Down Deer Time

Official Records Information:
Misty
30 minutes
1/14/10
Evening

I went into the breezeway to get a carrot stick and line(s). I had no plan, but I quickly decided in my head that I just wanted to play on the ground at liberty. It is considerably warmer today and the snow is condensing, so I figured it would be a good day to run around. I was putting the savvy string on the carrot stick when I decided to just have some quiet time. It has been a while since I just had quiet time with my horse. I have been so successful, and my horses have done such remarkable things, I figured it would give me a chance to see if they agreed things were going well.

Misty met me at the gate. I only had crumbs in my pocket, so I did not give her anything. She followed me to the back of the pasture. There, I did some back lifts. Then I walked into the corn crib and I sat on the steps. She stood and stared at me for a while and I just sat and got comfortable. She was nosing me, not nibbling, just putting her nose on my shoulder and resting it there, as I sat there. Once, she walked to the West door way and I turned over so I had my back to her. She came back to my shoulder pretty quick! Every now and then, she would perk her head up and look out the door way. I would just exhale slowly and keep my eyes soft (she could not see my eyes, but I believe that the tension you get in just your eyes can cause tension in your entire body. try it sometime. make an angry face, then soften your eyes. you should feel your shoulders drop and it will be hard for your face to stay in that position). She finally sighed.

Later, I was watching out the door and I saw some cats running around in the weeds and bushes. As I continued to observe the scene, I realized that the animal was much bigger than a cat. I continued watching, and now, Misty was in tune and watching to. I suddenly got up and just walked away to see what it was. Misty was on my heels. It was a baby deer. We stood and stared at each other for a couple minutes. I crouched down and stroked Misty's shoulder. Ginger came by and was very high headed and spooked. Misty did not even look up at her. She had a cocked leg and had her head down by me. The fawn and his mama walked away and Misty and I went back to the corn crib.

All this time, she had not left. I should doubt that if I went through the records of all the quiet times I have had, I would not find one in which she did not leave me (both physically and mentally) for at least a small amount of time. Once, after staring out the door and then relaxing, she looked at me, then kind of wandered out of the corn crib. But this was different than usual. She still kept a mental link with me. She checked in by looking at me every once in a while and keeping an ear trained on me. I was just sitting still, hands in my pockets when I felt a whole treat buried deep in the corner of my pocket. I whistled, and she looked up and began walking to me with intent to arrive somewhere. She ate the treat very happily and I found another (!) and gave it to her. We sat together a bit longer, then with two minutes left to my 30-minute quiet time, I stood up and went out to the pasture. When I turned around, all the way on the other side of the pasture, Misty was standing in the door way watching me. I smiled and trotted in place and she trotted to me with great energy, neck arched. She walked with me back to the gate and we parted. It is always sad when we must part.

Natural Horsewoman Out.