New People, New Language, New Experiences

MEETING NEW PEOPLE

Cearra met two new potential families and has been getting a bit of interest lately. This is a good thing! Her “summer coat” is coming in all silver and shiny too.

FIRST: If you have been following Cearra’s journey in this Journal you know we have often spoken about how critical intent, focus, position and energy is when communicating with a horse. Yesterday proved this once again. Both families brought really positive energy, good focus and solid body language to the meeting. It showed CLEARLY in how Cearra reacted to these horse-folks. One of the awesome humans was pregnant and her body language, subtle as it was, had a protective feel to it. Cearra reacted to this, which was cool to see. Her rwaction were less “yes ma’am” and more “cuddly and slow” with the lady. Cearra LIKE her husband though. He had clear energy and body position. It was reflected in Cearra’s reaction to his “leadership”. Very illuminating! Later in the day the second batch of humans spoke the same language but had a different accent. Cearra worked at understanding them and everyone got along really well.

THOUGHTS: Cearra was CONSISTENT in her efforts (and in her sass too) with everyone. This was GOOD because (at least to us) it indicates that her foundation is strong and her willingness to partner up with folks is solid. We were very proud of her.

GROUDNWORK & RIDING: We put her through her paces on the ground, demonstrating most of the “fun” exercises and some of the “most used” ones too. Cearra was a tad lazy – and in season – but performed well. Then we invited the various humans in to work with her. Everyone got along fine and good connections and conversations happened. It is what you want to see when a horse you have been working with meets new people. NOTE: She was in season (heat) at the time of these meeting and there were some “new-to-her” handsome geldings nearby. She was interested in them but was able to maintain her focus on us when we required it. That is a win!

Under saddle she did well even with the “new-to-her” riders. Walk, trop, bending, stops, backing…all went well. She did protest once with a little kick-out when she was asked to lope again after she loped a bit. She did this with each person (at least she was consistent). We suspect that this is her “testing” the new-to-her person. We know that if she is worked consistently this protest doesn’t happen. Both sets of riders took it in stride and “won” by getting what they asked for. It was the only blemish on an otherwise great set of meetings.

AND NOW: We wait and see. The First Family wants to add a lesson horse to their horse camp string. They have a unique program and seem like great folks. We are not 100% convinced that Cearra is ready to be a lesson horse “right now” and feel that she would need more rides/miles over the next 2-4 months to be “lesson horse ready.” Still it could be fun for her as she loves the attention. Second Family would be more of a “personal horse” partnership. This feels a little more like what Cearra would be happiest with. Her person working with her on their horsemanship journey. We like both Families so that is a win.

We have more meeting slated for the days ahead. The Right Family will come along. In the meantime we will continue to get rides and training on Cearra.