>>> I brought him home in October and have been letting him settle in before >>> riding him. I worked with him on two separate weekends at Karen's, one at >>> a Liz Grave's clinic, but I can tell he is not 100% comfortable and >>> settled. He is more so now, but still not quite as settled. When Michael >>> rakes in the barn or paddock, Falki runs away. Michael jokingly said that >>> Karen must have beat him with a rake. He's also a little wary of being >>> brushed and curried. To just about anyone, he would seem settled, but I >>> can tell the difference between him at Karen's and him here. He's getting >>> better all the time, but as tempting as it is to jump on him on a day like >>> today and just go ride him out on the trails, I want to introduce >>> everything little at a time. I want everything to be boring so we don't >>> have any setbacks.
Darn, I thought he'd be over the rake-beatings by now.... :) Seriously, I don't know what's up with that. I know he didn't care to stay in a stall, but we kept him up a little, but not much at all. I honestly don't remember him staying in a stall long enough that I would have cleaned a stall with him inside...probably I did, but I can't remember it now. We do most of our paddock cleaning with the tractor's front-end loader, and all the pasture dragging with the tractor, so maybe he's never been around a rake much before? I'm sure he IS settled compared to what most people expect, but Anna, believe me, I'm not complaining at all that you are taking your sweet time. He's a good boy to the core, and that's not going to change with the way you are doing things. But so what if you give him a little extra time to settle, all the better. It's funny how we each react with new horses. I couldn't have stayed off him as long as you have - not a complaint, just noting the difference. And, I think I will always be insecure about my balance ever since I broke my back and had to go through the rebuilding of the damaged nerves in my left leg. I am impressed that you were so careful in waiting to mount him, which seems cautious to me. But on the other hand, getting on a horse in a new place for the first time BAREBACK seems really brave to me! Oh well, I have ridden bareback a FEW times since my injury, and since I got a nice new bareback pad, that's on my agendas for "issues" to overcome. Oh well, call me a wimp - but there was a time when I wasn't sure I'd ride again, so riding young and green horses is certainly something I never thought I'd do again, but I do. It's always good to see pictures of him - give him a hug from me... Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1212 - Release Date: 1/6/2008 10:55 PM
