Not a very nice week weather wise, or at least, not on the days when I was able to get the horses out. We have a new car so it got the garage space where I used to shelter and tack up the horses so I'm having to change my habits and prepare them near the woodsheds and field shelter. I had just got them ready for a hack on Thursday hoping to dodge the rain, when it poured down. So we headed for the field shelter. Not Lucie's favourite place at the best of times - she will use it in summer, for shade, and allows Fina to stand in it with her to keep the flies off her face. On a wet and windy day, Lucie would rather stand out in the rain; well, not even stand because there are scary noises out there which need keeping and eye on. So while Fina, who I think was delighted to find she could stand in the shed unchallenged, and I sheltered from the rain, Lucie fidgeted about on the end of the rope and got wet. I treated it as an exercise, allowed her to move her feet when she needed to, not trying to make her stand still or come inside until she offered to, then allowing her to float out again when she felt insecure; she did accept to stand with us for a while.
Once the rain stopped, we had a quite a nice ride and lead, both horses happy to get out and get moving. Later we came to a fallen tree which I had to get off to move; the horses waited patiently but once again Lucie's horsenality got the better of her, she thought I was taking too long and it would be quicker if she did the job herself and only managed to get entangled in the branches... I took this photo when I got off to move the fallen branch, and before Lucie got bored of me taking photos and broke ranks...
Just a couple of examples highlighting the different horseanalities of my two mares, and how for Seraphina, standing still is a comfort, while for Lucie it is often a trial and brings on anxiety and the need to move her feet. Being in an enclosed space is hard for her.
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