by chenders01 » Thu Apr 28, 2005 10:26 am
#ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Thanks, guys! And yes, Horsemad and Lix, it IS bittersweet. Even though I couldn't ride him, we DID have a bond, and I'm going to miss that. Just last week, the girl who has been riding him for me, was free-lunging him in the arena, kinda chasing him with the lunge-whip a bit (he just stands at the gate otherwise) and he came RUNNING over to me and stuck his head in my chest, as though to say "PROTECT me, Mom!!". It was soooo cute, and it showed me that he really *was* bonded to me, and knew to come to me when he felt threatened. So yeah, I will miss that #ed_op#IMG src="http://forums.equestrianconnection.com/richedit/smileys/Sad/10.gif"#ed_cl##ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#And then, a couple days ago, the same girl above had the most AMAZING lesson on him. Man, he was awesome. Soft, round, balanced, through...all that great stuff that we dressage types aspire to #ed_op#IMG src="http://forums.equestrianconnection.com/richedit/smileys//wink.gif"#ed_cl# And I was thinking "what the HECK am I doing, selling this horse??". I mean, he has become exactly what I was hoping for. I *almost* reconsidered my decision to sell him, but by then, it was too late. And then, I reminded myself that, if I did get back up on him, I'd still have to deal with his big, forward stride, which always made me nervous, and I realized that I'd probably *always* be nervous on him...so it really WAS the best decision, to move him onto someone who doesn't have that nervousness. #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#And this girl is just an AMAZING little rider. Man, I wish I could have her seat! He gave her a bit of a rough ride last night, mostly because she is used to riding with a stronger contact than he likes, so he was tossing his head a bit, but she rode him through it...and I'm confident that she will develop her "feel" on him, just as the girl who rides him for me now did (her first few rides were pretty scary too, until she learned how little contact Dali needs/likes). #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl#Patricia, thanks for the offer to ride your horse. You're a bit far away from me though. The commute would be a killer #ed_op#IMG src="http://forums.equestrianconnection.com/richedit/smileys/Teasing/12.gif"#ed_cl# Incidentally, one of the horses I'm going to try out IS a TB. But an older one and apparently quiet and bombproof (his owner hacks him in a halter and leadrope). I'm not totally against the breed, just because of my experiences with Dali. He just needed more training than I was able to give him and was not as quiet, particularly at the canter, as I needed him to be. But I know that there *are* quiet TBs out there, and I'll go look at this one, and judge my comfort level at the time.#ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl##ed_op#DIV#ed_cl# #ed_op#/DIV#ed_cl#