I probably won't be posting for at least another week as I recover.

Intermission ~

2008-06-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

I have two posts about herd relationships that are in draft form, waiting for me to find the time to complete them and get photographs that illustrate the behaviors discussed. The problem I am having is the weather is finally beautiful, the horses are calling me to roam with them, and my summer riding school started last week. Two classes a month probably doesn't sound that demanding; but this is an experimental way of teaching riding to adults which requires I actually do a lot of thinking and planning before each class.

I have taught riding off and on for most of the last twenty plus years and have often been frustrated by how poorly traditional teaching methods work with the majority of adults, the methods that are great for kids and right brained, experiential people like me. And it isn't just my frustration as an instructor, it's the frustration of the student who truly wants to learn that got me niggling around in my head to find a better way.

The problem is as kids, most us of learn experientially, not analytically, and riding is a very experiential process. For the majority of people, that experiential 'in the moment' way of learning is gradually replaced with one that is more analytical. Instead of accepting the 'feel' we experience in our bodies, we become more in our heads. We want rules. We need to know the 'hows' and 'whys' before we can experience the 'feel', if we ever can. I am as guilty as any other instructor of saying to a student 'you have to learn to feel', and then seeing their blank look of frustration because I truly am speaking a foreign language to them. And so last year I hatched a plan...to find a way to teach riding that supports how the majority of adults learn.

I first began to ask my rather brilliant, analytical and very athletic husband a million questions about how he learns and processes information. After I had that filed away, I began asking him how he successfully taught scuba diving which is both a very technical and physical sport. With his help, I began to develop an idea for teaching, put together a 'Basic Summer Riding School' plan and sent out an invitational flyer. To my surprise, I easily filled the school and gulp, had to actually put it into practice. It turned out to be an absolute joy. For the first time for me as an instructor, my students 'got it', right away, no blank looks and no frustration. My students were thrilled because they 'got it', right away and no frustration. Some students told me they had taken lessons for more than twenty years and hadn't learned as much as they had in eight classes. Very cool. And everyone wanted to do it again so now I am putting together this year's 'Dressage for the Real World'.

This is turning out to be so valuable and successful that I am collaborating with my dear friend and instructor of many years, Susan Gueneau Mishal, to create a formal lesson program we are calling, From Thinking to Feeling ~ a mind, body and spirit path to riding in unity. © And now that you have the background, I'll get to the point of this post.

I have spent so much time observing and living closely with our Wild Ones, that I began to wonder what it is about individual horses that determines how we work with them and I came up with a list of five influences. For almost anything that we label as 'bad' behavior in a horse, we can find one or more of these things as its source ~

- conformation
- way of moving
- personality
- sensitivity
- history

During our first class we looked at each horse for conformation and movement, and each student filled out a survey to give me a better understanding of how their horse behaved in different situations; and finally, they rated their horse's sensitivity level. I was surprised to find that the majority of students had situational behavior issues with their horses, and most of them ranked their horses low on sensitivity to the aids. This is the kind of information that analytical adults have a hard time sharing unless they have a measurable way of quantifying it. And so I found myself back with my Mustang Teachers, pondering why it is that most of my student's horses were ranked low in responsiveness.

In spite of an early history of abuse, Griton is always soft and giving.

Griton's first adopters were abusive and he has no reason to be soft and giving, and yet he is. He trusts me and therefore if I ask, he gives. Llego is young and just learning to be a riding companion. What might be perceived as resistance, is really only that he doesn't understand yet. By now, our four wild ones and their two human herd members understand there is a two way dialogue happening. Sometimes they ask and we look for answers, sometimes we ask and they seek the right response. My only job with Llego is to watch carefully as he reaches and tell him 'Yes!' when he gets there.

Llego's confidence and trust in his rider meant that he was ready to head out into the world on only his third day under saddle.

Besol, who is domestic born and trained, is nothing but extreme sensitivity and resistance in a variety of forms. He braces against me or runs away from me no matter how softly I work with him. His 'bad' behavior is History, and no fault of his. He didn't grow up in a herd environment where cooperation meant survival and so he has no reason to reach out to me. He was ridden with insensitivity in a high port, long shank bit and a saddle that didn't fit. He was 'taught' to resist in order to protect himself. It will be a long slow process to convince this non-wild horse that he can trust me.

