After his two weeks in the quarantine pen, Salsa finally got to play in the arena. He had so much fun, and he looked to me a lot for safety and direction, which surprised me! He has been great about being haltered and fed lately, but I didn’t think he was that bonded already.
Not that he is afraid of anything. Erin had the HD video camera so I’ll have better footage soon, but here’s a minute of what I caught on my Flip.
Naturally, after this when I had no camera with me, I let Rocky and Salsa in the arena together, and they were wonderful. Gentle, sweet, and playful together. Salsa followed Rocky around like a puppy follows a grown-up dog it is fascinated with, despite the grown-up dog’s feigned nonchalance. If they do it again tomorrow I will try to capture it.
I am learning so much. Playing with Salsa — which so far consists of friendly game and undemanding time — has already taught me a bunch about what I need to do to be better with and for Rocky. And it confirms for me finally that Rocky’s innate horsenality falls on the introverted half of the chart, even though he’s still pretty mild on all of it.