Yesterday it was off to Audrey's to work with her four yearlings: Remus, Jackson, Faith and Dunbar and to do a little trotting practice. Afterwards I felt like an electioneering politician as I has spent most of my time kissing babies!
This morning it was off to Gussage to work with Dave and Davey. Davey's owner, Dawn, is venturing out more often now and wanted Dave to act as a second hand on the dimmer switch if Davey's adrenalin suddenly surged. Dave is such a calm guy in the first place, with no preconceptions of how horses should be, that it was simply a matter of showing him what the signs were and then what he could do about them. The idea is to keep Davey present and relaxed throughout the ride.
At lunchtime, Liz Pitman, RA for Essex turned up and we had intended going riding. Unfortunately the hunt were at Fritham and so we had to change our plans rather than get in their way. We did some more loading with Jack before rescuing one of the hunt followers whose pony had gone on strike about loading and was kicking out against lunge lines and running backwards in the car park. Hopefully the two of us were a good advert for IH as the pony was eventually on its way without anyone getting cross. Later still we were joined by Sheila (now an RA herself) and Jenny for a evening of horse talk and more horse talk, lasagne and chocolate tarte.
E-mail from Dawn: "Just to let you know Dave and Davey went out for walkies on Sunday and I went along to watch and learn. It went really well and it felt like a weight had been lifted from my delicate shoulders (I never expected that!). There were moments where Davey was unsure and Dave was brilliant working through them in his own way, he also took Davey on unfamiliar territory which I admit I would have had concerns about but no problems. We finished with two relaxed smiling humans and one very relaxed horse there were lots of smiles. Dave has given me lots of confidence seing him with Davey, they seemed to have really bonded. Thank you again for your time and patience." DB
