Tania Kettle

I'm loving working with Mama and the foal.  

Today Mama was like, Would you just go away and let Tania and I hang out? Just goes to prove that all Mum's have their moment.  But all jokes aside, it's good, soul good.  I'm still finding it hard, stopping at the exact right minute but I'm getting there.  If I get 95% of what I want, I claim it, shut it down and walk away.  

I'm also taking a day off tomorrow.  I want to spend time with my horses at home and just generally de-people.  M was a bit huffy complaining that, I'm your horse!  Correct.  But I am still taking tomorrow off.

On another note: I am still wanting a gypsy.  Full gypsy, complete feathers and preferably black and white.  I also want a foal.  However, I now understand that the best horses are raised in a herd.  Which is a bit of a conumdrum because I like to start working a foal at 10 weeks.  And I don't want a foal that everyone has been playing round and messing with.  I don't mess up my horses or foals but I don't trust anyone else not to.  

But in having said that, I have people ask me, How can I agree with raising a foal in a herd yet play with a foal at 10 weeks?  

Excellent question, 99!

Raising a foal in a herd teaches them how to be a horse - to learn discipline, manners, heirachy etc which is really important.

I go in at 10 weeks, the time where the horse/human door is open but unused.  I teach the foal how to voluntarily walk through that door and communicate openly and freely with a human.  To want to be with a human.  To partner up and learn but I do not teach anything like walking, trotting etc.  I just open and keep open, that beautiful horse/human door.

So, I'm talking with a girl friend who runs gypsy's.  They run in a herd - tick - and they are beautifully natured - tick.  She doesn't let humans around them - tick - and doesn't play with them herself - double tick.  But all jokes aside, she's good with the horses, I just don't want anyone playing with mine.  She is open to the idea of me going up to see and play with my (potential) foal on a regular basis but the foal has to stay with the herd for a full 12 months.  There's lots of things to be worked out so we are only in the very, very beginning stages but you know that old warthog, From your lips to Spirits ears.  

Had a slight Boo boo with my food.  I forgot I hadn't had dairy products for almost 12 months, had a craving for chocolate hot cross buns with bucketloads of butter so went and had one.  Or three.  Hey! Don't judge! I had unloaded by myself 3 ute loads of firewood.  

Anyway, moving right along, had the buns and the butter and it took me until 2pm the next day before I felt hungry again.  My body was clogged and the Energy was sluggish.  

The things you don't realize you don't know, eh?

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Ok, well that, I'm taking a day off worked well.  By 9am I was sorting out stuff for my horses and was back seeing everyone by lunchtime.  

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I went to the sales to get some calves this morning and Hello! no calves to be seen.  Apparently, Just because.  Which didn't go down too well with either me or the lady explaining that to me because things got a little warm.  Well, seriously, if first you do sell calves and then you don't then I am well within my rights to ask, Why not?  And to be fair, I had brought calves from there before.  No matter what she tried to say.

And then there was the Lantern Festival.

Super cool.  I think it's really magical and love to go.  Lots of people (they expected over 200,000) go now so we were there for a few hours and then the Energy got too loud for me and we left.  

I love having a life where I can say, The Energy is too loud for me, I need to go and it's not a big deal.   But then again, it's not.

And I loved the dumplings and lychee juice but the biggest and tastiest surprises were the bbq squid with the most delicious sauce and toffee strawberries.  

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So, that's been our week - lots of horses, a little bit of magic and bucketloads of food. 

Wishing you much love my friends and of course, my humans.

Caps, me, Spirit, Az, Ralph, Chew, Suzie Q, Buzz-the-bl**dy-Bull, Fenny and Flash

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* Az and I still can't get this right, which is weird.  However, on a funny note, we were trying again this arvo, it wasn't working so we stopped and had a cuddle while we contemplated stuff.  We got nothing.  Then we moved apart. I was just standing next to Az not wanting to finish on nothing but not wanting to continue doing stuff wrong either and the next minute, with no movement from me whatsoever Az starts doing what I want, how I want in the way I wanted.  

Then he stops, turns and looks at me.

Nice. 

It's me that's got it wrong.

** You have to love my TB, Caps.  So, I decided I wanted to play with him today and usually he's up for it.  Today, he decided, Thank you, but no. I wish to be a horse and hang out in the paddock...in peace.  Normally, that's fine but it just worked out that I had the lead and halter in my hand before he told me this.  Which meant that I had to halter then lead him out of paddock.  I have a rule that you never have to play if you don't want to but you have to tell me before I come in the paddock with the halter.  Because all the other horses are watching and it sets a bad example.  

Caps must have forgotten that though because he decided to move every time I got close.  Nothing too big, I mean, he didn't gallop off but it took us 17 (17!!) minutes to move one paddock, then another 6 to get through the second.  Lots of tussles...

Lots of putting his head up and over me, pretending he didn't see me and when that didn't work, lots of narrowing of eyes and that stubborn set of the jaw.  

We got half way through the second paddock and then he finally gave up, *sighed* (that's literally) and then walked meekly out the gate.  Of which time, I promptly turned him round, took him back to the original paddock and let him off.  

I know, I love him too.

*** Photo's not actually of Caps as quite obviously, we were busy at the time.

**** I've started grooming my outside horses in the paddock.  I love doing this and it's a truly Spiritual experience.  Mostly because if you can get your horse to stand still with no halter or lead rope and want to be with you, you've hit a level with your horse.  Well, anyway, I was doing Mama this morning and the little one was like, Tarn, Tarn, I want a brush and kept popping his head all round the place.  Over Mum's head, under her neck, over her back, round the side, next to me showing his butt on one side and then thinking I wasn't getting it, turning round so I could see his other butt side, and both Mama and I ignored him.  His door is open now so he needs to start using it.  He needs to start communicating his wants and needs to me.  Not demanding, communicating.  So, Mama and I kept on grooming, we both ignored him, then I left.  Should be interesting tomorrow.

And Missy is just blowing my mind.  So, here we had a horse who wouldn't stand still for love nor money, would kick if she felt like it and was generally a pain in the a** if someone wanted to touch her.  Yet here she is in the paddock, coming over, standing still, being groomed and she is just beautiful.  

Could be she took a minute to think about things after banging on about how, I'm your horse! 

Anyway, I rocked up the day after that conversation and explained to her that if she was my horse then she better come over and be groomed because that's what I do with my horses.  And there we are.  Talking, chatting, grooming. No halter.  No lead.  And if it wasn't me telling you, I wouldn't believe it.

I can't believe how lucky I am some days.

***** Ooooh almost forgot, am going to try and house train the mini's again.  First effort was unsuccessful because I couldn't find mini shoes and stockings/socks didn't work.  However, I've been talking to one of my American Mini Therapy girls and am going to buy some sneakers from where she does in America.  

I mean, Ralph and Chew are well trained but my American girls have got game.  They've really got it going on.  

And if they can do it, so can I.