Boogie - my little filly, by Chickabar Gold is coming along so, so nicely. She is still under 20 rides - she had a big rest while I went to the Australian Natural Horsemanship Study Centre to study for a 2 week supercamp in May. Since returning I have put a few rides on her and she is just coming along in leaps and bounds!
Ride number 16 for this girl was a 22 km endurance ride. She vetted in perfectly and handled the ride like an old pro. It was a number of firsts for her - first time in a float for over an hour, first time to an outing / event, first time on a ride that took 3 hours, first time meeting all those strange horses, and first time staying overnight away from home.
And she took it like a trooper! Better than that, she didn't even fuss! There were seasoned horses on this ride, that carried on bucking, rearing and the like, and my girl just rolled an eye back to me, I gave her a reassuring rub & told her she was going to be just fine, and thats all she needed. She trotted and cantered alongside strange horses, up hills, through water, down slopes all in a days work really!
After seeing her perform like this, on a ride where a large percentage of horses really couldn't handle it that well, It got me to really thinking about our starting program and what a solid foundation it puts on our horses. "The first ride on a young horse is not just something, its everything" - this quote has been around for years, but it really is something that I take to heart and think about when Im giving them a start.
Hope you are enjoying your horses,
Tanja
No comments:
Post a Comment