Pony dreams

When the Native American's saw their first horse they called him Sunka Wakan--Spirit Dog. Many people that own Spanish Mustangs, or Colonial Spanish horses say they are dog- like in character. They are loyal, trustworthy, and often choose their partner to bond with.

It was a quiet and sunny afternoon at The Center. The horses had finished their breakfast and were milling about, picking up scraps of hay off the snow covered ground. I walked into their pasture to give everyone a little scratch. Then I had the idea to do a little experiment.

I wondered how long it would take for me to stand amongst the horses until they laid down and napped in the warm sun. I had a few hours before I had to leave so I had time to wait. There have been a number of experiences over the years owning these horses where I've been honored to stand guard for the herd while they stretch out and sleep. At first, it seemed like a coincendence, but the longer I studied horse behavior I realized that these weren't coincidences at all.

There are 7 horses that share a pasture. 3 of them were standing with locked knees and eyes shut. Their heads hung low to the ground. I knew they were out cold already. The other four were wandering around. I stood near Morado, facing the direction the others were standing, and cocked my foot and hung my head. I waited. I waited. I waited about 5 minutes then saw a herd of seven deer wander out of the woods a few hundred feet from the pasture. Minko was the only one that noticed them-or cared. He watched them without concern as they hopped the fence and walked through the pasture, and up and over the fence to get out. The last little deer tried to walk through the fence, got caught, then backed up and jumped over it-then caught up to his friends.

When that spectacle was over I lowered my head again. Morado folded his front legs and went down. Lower lip resting in the snow, he fell asleep immediately. He started twitching and made little nickering noises as he slept. He wagged his tail, his hooves wiggled, and his ears moved back and forth. He was dreaming of green pastures I guess.

A few minutes later Adelantado walked over and stood next to me. Then he folded at the knees and laid down . I had to step out of his way or he would have laid on my foot. Once he was settled into snooze mode, Ringo, who had been practically swaying in the breeze while asleep on all four, came next to Adelantado and laid down. My experiment was working and it didn't take as long as I thought. Next down was Minko, much to my suprise since he's at the bottom of the food chain. He laid next to Adelantado. (Not a good idea.)

I walked over and scratched Adelantado as he slept. He was flat out by now- and I got to check the bottom of his hooves while he slept. I slowly walked toward the gate to leave and Morado got up. He woke up Adelantado who noticed Minko right next to him and that made him angry so he leapt up and bit Minko. Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the corral! Ringo got up, and Oscar took his place. Good ol' Oscar, does his own thing in his own time.

I was pleased to see that after such a long winter of what felt like no bonding time with the horses, they still trusted me enough to watch over them. It is a privelege to be owned by them.