Besol is still learning to trust at the level the Wild Boys do.

As I talked with Susan about these observations, we came up with a list of causes for resistance to the aids...

- the horse doesn't understand
- the horse has been taught to resist from insensitive riders
- the horse has pain in his body and is protecting himself, or his conformation makes it difficult
- the rider is giving wrong or conflicting aids
- the horse is by nature less sensitive

As an instructor, it is my job to help a rider to determine why their horse is not responding, and then to assist them in finding a way to work with their horse to develop sensitivity and correctness, first in themselves and then in their horses.

Things to think about...
If my horse is not responding the way I want him to, does he understand what I am asking? Does he have pain in his body or does his conformation get in the way? Am I asking him correctly and then allowing him to respond correctly? Am I giving any conflicting aids - are my rein aids, leg aids, and especially, seat/body aids ALL saying the same thing? Am I expecting sensitivity but not being sensitive myself? Is there a different way I could work with my horse where he would be more comfortable?

Passing the Banner of Leadership

2008-05-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

Please visit the Wild Hearts, Willing Spirits webpage to learn more about each member of the Star's Rest Band.

Star's Black Lacquer, April 13, 1987 ~ October 22, 2003

The original leader of the Star's Rest Band was Star himself, a big, black 16HH domestic born Missouri Foxtrotter who was the Charismatic Leader of everyone and everything and that included humans. Star wasn't always a kind leader like Corazon, he was more like a rock star that everyone admired and wanted to be close to. He was generous to the weaker members, fair to everyone as long as food or attention weren't involved, and not above playing little power games.

Star with his band of Cuervo and Copper.

The first mustang we adopted was Cuervo Humoso (Smokey Raven) and he was the one who stole our hearts for the wild ones forever. Cuervo was a big, gray gelding from the Sandwash HMA, just like Llego. He clearly showed a strong draft influence in his genetics and had the same laid back attitude of a draft horse. On his first day with us, he followed us around as we checked and reinforced fences, sticking his nose into everything we did and stealing tools and that set the course of his relationship with us...friendly curiosity and consuming interest.

Cuervo Humoso ~ 'Smokey Raven'

Like many horses before him, Cuervo adored Star. He followed him everywhere and courted him with offers of grooming. Star hadn't had a real friend in a long time and seemed to enjoy Cuervo's attention, though he wasn't above torturing him a bit with little power plays. A favorite was to wait until Cuervo had gone into the only shelter for a bit of shade. Star would casually plant himself at the entrance so that Cuervo couldn't get out, then gradually maneuver his body deeper into the shelter until finally, we would notice Cuervo backed into a corner and unable to escape, his eyes wide with worry as he looked out over Star's back. That would be when one of us would step in and make Star release him.

Cuervo and Star bonding through grooming.

Star died suddenly in 2003 and the band members seemed to go into shock, especially Cuervo. At that time we only had Star, Cuervo and a domestic born quarter horse named Copper. Copper had never been able to really adapt to herd life and he was ostracized by everyone except Star. Their grief and confusion was sad to watch until it occurred to us to step in and take charge the way Star would have. With us creating order again, the two settled down and were able to get on with life here, though Copper's isolation was now complete.

Copper, left in isolation.

Like Griton, Cuervo was a bit of a bully and in time, would probably have learned to be a fair leader from Star. Without a moderating force, Cuervo became more aggressive to the others, creating a good bit of stress, especially for Copper. By this time we had added Griton with his own bully nature to the group, giving Cuervo two to run around and dominate. Feeding times were disordered and Cuervo ruled the water trough, often making the others wait twenty minutes or more while he took his time playing in the water.

Cuervo in the woods.

When Corazon was finally gentled enough to bring home and release into his new band, he dealt with Cuervo in his usual quiet manner which meant he mostly stayed out of his way and avoided conflict. Copper the quarter horse, quickly realized that Corazon would give him shelter, as Star had done, and Griton began to wistfully follow Corazon around as his new best friend.

Griton and Corazon bonding in the early days.

