vel's journaly thing

Well, Jackson has a new home now. He'll be a lesson horse for Clermont Equestrian in Woodside, California, where they have jumping and dressage programs; it's run by a guy named Craig Clermont who was a Canadian Olympic Grand Prix jumper or something like that. Anyway it sounds like a pretty fancy place!

I intend to go visit sometime soon as I never got the chance to actually meet Craig. He came to see Jackson this weekend, but I was busy doing the birthday party thing with my family. My instructor called me that day to tell me he really liked him, and he offered to take him without a trial period; he came and picked him up on Sunday. So that's a big relief for me. He'll be in a good place and well taken care of, and I don't have to fret about how to keep him while trying to find a different home for him.

I'm a little sad to no longer have a horse of my own, but we never really clicked as a pair. Quite frankly I think we were both pretty much fed up with each other; I didn't trust him and he didn't trust me, and I felt no desire to ride him or even be around him. Next time I hope to get a horse on trial first and make sure it will actually be willing to accept my lead. I also think I won't get horse so big that I feel intimidated by it. I lost a lot of confidence from Jackson's bullying and rearing at me all the time, and I'll need time and a far more patient horse to get that back.

Still, I think this has been a good experience for me, one of those live and learn things. I learned a lot about what I'm still lacking as far as riding and horsemanship goes, and what kind of horse I really need and want in order to make the experience enjoyable. I got Jackson thinking I wanted a more challenging horse because an easygoing one would have been too boring, but I've definitely changed my mind about that. Being constantly challenged is nothing but frustrating and exhausting and no fun at all! I always felt more defeated after working with him than not. He was a completely different ball game from the tired old worn-out rental string horses that pretty much all my previous experience stemmed from, and he sure knocked me down a peg or two regarding what I thought I knew about handling horses! Turns out I'm nowhere near as stern or bossy as I thought I was or need to be, and I can be taken advantage of and intimidated far more easily than I thought possible.

To be honest I'm not sure I have it in me to be a truly domineering boss mare type; I'd rather have a horse that easily accepts a lower position in the herd instead of constantly challenging me and trying to take over the way Jackson did. Next time I'd like to know how a horse interacts with other horses...if I had seen the way Jackson immediately dominated all other horses he came in contact with, maybe I would have thought twice about him! Of course now I've started to educate myself on all those little things a horse does that you can't ignore or let him get away with, and I feel a bit better prepared to nip future problems in the bud. But I still intend to find a horse with a much more laid back personality, as well as get much more education on groundwork and manners. For now, though, I'm just going to relax and try to enjoy the free time I have again!