A summer evening with the animals…

Spent some time with the goats & horses tonight. Just being.

I sat down in the goat pen for a visit. Guy decided I needed sloppy goat kisses in my ear, then burped at me. He does that almost every time – maybe some sort of goatie joke? Almost all the does came over for a scratch and to say hello. Princess, the shy doeling, even came over to sniff my fingers and Moonshadow followed her mom over to check me out. Perhaps it’s time to coin the phrase “conscious goatmanship”, as the TTEAM and conscious horsemanship work wonders with the goats as well.

I brought a brush and comb and headed out into the horse pasture. Left it up to Poco and Ben to decide the agenda.

They allowed me to do a few back exercises, comb out some mane tangles, scratch the itchy spots.

I was careful to honor their choices and allow them to move away from the activities as they chose. They both seemed to appreciate the attention, and jogged over for treats later, willing to leave the lush green grass to say hello.

I also spent some time with Lucky, and Foster over in the paddock paradise runway. I was tempted to have an agenda – very tempted. Years of lessons and training goals – versus just allowing the relationship to happen. I ended up just standing with the 2 of them and hunting horse flies. Lucky learned quickly to stand still when the flies landed and keep his tail quiet, so I could kill the fly. Something shifted further in our relationship, just standing and swatting flies. Feels like he is starting to appreciate me and see value in our friendship. He followed me willingly away from Foster and out of the field, so we mutually decided to go for a stroll on this lovely summer evening. We wandered down our country rode, stopping while Lucky ate the best patches of grass, watching the cows over the hill. I held the lead rope totally slack and he kept pace with me comfortably. On the way home, we stopped to chat with a neighbor until Lucky snorted a bug up his nose. Oops! A bit of dancing and then he insisted it was time to go home – NOW. Even then, he was just excited rather than pushy or nasty, and he responded to my gentle request to slow down and was willing to tow me up the hill holding onto his mane. (Did I mention we have a very, very steep hill…)

What a lovely way to enjoy a summer sunset, hanging out with the horses.

Until next time, wishing you peace and rosy sunsets!

Carrie

www.oakhillfaintinggoats.com