One of my friends got a new horse a few months ago, and she's been ITCHING to go on a trail ride. *sigh* I don't often go outside of my "comfort zone" and ride outside of controlled environments...I don't know when I changed from being a risk-taker to being much more conservative, but it happened when I wasn't looking. Siggy gets worked on our property and taken to shows - all pretty controlled environments.
But I know Siggy so well...and the things that startle him don't freak him out. So I thought - just DO IT!! Trust him...and trust my ability to handle him (or at least get off quickly if I need to
). We went to a local park (Lake Park in Tampa) that has miles of trails, two arenas for riding, a dressage arena, wash racks, and a consession stand that you can ride up to and get drinks, food, etc.
I (we) had SO much fun! Siggy was good as gold! He didn't want to walk through the mud - I think he thought it would swallow him up - but I got him going through it. It's a little sad when a horse is afraid of something that should be part of his natural world. It definitely made me feel bad that he's missed out on a little bit of "normal horse life."
Anyway, he attracted a TON of attention everywhere we went...everyone stopped to look at him, pet him, ask questions about him, touch his mane, etc. We were stopped no less than 10 times - and mostly by horse people (it's a horse park). I was surprised by the number of horse people that had never seen a Fjord before! I remember seeing them a ton when I was growing up (mostly in the midwest). When we've taken him to Saddlebred shows (Academy horse) - it doesn't surprise me that they have not seen one (the Saddlebred people tend to not mingle too much outside their world), but it did surprise me that so many people at the parkd had never seen one.
It was gratifying (in a good way) to see all the attention he stirred up...and he was quite the ham...but it also made me feel a little bit bad for my friend who was/is so excited and proud of her new horse. I asked one girl to, please, go make a fuss over her horse...she was a great sport and spread the words around and they all made a fuss over Karen's mare....she talked about that all the way home, so I'm glad they did that for her.
It was a GREAT day!!! I can't wait to do it again!!!
I don't have any pics from today - but here are some pictures from home -
But I know Siggy so well...and the things that startle him don't freak him out. So I thought - just DO IT!! Trust him...and trust my ability to handle him (or at least get off quickly if I need to
I (we) had SO much fun! Siggy was good as gold! He didn't want to walk through the mud - I think he thought it would swallow him up - but I got him going through it. It's a little sad when a horse is afraid of something that should be part of his natural world. It definitely made me feel bad that he's missed out on a little bit of "normal horse life."
Anyway, he attracted a TON of attention everywhere we went...everyone stopped to look at him, pet him, ask questions about him, touch his mane, etc. We were stopped no less than 10 times - and mostly by horse people (it's a horse park). I was surprised by the number of horse people that had never seen a Fjord before! I remember seeing them a ton when I was growing up (mostly in the midwest). When we've taken him to Saddlebred shows (Academy horse) - it doesn't surprise me that they have not seen one (the Saddlebred people tend to not mingle too much outside their world), but it did surprise me that so many people at the parkd had never seen one.
It was gratifying (in a good way) to see all the attention he stirred up...and he was quite the ham...but it also made me feel a little bit bad for my friend who was/is so excited and proud of her new horse. I asked one girl to, please, go make a fuss over her horse...she was a great sport and spread the words around and they all made a fuss over Karen's mare....she talked about that all the way home, so I'm glad they did that for her.
It was a GREAT day!!! I can't wait to do it again!!!
I don't have any pics from today - but here are some pictures from home -
