Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Rio joining the herd

Today, I put Rio out with the herd. He's a cute little Quarter Horse gelding here for a couple months of training. To my surprise, Tina is playing a crucial role in keeping Rio far from the herd until he's accepted. Tina is really changing here. Last night, Loma came to give me a dressage lesson and she was really surprised by how calm Tina was. I like to see how the horses adapt and they all do things their own way. Tina came here timid and submissive with a lot of extroversion. I'm seeing her show confidence and comfort in her own skin with the herd. She's showing her full potential.

I'll be riding her in the large arena very soon. She's ready to leave the round pen and start riding some patterns. Good for her!

Rio looked to be doing fine with the herd on his first day. He respected the boundaries set by the herd and found Rain to be his buddy. The two of them were hanging together the first day. That's unusual - most of the time, my herd keeps the new guy standing out alone for a week or so. Rain was accepting Rio the first day.

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