Whether it’s a
friendship
or
relationship,
all bonds are built on trust.
Without it, you have
nothing.
Author unknown
Summer has come quickly to central Ohio, with blazing hot temperatures and sticky humidity. It is days like these, that I truly enjoy just hanging out with my ‘kiddos’. During the heat of the day when there isn’t a breeze to be felt, they will typically make their way to the shade of the barn. While Terry went on a ride on Lady Gray, I spent some time with our mustangs. Abi, Terry’s mustang from Nevada, continues to hold the alpha status in our small herd of 4. Image, my mustang from the Pryor Mountains, holds second place within their group. Lady Gray, Terry’s rescue OTTB, holds third place and my Ember, a Pryor Mountain mustang, holds the last place in their hierarchy.
Ember is not one to like a lot of fuss made over her. She is one to just like the quiet of a moment. Imagine my pure joy when she stood still for me to brush out her entire mane. She loved it!
It helped, I’m sure, that when I saw a fly on her face, I shooed it away and then rubbed her face. She caught on quickly that it could be to her advantage that I brush her mane. When working with her, Abi kept wanting to push her off so I could work with her. Each time I saw Abi’s intent, I stopped her, letting her know that it was not her time. Ember watched it all. After the third time of patiently and persistently telling Abi No, I could tell that she finally got it. She just came over to stand by Embers side. We all knew from her body language that she was not going to try to move Ember off. It was a very cool moment. Ember knew that while I was there with her, she could enjoy being pampered by me without Abi interfering.
I left her side and went over to Image to start in on his mane and tail. Without looking, I knew that Ember had followed me and was standing by my side, content to just be there.
Image and Ember are quite opposite. Image LOVES attention and this kind of pampering is right up his alley. He will typically fall asleep when I brush his tail out.
I love my kiddos!
Your relationship with these horses is just wonderful — thanks so much for sharing your experiences 🙂
Image surely lives up to his name! I love those kind of quiet moments of understanding between humans and animals, magical!!! A true meeting of spirits!
Miss you and the kids!!
I enjoy reading about the wild mustangs of the Pryors and how they interact with each other in trusting and nurturing protective ways in the bands. As I was reading your blog about how they are with each other and with you, I found myself thinking of you as one of their herd mates. The eyes and posture as they all successfully endured the river crossing to come over because you called them, I could image a stallion calling to them and getting similar results. Thankyou for Sharing update of your Pryor mustangs. Image appears larger than his father and of course not so beat up and carries a bit more innocently pure face.