It’s been almost five years since Dodger and I started down the same trail in life. I’ve tried to document our ups, downs, and all arounds as they happened in this blog, and enjoy seeing how far we’ve come. Although I see him every day and either ride or play with him at liberty, I’m noticing there aren’t a lot of new things to talk about. This blog may have run its course or maybe I’ll continue to add to it and just miss a month now and then. Not sure which.
I’m so pleased with how comfortable we are around each other now and how, when he’s scared, he wants to be with me but doesn’t run me over. We’ve come so far over the last two years, especially.
A friend commented the other day as she watched Dodger “talk” to me. He was backing up in the cross ties with an expectant look on his face. To someone else, it looked a little odd, but I knew he was telling me he wanted to leave. Because he used to be very bargey out of the cross ties (and many other places), I got into the habit of asking him to back up before he got what he wanted most. For example, he used to barge past me when we entered the arena. Now he stands and waits for me to open the gate, enter and say, “OK,” before he walks, calmly, into the arena. When I feed him his “soup” (alfalfa pellets, carrots and warm water–yum!) each day, he backs up clear to the other side of the stall from where his feed bucket hangs. I say, “Ears?” and he consciously works at rearranging his ears (his left takes more effort than his right–so cute). When both ears are straight up I say, “Wait,” as I pour the soup into his bucket. I turn and check to see that his ears are still up then say, “OK,” and step back. If I want to add something to the bucket and step toward it again, he turns his head away for me to do what I want. He’s very respectful.
We’ve come a long way, and it feels so good to understand and be understood.