Rummy didn’t do it today, but one day he DID walk over the log on top of the ‘hump’ on his way home from a hack. All by himself! He is terribly calm under saddle and brave without getting silly. He has responded quickly to being asked to ‘stay with the group,’ and it is getting easier and easier to relax him early on and have him stay beside another horse without anxiety. We have not asked him to jump or to go in the dressage arena, everything in its own time. If he is ever going to be any good cross country he needs to be able to adjust his balance uphill and down dale before we worry too much about anything else. Racehorses only work on the flat, hills, valleys, tree branches and uneven ground are a whole new ball game. Our boys are loving it and we are still completely enthralled by their lovely temperaments and willingness to be trained for their new career. Rummy now works most days of the week.
Benny is still tootling along on light hacks. In addition to being the larger of the two he is also the younger and at four years old he is still obviously growing. He is a happy horse. One of those smiling happy types that is relaxed from the day they are born. He is quite unbothered with all the rapid changes he has undergone, and does not seem to be stressed or made anxious by anything so far in his life. We are keeping him in light work until he stops growing. He has not done a Big Boy Hack yet, but soon.
This week two of our owners are visiting our Ocala base. Zephyr’s owner Kelly Damp arrives Wednesday for her first time this year, and Thunderstruck’s new owner, Marta Agrodnia, will be visiting Thunder in Ocala for the first time ever! Having your owners and friends visit you while you are in Ocala is the icing on the cake. We love it when our owners can spend as much time as possible with their horses, we have a fantastic team.
Here in the far north it has been a bit shaky with the weather and yet another storm forecast tomorrow…sigh. I wonder if I shall be snowed in yet again. The bad weather has its perks. Here is a photo I took the other morning before rain storm hit, proving that “A red sky in the morning….”
