Finally Kelly has sent in the next story about those games. He further describes the games he's using to train his human. She is playing with him and it sounds like fun. This is such a good idea as it makes the human training process so much easier. Without further ado, here is Kelly's letter.

Hey Charlie, here is the next report on those games my human is playing with me, but first I have to tell you what happened to me. A while back my human started bringing some small humans with her. She told Shadow's human that they were "grandsons from Topeka, Kansas - Brendon 12, Jesse 11 and Kyle 9", whatever that means.

Well, the first time they showed up, these little critters came running and screaming out of the thing my human calls a "car" and it scared the dickens out of me. Boy, I thought they were going to eat me so I ran like the wind. My human was talking to those little humans for a while and I was afraid she was going to be eaten. Then she came out into the pasture with the halter and tried to tell me that they were not going to hurt me. She haltered me and led me back towards them. It took me a while to relax but she was right. They were skinny but didn't seem to be hungry at the moment. It took a couple more times of them arriving before I noticed that they were using our language most of the time like my human and then they weren't so scary. Whew!

Now I realize that my human was showing them our language and things are back to normal now. That is pretty interesting to think that some humans care enough to use our language and teach their young ones to do it also.

The next time we went to the other place where we have the play-days, the grandsons were with us. The one she calls Jesse came out in the arena and was playing the games with me. I thought that was pretty cool and I started liking these grandsons. Especially when they started doing what my human calls the "friendly game". That one is the scratching and rubbing especially in places I can't reach. The one called Brendon learned how to do the Human Q-Tip game and that is very good! Of course my human had to show him how to get right down inside real gooooood!

Now back to my report. Something I really like about these games is that my human is making them very interesting. Do you remember I told you about the circling game and that I learned it was all right to jump over that log? I wasn't sure about this game at first but now I have to think about things. She is signaling me to do the circle game in a lot of different places. My human took me to the pond in our field a few weeks ago. I was wondering what was going on until she signaled me to do the circle game. I ended up so close to the pond that I would have to go in it if I continued. I stopped but she signaled me again so I went ahead and slowly stepped in. I wasn't sure if that was what she really wanted so I stopped and looked at her, but she signaled me again and I took another step into the water. She let me take it slowly, which was nice because I was scared I would sink and get stuck. I didn't and every time I took another step she would do the friendly thing again. I really, really like that stuff. After I got all four feet in she let me stand and play. I learned from the human trainer's horse, another guy named Charlie, that you have to paw the water when you are standing in it. It makes my human make that funny noise she calls giggling and her face says she is happy so I continue to do it.

The grandsons and my human were over playing with us last weekend and we went to the pond. I knew right away what I was supposed to do and it was much more comfortable having my buddies with me. Actually, it was quite fun. Gypsy likes to paw and splash at the water also and we had a contest. She won because she and her grandson were the wettest. Old Sally even splashed a few times. She usually doesn't like to play in the water but that day was very nice for all of us.

This has taught me that water isn't so bad and it actually feels very good on my hot dry feet. Mind you. I don't think I will go in on my own, but I know that it is okay and it won't hurt me. I'm starting to trust my human more all the time.

Another thing that I understand better is backing up between and over two poles. I was very afraid of doing these things at first because I thought that I couldn't do it. With my human's patience getting better, I'm getting better. At first she would push me to hurry and I got real confused by her erratic body movements. I didn't understand what she was asking me to do. She has finally slowed down and is asking for one step at a time. I now know that she wants me to go backwards over the pole and between the poles. I'm so happy that she made things clearer. And, of course, I get more of the friendly games with every step.

This game playing is helping me feel relaxed and I have noticed that my confidence level is growing. I understand my human so much better and she seems to be developing more confidence also!

Great letter Kelly. Keep up the good work! It sounds like you are making a lot of progress in the training of your human. Please write again sometime and let us know more about your progress.

Until next time,
Charlie Horse : - )