It took most of a week but Solo seems to have given up arguing about going up hills. I must admit, in 30+ years of breaking and schooling horses, he is the first I have ever had who made SUCH a fuss about carrying me up and down hills, you wait till after Christmas when I weigh another ten pounds heavier!
Yesterday he did a few little hops on the first hill but nothing you could call a rear or a buck, just a ‘bouncy’ moment. He doesn’t need to be led any more but I still like to have someone with me. He (Solo) has a lot to say for himself and it’s hard to know just what he is going to discuss next. We took him a little further afield on his Thursday hack and near the end he tried stopping again. Honestly, I can’t imagine what on earth he thinks he is going to do, stopped out in the middle of nowhere in a foot of snow. Once more, a couple of good kicks and a little growling and we were off and running.
All in all, I was thrilled with him, he felt a little green but very rideable and I had a great time. Selena has started grumbling under her breath that she never gets to ride him any more and she wants to ride him a few times before she leaves for Ocala with the older horses.
For Christmas dinner Solo and the gang have the usual array of carrots and an apple. We gave all our boarders a horsey ‘basket’ and of course Solo and his cohorts got all the carrots and apples that were left over from the baskets. I will also boil linseed in the afternoon so that they all have a warm dinner at night when they come in. It’s just a day off as far as the horses are concerned but we try to make it a really good day off with extra hay in the paddocks and extra goodies in the feed manger at night.
Have a wonderful holiday season everybody.
