You Can Lead A Horse To. . . .

Normally you could most likely lead a horse anywhere. . . But not this guy. After the child flew like a bird and landed like a boulder, I had two choices. I could either sell this beast and break her heart (yes, I was that worried about her riding him ever again), or I could ask around and see if there was anything we could do to fix this. After talking to my somewhat broken child, who told me under no uncertain terms, that she refused to give up on him and she was getting back on as soon as the doctors released her back to normal activity. So, I opted to ask around. Confident there had to be a better way to handle this guy.

As luck would have it, I ran into one of my daughter's riding friends and the girl's mother a few days later. The mother told me about a trainer that wasn't known very well known and was really young, but amazing to work with. Even though her daughter had been taking lessons from the same trainer we used to take from, she was also taking lessons from this new guy. I gladly took his number and crossed my fingers for a miracle when I sent him a text.

He responded the next morning and we set up a time to meet. I gotta say. . . He looked adorable. That probably isn't a descriptive word he would have appreciated, but it's true! He wore chaps, a leather vest over his long sleeved shirt, and a cowboy hat. He was definitely young. . . Maybe in his mid to late 20's. Yes. . . That is young to us old people.

We talked for at least an hour and a half. It turns out he preferred the natural horsemanship way. He tried to explain some of it to me, and I understood a little of what he was talking about. My daughter understood all of it and wholeheartedly agreed with all he suggested. There would be no more yelling, ranting, kicking, or punching. That part I liked. He also suggested removing him from the boarding facility and putting him in a barn at one of the private residences. That was the part I didn't like. I knew he was right in about getting him moved and I was able (within a day) to secure Gus a nice 14x14 box stall with a huge walk out area. It was affordable and came with a barn guy that cleaned and fed twice a day. Best of all. . . It was over $400 cheaper than what I was already paying. Things were definitely looking up!