Falki hasn't been as willing to be hugged and handled as much here as when we were together at Karen's and the clinic. Yesterday I got some light shed on his 'personality' changes. I went out to the pasture to put some stuff on my mare's hooves. She has a crack that doesn't seem to want to grow out and the farrier suggested treating it as bacteria or fungus can be part of the problem. After finishing her feet, Falki followed me towards the woods and we were heading past our 'round pen'. I made our round pen with t-posts and two strands of electric tape. He followed me in and I fumbled with the strands to get the pen closed. By the time I got us closed in the pen, the other two horses were there, watching. I had nothing with me except a few treats in my pocket. Falki is great with head down and backs when I move towards him. I was trying to get him to move forward with me and step away from pressure. He was doing well and I noticed that he was relaxed and dropped. The only other time I noticed him being dropped was last week when I was holding Gloi for the farrier and Michael was petting Falki. Michael commented then that Falki needed cleaned. With Falki being so relaxed, I decided to take the opportunity to see if I could get all that flaky stuff off him and check him for a bean. He was very good and very relaxed and let me clean him as thoroughly as one can without any supplies. FYI, wiping you hands on the grass before you hand them a treat is not clean enough by horse standards. I've seen less face making after giving a wormer. I'll bet anything that Falki was as relaxed as he was because Gloi and Cassie were on the other side of the fence. Gloi and Cassie aren't mean to him, he seems to have moved up over both of them and I see them eating at the same hay pile, but still he must be a bit worried about his status in the herd. I'll have to be certain that I have him away from the other horses to work with him or wait until I see more signs of relaxation. Even being a bit more reserved, Falki is such a sweet boy. Michael's new nickname for him is Hershey because "like chocolate, he's sweet and dark brown" .
-- Anna Southern Ohio
