Things have continued to go well in the Bear department. Brian went out and rode him alone on Friday with good results. You can read about that here. We’re going to have to make sure to continue to ride and handle the horses independently of one another, as it would seem and Bear and Steen are getting along just fine. Better than just fine, actually. This is what Brian and I found them doing on Friday evening when we took a break from the barn party we were attending and walked out into the pasture.
They’re on 13 acres of grass and feel the need to share one square foot of grazing space. It’s adorable. We shared a few pretty relaxing moments with Steen and Bear as the sun set behind us.
On Saturday Brian’s parent’s came out to meet their new grandhorse. Things went a whole lot better than when we tried to introduce them to Sham. They both rode Steen and they both gave Bear a lot of pets, but since Bear is used to being ridden in a Tom-Thumb and Cathy is used to riding English with a snaffle and contact, we thought we’d save their first adventures on Bear’s back for a later date, after we know him better and (hopefully) he’s going in a snaffle.
Luckily, Steen was happy to take a few turns around the arena with first Cathy, then Dutch on his back. Brian rode Bear around and everything went off without a hitch, except that Steen’s indoor trot has gotten rather fast again (I’m sure it’s because I’ve been controlling his speed on the outside). Other than that, he was quite a gentleman and everyone had fun.
