So Much for Happy Retirement

Remember how excited I was to move Benny to my friends' place, where he could be semi-retired, and restore the old lady's confidence in riding, take care of her like he did his baby beginner kids?

Remember my sweet lesson horse that those baby beginner kids could ride, do anything on, take to shows, and he was always so wonderful?

Remember him? Because I do. Two months later, and we have:

A neurotic horse that I absolutely cannot ride.

Oh, I am sure that if I wanted to ride him IN the pasture with his best friend, we might be fine...as long as new best friend was within direct eyesight. I understand that for the past eight years, Ben has pretty much been with the same group of horses and has only been moved once in that time frame, and he was probably pretty insecure when we moved him. Perhaps we should have waited until he settled in of his own accord before we let him have a buddy. Whatever it is, he is a rotten mess. The whole time I'm on him, he throws his shoulder and neck in the direction of where he wants to be, and when making a corner in that general vicinity, he will throw his head and try to snatch the reins away as he shoves his shoulder blade out. The first time I tried to ride him away from Zaki, he went ten feet, propped his front legs and tried to buck. He hasn't tried that one again, but the head slinging, shoulder throwing, angry neck arching behind the vertical, and general rotten attitude are driving me nuts. I'd like to say that I don't know this horse, but I do. I just haven't seen him in eight years.

He is being a lovely house guest for the old couple taking care of him. He's a gentle, friendly and polite fellow and always enjoys attention and being told he is handsome, which they do a lot of. I love having him so close to my house, and they are taking great care of him. But he is ruining this for himself. Which ties into my next decision.

With the new job, money has changed, as well as my own riding needs. The whole point of having a second horse was to have something to ride, since Ben was pretty deeply immersed in the lesson program. Now that he is no longer in that lesson program, and obviously needs to remember who he is, I don't need a second horse anymore. You see where this is going...A local instructor saw me ride Tooey and liked her a lot, and said she would be interested in buying her in a year or so when I was ready to sell. After a few horrible rides on Benny, money changes, and a lack of time for having two horses at two different facilities, I asked the instructor if she would be interested in buying Tooey sooner rather than later. She's a wonderful horsewoman, and if we can schedule a time for her to come try Tooey out, I would love for her to have the mare. At which point, Benny will be coming to my new barn. Not to be put to work as a lesson horse, but he will be put back into pretty solid work by me, and turned out with a large group of horses who will most likely bully him (as he has been his whole life, so he's used to it) and remind him why he loves to be by himself.

*glares*

At any rate, Tooey is being surprisingly wonderful. She's a lot quieter in her stall, although sometimes she does start trying to shout the place down. She's a more settled ride with less crossfiring, and I've even been able to do some trails with her. This barn is getting into doing a lot of obstacle challenges, so she has been introduced to cat tunnels, noodles, loud hula hoops, and a big blue exercise ball.

...which she allows me to throw over and under her, bounce off her body, and she will also kick it around the ring with me riding her bareback. She rather enjoys it, actually; she arches her neck down and tracks it like she's a cow horse.

Even this is okay.

So basically, I think my horses' personalities switched. They are both doing the exact opposite of my expectations. I am so proud of mama mare, and so annoyed with Ben. We will see what happens...