Whisper has been here for two weeks now and is getting to know some of the other horses. On Saturday he made the acquaintance of my mare Spice. Spice is feeling exceptionally friendly right now and was eager to rub noses over the fence. They ‘talked’ for a few minutes then she and I continued to the arena for our ride.

Yesterday Whisper and I went marching. We work on groundwork for three days; on the fourth day we wander through the hayfields and brush sometimes going most of the way up to the rimrock. Yesterday we did the hay field tour. We’d walk for a bit then stop and graze a bit then move on. We met the horses on the next property – he was very interested but kept his distance as did they. On this walk instead of plodding along as he usually does he moved quickly and mostly kept his head at my shoulder. A couple of times he was actually a step ahead of me. Going back was a different story. For some reason he was nervous traversing the area we had just been over. I know, different direction, different brain. He had never seen this before. Anyway, he stopped several times to reconnoiter and was hesitant about moving forward. Translated, there was something waiting to eat him behind every blade of grass and no way was he going there. We continued this way until we came in sight of Spice’s pasture. All of the sudden she whinnies to him. He throws up his head and answers her. She answers back. Problem solved. He starts moving along smartly again without a care in the world. Who knows what she said (probably ‘come hither’) but whatever it was laid his fears to rest. Horses are such fun!