Everyone knows there is a "right way" to start a horse.
Step one: Buy a three year old, put a few rides on her, then only do groundwork for the next two years.
Step two: Leave the five year old horse in the pasture all summer for an internship. More groundwork in the fall, then leave the horse sitting in the pasture all winter.
Step three: Build a "mounting block" out of snow and jump onto horse that has been mostly untouched for the last year.
(I'm being sarcastic. Please don't try this at home.)
Jokes aside, that is exactly how I started my horse. I'm so impressed with her behavior under saddle. She is a treasure of a horse.
February
March - No Photos
April
April and March are dedicated to building trust and emotional maturity. As anyone who has owned an Arabian knows, the spring months are especially challenging. Wind is the natural enemy of horses (no seriously though). Wind affects the horse's ability to smell and hear predators. It is natural and healthy for a horse to be extra sensitive and alert during the windier months. We spent a lot of time on groundwork and liberty in the arena practicing healthy responses to windy weather.
I love that Ava lets me sit on her when she's laying out in the pasture. The first time I every sat on her was exactly like this - about two weeks after I brought her home!
May
You show that hoodie who's boss! May was so much fun! It was warm and not too windy so we were able to spend a lot of time together.
Doesn't she look so lovely and grown up!
We spent a lot of time practicing standing tied. She was doing really well with this. Notice the past tense here . . . we ran into trouble a little later.
In May we started really riding for the first time. My mom came out once to help Ava understand free forward movement (more on this later) and after that one day we had it down. There was some very loud construction nearby for the whole summer. I was impressed with how Avalon handled it. Some days she would start anxious and reactive, but within minutes was calm enough to be ridden walk trot without any issue.
This spring was especially wet, so we were not able to ride in the outdoor arena. It was too slippery even at a walk.
This photo looks positively vicious. I know it looks like she's taking a chunk out of my hand/face, but I promise she was only licking and nibbling on my hair.
Remember when I said we ran into trouble with standing tied? I don't know what triggered it, but Ava just started pulling back one day. She broke a clasp, dragged the round pen panels around, and when I used the tie blocker she ran backwards until the rope came loose. I was at my wits end. I tried something a little unconventional. I stopped tying her. I held her or "ground tied" her for a few weeks/months and then slowly introduced her to tying again like it was the first time. I haven't had her run backwards while tied since then, but running backwards in going to pop up again a little later.
