What follows is a dog and pony show version of The Comedy of Errors.
Now this is not without precedent. Miley actually got a young white-tailed deer to play with her this winter, so she has a history of making friends with animals very different from her. Of course, she believes that all other dogs are her playmates (even those who disagree).
Still you can tell that she’s a little bit afraid of the foal. She’s never seen a horse that small and with a body in those proportions. I can tell from her eyes that she really likes him, and she thinks he’s a potential friend.
But she’s still a little nervous, mainly because she doesn’t know what he is.
Some of these shots get really tight. At one point, Miley circles around behind me and runs up to the camera and licks it. The black mare’s head is only about three feet away from where we’re sitting. I actually wasn’t paying that close attention to where she was in real space and time, so when I could feel her breath, I jumped a bit.
I’m on the hillside overlooking the access road. This side of the hill is relatively steep.
The only even remotely aggressive thing she does is let loose an annoyed grunt at the yellow dog.
She’s really a very gentle mare.
And this colt is going to be a fine horse.
He’s going to have a great childhood in the pasture this summer.
I like the foals markings… does the foal have a name? What a wonderful summer.
He’s currently a horse with no name.
But he’s not in the desert.
“On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound ”
Journey or Buzz?
I can’t decide.
oh Miley, you are a textbook in calming language: the looking away, ground sniffing, the (almost) playbow, relaxed posture, the walking in a curve!
http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1
Too bad that little foal isn’t a dog
I didn’t get the full play bow.
She is the queen of calming signals.
I have yet to find a dog that she can’t make friends with. She has a real gift in bringing other dogs out of her shell.
The Jack Russells hated her when they first met her. Now Willie thinks she’s an awesome playmate.
Now, she did get a yearling deer to play with her. Something I’ve never seen another dog do.
Keep that mutt away from my pony. His name
is Chief.
Very nice horse. She’s keeping an eye on Miley, but nothing more.
Unlike my gelding, who will pin his ears and charge a dog if it gets in his paddock. (He’ll tolerate them on the trail, though).
I can’t get over how pretty Miley is.
And that foal! He is quite precious!