Rapprochement

Hubby thinks Rodney and I are coming to an agreement.

A few nights ago, Rodney and I had a minor kerfuffle during evening chores. When I put him in his stall he took a funny step. I led him back out and circled the pen once or twice to see if he did it again. Nope. Everything’s fine. When I led him back into his stall, he spooked at horse-eating gremlins outside the barn. This resulted in a discussion of personal space, his and mine. (He was concerned that I was about to turn him back out in the rain. Silly cupcake.)

Horse is figuring out rider. When he first arrived, Rodney took everything we said far to seriously. A minor reprimand would cause a Sky Is Falling! overreaction. He still flies up into the trees but now he only makes it as far as the lower boughs and a few pats on the nose will talk him down.

Rider is figuring out horse. With Previous Horse, you had to get into his face loudly and immediately, or he wouldn’t listen, or would possibly bite you. As I’ve said before, Previous wasn’t evil. He was, however, an extremely unsubtle horse. Messages had to be short, sweet, and convincing. It is slowly sinking into my reflexes that dealing Rodney requires much less vehemence on my part.

Hubby saw the entire exchange and later complimented me on my handling of. Whether this has anything to do with our eventual under-saddle career remains to be seen. Festina lente.