Quattro's Second Ride!

I missed the first one but today I got to see Quattro's second ride. I was thrilled. He was awesome.

I got there early and had a few extra minutes so I got him out and groomed him and then took him for a hand-walk. One of the main reasons I picked this place to send him is that it's awesome for despooking. There is plenty for a young horse to gawk and gape at, and I figure if he can keep his wits about him and stay focused when there are packs of dogs and herds of miniature goats under his feet and free-range chickens flying up in his face and tractors and skid-steers and sawing and hammering (they're building a barn and working on arena footing), then the relatively tranquil confines of Wills Park and Tri-State will hold no fears for the lad! :-P So I just led him around, let him spook at all the jumps and see the other heese and check whether the flowers in the flower box were edible (they're not) and introduced him to the skid-steer and tractor and by that time his Boss Lady was ready.

I've never had to pick a colt-started before so that was kind of scary, and I'm vastly relieved I picked the right one! Her background goes Western to Eventing to Dressage, which is perfect. I love the fact that she's not rushing him: she took a good 2-3 weeks doing ground work (and, whisper it, has got him cantering in the round pen with all his legs coming down in the right order!) She's working him in a bosal so he doesn't get backed off the bit. She has done Saddlebred sport horses before, so she knows that's an issue. I also like that she keeps the sessions short: there are plenty of reasons not to rush it with Quattro, some physical and some mental. The calmer we all keep it, the better off he will be in the long run.

I'm going to scoot off and do some surfing now - Q's Boss Lady has had some weekends open up so we're looking for schooling shows and I told her I'd see what's around. For your further entertainment, however - here's the vid. Check the soundtrack if you thought I was kidding about the chickens and the tractors. :-) Don't you just LOVE the relaxed walk? After 6 months with me at the other end of the rope, Quattro's pretty accustomed to being thrown in at the deep end of Scary Situations and being expected to be a grownup about it, and right here is where it pays off.

The adventure continues. Under saddle!