Ride the Brain

That, and his stunning good looks.

One of the things that first drew me to Courage was his totally awesome mind. I mean, yeah, he's kind of an asshole, but he's a smart, laid back asshole. He doesn't get rattled about stupid things and even if he does get upset by something, he can usually keep it together.

All that said, I wasn't sure what he'd do with the indoor at the new barn. To my knowledge, he's never seen one before, much less worked in it. He's not used to the sound of sand hitting the boards or the feeling of completely restricted vision or even having to make turns in a much tighter area.

Not uphill, but helloooo stretchy giraffe.

We had our first indoor experience on Monday night. It was dark and I was alone at the barn, so it seemed like a pretty good time for our first excursion inside.

Because Courage hadn't even seen a saddle in over two weeks and I don't have a deathwish, I did spin him around on the lunge line first. He did a little giraffing and was a bit fidgety when I asked him to stand still, but otherwise surprisingly settled.

I was blown away when I got on (yes by myself oh well) and he retained everything we'd worked on in our last lesson with S. Damn horse. You bad.

Not quite this low

Our next ride was even more remarkable--Courage got to see another horse in the arena with us for the first time. Then the other horse left us for the first time. The rider asked if that would be ok, and I very honestly told her we'd find out.

Well.

Yeah, he didn't even blink.

I was then in the middle of a very productive ride when there was this horrendous commotion in the stalls attached to the indoor. We stopped and had a look, then just carried on working on stretching low and low through upward and downward transitions.

First ride. Looking so fine.

I was going to just keep going, but after a few minutes I realized that one horse had taken part of the panel fencing down and now was actively trying to get himself hung up in the cockeyed panel. That seemed a bit dangerous, so I called it a day.

We're still adjusting to the new barn and the new schedule and the new people and all that, but I am just so thrilled with Courage right now. It was a big step for me to move him away from our comfort zone and be responsible for his training without the watchful eyes of Redheadlins every single day.

What happens when the sun comes out. No shame.

Courage and I are in a really good place right now. He's accepting me as alpha and we're making great progress together. That brain I loved is doing exactly what I need it to.

I'm looking forward to getting on the schedule for some dressage lessons and seeing what the on-site trainer (C) has to say about Courage. Hint: she thinks he's just the sweetest thing.

Happy early American Thanksgiving to everyone!!