Mojo has found his mojo!

Who would have thought that 3 minutes of advance & retreat would be such an epiphany for Mojo!

Breakfast: Mojo called out to me as I came down on the bike. As I approached the yard, rather than quietly retreat to the back yard, he stood resting a back leg in the front yard. Although watching ever intently, he maintained his pose while I did a quick muck out around him (the rake right under his feet just like Whorl) & he waited patiently for breakfast. I put their feeds down & retreated out of the yard, to stand against the rail outside where they come & eat at my feet while I have my hands through the railing (not touching...) & my chin over the top, looking down on them as they eat. This has been a HUGE worry for Mojo & he has only had brief moments of bravery until this morning. Something changed dramatically overnight & all of a sudden, it's not a problem! I could even move my hands (still no touching!) without him showing much concern & several times (at LEAST 3!!!) he reached out to me & sniffed my face while he was munching! How cool is THAT?! No matter how many horses I handle, I don't think these moments will EVER get old! :-D

You know what was even cooler though? When Mojo finished his feed, he picked his feedbowl up & played with it! For the very first time since I met him, he looked content & like he'd gained a bit of his old self confidence back (which I have no doubt he had plenty of, in HIS world!) I was SO excited to see him picking up his feed bowl & nodding his head furiously before dropping it & diving his head in to see if he'd shaken anymore out of it. Ok...so maybe it wasn't the advance & retreat...maybe it's just Mojo's love of food that all of a sudden makes me appealing...

Dinner: Well...I knew it was dinner time because the 'Mojo gong' was being frantically struck! I wondered what the hell the noise was?! I glanced down to the yards to see a green gubba doing somersaults through the air & making quite a racket as it hit the ground & got dragged up for the next throw. MOJO LOVES FOOD!!

Whorl on the other hand, couldn't have cared less that it was dinnertime...

...or that I'd ridden in between him & the closest escape route back to the yards. Hhhmmm...'wild' herd animal separated from it's herdmate by a noisy quad bike after only a few days out of the yards? He REALLY couldn't have cared less!!

Meanwhile, Mojo was pacing up & down the yard expectantly, DEMANDING that I hurry up with dinner! I was beginning to think I almost liked him more when he was ignoring me! LOL With no Whorl to protect him in the front yard, Mojo thought it best to retreat to the safety of his back yard while I beetled in & out with water, hard feeds & hay. I got dinner all set up for them & grabbed a handful of hay to offer to Mojo. He started to skulk off into the corner & then thought better of it. He turned to face me, I invited him & he came straight up & cautiously took some hay out of my hand again. The next mouthful was nowhere as tentative & after that, it was all on! We were both taking great delight in him mouthing my fingers very gently & literally taking the very last, single wisp of hay from them. He even gave little contented snorts & sighs as he munched away & with every mouthful, he made the choice to take one step closer until he was standing right next to me, just hanging out with no hay at all. Teeheehee! He then hooked up & followed me out of the yard through the still open gate. :-)

I had to go & get Whorl to put him to bed & he wandered obediently back into the yard & tried to find some food that hadn't been claimed by Mojo. Hehehe. I left them both munching while I got out the rain. SO COOL!! :-D