Gab With Gatz: Still as a Statue: My Conflict Avoidance Strategy

Bonjour, Old Sports!

I apologize for my lack of posts of late. I had my usual up and down weekend. One day left! Up or down day? I don't know...

Anyway, I'll catch you all up. Let's see. Thursday was grand. Spode came when dusk was falling and the deer were galavanting in the fields (why yes, my eye sight is sharp. How did you know! I spotted those deers way before Spode did!). No one was around so Spode took the opportunity to teach me something new: "ground tying". It was a little confusing. And when I finally did get the concept, and Spode let me move my feet forward again, I didn't trust her! She picked up my rope and clucked, and I stood like a rock. I said to Spode, I said, "Uh-uh, no way kiddo. I totally understand that I get pets and happy voices when I stand still, and grumpy voices when I move. Nope, I'm standing right here." For some strange reason this just made Spode giggle. Eventually I understood that it was a-ok to move. Ok, haha, very funny...

The only other thing we did together on Thursday was my hairdo. My entire mane was on the wrong side of my neck, much to Spode's dismay. The braids have returned to fix my mess. Spode is a traditionalist. Let's call her the old money type. Baby, my hair is new money all the way--it's all in my mid-Western (cough cough) background! We'll see which side wins (spoiler alert: neither. Read the book, Old Sport!) Personally, I think I'm going to have a split mane my whole life, which means Spode will be going crazy for the rest of my life. Mission accomplished.

After my hair was prettified and "corrected", we played around in the arena for a few minutes until Spode's mum came to whisk her away. Shucks, no exercise for me. How terribly sad. Not...

Look out the window with me, Spode! The Oddity is here!

On Friday, Spode brought me in while the stable manager was there. She told Spode that I am on the verge of FINALLY making another equine friend aside from good old Tyr/Nick C. Amadeus (hmm, that sounds like an Old Money name, doesn't it? Or he is more of a Wolfsheim figure? Note-no relation to my Wolff, who's a good egg and not a fixer!)

Anyway, the stable manager told Spode that I have my daily snooze in the sun with Amadeus, and when he wakes up, he chews on the hairs of my chinny-chin-chin. I don't like this one bit, but because I don't want to start a tussle, I pretend to be asleep. Perfect strategy, don't you think? It works on Amadeus, anyway! Today, Spode decided she does not approve of this new friendship one little bit, because Amadeus is a rude horse. He's very mean-tempered and aggressive towards humans around feed time, and Spode doesn't want me to pick up any bad habits. Don't get mixed up with the wrong crowd! That's the key to keeping my head up in my teenage years. Indeed, whenever I come in the barn at night and walk past his stall, he charges the wall with teeth bared and ears flattened. A bully!

But back to Saturday. Spode was less than impressed with my behaviour. In fact, she called me downright obnoxious (the nerve of that kid!). I fidgeted like a newbie again and tried to bite her when I got fed up with her telling me to stand. I consequently got a slap on the nose. The horror!! Ugh.

When she got me tacked up and ready for ground driving, I was still distracted and not in the mood to listen, but I did eventually agree to walk and trot as directed. Such a bore. I think she'll likely want to do it again tomorrow just to be sure I don't put up a fight again. I was just not in the mood to focus, that's all.

Today was a much better day. I was wet and muddy from a downpour, so she hosed me down and I stood like a pro. Good start for us both. She took out my braids because I was so itchy and then took me into the arena and let me loose to play. And play I did!

Weee!

After Spode had had her fill of trying unsuccessfully to get a decent picture of me, she decided to put the camera away and try something new that I later learned was called "join up". She started making me run, trot or canter, and she wouldn't let me turn unless she said so. And could I stop? Nope! I was a bit confused at the start. But eventually I started to get tired, so I flicked my ears her way, dropped my head, and started chewing. I just wanted to see if she understood horsey language, but I wasn't holding up much hope. But guess what! As soon as I started chewing, she dropped the whip and turned her back to me, lowering her own head. I slammed on the breaks and walked straight over to her. Then she walked forward, backed up, and trotted herself and I followed right behind. She speaks horse pretty well! English lit and horse translation. Not bad, Spode. She was just happy that I understood well before I started to run too much. She doesn't want me to run much in the tight arena space because of my baby joints and fragile, growing legs. She would have had to give up if I didn't start chewing within a reasonable time frame, she told me. It was a fun day. After we joined up we went back in the barn since I had mostly dried off, and we did some more ground tying practice and then I had dinner.