Travels With Rodney, New Arena

Training Journal

If you’re riding a horse, you’ve already won.

Rodney checked out a new work space over the weekend, D&D Arena. That makes six, including home. The other four are Stepping Stone Farm, Falcon Hill Farm, Full Circle Horse Park, & Inanda Stables. While facilities in the backyard would be convenient, this forces us to get out and about.

At D&D we had the arena to ourselves, so we turned him out for half an hour to explore at his own pace. He stood. He looked. He walked. He looked. At one point the cows next door mooed. Ears to full alert [Cow TV]. Fortunately, the doors on that side were closed and the cows stayed quiet after that one statement.

I think Rodney got a lot out of being at liberty in the arena. Even walking him on the loosest of leadropes would have brought my influence into the mix. He needs to build up trust in his own decisions, both for himself and as an amateur’s horse [Fifth Leg Training].

For riding, we walked a bunch and did some light trotting. Flying colors.

While D&D offers boarding, their main revenue stream appears to be arena rental. For more information.

D&D Arena
7330 Highway 62
Vincent AL, USA
35178
Angelina Deramus
970/306-1097

Note I. Photo from their Facebook page.

Note II. For GPS we had to use County Road 62. Otherwise, it tried as hard as it could to send us to Arizona. Frustrating.

Does anyone else think of something completely different when we discuss a D&D arena?