With Rosie

Monday, June 17, 2019

My mare Rosie has been coming around, after months of working to help her recover from an old injury that had stabilized. Aided by veterinary treatments and exercise, she feels better, and now, while being driven is less stressed, responds easier to physical demands and moves more flexibly.

Rosie is responsive and fast-moving, sometimes hyper-alert and worried, and does some challenging for leadership. Before Rosie came to live with me, my horses had been elderly and easy, turning me into a lax handler. In my early days with Rosie while learning to ride her, she tested me with sudden faux-spooks at innocuous objects like tree stumps. Success with Rosie meant having her understand and accept that it wouldn’t be she making the decisions. Once we were in sync, she became a dependable trail buddy.

Fast forward, and in order to drive Rosie, we had to reestablish a partnership. Still responsive and fast-moving, she wanted to decide speed and direction. Before seriously attempting to drive her, I had to take lessons, learn how to drive from scratch. Fortunately, my second mare Sunni, moderately tempered and easy to work with, could become my driving horse; she helped my confidence grow.

Finally, I harnessed and drove Rosie. We started by endlessly circling in the dry lot. Eventually, we began practicing on a quiet section of neighborhood street, and then, slowly extended our street work. At last, Rosie recently has trotted my cart entirely and well through the three-mile loop of our neighborhood.

Today, our farrier is coming, and this time, he’ll add pads to Rosie’s shoes. Like Sunni, Rosie will have cushioning for her travels on hard surfaces.

Dear Readers: Step-by-step, toward more success and newer goals for these two. Diana