Amigo, and Kahlua's Adoption

Yesterday, I had the immense pleasure of working with Amigo, our one and only "child-safe" rescue horse. I'd heard nice things about him, but frankly had not been all that convinced about his manners due to the ugly ugly faces he makes at mares and how pushy he can get during feeding. In spite of the fact that Kahlua won't walk by his pen if he's anywhere near the fence line, the barn manager suggested that we use him as the babysitter for her first trail ride.

Kahlua's adoption is almost finalized, and her new mother, Cassandra, has been meeting with me every day for the past week. The barn manager recommended that I evaluate her riding (part of adoption policy for rideable horses) and after that first session, Cassandra decided that she wanted a few "lessons" with me before finalizing the adoption. Normally, I would have said no way! I'm not a trainer and I don't pretend to know enough to be one! Still, Kahlua isn't a normal horse and I have been able to make some huge strides with her thanks to having trained a similar horse of my own before, and I feel good sharing what works and what doesn't with her new owner. Monday night we had a great break through with Cassandra getting Kahlua to bend both directions and pick up the correct lead on a circle, and I'm thrilled that they are getting along so well!

Anyhow, Cassandra would like to, eventually, take Kahlua on some trail rides. Kahlua gets very nervous outside the arena. So this is where Amigo comes in.

As Cassandra warmed up Kahlua in the arena, I pulled Amigo out of his pen and went to tack up. He was so excited to get out, and very vocal about it! We have a no-tie policy, so we don't have a hitching rail. Amigo is thus tied to the fence (NOT the gate) in the below picture because he actually does know how to stand tied! Hoorah!

He loved getting brushed off, picked up his feet easily and held them up with no weight in my hands. He got excited and knocked over a trash can that I thought was out of reach, but did not spook at all! He stood quietly while I put the saddle etc on, and lowered his head to take the bit. Somewhere in his past life someone took a lot of time with this horse!

Under saddle, he was a total winner! He stood at the mounting block and waited there until I cued him forward, and went into a nice Western frame before I'd even touched the reins! In a 4H or local open show, I'm confident that Amigo would win any pleasure class you put him in, with just about any intermediate rider! Cutest jog I've ever seen! On the trail (well, in the hayfield) he walked right next to Kahlua and stayed calm even as she started to get antsy. I "lost" a stirrup and shifted my weight funny a few times and he instantly shifted his own body to get me back in the correct position :-) Total babysitter, but also capable of more advanced work if you ask for it!

Everyone, we need to get this boy adopted! Details here on most of our adoptable horses (I must admit, it's a random selection... clearly the website needs to be updated more often!).