Two Wayfarers

This week has yet been blesssed with more beautiful late summer sunshine and warmth. The nights however are telling a different story and are announcing the arrival of the colder season. As I am typing this the temperatures are down to single figures for the first time in months.

It is time to think about the rugs although their winter coat has began to grow nicely. 'Mr F' is keeping his weight nicely. He also isn't overly anxious about food yet, which is usually a tell sign that they are chilly. The field where they are now offers various means of shelter and with its ups and downs there are spots that are warmer and colder. Its quite interesting to observe where they are 'haning out' depending on weather ... 

The lovely weather has given us many opportunities to go out on our walks together. While the days are still long-ish we are making the most of it so I go grab 'Mr F' as soon as I get back from work and after I have made myself a full thermos flask with tea.

And so we wonder around the region, meeting the locoal people and the odd walkers. 'Mr F' greatly enjoying the attention; "Oh he is magnificent!" - "What a beautiful horse!" - "He is huge!" Even a group of at first quite unruly looking teenage lads went all soft as we walked passt. "Hey miss, I really like your horse!" one said. What amuses me the most is how 'Mr F' reacts ... and this has been noticed by 'Lillian' too ... he just loves the attention. All that is missing is a cheesy grin with a sparkling tooth just like they used to show in cartoons or vintage tooth-paste ads ... 

Again and again I become aware of just how much horses seem to attract us humans for reasons we don't quite know. I am only at the beginning of grasping just how much they do teach us if we would only listen. But more on this another time.

Other reactions are more that of puzzlement ... in particular drivers appear to be wary and slow down even more than when I ride 'Mr F'. I suppose a huge horse that is lead by what from a distance looks like a child may be reason for a disconcerting sight. There is also the odd comment of "Why don't you ride him?" or "You should ride him." To which I politely reply that I enjoy walking with the horse as much as I enjoy riding it. And I do explain a little about his past and that he has done his fair share of hard work as an racehorse.  It's time now for 'Mr F' to see what else there is other than a race course.

Sometimes we leasurely walk, otherties we trott along the grass verges, 'Mr F' always on loose rein. I have a long (I think its about 3 meters) weighted lead rein that is knotted to his rope headcollar. He is very sensitive to it and never runs passed me, he always remains with his head next to my shoulders. If I stop, he does and visa versa; unless there is some VERY tasty grass which is just too tempting, then we do have the odd discussion. While 'Mr F' munches his grass I sip my tea or pick black berries.

Here is hoping for many more sunny late summer evenings.

Early morning studies

And so, as the days go by, all are getting used to the old routine at new places.

As I walk up to the gate I see 'Mr F' just about to wonder off into the distance, the other two quite a bit ahead of him. Upon noticing me he stops and watches what I might be up to while I make why way to the gate. Between us is a main road that goes through the village so there is quite a fair amount of traffic, especially tractors and plenty of builder vans with trailers.

'Mr F' keeps waiting and watching me as I climb the gate with breakfast, both his and mine. As he sees the food bucket he comes tortting up. He still looks lovely when he moves, a little stiff perhaps but nonetheless beautiful. As I walked to them the previous evening I observed some guests residing at the nearby hall, both where admiring 'Mr F' even though he had his fly mask on. He just as got that 'certain something' or "je ne sais quoi" as I used to say in my home country (being Swiss, albeit from the German speaking side). When I look at his photographs when I met him first he was a insecure and quite 'fed up' being, not knowing what was going on.

I think because it was I that fed him up to strength and groomed him and gave him security, he now so implicitly trusts me that it is sometimes quite hard to handle.

In a perfect world I would have my own property. In fact after 'Mr F' I doubt I will again want to have a horse simply because I find it very difficult being at the mercy of other land owners which will of course involve other horses and their owners. And therein lies my concern because by now I have witnessed some seriously ignorant horse handling - as though they are a tool or an object such as a car. You take it out the garage (filed), start it up (tack it up) and off you go. Very rarely is there any understanding of the horses needs, specifically its state of mind needs. Of course they are by no means as conditioned as we humans are but they still have basic needs: health, comfort, food = security and sanity. We all know what happens with horses that do not understand what we wont from them.  I have to say it again: whenever something goes 'wrong' with a horse, it is ALWAYS the humans fault. Either right there or than or somewhere down the line in the past.  Every minute with spend with them they learn something and I wish people would realise this!

A horse is NOT a pet. It cannot be handled like a dog, nor is it an object. A horse is a being quite unlike any others, mostly wild still and yet so willing to be in our company (and I have no idea why because most of us don't treat them well!)

