Baby steps

This morning I finally have time to ride my new horse. The first step is to fit his gear. The saddle is easy. It goes on, it fits, done. The bridle is more tricky. I pull out Tosca's bridle, which is a good start, then go looking for a noseband. In the process I end up with about 3 bridles sprawled across the floor, reminiscing about a ride on this horse or that. Finally we're saddled and ready to go.

I take Gally into the round yard, just as the sun is blinding us, and the spotted dairy cows walk into Bob's top paddock. Great! Of all the days, why do they need to go into that paddock today?! I am sure that Gally has seen a cow before, but spotted cows against the bright sun rays, I mean who knows ... it could be the big bad wolf in disguise. Gally is ready to flee. This is so not the horse I bought.

I jump on, soothe him with lots of snorts, and walk him around in small circles. He calms down and gets on with his work. I just focus on quality walk and trot. Straightenss, rythm, that sort of thing. Half way through he has another big bad wolf bout. A minute later he is settled. After 45 minutes I feel he is ready to go out for a walk in the haying paddock. But I stay in the round yard and opt for a canter instead. Gally has the most sensational canter.

Overall, I am really happy with him. I don't mind if gets frightened by something new. He is a horse after all. But he settled down really quickly and he actually focussed on his work. Princess took months to feel that settled at the farm. Crownie felt more settled, but she took longer to focus on the work.