This message is from: saskia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi all!
today was the first day with sunshine and no rain in Belgium since ages (since
February) and so, at last, I was able to retreat for a longer session of
Sybren-ing in our little paddock.
Boy!, he is really unbelievable! As I told before, he's a real pot of glue, but
also he's becoming very stallionish (nearly one year old) and tries to dominate
(not the other horses, he's the lowest in order - but me) and it was urgent for
me to get him a little bit more under control...
I went in the paddock with him (no halter) and a rope. He glued to me, so I
swung the rope. The first ten times, he got the rope on his nose and the only
thing he concluded was that he had to snug even closer to me...
So I took a more decided air. I began throwing the rope at him, softly, against
his sides. At last that made him move away from me. As Hempfling showed on the
demonstration I saw by him, I immediately took Sybrens place as soon as he'd
moved to show that I didn't just chase him, but that I needed right that place
for myself.
After some playing around like that, he moved as soon as I lifted my arm and I
didn't have to throw the rope anymore... hèhè!!!
Then we played the "friendly game" which of course he enjoyed very much. But it
was nice to notice (also when I brought him his food, ten minutes ago) that he
was so much easier to handle... Kitty and Janosch used to wait patiently for
their grains and hay, but Sybren literally threw himself upon me, these last
weeks. Not today. I lifted my arm and he backed up and I could feed him
quietly! Pyooh!!!
My "exercises" with Sybren took about 15 minutes. As he's still so young, I
don't want to do much with him, but I think I should spend 10 to 15 minutes
with him every day with this kind of games (of course I spend a lot more time
brushing and grooming him - bchfr! bchfr! my mouth and nose are full of long,
soft white hairs). It's funny to see how his colour changes. He had a white
foal-winter-coat and is getting a lot darker.
And today I got my driver's license!!! :-) and my first trip was to see Flor,
my secret-love-Fjord. He was even more cute than the last time and pretended he
recognized me... (he's a very sweet guy). I wanted to ask how much money they
want for him (he's for sale), but I was too shy... Maybe I can send a fax???
I was surprized about the prices of Fjords in the States. You can easily buy a
Fjord for 1.000 or 1.500 $ here. A normal Fjord I mean, because of course you
can find Fjords that cost $ 3000 dollars and more - but not much.
O, I will be seeing a demonstration by Pat Parelli on Sunday, so if anyone
wants to ask him something, I'll be happy to be the messenger...
happy Fjord-things!
Saskia
from Blanden, near Leuven, Belgium: Saskia and Sybren, Kitty and Janosch.
