Ruffian and Twosox: Friendly game with the bit and bridle and other stuff!

February 1 2011

I also had a chance to play with Ruffian and Twosox with the bit. They both figured out really quickly that there was honey on it and Ruffian, who has never had a bit in his mouth before, was so amazed by it! The look on his face was like he was thinking "Finally Keri has a toy that I can put in my mouth and I am allowed to chew!!" It was fun to be able to watch him explore it and play with it.

Twosox did well and lowered his head nicely and practically put his head in the bridle just to lick off the bit. It was great!!

Ruffian was in an extra playful mood so we played at Liberty for a while. I backed him into the shelter from about 15ft away then after a short rest asked him to come back to me. We did some stick to me, sideways, touch it and friendly game around the legs and tail. Ruffian was connected for the most part except once when he left but he came back and we continued playing.

When we were up in the riding ring Ruffian and Twosox came up and started playing. It was fascinating to watch because Twosox is really starting to show signs of wanting to play. So the two of them were playing really hard, rearing, striking, kicking, biting etc etc all the stuff that horses do when they play.

One thing that I noticed was that they were playing a lot around the chin and trying to bite around the bottom of the lip area. Now what was really interesting was their response, when Ruffian did it to Twosox, Twosox would throw his head up in the air... which is the exact same thing that Ruffian and Twosox did when I first started to teach them to lead by the chin... hmmmm..... how interesting! No wonder! It is a game that they play!! Fortunately they don't do it any more but it is still really interesting!

I always love watching horses play with each other. It is so entertaining and educational at the same time! The amount of persistence the boss horses have to have is incredible!

Naturally,

~Keri