For several years Cuervo had been subject to chronic mild colic episodes. A shot of banamine almost always cleared it up and nothing we tried seemed to give a clear diagnosis of what was causing it. Each time we thought we had a solution, another episode would come. In 2005 he started a colic episode that was clearly different and in spite of getting him into the clinic within an hour of it starting, he died just a few hours later from a ruptured intestine. We didn't have a necropsy done but believe he had a tumor that finally blocked his intestine.

Griton and Cuervo

During the week before his death, we both observed a significant change in Cuervo's behavior toward Corazon. He began to court Corazon with offers of grooming the way he had Star in the beginning. He spent more quiet time with Corazon, just standing close and not being aggressive. And the most significant thing we saw was Cuervo standing back and allowing Corazon to drink first at the water trough. At the time, we both thought Cuervo was finally mellowing and settling into a less aggressive role, that he had perhaps realized Corazon could take the place of his lost friend, Star. We now believe he somehow knew his death was approaching and he was passing the banner of leadership on to Corazon.

Griton and Corazon grieving over Cuervo's grave.

When we brought Cuervo's body home to bury it below the orchard next to Star, the entire remaining band of Corazon, Griton and Copper examined him carefully, just as they had done with Star, and then they watched the burial. Their solemn grief was hard to watch as they took turns standing and lying on Cuervo's grave for more than a week. It seemed that we all cried together for our lost companion.

Corazon, Griton and Valeroso

Slowly, the band spent less time at Cuervo's grave and more time doing the things that horses do. There was none of the chaos that followed Star's death as Corazon was increasingly moved into the role of Quiet Leader, with Griton as his adoring sidekick who dominated the life out of Copper whenever he could. After three years, we eventually accepted that Copper was not going to adapt to herd life and we found him a wonderful home with a local barefoot trimmer and he now lives in domestic bliss with other quarter horses. Then we adopted Valeroso, then Llego, and finally bought Besol, bringing the herd to its current state.

The Star's Rest Band as it is today with Besol, Valeroso, Griton, Corazon and Llego

Things to think about...There are people who deny the emotions, social structure and self-aware lives of horses. Those are people who don't live closely with their horses, or observe the significance of their interactions. They are people who have never observed the grief of a lost herd member, or the importance of friendships within the herd. We think carefully before we change the herd structure and dynamics and it was a difficult decision to let Copper go, though he never looked back as he was led away to his new home. We ask many questions about a new horse before we add them to the herd since an expelled horse has no place to go here, nor do we want to create chaos in the balance. Domestic horses seldom get to have lasting herd relationships or friends. Due to limits in boarding opportunities or concerns for safety, too often domestic horses are confined in stalls or pens without even being able to touch another horse. How might you give your horse a stronger sense of community and friendship in his current life? Or ease the stress of a move or change in the horses who have become his companions?

Changing Herd Dynamics

2008-04-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Please visit the Wild Hearts, Willing Spirits webpage to get to know each of the herd members.

Ever since Valeroso's attack on Besol, there have been subtle shifts in the herd dynamics; so subtle, I think many people would not even notice them. Besol has continued to be more deeply absorbed into the Inner Circle and his confidence with them grows steadily, even to sharing food with Llego and being more casual in his behavior around Griton. He is often standing with Corazon when Llego and Griton are off doing other things, and it appears Corazon approves of his quiet demeanor.

Valeroso was on his best behavior for some weeks after his Griton enforced day of exile and he was steadily working his way back into the good graces of the herd. In the last few days though, he has succeded in angering the entire band and none of them will allow him to come close. Besol has taken his elevated status seriously by soundly sending Valeroso off whenever he comes close.

Valeroso is an expert at making himself look like the poor, pitiful pony. You can almost see the big tears starting to roll down his cheeks as he stands in sad isolation. He reminds me very much of a small mustang mare I grew up with, rather unimaginatively named 'Beauty'. We would be out visiting with the horses and Beauty would always be standing mournfully off to the side. Inevitably, I would fall for 'poor Beauty' and bring her over a treat. She would snatch whatever I had and then do her best to bite or harm me. This doesn't mean that either Valeroso or Beauty were 'bad' horses, just ones of a particular nature that require a definite way of being worked with.

