Just as reality is so very different from dreams, so is horse ownership. It comes with things like injuries from a trailer ride (both a hurt fetlock and a cut above the eye), allergies (swollen watering eyes for two days) and the inability to ride due to lack of muscle and body tone. It also comes with sleepless nights, constant worry and endless expenses (but the horse NEEEEEEDS 8 bits, honey!).
Because my girl has hardly any muscle, and is so out of shape (not so different from her owner) she needs conditioning to work her way back into the the show horse she really is. We've started with ground work, twice a day. And this is how I've come to be sure that we're going to be a great team. As soon as I take her to the round pen, she's all business. One ear on me, an eye on me, and she walks, trots and whoas on command (more like an ask, she doesn't need anything firmer than a raise of a hand and a word.) And she'll go until you ask her stop. She just doesn't have quit in her.
What ground work also does for us is establish leadership. From her attitude and personality, it's easy to see she looks for a leader, she doesn't want to be one. She wants the guidance, and the praise. She knows I'm hers, and she needs me. What she doesn't know is how much I've needed her my entire life, and that I am willing to do whatever it takes to bring her back to perfect. The riding will come later.
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