Perception

So much of the horse world is about snap first judgments.  I am guilty of it.  I frequently make snap judgments on turnout and grooming and muscling of horses when I first see them.  In turn I have a horse who has consistently been thin with poor muscling and a distinctly upside down neck.  I was worried when I was trying to find a new trainer that they would take one look at him and assume it was from my riding/care.

Can't beat a good outfit for boosting confidence

After my first lesson new trainer did mention a few people that were closer to me as possibilities for me to try.  I choose to ignore that and basically begged for her to schedule us for another lesson.  I knew that she was going to be good for us, and I am a firm believer in riding with the best that you can afford.  I would like to think we are growing on her.

Who needs toys when you have feed pans

Stinker is such a character and he tries really hard.  The horse doesn't have a dishonest bone in his body and we have developed a relationship that allows me to say "it's ok" and he listens.  I would like to think that I am a good student.  I work very hard to carry my lessons over into my rides at home.  I listen and ask questions when I don't understand something.  I have a decent feel for the horse and I am willing to experiment with things.  All of those things together make me a fairly good student.

I still don't have things unpacked but they are at least neat now

I think slowly we are changing her perception of us.  She asked me how many rides I had gotten in since I got my saddle back.  I answered two.  She looked surprised.  I guess she wasn't expecting me to schedule things so quickly, but lessons keep me on track and keep me from running off the deep end of crazy.  Then she started looking at him, and asking what I had been doing with him.  She thought he had gained quite a bit of muscle in his hind quarters and he also pack on some weight (his girth is almost too small).

6 saddles for two horses #tackhopro

My hope is that we will be able to continue to build over the winter and keep changing the perception.  I am already counting down the days until the time changes again and thinking about our goals for next year.  This year was all about surviving all of the changes and keeping him happy and healthy, and honestly we have surpassed my hopes for this year.  He looks way better than I hoped for and is in a much better place mentally with full time turnout.