The more I spend time with horses, especially now with the move I am meeting new horses, the more I learn and the more the communication levels change. And I will forever be in awe of these divine beings, because they bring us so much peace if we would just learn to be 'aware' in the moment.

But going back to the feeding before I loose myself in phylosophical matters:

As 'Mr F' is enjoying his breakfast, 'Kitten' and 'Tolka' join as well. 'Tolka' still tries to sneak up on the food bucket but is slowly realising that he won't get anything. 'Kitten' meanwhile knows that she has to wait until 'Mr F' has finished. She then licks out what little is left.

Today 'Mr F' was in a solitary mood and once he had his carots after breakfast, he wanders off into the distance. Most of the time he remains with me for some grooming but every now and then he just wants to be left alone. I noticed that he also gets annoyed with me if I fuss 'Tolka'. He shows this by shooeing 'Tolka' away from me and then positions himself right next to me, his head by my shoulder.

This still puzzles me, almost as though to say:  'She is mine!'.

Eventually 'Kitten' follows 'Mr F' but 'Tolka' still hangs around with me. We both just stand there, watching. He has the sweet habit of resting his head on top of mine, I guess I am just the perfect height! 'Mr F' is by now at the other end of the field where the cows are. 'Kitten' has stopped right in the middle between us and 'Mr F'. She is wanting 'Tolka' to follow, she keeps staring at us.

And so I make my way back to the gate, giving 'Tolka' a little pat on his hinds and he takes this as a signal to make his way towards 'Kitten'. She meanwhile watches me walk away and waits for 'Tolka' to join her, and he does just that; he lightly trotts across the field and then they both wander off to meet with 'Mr F'.

Little events like this are so lovely to be able to witness, especially how they communicate with each other, mostly body language but I am quite sure there is something going on on a deeper level.

It's bound to rain later on so 'Mr F' will have to make do being outside without stable for now, I am sure he'll complain to me later on! But the field they are in offers plenty of trees to stand under if they wanted to and it is not yet cold.

Settling In - In the new role of 'Grand Dad'

'Mr F' is taking up his new role of 'Grand Dad' in his stride. As always, he is very clear in his language. 'Kitten' has meanwhile accepted 'Tolka' and they graze together. 

Even though tiny herd, it is interesting to observe the dynamics among them. Sometimes it's a fine line between observing and interfering ... 'Mr F' quite often looks at me if he has just dealt with 'Tolka'. Instincts tell me that he is kind of saying: "Look, THAT is how you deal with things." - somewhat pointing out that I am not always clear enough when among them. 

There are also scenarios where, for sheer safety reasons, I cannot allow there to be any 'fisty cuffs' while I am near so I have had to sort out 'Mr F' quite a few times because little 'Tolka' (who is as a character growing very fast!) doesn't know where to jump to avoid 'Mr F's teeth ... he can't jump into 'Mr F' and he won't jump into me. That is always a good thing to know; just like with 'Luke' - both putting quite some effort into not stepping on my feet, even when I am ignorantly in their way.

'Tolka' is yet another very unusual character - although I find myself saying this about each of them. Nevertheless, he is a very soft, very inwardly stable and secure character and VERY trusting. So much so that I am quite certain should he evern fall into the wrong hands, he will withdraw and I feel he may then loose his nice and soft attitude. He is a very strong young character, yet very unasuming. He has a great charm and is still so beautifully innocent because he has not yet had to deal with ignorant humans. It will be interesting to see him develop as he grows.

Considering the age difference of 20 years between 'Mr F' and 'Tolka', there is much playing and tomfoolery going on, such as going round the horse trailer that is in the field - round and round and round again. Quite a few times when I witnessed their shenanigans it was 'Mr F' who instigated it all.

 'Tolka' very quickly was included in the grooming ritual. He too would join if I would instigate it. It is interesting to observe how they are 'asking' / 'inviting' each other to do that. 

This is the line up that is a regular occurance by now - 'Mr F' 'pushing' them on from the back, 'Kitten' pushing on 'Tolka' who is the one that has to check stuff out ... they basically send him out as scout. 'Mr F' certainly doesn't want any extra energy used ... he is rather good at making others do the work for him ... including me!

'Kitten' ... she is coming to check out what I might be doing kneeling on the floor with the camera (bug hunting). Of course food is always important ... 

Still makes me smile when I am on the ground because 'Mr F' comes quite close and usually eats right next to me and quite often chooses the plant on which I had just seen a rather unusual bug ... and now I have 'Tolka' doing just the same. Macrophotography with these guys around is tricky! ;)

They will be moving to another field soon, this was just an introductionary field so they could get used to each other and for the move to be as calm as possible for all but especially for 'Mr F'.

