32 Days  - 
Happy One Month to US!!! 11/13/2020

Lilly hanging with her herd in their pasture. 

Lilly Saying Hi to me

Lilly going back to her herd - "I love you Beryl," Lilly says. Based on her behavior, I think Lilly has adopted Beryl as her "mom." It is very cute. Beryl is tolerant of it.

Beryl coming to say "hi" to me and see if my phone is food. 

Pluto is VERY close and also thinks maybe the phone is food. 

It has been a month of many new adventures. I can not believe it has been a month since Lilly arrived. We have learned a lot. We have built our relationship. I am so proud of the work we have done. We still have a ton more work to do - but the best part is, is that we can do it together. My dream of owning a horse is even better than I imagined. It is also full of lots of learning opportunities for me. I have learned so much about myself as a human. I have also learned a lot about what I need to learn. This is a journey I am looking forward too. So thank you sweet Lilly for being my partner on this journey. I know I will be an even better human! 

My areas of strengths as a human are empathy and compassion. I want to have a relationship with my horse that brings joy to both of our lives. 

My area of weakness as a human is insisting on my personal boundaries. This is something I must have in my work with Lilly as well as my life. I struggle with boundaries. I struggle with creating and enforcing boundaries in my personal life. I want to help people. But often do it at the expense of myself. So making sure I love myself as much as I love other people is going to be part of this journey. Making sure I love myself as much as I love Lilly is going to help me practice this in my life. 

I am excited to see what the next month and years have to bring. Today I am just going to enjoy the time with my horse. I am going to be present and relax and breathe. I am going to be as kind to myself as I am to others. I am going to give myself permission to make mistakes just like I give my animals and humans in my life that same grace. I am learning - just like Lilly is and together we will learn together.

Lilly seeing me in the morning

Lilly seeing me in the afternoon - I love her reaction. 

I have been working with Pluto and the other horses in the pasture to help me be safer when I am in the pasture with them. Pluto is a very "marey" mare. When I first met her they told me she is very bitey and she always pins her ears and chases the other horses away. She is very bossy and will push the other horses around. I was a little nervous about her. But watching the videos on how to engage with nippy horses I decided to try it with her. Lilly is not nippy so I haven't needed to engage with her in this way. Well I have been doing it for a few days and today was a HUGE breakthrough for Pluto. She did lots of relaxing and letting go. Lots of licking and chewing. She did not pin her ears at me and she even followed me as I was leaving. She loved the scratches and the engagement with me. She is even being "nicer" to Lilly. It is working very well. She is a sweet horse. I think she is lonely. I have only seen her owner out at the farm ONE TIME this whole month. I know she could come at different times when I am not there. But I have only seen her once. So I will continue working with the other horses - because they will be happier and more content and that translates to Lilly having a better and more adjusted herd to hang out with.