Horsenality!

Well, the good weather is gone. Today was cloudy and drizzly all day. But I went to the barn anyways!  I didn't actually do anything with Gwen, tho.  Cool, Star and Gwen were near the fence, so I came over and rubbed on some foreheads. I wanted to see how Gwen interacted with her buddies, so I hung out there for a little bit. It's really interesting to watch them. Cool was very interested in me, and would poke his head over and snuffle at my hand. He seems to be the most people-friendly of the trio. Gwen kinda hung back a little, but she had her ears pointed toward me, and eventually came up to say hi and get her nose tickled. Star gave me a little sniff, but once he realized I had no food (it was about lunch time for them) he got bored and ignored me.

Watching them, it was clear that Gwen was definitely not the leader of that little band. She looks so much like her mama, sometimes it's hard for me to remember that she's not Missy's carbon copy. Missy was definitely an LBI, and she was the dominate mare in the herd. She and another mare, Woodsprite, would boss everyone around. But that being said, Missy had no qualms about leaving the group. When I first met her, her daughter Rosie was being turned out with her. Rosie was already four or five years old, but she was obviously close to her mom still. Rosie would go nuts when I brought Missy out to ride (she'd pace back and forth and call for Missy) but my little mare didn't pay much attention to her at all.  Definitely not the same behavior as Gwen.

Even though I loved Missy, and she will always have a very special place in my heart, I think I'm having more fun with Gwen.  It took Missy and I a very long time to form a relationship. But with Gwen (and the use of natural horsemanship) I'm having a much easier time bonding with Gwen.

And, because it was asked of me (and because I'm darn curious myself!) here is Gwen's Horsenality chart so far.  I don't have a lot of information to go off of, only the three days I've spent with her and her behavior on the trail last night, but I think I can safely call her RBI now.

I also did one for the "positive traits" just to see if that matched up, and it does.

I love my little Gwen! I can't wait to really get going with her.  Still no Halter/Lead yet! Crossing my fingers that it will be in by Friday :)

Also, Carrot Stick and Savvy String are ordered!  I got a colored Carrot Stick in blue (I /aaalmost/ got pink, but since I have some blue stuff, I figured I'd at least match stick to brushes). It was really tempting to opt for the FedEx 2-day shipping, but I held back. So, hopefully that will be in by next Wed!

Until then!

J