They *Do* Get Your Intent!

Very neat thing happened today, showing how our horses can pick up on our intent and respond.

I normally put Cooper out with Starlette in the evenings -  they love each other, and I do not worry about her hurting him, or I would never put them together. Since day one they have been bonded, and even when in full heat, Starlette does not squeal or stamp her feet at him, which is even weirder considering this is just his second year as a gelding, and she does that to other horses.   What is even funnier is her grooming his back and him grooming her leg...and I will get a video of that some day!  But I digress.

Cooper has been naughty lately coming in at night.  He usually lets me walk up to him and catch him, but the last two weeks he's been running from me to graze more.  Well tonight,  he not only ran from me, but all the way back into the big pasture.  Would not let me catch him at all.   I know it's because I have not been giving him the attention he normally gets and is acting out a bit.   I decided to do some free-lounge training with him, and grabbed my lounge whip, walked back to the pasture, and closed the gate so he could not run back to the barn.  Now, Starlette is still out and following him around, and I decided to see what she would do -  she needed the extra exercise, anyway, if she started cantering around, so I left her in the pasture with us.

I get Cooper galloping around and around, and wait for Starlette to also start up.  As I am turning, I don't see her (it is getting dark and I am focused intently on Cooper). Cooper makes the full circuit, and I see Starlette - grazing!  I really expected her to start galloping around, too, but she seemed to know this was about Cooper.  Every time around, he'd gallop right past her, and she never even picked her head up.

We were out for 15 minutes before Cooper decided he had enough and settled down.  By then he was huffing and puffing, and I told him to walk, which he did, around the pasture.  It's about 1/2 and acre, plus or minus, so I had to walk around with him.  Well, Starlette walked too, right behind me.  I wish I had been videoing it...Cooper walking, me walking about 10 feet from him at his shoulder in lounge position, and Starlette behind me about 5 feet.

I just think it's really interesting that Starlette, who has been free-lounged before when being naughty, knew who was the one who was getting worked.  She really picked up on my intent, and did not react at all to what was going on...just observed and waited for us to be done.

These horses continue to amaze me!