Horse & Hound

I have been with a car this week, children on full time and two extra dogs. The kids' mother took on a holiday with her boyfriend and we have backed her up. This means that I have spent every morning riding horses in the stable, since I could drive there. There is a new horse, Noor, a part Trakehner mare. She has a beautiful red roan colour and I would guess that she also has some Quarter horse blood lines in her. She is more close to the Quarter in size and she also have a quite typical Quarter horse stride.

Noor

Before she came to our stable she had not done any work for almost two years, but according to rumours some dressage before that. Anyhow, she is a very green horse, who needs some fixing. I have been riding her every day, but also other horses, so I have been busy and happy. In just a weeks time, Noor has gone from being completely overexcited, with her nose high up in the air on a stiff neck, to a relaxed and broke horse, with a soft face on a low head, and moveable shoulders and hips. I am very much in love with her. Only problem is, that she refuses to take the left lead in the lope. She has the most brilliant lead departure in the right lead, but on the left side she chooses the wrong lead all the time, although I really disengage her hip to the left side. Today I stopped trying after a while, stepped down, and lounged her instead. I asked her to lope and first she took the wrong lead, but then she changed all by herself. I rewarded her and let her lope a few laps, stopped her and asked her to lope again, again in the correct lead. Then I climbed up again and asked for the left lead, but she took the right lead. Then I was recalling how she switched before and as I asked her to lope on a really small left lead circle, she suddenly changed lead. I rewarded her and let her lope off on a straight line, along the rail for a few laps. I succeeded to get her to take the left lead once more. We still have some work to do.

Other than riding, we also take care of Martha and a German Shepherd female, Billie. Bille, almost two years old, was given away by her owners as they discovered that she became a large and demanding dog, with a lot of energy. Duh..? The lame excuse was that the woman in the family became pregnant. Bille is now living with Martha, hoping for a new home. Had it not been for Martha being in heat, we could have had all dogs together, but right now we do not dare to leave them alone together. Alas, Martha and Billie stay in their garden and we go there three times a day. On Shabbat we took a long walk with all the dogs and Martha was constantly courted by Barak and I was constantly behind him preventing him from mounting her. Billie is a beautiful dog, with papers. She is a high energy dog who needs some obedience, so she needs a calm owner, with experience, or at least a willingness to learn for the benefit of the dog.

The pack

Billie