This is Gunter. He is a Norwegian Fjord. He is not used to being around dogs, and had a pretty big spook over Miles in the pasture last week. Today we re-introduced them and let Gunter assess Miles in a more controlled setting.
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| Cautiously looking at Miles while Gunter's owner looks on |
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| Inspecting the dog |
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| Dog tasting - a little swampy. |
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| Friends at last |
Miles does really quite a lot here around the ranch. In addition to desensitizing horses to canine frolicking and yodeling he is very good at calming fractious animals. These photos are a good example of his calming effect on worried horses. He also will explain things to a horse like walking over a bridge by slowly and carefully showing the horse what is expected by demonstrating it himself. The horses, without fail, carefully imitate Miles and thus successfully negotiate obstacles like water, bridges, tires, jumps, and other challenges. His skills at teaching horse to ground tie (stand quietly when an attached rope is dropped under the chin) are unrivaled. He can get the slowest, pokey-est horse moving faster (by leading the way and yodeling "come on!" He never ever nips heels.) He trains my horses for the mounting block by staying at the head and keeping them in a "ground tie" while I fiddle with the saddle and get ready to mount. Then, when we all switch sides so the horse gets used to everything on both sides, Miles trades places with me and HE gets on the mounting block, pats the saddle and the horse with his paws, nudges with his nose, etc. I have him trained to stand on his hind legs and reach up to me for a pat when I'm riding Cole or Cecil. He only does this when invited, of course, as you can imagine what a surprise that would be to a horse who's not accustomed to it.
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