Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Royal Finds His Courage

Optional musical accompaniment to this post:


So, it's been an interesting few weeks. The Horse Expo came and went, and because of the EHV-1 scare, there weren't very many horse. Only select presenter and rodeo horses were allowed, but the Horse Barn was empty.


Creepy, but on the upside it's been over a month since the last positive case in this area. We seem to be in the clear.

Carriage House is fast approaching, so I've been trying to get Royal and me up to speed. I'm planning on entering us in Intro A & B and the 2'6" jumpers. He's fitting up like crazy and it'll hopefully be a walk in the park. It's been raining on and off, so most of the pasture is flooded and we're having to practice the tests in, say, unusual places. But Intro A & B are pretty simple, so even if I just glance at them before we go in, we should be fine.

The big news is that Royal seems to have found his courage. We've been having some problems with the neighboring cows breaking into our pasture and generally causing havoc. It's seems to be fixed for now, but usually once they figure a trick works, they keep using it. But one made the bad decision to break into the pasture where the horses currently are. And Royal. Charged. Them. Puffed out his chest, arched his neck, and power trotted over to the intruder, scaring them back into their own pasture.

*sniffle* My baby boy, all grown up and scaring cows. I'm so proud.

So last Sunday, I decided to test the waters. We went for a ride and after practicing dressage in a *ahem* undisclosed location, we went up to the Sheep of Death. They were in the front area, so Royal at first went all bug-eyed, but after a few passes, walked past them like they weren't there. And they were looking right at us.

*sniffle* *sniffle*

So proud.

So, yeah, it's a good sign. He's still one of the spookiest horses I've met, but any improvement is welcome.

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