Play Day!!!

A play day to remember:

Suede-

I went down the hill, to the herd and he was very curious about me and Crissie. He came right over and I haltered him up after letting me check him out. I brought him up from the pasture by playing stick to me at the trot. Automatically he had a positive attitude. We played with different obstacles and he was interested in all of them. He wanted to eat the grass, so I had to be provocative and get him interested in me. We played in the outdoor, and all over the lawns, jumping over different things and playing with different tasks. Deb, his partner (and owner) told me his story. She got him as a yearling and broke him to ride. She bought him as her horse, and one that she could rely on to ride. Deb said that they went to a Helen Topp clinic and that Helen said that she wasn’t asking enough of Suede. Deb then asked more of him and passed half of her Level 2, she only had the simple lead changes to do. While she was working on them during one session she asked for the canter, Suede exploded, bucked her off, kicked her and ran and hid in the indoor arena. Deb said ever since that accident, he was a complete RBI when it came to riding and saddling. She started from the beginning and is now working on point to point. So, naturally when I brought him in the indoor arena he was completely a RBI. We worked on thresholds and I was able to sit on him, and do some basic Level 1 things. I did a super relax and was rubbing him, when he sighed and chewed. It seemed like he was so appreciative that I was taking my time. I got off and we were just standing and Deb was talking about waiting to pass Level 2 and enjoying the journey. Well I felt him and his fur was standing on end. I said, “Oh boy!” and took him to do some figure eight. After that he sighed, and chewed and his eyes softened. Whew! A lot to learn from a tri-polar LBE/LBI/RBI!!!

Lea & Eddie