A Ribbon of Rainbows

Odie’s first foray into the round yard earlier this week was difficult for him. He is anxious, appears to be very wary of the lunge whip (we soon ditched that), and expressed fear and damaged confidence. We sat with him for forty minutes in the round yard, waiting for him to drop his head, realize that he is safe and loved, and to come to us. And, eventually he did.

His second round yard session today was much better. We walked without much hesitation from the paddock and had a more relaxed experience walking around a little bit and navigating the cavaletti poles. It was a short session — about ten minutes in all, but Odie finished up a happy and encouraged horse. After the round yard, he had a stretching session in his stall and some muscle massage (along with a very green leafy flake of alfalfa hay!)

We’re posting below images from the first session. Watching Odie on that first time in the round yard as he worked out some of his angst made us remember people who said we were “certifiably insane” to take on this horse … that we must be “crazy.” Indeed, we had said it ourselves.

Maybe so. But in the words of the wonderful song “Crazy” from Icehouse that accompanies these images, “you’ve got a ribbon of rainbows / the sun in your eyes / burning through … could be I’m losing my head / over you.”

You’re making brilliant progress, Odie, and we love you!