Fall has arrived and the trees are changing color. Both Bonnie Blue and Socrates had put on a little heaver coat with dapples showing ever so slightly. The cool days have seemingly invigorated the horse and they want to play more.

A week or so ago I went to groom them with the soft brush. Bonnie as lead mare was first. She brushed out nicely and I moved to Sox. As always I showed him the brush and told him what we were doing. However, on this occasion he grabbed the brush with his mouth and held on tight, refusing to let me have it. So we started to play. Each of us pulling on the brush and shaking it while the other held on tight. After a minute or two, he used his 800 pound advantage and took the brush. He immediately ran off a few steps and proceeded to shake it, spin around, kick, buck and rare up. Then he slung his head and sent the brush flying about 30 feet into the deep grass at the edge of the corral. I laughed, and told him if he wanted to play like that I would get him a ball. So a “Jolly Ball” was ordered that day.

The ball arrived and Rita accompanied me to deliver it to him. We first showed it to Bonnie, but she was totally uninterested. Apparently a ball is far below her station and the lead mare and resident Arabian princess. Sox, on the other hand, was very interested. Right away his over active mouth found the handle on the Jolly Ball and he locked on to it. I would grab the ball and we would tug. Some time he would let me have it and I would throw it. He would walk over to it and pick it up and we would repeat the process. Don’t get me wrong; he was not acting like a dog playing fetch. But, he was interested in playing and interacting with his humans. Since that first day, the ball has been found all over the corral and we have played tug on several occasions.

Sox is a very different horse than Bonnie. Bonnie is the lead mare and intends to stay in that position. Sox wants to move up in the social order but the humans are the only others that he has a chance to dominate. He has repeatedly challenged us only to be shown the whip or given a bump on the nose. So play has given him an avenue to some feeling of power where he can tug and pull on the humans and they accept his behavior. Knowing this is a tricky balance, we are being very careful not to let him get the notion he is dominate outside of play with the ball. That could be bad and dangerous for all concerned.

Every day brings new joys and experiences for all of us. We are all so blessed by one another.