Way back in my post on Savvy is Knowing When to Quit, a comment/question was left. I have finally checked there & answered it.
Short version, the Morgan I went to look at did not work out (longer explanation in my response there). I then found a Kiger Mustang near by & checked her out. She was what I was looking for. I brought her home, worked with her & found out that I had no connection with her at all. No click. No feeling for her. Nothing, nada, zilch, zero. It was really weird. Since keeping a horse that I could not connect with was not fair to either me or the horse, I had to talk w/her owner & say it did not work. Due to the owner's circumstances, I ended up boarding the mare. And after a few more weeks, I still have no connection with her. She sold just this past Thursday to someone who really likes her & feels good about her & I can see the mare likes her too. She just needs to get hauled out of here now to her new home.
When the woman came to try the mare, I let the mare's owner ride my Lil'Red. The owner used to ride racing TBs at the track & at ranches and I've seen her work w/horses & felt I could trust Lil'Red to her. He is my difficult horse who has proven he won't be my trustworthy, ride-alone trail horse. I rode him last Monday while owner rode the mare & I showed her a trail to take the buyer out on. Lil'Red did his worry thing, but seemed to find some comfort having another horse along. He did even better for owner on Thursday (I couldn't go as I had to wait on a hay delivery). She reported that he was nervous & got really sweaty the first half of the ride, then calmed down & started to dry off. She did get off & lead him thru one difficult part of the trail. He came up my driveway looking happy to be out. He does like going out, he really does. And sometimes he can do it & we have great rides. Other times, he lacks the confidence to even leave the property.
I had been thinking of trying to pony my Paly off Lil'Red on rides. Seeing how nicely he did w/the mustang, I am going to definitely do that. They will either support & comfort each other--or make each other more nervous! It will be interesting to try. I hope it works as they both want to go do something. Some arena time at first to get things sorted out, and then we will head out & see.
The other interesting thing to come out of that ride is that the owner's saddle worked really well on Lil'Red. It is the only saddle I've had on him that fit good standing still and came back with a good sweat pattern and no dry spots! I now am borrowing that saddle to try out some more with him. I am going to try it on the Paly too as I have yet to find a saddle that really works for him.
So, of course it is going to rain this weekend. I'll attempt to work around the rain. I want the rain. We need the rain. But this year, it rains on my days at home. Really
