Wilma enjoys Marieh's lesson "Stand Right There"

Wilma stood quietly in the aisle, watching her granddaughter, Marieh, struggle with a new game. Called "Stand Right There", it's all about keeping your feet quiet and letting Human Boss Mare call the shots. She chuckled. It was an easy game, if you let someone else lead, and Marieh was struggling.

Marieh had been the decider about what her own feet did for so long she just wasn't sure what this game was all about. Wilma knew how she felt. After 13 years as boss mare of her herd, giving up control to Human Boss Mare had been a stretch. But she had done it, and she felt good about it. Being a partner and having a leader she could trust took a lot of the pressure off her, and she could enjoy life and let someone else worry about the rest of the herd. Ahhhhh, bliss!

Wilma watched Marieh step forward, and be politely backed up. Marieh paused in the right place for beat, then stepped further back, and was brought forward, right back where she started from. Then she put her head down and stepped forward. Well, that wasn't working either, there she was, back in the starting place. Human Boss Mare's feet weren't moving too much, and Marieh was working pretty hard and pulling out the stops, moving this way and that way, taking her feet off the concrete and back on again, head up and down, rear end swinging this way and that, trying to win the game. Wilma could have told her not to bother, but it was much more fun watching the action.

Eventually, Wilma saw a small lightbulb go on over Marieh's head. Marieh had figured out that if she stopped moving her feet, she didn't get asked to go somewhere else, and she even got scratched on her favorite spot, her belly! Marieh held her feet still, enjoyed the scratching, and started licking and chewing, mulling the whole thing over. 60 seconds went by, an eternity when you're holding your feet in one place for the first time. Human Boss Mare gave Marieh a final scrub on her belly, told her how good she was, and turned her loose. Marieh wandered off, still licking and chewing and wondering what the heck had just happened. Had she won or lost? She hadn't moved her feet, but she HAD gotten a nice belly rub.....

Wilma's heart swelled with pride. Marieh was smart, just like her. Yep, those smarts ran in Wilma's family for sure, and the best part was, Marieh figured it out all by herself! Ahhh, bliss!