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December 14, 2018: Rapport

More snow today. We aren’t getting any more big dumps, just the stuff that comes down lightly, on and off. An inch here, an inch there, it adds up because it stays. It’s here now, until May. This is five long months away.

I am making the best of it, mainly by getting out when it’s daylight. Notice that I did not say when the sun is shining. The sun, when it might appear, would be low in the sky. Might. Odds are that we won’t see any more sunny days until February. This is what you get when you sign on to live in Alaska.

So I did my body awareness work this morning, torqued my back again. I’ll always remember this as the winter in which my right side lower back was tweaked. I know it will get better – fortunately, working out and keeping active are the best things for this sort of thing.

After, I first took Tinni for a walk. I let him off lead about a quarter mile from home and he cantered back to the turn into our driveway. I found him with his nose in the feed bucket. I’m glad he’s feeling good – has to be the addition of the new supplement, California Trace, to his diet.

Frosty Tinni
Frosty Tinni

I next prepared Hrimmi for ground driving. I ended up putting the bareback pad on her and tying baling twine to the D rings, then threading the driving reins through the twine. I also put her bitless bridle on her. And off we went. It was my doing, it took a few minutes for me to have the reins in hand and her pointing in the right direction. We made it to the road. Then when all was in readiness I told her to walk on.

Hrimmi headed out in a straight line and was all business. She moved at a brisk pace with clear intent. We got down to the corner where there were plow trucks and about eight cars. She wove her way around the mess, looking from side to side once in a great while.

We continued on and she did not waver. We met up with a pick up truck and a pick up with a plow when we came to the Sybarite/Murphy Road turn. She hesitated – I think she was considering touching both vehicles and seeing if I’d give her a treat, but I kept her going.

A few minutes later, and we were home again home again. I was so proud of her. The question is, did she know this? Do horses sense when they’ve done a really good job and their teachers feel a sense of satisfaction? I have to say that I think yes, although I don’t know for sure.

I don’t believe we have relationships with horses. Humans have relationships with other humans. We do develop a rapport that’s based on understanding, trust, and effective communication. And I fully believe that the more one interacts with their horse or horses, the stronger this rapport will be. Spending a few hours a week with one’s horse just does not cut it. The owners may think that the rapport is there, but it is not.

Hrimmi was born here and we’ve done all her educating on site. She did spend some time at a local place when we did our second long pack trip. But, and I think she’d agree, she was then in a holding pattern.

No holding patterns here, just a whole lot of rapport going on.

Next: 349. 12/15/18: My FELLOW Human Beings

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