So far so good.

A New Chapter - The Move

And so it is goodbye to 'Buttercup Farm' and hello to the new place, for which I have not yet found a name.

4 Days ago I moved my worldly possessions to my new residence in the neighbouring village where I am renting a room in the cottage where 'Lillian's daughter lives. In fact the road should be renamed into 'Lillian' road ... as her mother and she herself live all on the same road just a few houses appart.

I have taken the offer to reside here because I can bring along with me 'Mr F' who is of course my main concern and my responsibility. Along with that there is also the availability of being able to have access to a field shelter for winter where he and his mate(s) can be in the dry. Said shelter is yet still under construction, I have assisted in phase 4, the unloading of said shelter. Hoping for some more dry and warm weather so that it can be weatherproofed once it is put back together.

2 days ago we moved 'Mr F' and 'Kitten' as well and walked them over from 'Buttercup Farm' to their new home where 'Mr F' is meeting new and old (as in: met before) pasture mates.

Unfortunately, on the walk over, we had a bit of a bother with one of the dogs being out of control and as we had to jump a very narrow stream on the short cut chosen by 'Lillian', 'Mr F' stumbled and has hurt his leg. He isn't lame now but he walks on it tenderly. When it happened he immediately lifted up his leg to highlight the discomfort.  I have to see how it develops over the next few days.

'Mr F' has not been in any of 'Lillian's fields before although he has seen them. His first field of residence was just behind the cottage where I now reside. He will be in there with 'Kitten'. Right next to them, separated by a stonewall are 'Tolka' and 'Topsy'. 'Tolka' js a 2 year old youngster and the son of 'Liffey', another of 'Lillian's horses. 'Topsy' is the little horse (now 22) that a few winters ago had to be nearly put down due to some injury. He spent months a 'Buttercup Farm' while having his broken leg healed.

They were to go together the next day. I am always wary when new horses are put together as I have seen several times (and had to interject) when things go wrong. Hence I prefer them to get to know each other while being separated by a fence at least. And considering that 'Mr F' seemed to have just damaged his leg I didn't want him to go charging around.

'Mr F' was a little wary when he was moved into his new field even though his old pasture mate 'Kitten' was with him. We had to walk past 'Lillian's big horse lorry and he was looking at it with a fair amount of concern. He's seen the lorry before and been in it twice. Once in the field I let them get on with it, exploring it all, which didn't take long because the grass was just too tempting. Later that evening I went into the field to feed 'Mr F' and as always brought my own food along too. While the weather allows I feel drawn to the outside and I find great peace in being with the horses.


The first night passed fine. In the morning 'Mr F' seemed glad to see me;  almost as though he thought he'd been abandoned. He came trotting up looking a bit restless, all the while making his little 'snicker' noise when being pleased to see some being/person. The same happened when I came back from work; after I got changed I went straight to him with my cup of tea and he once again was glad to see me, greeting with his usual calls and snickers.

He will be realising eventually that this is his new home. What however became clear again is that he does need a certain amount of concistency. Its a fine line between offering consistency while avoiding dullness / boredom.

'Mr F' himself is extremely consistent, which is why he is so successful in dealing and gaining the respect / trust of the other horses.  He is clear in his body language and there are no misunderstandings.

With the move there are of course new characters and one very interesting character is the afore mentioned 'Tolka'  - a 2 year old gelding. 'Kitten' has been together with 'Tolka' when he was little but  now she does not at all accept his presence!
It is as though she thinks that he doesn't belong to the herd and that he should go and make his own ... she really is making it rather uncomfortable for the young chap! 'Mr F' however has accepted 'Tolka' straight away but also puts him in his place (during feeding).

I do make a point of feeding in the fields with all present, if I know them. Mostly they don't dare going near 'Mr F's food although he has been known to share it! Nor do they interferre with me, especially once they have observed me  handling 'Mr F' who in their eyes is the 'alpha' horse. I do notice this again and again: whatever I do is very closely watched. They watch everything that goes on between myself and 'Mr F' - our little tiffs - our grooming and so forth. It is as though they seem to think "well if HE does what that two-legged being says, we probably should do so too ..". 

In fact I have tested this with 'Luke' in the past rather successfully.

And so I guess if you want your horses to do something, show it to them on your lead horse. It will be much easier to get the others to do it. It doesn't work well the other way round, that too I have tested.

And so, the next day, they all were allowed to be together and seemed fine. 'Tolka' was having a bit of a hard time as he was really pushed into his place. In fact it took a while before the 'old ones' let him come near ...

I have a feeling that 'Tolka' is going to be an interesting new character ...