The most significant and subtle change has occurred with Llego and is mostly due to his age, approximately six this year. In a wild herd, Llego would now be in full maturity and plotting how to acquire his own herd if he hadn't already begun that process. In a permanent bachelor band, he is beginning to step up into his roll of co-leader. This has not changed his friendship with Corazon at all, no challenges, no skirmishes. In fact, they seem closer than ever before.

The Inner Circle prefers to stand on a sunny level spot in the road next to the bottom gate. This means when we drive in or out, we have to ask them to clear the way. Griton loves to put on his 'police' badge and with flapping lips and shakes of his head, he sends the others off. You can almost hear him saying 'Nothing to see here folks! Move on now!' Since he is never overly aggressive about it and they are leaving anyway, normally Corazon and Llego move off without any issues. Several days ago when I was coming through the gate, Griton did his usual road clearing routine and instead of just walking away, Llego gave him one solid kick to the chest before going to stand next to Corazon. Griton seemed as shocked as I was and stood looking off into the distance trying to pretend the whole incident had never happened.

It will be interesting to watch Llego take his full place beside Corazon in the Star's Rest Band. I have never had the opportunity to observe a group with two bonded Quiet Leaders before. The band has lost two different leaders in the past and both times the survivors grieved deeply and there was a bit of chaos until a new leader was able to step up. Hopefully with two sharing this role, we will have some insurance against any future losses.

Things to think about...horses have individual personalities just as humans do. Some are calm and interactive, some are shy, some are leaders and some are bullys. A horse's personality doesn't make him either bad or good, but recognizing who he is can help us in how we relate to him. The bully, like Valeroso, may need constant reminders about his place in the herd, while the timid horse may need our reasurance to gain confidence and trust in our leadership.

Higher Ground

2008-04-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

Please visit the 'Meet the Star's Rest Band' for an introduction to each herd member.

I woke up just after 1:00 this morning to the sound of wind, thunder and horses’ hooves moving up the side of the granite mountain that climbs above the yurt we live in. Throughout the six years we have lived with our formerly wild mustangs, this journey to higher ground has become an expected occurrence during challenging weather or perceived threats.

During times of threat, Corazon leads his band high up and into the trees for safety.

More often than not, Corazon is the leader in these exoduses and in his case it is usually due to wind. An interesting thing will happen though, in that each member of the band can and does assume leadership according to the situation. There is no arguing about this, the horse most experienced during an ‘Alert’ situation simply seems to say, ‘Follow me!’ and the entire band will.

Valeroso leading the band to the top of the mountain at a gallop during a sudden hail storm.

A good example is Valeroso, the herd exile. No one pays much attention to Valeroso unless he is causing trouble. Certainly you would never expect the entire band to turn and run up the mountain behind him. But Valeroso came from the southern deserts of New Mexico where sudden rain storms almost always mean flash floods down arroyos. Those intense storms that would produce flooding in the lower areas are usually proceeded by hail, then rain so heavy and cold it hurts your skin to be out in it. We are much too high in elevation for flooding, but Valeroso doesn’t know that. His life experience and training by his early herd members says to him…’Storm! Go to high ground!’ His confidence in this kind of situation means the entire band will follow him to the safety at the top of the bluff without argument.

Valeroso and Corazon coming in to examine a bulldozer after I signaled that all was well.

We receive a similar kind of respect from the band when it comes to ‘human’ dangers. This is in large part due to the fact that we show respect to the band for their forms of leadership and relationships. If the herd goes on ‘Alert’ (I’ll be writing about this a great deal more later on), we respect it by falling into herd behavior, letting one of them lead until the threat has been sorted out and an all clear signal given. In return, when a threat appears that is new to the band and human related, we again adopt herd behavior by stepping into leadership roles to resolve the threat for them.

Corazon and Griton have examined the bulldozer and moved on to other interests, for Griton, that is mostly me.

