I put a tentative ad on Facebook a little while ago and a lady responded. I had to put her off because of Sid's ongoing ears issue, but she was very understanding and patient while I kept her waiting 2 weeks and for 2 vet visits to meet Sid.
As his condition seems to be improving, I invited her to my house today to come over to meet himself. She arrived, rather to my surprise, with husband + 3 children of whom the oldest, a little boy, was probably 8 or 9. Also 2 little girls and the lady herself were wearing party dresses and what an RI would call "unsuitable footwear"! But she was lovely, explained that the little girls had a party to go to but she didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet Sid, and that her little boy, who is autistic, particularly wanted to meet him. So we jumped on the bank outside my house to see Sid from a distance (I had removed his fly rug for the visit so he didn't look like the Silver Sausage) and then all trooped over together to the field.
On the way through the field the children marvelled at the tiny baby bunnies who didn't even run away, and both little girls took off their shoes. They are clearly very outdoorsy kids, all happy catching beetles. Sid saw this procession arriving and flung up his head. I thought he would head up to the top of the field, but blow me down if he didn't march down to his gate and stand there bobbing his head and whickering at the new arrivals.
He just likes kids, it seems. He didn't have much to say to either of the adults, but he was all over the children sniffing hands and heads, whiffling hair and even giving a hug to the little boy. I put his headcollar on and all 3 kids took it in turns to get on him and have a sit. Their mother said to each one, "When you get on a horse, you should scratch his withers after you sit down to say Thank you for letting me ride you". I thought that was very promising.
R and her husband are both Brazilian. They live not 5 minutes' drive from me in Chilworth. R has ridden since she was tiny, and grew up riding Criollo horses in gaucho fashion. She said Sid was a couple of inches bigger than her favourite Crollo, but not much wider - Criollos are a very sturdy breed. She has learned to ride English since coming to the UK and has shared several horses, ranging from 15hh to 18hh. She was delighted by Sid and tells me she has been longing for a horse to help look after as well as ride.
Sid liked her, and she came into the shelter with me in her Roman sandals to help me get his fly rug back on and anoint his ears. She handled him kindly and firmly. She is bubbling over with enthusiasm for sharing him and can't believe she has found such a nice horse so close to home. I told her about the napping and the odd buck and she laughed at the bucking. With the napping she said, "The horse has to trust you that when you say Go forward, it's safe to go. You have to be able to earn that trust."
I haven't seen her ride yet, of course, so she's coming back on Tuesday without the kids to try him out on a hack. She is so nice and so keen, I almost can't believe that she's real. Perhaps she will ride dreadfully! But if not, I've got someone to look after him and take him out the 3 days in the week I'm working.
She asked if later on, once he knows her, her kids could ride him too. I couldn't think of a single reason why they shouldn't as he seemed to adore them. I said we could wait and see.
As his condition seems to be improving, I invited her to my house today to come over to meet himself. She arrived, rather to my surprise, with husband + 3 children of whom the oldest, a little boy, was probably 8 or 9. Also 2 little girls and the lady herself were wearing party dresses and what an RI would call "unsuitable footwear"! But she was lovely, explained that the little girls had a party to go to but she didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet Sid, and that her little boy, who is autistic, particularly wanted to meet him. So we jumped on the bank outside my house to see Sid from a distance (I had removed his fly rug for the visit so he didn't look like the Silver Sausage) and then all trooped over together to the field.
On the way through the field the children marvelled at the tiny baby bunnies who didn't even run away, and both little girls took off their shoes. They are clearly very outdoorsy kids, all happy catching beetles. Sid saw this procession arriving and flung up his head. I thought he would head up to the top of the field, but blow me down if he didn't march down to his gate and stand there bobbing his head and whickering at the new arrivals.
He just likes kids, it seems. He didn't have much to say to either of the adults, but he was all over the children sniffing hands and heads, whiffling hair and even giving a hug to the little boy. I put his headcollar on and all 3 kids took it in turns to get on him and have a sit. Their mother said to each one, "When you get on a horse, you should scratch his withers after you sit down to say Thank you for letting me ride you". I thought that was very promising.
R and her husband are both Brazilian. They live not 5 minutes' drive from me in Chilworth. R has ridden since she was tiny, and grew up riding Criollo horses in gaucho fashion. She said Sid was a couple of inches bigger than her favourite Crollo, but not much wider - Criollos are a very sturdy breed. She has learned to ride English since coming to the UK and has shared several horses, ranging from 15hh to 18hh. She was delighted by Sid and tells me she has been longing for a horse to help look after as well as ride.
Sid liked her, and she came into the shelter with me in her Roman sandals to help me get his fly rug back on and anoint his ears. She handled him kindly and firmly. She is bubbling over with enthusiasm for sharing him and can't believe she has found such a nice horse so close to home. I told her about the napping and the odd buck and she laughed at the bucking. With the napping she said, "The horse has to trust you that when you say Go forward, it's safe to go. You have to be able to earn that trust."
I haven't seen her ride yet, of course, so she's coming back on Tuesday without the kids to try him out on a hack. She is so nice and so keen, I almost can't believe that she's real. Perhaps she will ride dreadfully! But if not, I've got someone to look after him and take him out the 3 days in the week I'm working.
She asked if later on, once he knows her, her kids could ride him too. I couldn't think of a single reason why they shouldn't as he seemed to adore them. I said we could wait and see.
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for the riding test. Can you take your browband off and put Sid’s bridle on over the top of his head rather than over his ears? Hopefully he won’t be grumpy before she starts then.
