So recently we got a new horse in the barn named Scarlett. She’s solid brown with a flaxen mane and tail. She’s rather skiddish, and I’ve heard that several people had her charge past the wheelbarrow to escape the stall when it was being mucked out.
Today after I watched Rachael, Najerri (I know I spelled it wrong, but at least I know what her name is now.) and Morgan ride, Deb did some training with Scarlett in the round pen.
She ran her around and used a long rope (I forget what they called it.) to have her halt when she called out ‘ho’. After that Deb tried to join up with her, but Scarlett seemed to be too unsure of it. She stood and watched Deb, but didn’t make any attempts to go to her. Deb ended up eventually making her way to Scarlett, moving up whenever the mare looked away from her.
When I got home I did some research on Rocky Mountain Horses, which are an extremely hardy breed that was developed in the mountains of Kentucky. They are gaited horses (have an extra gait from the time they are born.) and apparently the “silver” gene is a trait, which is why they almost all have the flaxen mane and solid body.
Apparently poor Scarlett has trust issues because the the breed is supposed to be extremely loyal, like dogs. Thus the fact that she didn’t join up with Deb is unusual for the breed and is probably attributed to something that happened in her past. Hopefully she’ll feel better with some good, solid training.