Last summer we had major work done to the road up the mountain and also put in a small arena within the band’s home area. This meant bulldozers, dump trucks and backhoes were going to be coming in and out all day. I didn’t want the boys to be constantly frightened by these activities so when the first piece of big equipment came in, I took the 'alert point' position, then led the band to the bulldozer, touched it and signaled that all was well. From that moment on the heavy equipment became a focus of intense curiosity and interest, even to the entire band gleefully playing ‘tag’ with heavy pieces of equipment moving in and out of their territory. And anything the crew left sitting out during breaks was fair game for examination by a group of curious mustangs.

Valeroso moves on to examining the backhoe.

So something else to think about…what might happen if you allowed your own horse to lead once in a while in situations where he understands more than you do? Would his belief in you as a trusted herd member deepen so that when it was necessary for you to take over, he would follow you with confidence in your ability to lead him to safety?

A wet Griton coming back down the mountain after the storm has passed.

A year ago we had a forest fire less than a mile from Star’s Rest. There wasn’t much wind and I felt they would have it under control quickly, but I also lived in California for many years and know too well how fast wild fires can move with a little wind added to the mix. I decided to evacuate the horses before it became a necessity. I easily haltered and brought in Griton, Llego and Besol and had them waiting. Valeroso receives very little handling and Corazon is still fairly wild with an intense fear of halters and ropes. With smoke heavy in the air and my intent sense of leading them out clear, both horses came to me and easily allowed me to halter them, though neither had worn a halter in over a year. A neighbor came up and helped me to lead all five horses down the mountain and across a paved road to safety, passing houses, obstacles and even llamas with complete trust. Forming a realtionship based on trust and respect of herd dynamics results in horses who are willing to follow us whenever or wherever a dangerous situation requires it.

Corazon is still very much a 'wild' horse, yet he trusts me to stand without restraint to groom him and apply fly repellent even on his vulnerable belly.

Protected by the Inner Circle

2008-04-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

Please visit the Meet the Star's Rest Band page for an introduction to each herd member.

The Inner Circle of Corazon, Griton and Llego in the back, with Besol and Valeroso on the edges.

Over the last year with us, Besol the domestic newcomer, has been slowly accepted by the boys of the Star's Rest Band. He is a fairly typical domestic horse in that his herd skills were not particularly well developed, but at least he had not been raised in a stall or pen and had been socialized by other horses. It was a gamble to bring him here, since the previous domestic horse we tried to incorporate into the herd was pen raised and overly imprinted by humans. In two years he had not adapted to life here and was treated like an alien by the Wild Boys. We eventually found him a more suitable home with other quarterhorses and he is now thriving.

Besol often keeps to himself, causing no problems.

Besol is a reserved horse who minds his manners and is only ever aggressive when forced to defend himself. For the most part, he is content to stand on the fringes and play when the offer for socializing is made by one of the other herd members. By default, Besol became buddies with Valeroso who is mostly held outside of the herd due to his disruptive bully behavior. The Inner Circle seems to appreciate Besol's mild manner and they accept him standing near and will even share food with him.

Besol and Valeroso during the warm days of their friendship.

It had seemed as though Valeroso had finally made a lasting bond with Besol, and we had hopes that his perpetual bully nature might finally be getting the edges smoothed off of it the way Griton's had. Griton came to us just as much of a bully as Valeroso, but quickly fell under Corazon's spell. With our quiet leader, Corazon, keeping the peace and moderating bully ways by withdrawing his acceptance, it seemed that the Inner Circle and the two on the fringes might finally be merging into a more tightly knit group of peaceful members. We had even made comments on how much more amenable Valeroso had become since he finally acquired a friend of his own.

Valeroso enticing Besol to play with a stick.

Recently I was standing on the deck in the early morning and saw Valeroso courting Besol with a stick in his mouth. This is a common activity for the clever little mustang from New Mexico. He will pick up a stick and wave it in the face of another horse to invite them to play with him. Amazingly, this often results in a tug of war between him and the other horse. Valeroso often asks for interactive play behavior and more often than not, it quickly turns into aggression for him. Mike had never seen him stick play and I called him out to watch this unique game of Valeroso's.

Besol responding to Griton's friendly invitation for face play.

