Undemanding time - Day 3

Savvy Arrow #4 Protecting your herd of 2

Within two minutes of sitting down Jeepers' girlfriend Dreamy came over to check me out. Up to this point she has taken a few steps but not come over. Starting at my boot nibbled and lipped me to the top of my head! Even tried to take a bite of the chair. Then wandered back to Jeeps.

The paddock is actually a large rectangle that is divided into four with a roofed structure in the middle. Usually when I get there Jeepers is standing with her head into the corner of the shelter. She's in the shade and it is the coolest place and therefore least amount of the small black bugs.

On Day 2 I noticed that she actually stepped even closer to the corner - her butt is my way while I sat. And Dreamy seems to be between me and Jeepers.

Today I have to say there was a break thru! After Dreamy's visit 25 minutes passed. I'm sitting in the sun, facing away from them. I have to turn my head to see what is happening. I am dozing and hear some rustling. I glance over and Jeepers has turned around!!!! She is now facing out of the shelter!!!! I realize I have to contain my excitement. LOL. Inside I'm yelling yes yes yes! She is parallel to me, but with her head behind the support post so that I do not have a clear view of her.

Go back to looking away and close my eyes again. After a while I glance over at her and I can see her nose is now on the other side of the post. It takes another 20 minutes before her whole head is clear.

Now here is the interesting part to me - when Zone 3 clears the post - another 10 minutes - she now WALKS directly in a straight line to the fence. All I could think of was Linda's trailer loading from the LHB. She nibbled grass for a few minutes, was very animated - unconfident? And then walked back to the security of the shelter and her girl friend.

I sat for just another couple of minutes and left, to released the pressure. So just by sitting in her paddock I am putting pressure on her. Hmmm how interesting.

I used to sit in her paddock and she would graze all around me, wanting especially the grass that was under my feet. That quiet time was over a year ago. And there has been a lot of disruption, angst, and emotional upheaval in our lives in the interim. I realize, now, that I have been getting her from her paddock, taking her away from her girl friends, doing something and then putting her back. No time for just the two of us - protect your herd of 2. As I have been sitting, she has made it clear that she is suspicious of what I want, what am I going to do. She has all the time in the world as she made apparent with the slow reveling herself, as opposed to my thinking I have only so much time to spend sitting. She taught me a very valuable lesson today. I can't wait for tomorrow to find out what she will teach me next.

No assumptions, no expectations. How much more Zen can one get?