Besol had just begun to respond in a friendly fashion when Valeroso, with absolutely no provocation, attacked him, going for the kill bite by grabbing his throat in his jaws. Besol was clearly terrified and twisted and broke loose, galloping back towards the main gate. Mike and I were shocked to see Valeroso spit out a large mouthful of hair, then go after Besol. We in turn took off, racing down to the gate to see how badly hurt Besol was. It is not uncommon for Valeroso to attack, but we had never seen him make such a ruthless assault without reason on a horse who had become his only companion over the last year.

The Inner Circle and guiding force of the band.

Besol came flying in to meet us at the gate, clearly glad to have human intervention in a situation he didn't understand. We quickly examined him and determined the injury was not too serious and in the meantime Corazon, Griton and Llego closed in around us to observe as we cleaned Besol up and medicated his throat wound. During this time Valeroso stood at a distance from us, clearly unwelcomed by the human members of the band.

The Wild Boys watch us with the same intense curiosity we have for them.

During the time they have lived with us, our formerly wild boys have become as keenly aware of our most subtle body language as we have of theirs. As we have attempted to learn their ways of communication, they have also learned ours. We have had it happen that human visitors we don't care for are dramatically avoided, while people we do like are welcomed with warm curiosity. The Inner Circle observed our intense concern over Besol as we took care of him, and they also observed our extreme displeasure with Valeroso for attacking with intent to harm and without defensive reason.

Valeroso kept isolated at the top of the bluff during his day of exile.

One of the most interesting exchanges I've ever observed occurred during the balance of that day. Besol, who was injured, was suddenly taken in by Corazon and Llego. He was allowed to stand within their intimate body space, an invitation that had never been previously extended. At the same time, Griton took up his role of Herd Police by isolating Valeroso up on the mountain for the remainder of the day. Griton's intelligence and adaptability has shown in his willingness to let go of bully behavior similar to Valeroso's, and instead becoming a gentle enforcer. Griton was never overly aggressive or forceful, he simply would not allow Valeroso to come down the mountain and rejoin the herd, even at a safe distance. Valeroso's exile was maintained from the morning feeding until the herd came in that evening for the night feeding.

Besol is now allowed to lie in comfort with the Inner Circle while Valeroso is pushed to the outside.

During the following weeks, we have seen that the small ground Valeroso made in truly joining the band was lost again, along with his budding friendship with Besol. Instead, Besol has been elevated in the herd and by the herd. While he is not yet part of the Inner Circle, he is also no longer on the fringes of it. Most surprising of all, even though Besol was challenged and defeated by Valeroso, his new status in the herd along with Griton's discipline of Valeroso, have moved Besol above Valeroso without so much as a small skirmish. In most domestic herd situations where horses are dominated by a bully, which is often the case, Besol would have had to fight Valeroso perhaps many times to gain status over him. In our natural and stable herd, guided by a quiet leader, fighting and 'dominance' are simply not part of acceptable behavior.

What do we learn from this small drama in the lives of the Star's Rest Band?

~ In a natural herd, the bully is never the real leader. If there isn't a leader in the herd, the bully may dominate everyone but there will be no peace and no real connection among the members. The herd will live to avoid the bully and situations that will provoke him or her.

~ A herd that is guided by a quiet leader will see the value of a non-confrontive member and will exclude a 'dominant' or aggressive member who disturbs the peace. Exclusion from the herd is often death to a wild horse.

~ There are no grudges held by the herd. The Inner Circle seems to have an endless capacity to forgive Valeroso and give him new chances. He simply has not accepted that he must modify his aggression in order to take a permanent place in the herd.

~ By being 'dominant' in our relationships with our horses as we are usually taught to be, we may indeed control them; but is the relationship mutual? Do our horses seek us out because they want to be with us, or because we force them to be with us? Is it possible that there is a better way to be with our horses that is based on cooperation instead of force?

These are all things we will continue to look at with the Star's Rest Band.

The New Website Is Here!

2008-03-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

Please visit our brand new website, Wild Hearts, Willing Spirits which was published for the first time yesterday. It's still an infant but with my time more available now, I expect to make quick progress on the public portions of it. As soon as that is done, this blog will take off as well. Since so much of the new format will rely on video clips, I am also considering moving this blog to dedicated software. Blogger has been less than stellar in its video capability.

Initially, I will be adding past stories about the Star's Rest boys until everything is at an even balance.